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Title: Her Share of Devils
Author: Karen U
E-mail: ksu2@juno.com
Rating: PG-15
Disclaimer: All BtVS and Angel characters belong to Joss Whedon, the WB, and
Fox
Distribution: Charity, Angel of Mine, Witch Fan Fic, Fever of Fate, Willow's
Angel, anyone else who carries my fic and wants this (otherwise, please ask
first)
Summary: An attack leads to danger from more than one source (I stink at
summaries, so please just read it)
Spoilers: through Doomed and Somnombulist only
Feedback: Please
For Steph, who was kind enough to look over this for me

Part One

Willow made her way across the street, careful to look both ways. In all
honesty, she didn’t really see how that helped; people drove so erratically
in LA she was unlikely to spot any danger of the vehicular variety until it
was too late. Willow shuddered as she forced the picture of herself being
flattened by some teenager joyriding in his daddy’s brand new car out of her
head. She groaned at her own mental conjurings. She had certainly become
morbid lately. Of course, finding that body at the frat party hadn’t
exactly helped her disposition, either.

The redheaded witch smiled as she turned the corner and saw her goal. It
was the reason she had come to LA. The storefront was dull and not very
appealing, but that wasn’t why she had come. She had come for what was
inside. The store was a magic shop, and one of the contacts she’d made
because of Jenny Calendar had told her about it. Jenny’s friend had never
led her in the wrong direction before, so Willow had no doubt that what the
woman had told her was true. She claimed it was one of the best stores in
the world, that it had almost every spell imaginable, and some that weren’t.

Including a simple de-ratting spell.

Yes, Willow was still trying to turn poor Amy Madison back into a human
being. She had shyly asked Melodie if she thought the shop would have a
spell that was simple enough for her to do without screwing it up, and
Jenny’s friend had answered with a confident yes. So here she was, in LA,
searching for a spell.

What fun.

She hadn’t told Buffy where she was going. She hadn’t told any of her
friends except for Giles. She had thought it would be a good idea to at
least tell someone, but had known Buffy would be a pain about it. Willow
loved her best friend, she really did, but the Slayer had a tendency to be a
bit... irrational when it came to anything involving Angel. And, to Buffy,
LA definitely involved Angel. And now that Buffy had started to move on
with Riley, Willow had no intention of doing or saying anything that would
remind her friend of the vampire who had broken her heart. Of course, he’d
also broken his own heart in the process.

Stupid men.

With a sharp shake of her head and a small sigh, Willow shoved the thought
of the stupidity of men out of her mind. It would inevitably lead to Oz,
and she didn’t feel like dealing with that. Nope, no more brooding for her,
she thought with determination as she opened the door to the magic store.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

He grinned from his spot in the anonymity of the alley as she passed. He
could sense her power, her life, her fire... her innocence. Oh, yes. She
was the one. This time he was sure of it.

She would be his.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Willow smiled as she browsed through the shop. Melodie had put the book
that contained the spell she needed on hold for her, but she wanted to look
around before she went to the front counter to get it. She ran her fingers
over the edge of one of the shelves; it had to be ancient. She glanced
around her, her smile growing as she saw the yuppies and the new age
fanatics... so many people who couldn’t sense the power that was in this
place, the power in the books it contained. They were looking for love
spells, get rich quick spells, spells to enhance their sex lives... If they
only knew what they were getting themselves into.

Laughing quietly as she shook her head in amusement, Willow went back to her
browsing, occasionally picking up things to purchase, then stopping when a
row glass balls caught her eye. The Orb of Thessulah. The most important
component for the Ritual of the Undead. She picked one up and smiled as she
thought about what that little ball of glass had allowed her to do. She
wondered if Spike would like having a soul...

"Lovely paperweight, isn’t it?"

Willow turned to see one of the yuppie types beside her; the woman held
canary feathers and several other ingredients used in love spells. "It
certainly is... if you want to call it that," she replied, carefully putting
the Orb back where it belonged, then walking away. She headed for the
counter at the front of the store and smiled at the shopkeeper; the woman
returned her grin.

"Blessed be. And what can I do for you?"

"I believe there is a book on hold for me. Willow Rosenberg. The book was
put on hold by Melodie Thackery."

The woman knelt down to look at the stock that was stored there, waiting for
the people who wanted it to come in. She selected the book that had been
put on hold for the redhead and handed it to her. "Is this what you
wanted?"

Willow looked through it quickly, smiling when she saw the necessary spell.
"Yes, this is it," she replied, handing it back to the woman and putting her
other selections on the counter so that they could be rung up and paid for.

Just minutes later, Willow left the magic shop, whistling to herself. The
day seemed much brighter now that she had the spell in her hands. She
glanced in her bag, grinning once again as she saw the small leather-bound
book.

And then it happened.

One minute she was grinning at the thought of freeing her friend from life
as a rat, the next she was being pulled into an alley and slammed against
the wall. She felt her cheek scrape against the hard cement wall and tried
to raise her hand to her injured face, dropping her bag of supplies in the
process.

The small redhead was then jerked back around, and she opened her mouth to
scream, only to find a fist in her face. Her cheek exploded in pain, and
she tasted blood where she had bit the inside of her cheek.

"Don’t even think about screaming, bitch." A cold male voice broke through
the haze of pain, and Willow yelped when he threw her to the ground. Her
hands and elbows caught the brunt of the fall, and tears sprang to her eyes
at the pain. She felt his fist press into the back of her neck, holding her
down effectively and painfully. "You’re going to come with me, then we’re
going to have some fun," he told her as he pressed awkwardly against her.
Willow whimpered as she felt the evidence of his arousal, and she bucked up,
trying to force him off of her. He responded by jerking her up slightly,
then slamming her back down. The struggle had caused Willow’s shirt, which
was slightly too large, to slip off of her shoulder and slide lower on her
chest, and she could feel the dirt and rough concrete beneath her scraping
the tender skin that was exposed.

Gasping for breath and terrified, Willow blindly reached an arm out behind
her. She found his leg - the one that wasn’t shoved into the small of her
back - easily, and she yanked on it with all her might, sending him off her
and onto his ass on the cement.

With tears streaming down her face, Willow scooted away from him, screaming
for all she was worth. Enraged by her attempt to escape and embarrassed by
her ability to free herself - if only momentarily - he lunged at her, his
fist catching her on the collarbone. The second punch was better and hit
her in the throat, effectively stopping her scream.

He shoved her onto her back, causing her to see stars as her head connected
roughly with the ground. Willow blinked rapidly, trying to maintain
consciousness. Her attacker straddled her, smiling when she bucked up in an
attempt to get him off of her. Instead, she only succeeded in arousing him
more. He grinned as he held her down, putting pressure on her throat. He
leaned down close to her, sniffing at her. God, she smelled good. He
rubbed against her as she struggled, and she immediately stilled. "Eager
little thing, aren’t you? Well, we can do it here," he said
conversationally as he reached for his zipper. "Then we can go back to my
place for the second round."

"Get off of her."

The voice was strong and collected and female, and Willow struggled to see
her potential rescuer with eyes that were blurred with tears and pain. She
saw the glint of what had to be a gun, and she prayed silently that she was
right and that she would be rescued.

"This is none of your business," the guy on top of her snarled, his dark
eyes snapping with violence as he ran his hands down the front of Willow’s
body, causing her to whimper. "We were just having some fun." The man
returned to Willow, completely ignoring the gun as he leaned in closer...

Suddenly, he was ripped away from his prize and tossed onto the ground, his
arms jerked behind his back and his hands cuffed. He screamed obscenities
at the woman that had the gall to separate him from his prize, but the woman
ignored him.

Willow saw a cloud of blonde hair as her rescuer cuffed the man, then closed
her eyes and allowed herself the bliss of unconsciousness, knowing she had
been saved.


Part Two

Detective Kate Lockley absently fiddled with the cellular phone she was
holding, her eyes searching for someone, anyone, that appeared to be looking
for the redhead that was lying in a hospital bed just two doors down. The
cell phone didn’t belong to the detective; it actually belonged to one
Willow Rosenberg. Kate had found the phone while searching the girl’s purse
for identification - which she had discovered via Willow’s student ID - and
had then proceeded to check the phone’s memory for a possible relative (or
even an adult friend) that she could call to come stay with the redhead.
Not exactly police procedure to call around like that (in fact, she could
have gotten in some real trouble for it), but Kate didn’t particularly care.
She wanted someone to be there for the young woman.

The first two numbers programmed into the phone - which were listed simply
as ‘Buffy’ and ‘Xander’ - had seemed to pointless to even attempt to call.
The people were probably friends or roommates, but they didn’t have names
that exactly screamed ‘responsible adult.’ The third number, listed as
‘Mrs. Summers’ had yielded only an answering machine. The fourth number,
which was programmed as ‘Rupert Giles,’ had given Kate what she wanted,
although she did have to admit that she had been a bit surprised to hear a
distinctly British voice on the other end of the line. Despite her
misgivings, Kate had decided to tell the man why she had called, and she
felt that she had made the right choice. The man, who had informed her that
he lived in Sunnydale, had obviously known that Willow had gone to Los
Angeles, and he had become quite concerned when Kate told him that the
redhead had been hospitalized. He’d told the detective that someone would
be at the hospital to stay with Willow within the hour. That was twenty
minutes ago.

Kate was not a patient woman.

She looked at the phone in her hand, contemplating calling someone else.
After reaching Rupert Giles, she hadn’t ventured beyond the fourth number
programmed into the phone’s memory, instead choosing to hope that the man
was true to his word and would have someone at the hospital shortly. She
knew it wouldn’t be the man himself; Sunnydale was too far away for it to be
him, considering the time frame he had given her. Kate sighed softly.
Maybe she should try to call someone else... No. Mr. Giles had told her
someone would be there, and she had to believe him.

Of course, if she’d gone farther - say to the sixth number Willow had
programmed into her phone - she wouldn’t have been so surprised about what
happened next.

Angel burst through the doors at the end of the hall, his jacket billowing
out behind him and Cordelia at his heels. The tall brunette’s high heels
click-clacked loudly on the tile floor as she hurried to keep up with Angel.
He looked, Kate thought, decidedly dangerous... and more than a bit
worried.

Angel made a beeline for the nurses’ station, completely oblivious to the
way the younger nurses stood up just a looked straighter and alternated
between sending flirtatious glances Angel’s way and glares in Cordelia’s
direction.

"I need to know where Willow Rosenberg’s room is," the vampire stated just
loudly enough for Kate to hear from her spot fifteen feet away, and the
detective’s mouth dropped open. This was who Rupert Giles had sent? What
was that man thinking?

"And your relationship to the patient?" one of the nurses asked, more out of
curiosity than anything else. Lord, she hoped he was the woman’s brother...

"I’m her fiancé," Angel lied without qualm, willing to say or do anything
that would get him in to see Willow. He had promised Giles that he would
take care of the girl, and there was no way he was going to let either the
former Watcher or the redhead down.

The nurse’s nose wrinkled up slightly as she took in the news that this
delicious-looking man was taken, but her curious expression remained as she
turned her eyes towards Cordelia. If he was engaged to the redhead, then
what was he doing with this woman?

Cordelia’s eyes darkened dangerously as she saw the implications in the
other woman’s gaze. "I’m Willow’s best friend," she informed the woman
coolly. "I’m also his sister," she continued nodding in Angel’s direction.
She knew that their dark hair and eyes made the statement believable
enough... even if Angel was a little pale. "Now, will you kindly tell us
where we can find Willow?"

"Room 212," the nurse replied sullenly as she pointed them in the proper
direction. Cordelia and Angel immediately headed in the direction
indicated, only to have Kate step in front of them.

"I could tell them you’re lying, you know," she said quietly but sternly,
careful not to be overheard.

"Yes, but can you prove it?" Cordelia replied calmly Turning to look at
Angel, she nodded her head down the hall, indicating that she could handle
Detective Lockley, and that the vampire should go find Willow. Without
argument, Angel did so, taking brisk strides to Willow’s room. Sighing,
Cordy returned her attention back to Kate, her eyes glancing over the things
sitting in the chair behind the blonde. Her eyes narrowed as they fell upon
a familiar item. "That’s Willow’s purse," she said dumbly, her eyes rising
once again to meet Kate’s. "You’re the one who called Giles, aren’t you?"

Kate nodded slowly, somehow unnerved and at the same time reassured by
Cordelia’s words. It was quite obvious to her that Rupert Giles really had
called the young woman, and the fact that Cordy also recognized Willow’s
purse spoke volumes. Cordelia obviously really did know the petite redhead.
Of course, that still didn’t explain Angel.

"How is she?" Cordelia asked before Kate could speak, her voice small and
somehow young-sounding. "What happened to her?"

"She was attacked-"

"Did you catch him?"

"Yes, I did. My partner brought him in while I came to the hospital with
Miss Rosenberg."

"What were the charges?" Cordelia asked, closing her eyes. She was afraid
of the answer, but she needed to know. All Giles had been able to tell them
was that Willow had been injured.

"Assault and battery," Kate replied with a sigh. "And attempted rape."

The brunette took a sharp intake of breath, then opened her now wet eyes.
"Attempted?"

"Yes. We got there in time to stop him. I... I heard her screaming."

"Thank God," Cordelia murmured before reaching out to give the detective a
hug. She could actually feel the woman’s surprise, but, after a moment,
Kate carefully hugged her back.

"Thank you," Cordelia said quietly. "Thank you for saving my friend."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Angel slowly entered Willow’s room, his eyes glued to the redhead that lay
in the hospital bed. She looked so small and fragile... No, Angel thought
ruefully, she was so small and fragile.

Carefully, the vampire sat on the bed, completely ignoring the uncomfortable
visitors’ chairs nearby. Cautiously, he reached out his hand, then gently
ran his fingertips over her face before stroking her hair. Her cheek was
scraped and bruised, and he could see another bruise forming on her throat.
He was sure there were other injuries, but they were hidden by the
bedclothes and the redhead’s hospital gown.

"Willow? Willow, sweetie, please wake up," he said softly as he leaned in
closer to her.

"Angel?" the whisper was soft, but he could still hear the hoarseness in her
voice as Willow spoke, her eyes fluttering open. Her eyes focused quickly,
though she looked a little confused. "Is it really you?"

"Yeah, Willow, it’s me," he told her.

"How did you find me?"

"Kate called Giles, and Giles called me." He paused as a thought occurred
to him. "Do you know who Kate is?"


"She’s the detective, right?" Willow responded. Angel nodded, and she
continued. "She’s the one who took my statement."

Willow’s words reminded Angel of the fact that the girl had been attacked in
a way completely lacking of the supernatural - in broad daylight, no less.
It was a sobering thought. In the years he had known Willow and the others,
almost all of their injuries had come from fighting some kind of
supernatural evil. None of them had ever been attacked in this way. Not
once had any of them actually filed a police report because of their
injuries.

"How are you?" Angel asked quietly, worried about more than just her
physical well-being.

The soft words of concern had Willow blinking back tears, and, when she
answered, her voice was small and fragile. "I hurt," she admitted, sounding
very much like a little girl. "And... and he touched me. He... he was
going to... rape me," Willow continued, her voice becoming nothing more than
a whisper as the dam broke and her tears began to fall.

Angel cursed silently. He had suspected as much, but it still ripped at him
to hear his suspicions confirmed. Carefully, he drew her bruised and
battered body into his arms, pressing her face to his shoulder. The redhead
clutched at him, her tears wetting his shirt. He rocked her back and forth,
trying to contain his anger over what had been done to her.

"It’s going to be okay," he told her. He didn’t tell her that it was okay,
because he knew it wasn’t, at least not yet. But he would make sure that
got fixed. "I’m going to take care of you. I won’t let him hurt you
again."

A few minutes later, a nurse walked in, followed by Kate and Cordelia, to
find Willow and Angel in much the same position. Kate watched in stunned
silence as the vampire comforted the small redhead. Cordelia had told her
that Willow knew exactly what Angel was, and it was quite a shock to know
that and see the way the redhead clung to him. She obviously didn’t care
what Angel was... And Angel was so gentle with the girl. It certainly gave
Kate something to think about.

"And how is our patient?" the nurse asked perkily, her eyes trained on the
couple on the bed.

Angel lifted his head, but didn’t release Willow. "When can I take her
home?" he asked grimly, knowing that it would be easier to protect her - and
probably make for a more comfortable recuperation - if he took her back to
his place.

"Well, she does have a concussion..."

"When can I take her home?"


Part Three

After being held for observation over night, Willow was released from the
hospital the next morning. Because there was no way that Angel could be
there to take her home and avoid the sun at the same time (and there was
also no way the vampire would allow Cordelia to drive his car), Wesley had
been the one to pick up the slender redhead. That had been okay with Willow
- she completely understood why the vampire couldn’t be there, as well as
his feelings about Cordelia’s driving skills - and she had endured the
pitying glances the nurses had sent her, knowing they thought it was just
awful that her ‘fiancé’ - she couldn’t believe Angel had actually told them
that! - hadn’t been the one to come get her. Being the polite person that
she was, she had refrained from reminding them that it had been her ‘fiancé’
who they had caught in her room more than two hours after visiting hours had
ended the night before. Angel had left then, albeit reluctantly, and Willow
knew the vampire’s reluctance was because he was afraid to leave her alone.
He was afraid she would get hurt again, despite reassurances from Kate that
the perpetrator was behind bars.

Kate.

Now there was an interesting person. It was quite obvious that the blonde
police detective knew Angel, but how well she knew him... Well, Willow was
at a loss there. She acted so formal and cautious around him... It was
almost as if she didn’t trust him, which confused Willow.

Willow yawned as she forced her thoughts away from the detective and once
more concentrated on what had happened that morning. Because Angel had
neglected to tell her exactly who was going to be picking her up, she had
been surprised to see Wesley walk into her hospital room at nine o’clock
that morning, but Willow had to admit that it was nice - well, sort of - to
see the former Watcher once again. He seemed less uptight than before, and
he had made pleasant conversation while he drove the short distance from the
hospital to Angel’s apartment. Of course, that still hadn’t stopped her
from falling asleep.

She had woken up to discover that Wesley was carrying her through the
offices of Angel Investigations, and, to her embarrassment, that Angel
actually had a client there. She had immediately shut her eyes again and
feigned sleep, but she didn’t know if anybody had bought the act. It didn’t
really matter anyway, though. It wasn’t like she was ever going to see the
client, who happened to be an old woman looking for a granddaughter who had
run away, again.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Where do I need to go to get your things?"

Willow jumped at the quiet voice from the doorway, and her eyes flew in that
direction to land on Angel’s face.

"I’m sorry," the vampire said as he entered the room. "I startled you. I
didn’t mean to."

"It’s okay," Willow assured him, sending him a sweet smile as she leaned
back against the mass of pillows that surrounded her. She was ensconced in
Angel’s bed, with pillows behind her and to both sides, as she sat up and
pretended to watch television. She’d had the same channel on since
mid-morning, and it was now mid-afternoon, and Jerry Springer was currently
interviewing transvestites who were in love with their mothers-in-law. It
was quite the interesting topic, although it certainly hadn’t held Willow’s
attention. "What was the question again?"

"Your stuff? Where do I need to go to get? What hotel are you staying at?"

"I’m not," Willow confessed softly. "This was only supposed to be a day
trip. I was supposed to take the bus back to Sunnydale last night. So...
no stuff for you to go get."

"Why... why did you come to LA?" Angel asked as he sat down at the edge of
the bed, careful to keep his distance. He didn’t want to startle her more
than he already had.

"To get a spell to..." Willow trailed off as her eyes grew wide. "Oh, my
God! My bag! I completely forgot about my bag!" she cried as she made a
move towards the edge of the bed.

Angel was there in an instant, stepping in front of her and gently clasping
her wrists in an effort to keep her from moving off of the bed. "I think
Kate found your things. Your purse and a bag with some things you bought,"
he told her as he moved his hands to her shoulders and gently eased her into
the semi-reclining position she had been in until just seconds ago. "I’m
pretty sure she gave them to Cordelia. I’ll go see. Stay."

"Oh, that’s nice. ‘Stay.’ Command me like I’m your new puppy dog. Next
you’ll be doing the whole ‘Sit, Boo Boo, sit. Good dog’ thing," Willow
retorted, scrunching up her nose in distaste, but allowing the vampire to
get her resettled against the mountain of pillows behind her. He smiled
slightly as he eased his hands down her arms and back to her wrists.

"I imagine a new puppy would be more obedient than you are," he told her
wryly.

"Very funny. Why can’t I go up?" Willow asked a bit petulantly.

"Because I want you to rest as much as possible," he said, his hands still
encircling her wrists, albeit very loosely. He knew she had to be a bundle
of bruises underneath her clothes and his comforter, and he certainly didn’t
want to add to her injury total. "Plus, you’re not exactly dressed for it,"
he added as he finally noticed what she was wearing. When he’d been down
there earlier, she had still been wearing what she had come home from the
hospital in.

Although the redhead had worn her own clothes home from the hospital, they
had been too torn and dirty to be comfortable, so she’d had to change before
going to bed. Because of her lack of clothing, the redhead was wearing one
of Angel’s silk shirts - black, of course - and the material engulfed her
tiny frame. The sleeves were far too long, and, although he couldn’t see
it, Angel imagined the shirt probably reached her knees. It was also cut
incredibly low on her. The top button was between her breasts, which would
have shown entirely too much cleavage for Willow’s comfort. She had
remedied the problem by borrowing a tank top from the cache of clothes that
Cordy kept at Angel’s in case the brunette needed to change while at work.
In fact, Willow could have borrowed an entire outfit from the former
cheerleader, but she had chosen not to in the end. The shirt, much like the
sheets, smelled like Angel, and as much as she hated to admit it, she found
that to be comforting. It was kind of nice to be surrounded by Angel’s
scent; it reminded her of how safe she had felt the evening before when she
had cried her eyes out in his arms. Of course, she wasn’t about to tell him
that.

"What’s so important about your stuff anyway?" the vampire asked.

"I came here for a spell de-ratting spell. For Amy."

The vampire looked confused for a moment, then nodded. He vaguely
remembered a moment long ago when Buffy had told him about a friend of hers
turning herself into a rat. It appeared that Willow had as yet been
unsuccessful in reversing the spell.

"I take it that you managed to get a hold of a spell then?" Angel asked,
knowing that Willow wouldn’t be so frantic to find her things otherwise.

"Yeah, I did," she confirmed with an emphatic nod.

Angel released Willow and stepped away. "I’ll go ask Cordy where she took
your things. Now don’t you get out of that bed. I’ll be back in a few
minutes, and I expect to find you here," he told her as he headed out of the
room and to the elevator, smiling to himself. It was nice to see that
Willow seemed to be doing okay even after what had happened to her the day
before.

"Well, somebody looks happy," Cordelia commented as Angel stepped into the
office. "I take it that means Willow is doing okay?"

"Yes, actually she is..."

"Good. That means you have time to talk to Wesley," Cordy stated before
Angel could ask about the whereabouts of Willow’s things. "He’s convinced
that it isn’t safe for me to live alone. He thinks he needs to come stay
with me or something, which is just a bad idea. And speaking of bad ideas,
why is Willow staying with you instead of me?"

"Why is Willow staying with me a bad idea?" Angel asked, offended.

"Hello? You, man. Me, woman. Willow was attacked... She could have been
raped. You could never understand something like that."

"And you could?"

"Yes! Well, okay, not totally, because I’ve never actually been attacked
like that, but I’ve probably got a better idea of how she feels than you
do."

"Because you’re female?"

"Well, duh! Plus, there’s the whole sleeping arrangements thing. I’ve got
a guest bed. You don’t."

"I can sleep on the couch. I have before," Angel reminded her.

"Yes, but you’ll practically have to fold yourself in half in order to do
that," the brunette told him, unknowingly echoing Willow’s earlier protest
when he had told her to take his bed. Of course, her idea had been to sleep
on his couch, not at Cordelia’s.

"Why are you so adamant about this?" Angel questioned his secretary.

"No reason."

"No reason, huh? You just want your guest bed occupied so Wesley will stop
insisting that he stay with you, don’t you?"

"And if I do?" Cordelia said huffily, then shrugged. "Look, Angel, I really
would like Willow’s company..."

"I’d feel better if she was here with me."

"So you can protect her? She doesn’t need protected. Not really. I mean,
she’d be perfectly safe at my place. Plus, the guy who attacked her is
behind bars..."

"No, he isn’t," Kate’s voice informed them from the doorway, causing both of
them to whirl around in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Angel asked tightly, a hint of violence adding an edge
to his voice.

Kate looked at them, her eyes filled with a silent apology. "He isn’t
behind bars anymore. He made bail about an hour ago."

Part Four

It was amazing how a large bed piled high with bedclothes and pillows could
make a small person seem absolutely tiny. Fragile. Breakable.

Kate bit her lip as she studied the tiny girl in Angel’s huge bed. She was
incredibly pale - almost as pale as the vampire beside her - and Kate knew
her pallor wasn’t completely natural. Willow was scared.

And she had every right to be.

Kate let her gaze travel to the vampire that sat on the bed next to the
girl. He was sitting very close to her, and he held her tiny hands in his,
looking very much like the doting fiancé he had pretended to be at the
hospital. Though Kate knew the engagement he had told the nurses about was
a farce, it was still touching to see just how gentle and caring Angel was
towards the redhead. The detective could sense the fierce protectiveness
the vampire felt for the young woman, as well as the intense anger he felt
over the fact that Willow’s attacker was currently free. Kate was pretty
sure he wanted to go out and tear the guy into dozens of unrecognizable
pieces. Even so, Angel had reigned in those angry urges and was instead
concentrating his energies on comforting the frightened girl. It was an
oddly touching scene to witness.

Cordelia, on the other hand, seemed to be concentrating her energies on
wearing a hole in the floor from her pacing. "How could this have happened?
How could you just let him go after what he did to Willow? This is just
wrong!" the brunette complained, pausing just long enough to shoot a glare
in Kate’s direction.

"It’s not her fault," Willow admonished, her voice soft and fragile. All
eyes went to the redhead, and Angel squeezed her hands gently.

Cordelia’s eyes softened as she looked at her friend, then she turned back
to Kate. "I know it’s not your fault," she began.

"But it’s still wrong," Kate agreed as she ran her hand through her hair.
"I realize that you feel that way, and you have every right to. I feel that
way myself."

"Am I interrupting something?" Wesley’s voice came from the doorway, and
Willow jumped at the unexpected sound, a spark of fear coming into her eyes
before she realized who it was. Angel released Willow’s hands and wrapped
his arms around the redhead, pulling her closer to him in an effort to make
her feel safe and protected. There was no way he was letting her go to
Cordelia’s now, not after this. He didn’t want to let Willow out of his
apartment until the creep that had hurt her was behind bars for good.

"The guy who attacked Willow is loose," Cordelia announced indignantly,
effectively bringing Wesley up-to-date with the conversation thus far.

"What? Why? Did he escape?" the former Watcher sputtered as he sat down in
the lone chair in Angel’s bedroom.

"He made bail," Kate told him softly.

"Bail? You allow creatures such as the man who harmed Miss Rosenberg bail?
Why?"

"Yeah!" Cordelia added. "He beat her up, and he tried to rape her!"

"Sexual assault of any kind is hard to prosecute... even rape itself is
simply one person’s word against the other’s, and the perpetrator often
beats the rap. But attempted rape, or anything like that, is even harder to
prove. There isn’t any actual physical evidence like there is with rape.
DAs don’t like to prosecute those types of cases; they’re too hard to win."

"Which means?" Angel asked dangerously, his eyes flashing.

"The DA dropped the sexual assault charges."

"But he was going to rape her!" Cordelia cried out.

"But he didn’t. And we don’t have any concrete evidence that he intended
to."

"He beat her up!" the brunette shot back, gesturing to Willow. Kate glanced
at the young woman, who had grown even paler during the exchange. She was
practically burrowing into Angel’s embrace, her cheek pressed against his
chest. However, her wounded cheek was still visible, and the scrape and
angry bruise that marred her face stood out in vast contrast to her
chalk-white skin.

"The assault charge still stands," the detective began, only to be
interrupted by Wesley.

"Then why was he allowed to make bail?"

"Because bail is usually only denied in murder cases," Kate told him a bit
tiredly. "This wasn’t even aggravated assault. There was no weapon
involved. It’s still a felony, but it’s only third-degree."

"Meaning?" Cordelia asked.

"He could get from two to ten years if convicted, and odds are that he will
end up serving jail time, although I’m not sure just how much. His record
was clean," she informed the others. "Nothing more than a few parking
tickets in his past, so the jury will probably go easy on him, even with
testimony from Willow and myself, as well as the pictures we’ve got of
Willow’s injuries as evidence. And that’s if this case even goes to trial."

"Wait a minute. Back up a few words. If this goes to trial?" Cordelia
asked, glancing over at Willow and Angel. The redhead’s silence was
beginning to worry her, as was the violence in the vampire’s eyes. He
looked ready to go out and take down Willow’s attacker himself.

Kate nodded, her eyes downcast. "He could cut a deal," she said softly.
"He could plead guilty to a lesser charge and end up with just a few months
in prison... maybe even just probation. His lack of a prior record will
probably help his case, whether he cuts a deal or lets it go to trial."

"Oh, so just because he never did anything wrong before, he gets to go out
and beat up the woman of his choice?" Cordelia virtually snarled, her eyes
flashing almost as dangerously as Angel’s.

"I know it’s wrong," Kate said with a resigned sigh as she lifted her eyes
to meet Cordelia’s angry gaze. "It’s not fair, but it’s the way the system
works. Sometimes we get to do something that really helps people, and
sometimes the people we’re supposed to help end up getting screwed. It’s
terrible, and I hate it, but it happens." Sighing, Kate looked over at
Willow, waiting until the young woman met her eyes before speaking again.
"I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news," she told her. "I wish there was a
way I could make things different, but there isn’t."

"I know," Willow said softly, offering the detective a weak attempt at a
smile. She knew that what was happening was not Kate’s fault, and she
didn’t want the detective to think she blamed her. "Thanks for letting us
know what’s going on."

"It was the least I could do. However, I really need to get back to the
precinct. I’m still on duty, but I didn’t want to tell you this over the
phone."

"I’ll see you out," Wesley said as he stood up, obviously feeling a bit bad
about the way he had snapped at the detective. It was quite clear to him
that she hated this turn of events as much as he did.

"I’ll go, too," Cordelia announced after taking a sideways glance at the
pair that was still on the bed. Admittedly, she wasn’t the best at
comforting someone, and she was pretty sure that Willow needed some
comforting. It was probably best to leave Willow in Angel’s hands; he
seemed to be doing pretty well with the redhead so far. Besides that,
Cordelia was so angry with the system at the moment that she wanted to
scream. She figured it would be a good idea to head on up to the roof
before doing so. She didn’t want to upset Willow any further.

Angel watched as Cordelia and Wesley accompanied Kate to the elevator.
After he was certain they were gone, he gently eased Willow away from him
and looked into her frightened eyes.

"He’s going to be punished for what he did to you, Willow. I promise you
that."

The redhead smiled sadly as she sat up fully, still maintaining eye contact
with the vampire. "You can’t promise me that, Angel. No one can. It’s up
to the DA whether or not the case even goes to trial, then it’s up to the
jury."

"I could bribe them," Angel offered half-seriously.

"I never pictured you as the type to go for jury tampering."

"I meant I could bribe them to give me twenty minutes alone with the guy,"
Angel replied with a slight smirk that quickly disappeared as he once again
returned his thoughts to reality. "I won’t let him get to you, Willow," he
vowed softly as he cupped her uninjured cheek in his hand. "He will not
hurt you. Not ever again. I will do anything in my power - and I do mean
anything - in order to keep you protected."

"I know you will," Willow replied, reaching up to touch his hand as it fell
away from her cheek. He turned his hand as he dropped it to the bedcovers,
grasping her fingers in his. Willow looked down at their joined hands, then
back at the vampire’s face. "I know you’re going to take care of me, and
all I can say to that is thank you. You have no idea how safe that makes me
feel."

"Angel! Your next appointment is here!" Cordelia’s voice came down the
elevator shaft, causing both occupants of the room to jump.

"I..."

"Need to go," Willow finished for him, a slight smile touching her features.
"It’s okay. What Kate said... it’s a lot to take in. I need some time to
adjust. You go take care of what you need to do. I’ll be all right," the
redhead told him gently.

Angel nodded as he stood, then looked back down at their still-joined hands.
He was reluctant to let her go. He didn’t want to leave her.

"I’ll be okay. I promise. Now go," Willow urged. "You’ll only be
upstairs, you know."

Nodding, Angel released her. "I’ll be back as soon as I can," he promised.

"I’ll be here," Willow replied as she watched his retreating back.

Part Five

"Where’s Willow?"

"Um, Buffy, I hate to break it to you, but, as her roommate, you’re expected
to have a better grasp of that than I am," Xander replied, his mouth full of
some unidentifiable confection.

"Very cute. I just meant... I haven’t seen her at all today. I know she
was supposed to be in San Diego yesterday - at least that’s what she told me
- and that she was probably going to get back really late and stay at her
parents’ house... but I haven’t seen her at all today. I’m getting
worried."

"Willow went to San Diego? Why didn’t I know that?"

"You did," Spike answered in an annoyed voice from his spot in the recliner.
He hated staying with the moron, but he had no place else to go, so he had
resigned himself to spending his days in the company of Xander. He was
still considering staking himself.

"No, I didn’t," Xander returned, shifting so that he could glare at the
vampire.

"Yes, you did," the vampire insisted as he put down the magazine he had been
pretending to read. "I was sitting right here, and she said ‘Xander, I’m
going to San Diego for the day.’ And you said ‘Oh, that’s nice. Could you
hand me the Ho-Ho’s?’ Then you proceeded to scarf two of those disgusting
things at once."

"It’s just really sad that you remember that... and so precisely, too,"
Buffy said in a slightly stunned voice before turning her attention away
from the blonde vampire. "So you haven’t heard from her?" she asked Xander,
concern in her voice.

"Not as of yet. Sorry," Xander muttered as he continued to eat. "Maybe she
just went to class, and you missed her."

"We have a class together today. Psychology. She missed it."

Xander stopped chewing and turned off the television as he came to a sitting
position. "Did you try her house?"

"Yeah. No answer."

"What about where she hangs?"

"Did that. No sign of her."

"Maybe... maybe you just missed her. You could have just missed her. Have
you talked to Giles?"

"That was my next stop."

"Okay. Um, why don’t you go there, and I’ll check out some of her haunts,
see if maybe she’s shown up since you asked?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Cool," Xander replied as he reached for his shoes. He tied them quickly,
then stood. "I’ll meet you at Giles’s in a couple hours."

"Sounds good to me."

Xander nodded, then headed for the door, stopping only momentarily in order
to speak to Spike. "If you decide to stake yourself, don’t mess up any of
my stuff while you’re at it," he told the vampire, then walked out.

Spike made a face at Xander’s retreating back, then settled back in his
chair, a concerned look marring his features.

Where the hell was Willow?

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Buffy! Wait up!"

The Slayer paused as the familiar voice reached her ears, and Buffy silently
cursed the way her heart seemed to skip a beat at the sound. She had no
reason to react to him this way; he was just a boy. Or, more accurately, a
man, she amended as she turned to greet the person headed her way.

"Riley, hi."

"Hi," Riley Finn replied as he slowed to a stop in front of the blonde girl,
suddenly at a loss for words. She always seemed to have that effect on him.

"Hi."

"You already said that," Riley told her with a grin, then fell into step
beside her as she resumed walking. He studied her as they walked; her eyes
were looking straight ahead, and her steps were purposeful. She seemed as
if she was totally focused on something, and it wasn’t him. "So, what’s
up?" he asked, curious. "Is it Slayer stuff?"

"Shhh!" Buffy hissed as she turned to look at him. She quickly glanced
around, trying to discern whether or not anyone had heard Riley’s question.
No one seemed to be paying any attention to them. "That isn’t exactly
something you talk about publicly, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Sorry," Riley apologized, more than a bit subdued.

"It’s all right. Don’t worry about it," Buffy muttered, pushing her hair
back from her face. "I’m kind of grouchy girl today, anyway. I’ve snarled
at more people than just you in the past few hours. But, no, it’s not
really Slayer stuff. At least, I don’t think it is. I’m looking for
Willow."

"I noticed she wasn’t in class today."

"Or at the dorm this morning. Or anywhere else I could think to look."

"She’s missing?" Riley asked, concern evident on his face.

"I don’t know. She went out of town yesterday. I’m hoping maybe she just
stayed an extra day or something. I’m heading over to Giles’s apartment to
see if she called him or anything."

"Can I come with you?"

"That’d be nice," Buffy replied, smiling slightly when Riley reached out and
took her hand.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Forrest Gates stood for a moment, his brow furrowed thoughtfully. He
flinched slightly as the frisbee Graham Miller threw his way grazed his
shoulder and landed a few feet away in the middle of the path that Buffy and
Riley had walked down just a few moments before. He had clearly heard
Riley’s question to Buffy - ‘Is it Slayer stuff?’ - and the question brought
back a conversation he and Riley had had just a few weeks before... when
Riley had asked about the existence of the Slayer.

Just what the hell was going on?

"Hey! Forrest, you okay man?" Graham called as he jogged over.

"Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine," Forrest replied as he snapped back to attention.
"I just remembered something that I have to do," he told his friend as he
walked over and grabbed the frisbee. He handed it to Graham, then looked at
his friend. "You don’t mind if I bail, do you?"

"No. I’ll see you back at the house. Later, man," Graham said in his usual
easygoing manner before handing off to find another frat buddy to goof off
with.

"Later," Forrest answered softly before turning and heading in the direction
Buffy and Riley had gone.

Something was up with this Summers chick, and he was determined to find out
what it was.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"She was attacked," Giles stated bluntly. It had taken a few minutes for
Buffy to convince Giles that he could speak freely in front of Riley, but
now that he was convinced, the former Watcher decided that the best way to
explain the situation was by doing so in as straightforward a manner as
possible. The stricken look on his Slayer’s face made him question that
choice.

"What? When?" Buffy cried, her eyes wide with shock. "And why wasn’t I
told? Someone should be there with her."

"Someone... oh, dear Lord," Giles murmured. "You don’t know."

"Don’t know what?" the Slayer asked, slightly suspicious.

"She didn’t go to San Diego; she went to Los Angeles, for a spell to de-rat
Amy. She didn’t want to tell you..."

"Oh," Buffy said in a small voice, knowing her friend had lied about where
she was going in order to keep from reminding her of Angel. "Is someone
with Willow? I don’t want her to be alone up there."

"She’s not alone, Buffy. I promise you that."

"Is... is she with Angel?"

"Actually, yes, she is. He had her brought to his apartment this morning,
and he said she can stay there until she’s ready to come home. He assures
me that she is perfectly safe."

"Was it a vampire attack? I mean... what even happened to her?"

"Her attacker was human. She was attacked in broad daylight, and a police
officer stopped it. The officer was actually the one to call me and inform
me of what had happened, and I in turn called Angel. He went to her
immediately."

"That’s good. I’m... I’m glad he was there for her. I’m glad she wasn’t
alone," the small blonde said softly before looking back up at her former
Watcher. "This happened during the day, though. What if this guy comes
back for her? What if he takes her outside or something at four in the
afternoon? Angel wouldn’t exactly be able to follow them. I mean, what
with the sun and all..."

"Wesley and Cordelia can, and they will, if the need arises. But it won’t.
Angel will protect her, Buffy. He won’t let anything happen to Willow; we
both know that. She’s staying in his apartment, which is directly below his
office. No one can get to his home without passing through the office
first. She’ll be safe."

"I know," Buffy admitted. "It’s just... I wish that I could have been there
to protect her, you know?"

"I know," Giles told her quietly. He wished the same thing.

"I almost wish that the guy had been a demon. Then I could go and slay
him," the Slayer mused softly before turning to her boyfriend, who had a
confused look on his face. He didn’t appear to even be listening anymore.
"What is it? What’s wrong?"

"What did you mean when you said that Angel couldn’t follow if the guy came
during the day?" Riley asked. "Why couldn’t he? Isn’t Angel human?"

Buffy and Giles exchanged a nervous glance, and Buffy swallowed hard. After
a moment, though, the Slayer opened her mouth and began to explain.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Forrest stood at the window, his pulse racing. He’d gotten there in time to
hear it all, including Buffy’s quick rundown informing Giles about the
Initiative. Finn had obviously blown his cover, but it appeared that little
Miss Summers had a secret as well. She was the Slayer. That little
revelation alone was exhilarating enough. And now, as he listened to her
disjointed explanation about who Angel was, Forrest grew even more excited.
A vampire with a soul living somewhere in LA. Wouldn’t Walsh have a field
day with that little bit of information?

Smiling broadly, Forrest left his spot by Giles’s window, going in search of
his boss.

Part Six

Willow made her way to the bathroom cautiously, wincing at the various aches
and pains that ran through her tired and abused body. Angel had gone up to
the office a little over an hour before, and Willow figured that she still
had more than enough time for a bath. She had been craving one for awhile
now, knowing that the warm water would soothe her muscles, which were aching
from a combination of being attacked and her subsequent time cooped up in
bed.

Groaning softly at the strain, Willow reached into the cabinet and grabbed
Cordelia’s shampoo and body wash, thankful that the brunette had told her
where to find it. She didn’t think she had the energy to go hunting for
bath products. Willow rolled her shoulders slightly, trying to work the
kinks out of them before grabbing a towel - black, of course - from the
linen closet and going to sit on the edge of the tub.

The tub was massive, clearly an indulgence for the vampire. The bathroom
also housed a rather large glassed-in shower, but Willow wasn’t really in
the mood to stand while bathing. Besides that, after what she had been
through, she figured that she deserved a long soak in this luxurious tub.

Smiling slightly, Willow reached over and turned the water on, working for a
few moments to get it to her preferred temperature before putting the
stopper in the drain. While waiting for the tub to fill, the redhead took
off her borrowed clothes, then went ahead and climbed into the steaming
water. It wasn’t until her entire body was submerged that she realized that
she hadn’t grabbed anything else to wear, but she simply shrugged at that
small oversight. She could borrow some clothes from Cordy’s stash after she
was done. She had plenty of time. Right now, she decided as she settled
in, she was going to enjoy her bath.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Angel ran his hands through his dark, spiky hair as he sat at his desk,
going over a file. He had been up in the office for close to an hour and a
half, and he had hated every minute of it. He hated leaving Willow alone in
his apartment, even though he knew she was completely safe there.

"Angel?"

The vampire’s head came up from the file as Cordelia’s voice pulled him from
his thoughts, and he tried to smile at the pretty brunette. It wasn’t her
fault he was in a bad mood. No, that honor belonged to the guy who had
attacked Willow. "What is it?" he asked Cordelia, trying to sound patient.

"Well, it’s just... your next appointment’s here. You know, the guy whose
prize Chihuahua was stolen?"

"Those are those little dogs that look like overgrown rats, right?"

"Yeah, the Taco Bell dogs."

"Why would anyone steal one of those things?" the vampire asked.

"Beats me," Cordy replied with a shrug. "Look, since this is the last
appointment, can I go ahead and leave? Wesley already has."

"Sure. That’s fine with me. Go ahead. Just send the Chihuahua guy in
first," Angel answered suddenly feeling just a bit better. This was his
last appointment of the day. All he had to do was get through this, then he
could go check on Willow.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Willow hummed quietly as she washed her hair. The water had soothed away
the worst of her aches and pains, and she was feeling much better from her
extended time in Angel’s bathtub. Willow sighed contentedly as she rinsed
the suds from her hair, enjoying the feel of the water and feeling far more
relaxed than she had in quite awhile. After a few more minutes of
relaxation, however, Willow knew it was time to get out. The water was
beginning to lose its warmth, and she still had to find something to wear
before Angel came back downstairs. With a small grumble, the slender
redhead stood up and got out of the bathtub, reaching for her towel.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Angel made his way down to his apartment, trying to be as quiet as possible.
It had occurred to him on his way down that Willow might be sleeping - she
had, after all, had a rough couple of days - and the last thing he wanted to
do was disturb her. Of course, he was still going to check on her... just
peak in, make sure she was comfortable. Then he’d leave her alone. Maybe
he’d make her dinner or something while she slept. He was good at eggs.

Did Willow like eggs?

The vampire entered his room as that thought entered his head, and he
immediately stopped short as his gaze fell on the empty bed. She wasn’t
there. Willow wasn’t there. Oh, man, where was she? Had she found the
underground entrance and left? No, that was foolish. Why would Willow
leave? She wouldn’t, not without telling him first.

Not unless she was forced to.

Oh, no. What if her attacker come back for her and taken her? No. He
wouldn’t know where to look... But what if someone else had come, and they
had found her, and taken her, and...

"Oh!"

The soft exclamation had Angel spinning around in surprise, and his
nonexistent breath caught at the sight before him.

Willow.

The tiny redhead was standing just a few feet away from him, wearing nothing
but a bath sheet. Of course, the large towel was more than big enough to
adequately cover the young woman, but there was still the small fact that
she was wearing only a towel. She had absolutely nothing on underneath, and
they both knew it.

Angel gulped at that thought, and mentally berated himself for entertaining
it, even momentarily. This was Willow. Sweet, innocent Willow. Sure, she
was wet and sweet-smelling from her recent bath, and her damp red hair
gleamed in the low light, but she was still Willow. She was just a
nearly-naked Willow now.

Bad Angel, the vampire mentally berated himself, trying to think of
something else besides what was under that towel. He had never really
thought about Willow that way before - okay, maybe that one time he’d gone
to her bedroom and she’d been wearing her nightgown, but that was it. He
tried to force his thoughts to something else, and he received help when
something caught his eye.

"Angel?" Willow said softly, slightly concerned by the vampire’s silence.
She could have sworn she had seen the beginnings of desire in his eyes, but
now she wasn’t so sure. His eyes were suddenly dark and angry, and she
wasn’t sure why. "Is everything okay?"

Angel stepped closer to the young woman, stopping only when he was mere
inches away. Carefully, his eyes going from angry to sad, he reached out
and ran his finger over the bruise on her collarbone that had caught his
attention. "You’re hurt," he whispered sadly as he touched the bruise
again, this time lingeringly.

"It’s... it’s nothing," Willow managed in a small voice as she looked up at
the vampire. She shivered slightly as his hand made another gentle pass,
this time sweeping up to touch the bruise on her throat before going back to
her collarbone. Angel’s eyes remained trained on the injuries, and Willow
couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking.

The bruise was dark and angry, a nasty splash of color on her otherwise pale
skin. He could feel the fragile bone that rested just underneath the
bruised skin, and it almost hurt him to look at it. It was such a fragile,
helpless spot, really, just as Willow was such a fragile - though not
entirely helpless - person.

He could smell that sweet fragrance of the lavender body wash she had used,
as well as the citrus scent of the shampoo she had used, and the combination
was slightly intoxicating. Perhaps that is the reason Angel did what he did
next. Or maybe it was the sight of that angry mark on Willow’s pale skin.
Or maybe it was just the fact that he had been so worried about the young
woman the past twenty-four hours that he was no longer thinking straight.
Whatever the reason, he would never be able to explain his actions.

Angel continued to tenderly run his fingers over Willow’s injuries, once
more touching the bruise on Willow’s neck as he leaned down slowly,
cautiously, as if trying not to frighten her. The redhead released a soft
sound of surprise as the vampire gently pressed a kiss to the bruise on her
collarbone, just a mere brush of his lips, as if he could kiss the hurt
away. His hand ran up and down the length of her throat before traveling up
to her cheek and moving to her damp hair, playing with the bright red
strands as he repeated the gentle kiss to her collarbone, this time
lingering slightly. He stroked her hair soothingly, causing Willow to lean
into his touch as he continued his ministrations, kissing his way up and
down the bruise. Willow gasped as she felt his cool tongue run along the
length of the mark, leaving a wet trail that sent shivers down her spine.

Willow’s gasp jerked Angel back to reality, and he stepped away quickly,
keeping his eyes closed as they had been for the duration of what had just
happened. What the hell was he thinking? Willow had just been attacked the
day before, for God’s sake, and here he was... What was it exactly that he
was doing, anyway? Good Lord, he had probably terrified the poor girl.
Angel gently untangled his hand from Willow’s hair, and he reluctantly
opened his eyes to look down at her, dreading what he would see.

The tiny redhead stood before him, her hand clutching her towel, which was
still wrapped securely around her thin frame, to her chest. Her eyes were
wide and wet with tears, but he could see that the tears were of confusion,
not of pain or fear. The sight made him sigh with relief. He couldn’t
stand it if his actions had caused hurt her and made her afraid of him, but
he could deal with confusion. He was pretty damn confused himself.

"Angel?" Willow said questioningly, her voice small and fragile.

"I’m sorry, Willow," the vampire told her earnestly as he reached up to tuck
her hair behind her ears. Even damp and uncombed, it felt like silk. "I
don’t know why I did that. I... I don’t know what came over me. I’m... I’m
sorry," he whispered, cursing himself as he realized his hand had somehow
found its way back to the expanse of skin above her towel, and he was once
again stroking her soft skin in the general vicinity of her collarbone. He
quickly jerked his hand away and dropped it at his side, determined to keep
it there.

Willow nodded slowly, not sure of what to say. Angel noticed her reticence
and forced himself to continue on, determined to find a way out of this
decidedly uncomfortable situation. "I just came down to check on you... to
make sure you were okay. And, um, I should leave you now. Now. So, um,

you can get dressed. I think I’ll go make dinner now," the vampire
concluded as he went to make his escape.

Willow stood in shocked silence, trying to make sense of what had just
happened. Where had all this sexual tension suddenly come from? Sure, she
had always thought Angel was gorgeous - what woman wouldn’t? - but it had
always been completely innocent, kind of like he was a celebrity or
something. He was gorgeous, but he was untouchable. Therefore, no
uncomfortable moments where the air crackled with sexuality like it had just
moments before.

Sighing quietly, Willow went over to the vampire’s dresser searching for one
of Angel’s shirts. She so did not need this right now. What she needed was
to rest, then go back to Sunnydale, then...

"Willow?"

The redhead jumped and spun around at the sound of the vampire’s voice, and
she tried to smile at him as he stuck his head in the room. "Yes, Angel?"

"Do you like eggs?"

Part Seven

Dinner, which had ended up being takeout because Angel burned the eggs -
every single one of them - had been a rather uncomfortable affair for both
of them. The sexual tension that had permeated the room could have been cut
with a knife, and almost every conversation they had attempted had ended up
with one of them stuttering in embarrassment over an unintentional double
entendre. They’d even had trouble looking each other in the eye. Even so,
Willow was having a difficult time regretting what had happened in Angel’s
bedroom. It hadn’t even been all that much, really. But it had been
enough.

He had touched her.

It had been a long time since a man had touched her in a way other than
friendship. And Angel’s mouth on her collarbone, his hand stroking her
throat... that couldn’t be construed as friendship, although she wasn’t
exactly sure what is was, either. All she was sure of was that it had felt
amazing.

As the slender redhead turned over in Angel’s bed - the vampire was sleeping
on the couch in the other room - she tried to force all thoughts of
wandering hands and lips out of her mind. Especially the thought of how
good it had felt when his tongue had swept across her collarbone. Yup, that
thought just had to go. No matter how tingly it made her feel inside.

With a sigh, Willow turned over again, beating the pillow into a more
acceptable shape as she tackled the difficult task of trying to force the
image of Angel out of her head so she could get some sleep. The fact that
she was once more wearing one of Angel’s silk shirts - which, of course, had
that scent that was distinctly Angel - as well as sleeping in his bed was
making it all the more difficult. Mumbling to herself, Willow snuggled
deeper under the covers, yawning as she closed her eyes. She really needed
a good eight hours sleep. All that sexual tension had worn her out.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

{ He was kissing her. His lips were soft and cool, and infinitely gentle as
he molded her body to his. Willow reveled in the contrast of temperatures
between them - her warm to his cool - moaning as his lips made a trail down
her throat. She ran her hands over the silk of his shirt, enjoying the feel
of his muscles underneath the soft material.

She gave a soft sound of disappointment when his lips abandoned her throat,
and he chuckled softly. The sound send a delightful shiver down her spine.
The redhead opened her eyes when she felt his hand touch her chin, gently
requesting that she look at him. What she saw nearly took her breath away.

Angel’s eyes, always so dark and sad, were even darker than usual, almost
black, and the sadness in them was gone, replaced by desire. "Are you sure
about this?" he asked her, his voice lower than normal and filled with need.
It sent shivers down her spine, and filled her with awe as well. She
could hear the need in his voice, feel it as he held her against him, and
still, he was asking her if she was sure.

"I’m sure," she whispered as she took Angel’s hand, allowing the vampire to
lead her to the bed. His bed. She smiled as he laid her gently on the bed
then joined her, bracing himself on his arms as he leaned in to kiss her
once more. She closed her eyes as his lips met hers, and she moaned softly
as his hands began to run over her silk-covered skin. Willow pulled her
mouth from his, enjoying how his sound of disappointment turned into a growl
of pleasure as her lips found his throat and she worked her hands into his
short, spiky hair. Enjoying herself immensely, Willow returned her lips to
his, opening her mouth to allow Angel’s tongue inside...

Suddenly, the kisses grew more demanding, an edge of violence curling
through the tenderness and desire that had been so prevalent. His hands,
once so soft and gentle became harsh and grasping, eliciting a whimper of
pain from the tiny redhead. And his hair. His hair, which had felt so soft
just moments before, now felt dirty... oily. His body was pressing
painfully into her, his weight holding her down. Trying not to scream,
Willow pressed her hands against his chest, which was no longer as hard and
muscular, the skin no longer covered with silk. Using all the strength she
could muster, she pushed at him, only managing to force a few inches between
them. A gasping sob escaped the redhead as the man on top of her fisted his
hand in her hair and yanked, trying to force her to hold still. In
retaliation, she lashed out with her bare foot, wincing when she came in
contact with a denim-covered leg. Instead of hurting him, she only
succeeded in making him angrier, and the hand that was fisted in her hair
tightened while the second hand, which had been roaming her body, dug into
the tender skin of her throat. Terrified by the harsh hands, she lashed out
one more time, this time using her fingernails as weapons, dragging them
down the bare skin of his arm while simultaneously biting his lip hard
enough to draw blood.

Swearing loudly, the man pulled back, and Willow opened her eyes to look at
him.

His eyes were still dark, though they were now filled with violence and lust
instead of tenderness and desire. But nothing else was the same. The skin
was tanned to a deep bronze, and the dirty hair that hung limply around his
face was blonde.

Willow opened her mouth to scream as she realized she was staring into the
face of her attacker... }

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Angel gave a violent start as the scream jerked him out of the blissfulness
of sleep. Because he had been sleeping right at the edge of the couch, his
sharp movement sent him tumbling to the floor with a rather undignified
crash. As the vampire shook his head, trying to clear out the cobwebs of
sleep, Willow screamed again. Worry and fear coursing through him, Angel
pulled himself to his feet and ran to the bedroom, limping a bit from the
knee he had landed on when he fell.

The sight before him nearly caused him to burst into tears.

Willow was tossing and turning in the bed, the blankets twisted around her
in such a fashion that she was basically trapped by them. Babbling pleas
escaped her lips, and a frightened scream erupted from her as he cautiously
reached for her. Her evident terror ripped through him, and he grabbed for
her, desperate to shake her awake and force her from whatever nightmare her
subconscious had thrust upon her.

Willow awoke immediately when he shook her, her eyes flying open as she
began to struggle against him.

"No, please, no," she babbled as she shoved at his chest, trying to force
him away from her. "Please let me go. Don’t touch me. Oh, God, don’t
touch me."

Stunned, Angel released the young woman, not even noticing when her final
shove knocked him on his butt. He watched in silence as she yanked the
blankets off of herself, sending them to the floor in a heap. She struggled
to her feet and headed for the bathroom with a frightened Angel at her
heels. Willow was shaking violently, and she ran her hands over herself as
if she was trying to wipe away a bad memory.

A bad memory.

Realization hit him in a flash, and he swore viciously as he entered the
bathroom behind her. He cringed when he saw she was undressing, her hands
jerkily unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing. He reached for her, careful
to keep his touch light, but she still cringed and whimpered when he touched
her. He dropped his hand, his heart breaking as she shied away from him.
As she continued to pull her borrowed clothing off, he left the room,
leaning up against the wall beside the bathroom door. He listened to the
pounding water as Willow turned on the shower, tears rolling down his face
as berated himself for not knowing how to help her. After a moment,
however, a different sound caught his attention as it filtered out into the
room.

Willow’s sobbing.

Cursing once more, Angel went back into the bathroom, his eyes locked on the
figure behind the glass of the enclosed shower. She was huddled in the
corner, great, wrenching sobs coming from her as she scrubbed at her body.

Without giving himself time to think, Angel jerked open the shower door and
stepped inside, still wearing his boxers. He reached down and pulled her up
and into his arms. Willow immediately huddled against him, trembling and
sobbing, and he held her tighter. The feel of her hot tears against his
bare chest was more than enough to make his body remember that this was
about comfort, not desire, as her naked body pressed even more closely to
his nearly naked one. He stroked her hair soothingly, whispering soft words
to her as she continued to cry as if her heart would break.

"Oh, sweetie," he whispered softly, not really expecting a response. "What
happened?"

"He was touching me," the tiny redhead in his arms whimpered. "He wouldn’t
stop touching me... I felt so dirty... I just felt so dirty..." His own
eyes filling with tears once more, Angel pulled her tighter, wanting to
offer her any solace that he could.

They remained that way until the water that beat down on them turned cold.


Part Eight

Willow woke up slowly, fighting her way through the heavy cloud of
unconsciousness. She lay quietly for a few minutes, not even bothering to
open her eyes. Her head pounded with a dull ache, and she felt utterly
exhausted, though she couldn’t explain why. Sighing, Willow started to roll
over, only to discover that she couldn’t. Something was blocking her path.
Something... decidedly human.

Willow’s eyes shot open, and she looked down at herself, stunned to see the
muscled arm wrapped firmly around her middle. And, oh God, her legs were
tangled with his, whoever he was; she could feel his firm thighs pressed
against hers. She quickly pulled her legs away from his, jolting the man
behind her awake in the process.

"Willow? You okay?" Angel’s voice came from behind her, his lips close to
her ear. The grip around Willow’s waist loosened, and the redhead flipped
over to face the slightly blurry-eyed vampire.

"What happened? Why are you in here?" Willow asked as she sat up, wanting
to put a bit of distance between herself and Angel. When she’d turned over,
there had been mere inches between their faces, and she wasn’t ready for
that, not with her heart still racing from the realization that she wasn’t
alone in bed. Angel was so large.... and so obviously male that his
presence disconcerted her a bit, even though she knew in her heart that she
was safe with him.

Though he hated it, the vampire allowed the slender redhead to edge away
from him, knowing that she needed the distance, and that she would probably
need it for awhile longer. The thought had him cursing her attacker yet
again. Sighing, Angel sat up himself, careful to stay on his side of the
bed. "You had a nightmare..." he began, uncertain of what to say to her.
She obviously didn’t recall what had occurred in the shower, and he was
pretty sure he didn’t want to be the one to bring it up.

"I had a nightmare?" Willow repeated, then blushed when Angel nodded. "I’m
so sorry for waking you up. I’m so embarrassed, I can’t believe I did
that..."

"Willow," Angel interrupted, unable to resist putting a comforting hand on
her shoulder. He was thrilled when she didn’t shy away. "It’s okay. It’s
really no big deal..." The vampire trailed off when he saw the confused
look on the redhead’s face. More then a little confused himself, he dropped
his hand from her shoulder.

Willow had followed the path of Angel’s hand with her eyes as it came to
rest on her shoulder, and an expression that could only be described as
stunned crossed her face as she gazed at her own shoulder. Her shoulder
that was no longer covered in the black silk of one of Angel’s shirts, but
in the gray cotton of a lightweight sweater. Her green eyes widening, she
glanced down at herself, as if trying to make sure that what she was seeing
was real.

It was.

"This... this isn’t what I was wearing last night," she said softly, her
voice barely above a whisper as she lifted her head to meet Angel’s eyes.
"I was wearing one of your shirts... Wasn’t I?"

"Uh, yeah... you were," Angel replied carefully, as he glanced in the
general direction of his laundry room where Willow’s clothes from the night
before now resided. He could clearly remember getting Willow out of the
shower, drying her off, and dressing her in one of his sweaters the night
before, and he was pretty sure she was on the verge of remembering it, too.
He just wasn’t entirely sure how she would react to it.

"What... Why?" Willow stuttered as a few foggy memories began coming back to
her. She looked down at the bed, staring at the covers as she twisted the
hem of the sweater restlessly. Suddenly, her eyes flew back up to his,
shock evident in their green depths. "You... me... oh, no... I can’t
believe..."

"Willow, sweetie, calm down," the vampire urged as he reached out to grasp
her slender shoulders. "It’s okay."

"No, it is not!" the redhead countered as she pushed Angel’s hands off of
her shoulders and scrambled of the bed. "I can’t believe this!" she
muttered as she covered her face with her hands. "Oh, Goddess, I am so
embarrassed."

Sighing, Angel rose from his bed and went over to Willow, once again resting
his hands on her shoulders. "Willow, there is nothing for you to be
embarrassed about. You’ve had a tough time, and you needed someone. There
is no reason for you to be embarrassed about that."

"That’s easy for you to say!" Willow protested as her head shot up to look
at him. "You weren’t the one who was naked!" She paused as another thought
came to her. She now remembered how he’d gotten into the shower with her...
"You weren’t naked, were you?"

"No, Willow, I wasn’t," he told her, grinning when he heard her sigh of
relief. He would have been shocked to learn that part of her relief came
from the fact that she hadn’t somehow managed to miss out on Angel being
naked.

"Well, that’s, um, that’s... good," she managed. She was looking everywhere
but him as her blush rose to previously unseen shades of red. "But that
doesn’t change the fact that I was naked."

Angel bit his lip, not sure what to say to her. He knew enough about women
to know that telling her it was no big deal would probably just make it
worse. Besides that, it would be a lie. He had been able to ignore her
nudity while he had comforted her, but once they were out of the close
quarters of his shower, it had been impossible not to notice how incredibly
lovely and desirable she was. Because of that, and because he was terrified
he would do something to frighten her, he had dried her off and dressed her
hurriedly, trying his hardest not to look at her. He’d put her in bed and
covered her even before he had exchanged his drenched boxers for a pair of
pajama pants in hopes that the faster he had her body out of sight, the
faster he could get her out of his mind. Even so, he still had the image of
her naked permanently imprinted on his brain.

Willow continued to look at the floor, taking his silence for derision of
her modesty. After a moment longer, she sighed. "Look, I know it was
probably no big deal to you... I mean, I’m sure you’ve seen hundreds of
women naked, but to me..." She broke off when Angel pressed a finger
against her lips, asking for her silence.

"Don’t say that," he whispered, waiting for her to look up at him before
continuing. "I guess it’s true that I have seen a lot of people naked in my
day, but it’s not true that it wasn’t a big deal to me. You’re beautiful,
Willow, whether you realize it or not." He cringed as she moved away for
him and headed over to his bookcase where she stared blindly at the titles.
Sighing, Angel came to stand behind her, careful not to touch her. "I’m
sorry if my saying that makes you uncomfortable... or scares you. The last
thing I want to do is scare you."

"I’m not scared of you," Willow said with a sigh as she turned around to
face him. "I could never be scared of you. I mean, I trust you completely,
and... well, thank you for taking care of me last night."

"It was-"

"And don’t tell me it was nothing, because it wasn't. It means a lot to
know that I have someone to lean on. It means a lot that you’re there for
me." She sighed and shrugged, her embarrassment still evident. "It was
just a bit of a surprise to suddenly remember... It’s just... well, Oz is
the only other guy who’s seen me naked, so..." she broke off and blushed
again, looking down once more.

Gently, Angel put his hand under Willow’s chin, forcing the slender redhead
to look at him. "You never have to be embarrassed about anything that
happens between us, okay? No matter what happens between us, I will never
look down on you, or think less of you because of it. And you are
beautiful, little one. Never doubt that. Okay?" he asked, grateful to see
that her eyes were staring directly into his.

"Okay," she whispered, closing her eyes when Angel leaned down to press a
gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Good," the vampire said as he pulled her close for a quick hug. As he
pulled back, he began to speak again. "Will you be okay by yourself?" he
asked in an abrupt change of subject that Willow had to admit she was
grateful for.

"Yeah, I’m fine," Willow said. "Go do whatever it is that you have to
do..."

"Well, first, I have to get dressed," the vampire said wryly as he glanced
down at his half-clad body. "Then I’ve got to get to the office.
Cordelia’s supposed to bring breakfast for you, by the way." He paused.
"Are you sure you’ll be okay till she gets here?"

"I’ll be fine, I promise," Willow assured him as she gave him a quick hug.
"You go get ready. I’ll just find a boring old book to read," she told him,
gesturing to his bookcase.

With a nod, Angel turned to do just that, grimacing slightly at the memories
that having Willow’s body pressed against his - however briefly - conjured
up. Memories of long legs and silky hair and pale wet skin...

Oh, yeah, he was definitely taking a cold shower.

Part Nine

"She’s with Deadboy?!?" The outrage in Xander’s first comment was equal to
the concern in his second. "Is she okay?"

"Giles says she is," Buffy offered with a shrug.

"Meaning you haven’t talked to her," Xander concluded as he took a bite out
of a donut, glaring at the Slayer from his seat on Giles’s couch.

Buffy shrugged uncomfortably. "Giles hasn’t either, actually. He’s only
talked to Angel. But Angel said she was okay."

"That’s just wonderful. Angel the vampire, who once lost his soul and ran
around terrorizing us, told Giles that Willow is perfectly fine... And he
actually bought that?"

"Xander..." Buffy warned through clenched teeth, a bit exasperated with her
friend. "Angel has his soul now, and he would never hurt Willow. You know
that."

"Yeah, I do," the young man admitted with a sigh before glancing up at
Buffy, who was standing a few feet away. "I’m just mad at the guy who
attacked Wills. Displaced anger and all that. I’m still surprised that you
haven’t called her yourself, though."

"I wasn’t sure if she’d want to talk to me. I wasn’t sure if she’d want to
talk to anyone. I mean, she has been through a lot. Plus..."

"Angel might have answered the phone?" Xander suggested, sighing when Buffy
nodded guiltily. "I’m a bad, bad friend. We both are."

"And you came up with this theory how? Because we haven’t talked to her?
That doesn’t make us bad friends."

"One of us should have gone with her. We shouldn’t have let her go off on
her own," Xander argued.

"Do you think she would have really let us? Besides that, it’s not like we
knew this was going to happen to her," Buffy reminded Xander as she sat down
on the couch beside him.

"But... but I wasn’t there for her. I didn’t even know where she was."

"She told us she was going to San Diego, not LA. How could we have known
where she was?"

"That doesn’t change the fact that I’m a lousy friend. I mean, I should
have known she was lying... She’s a bad liar, you know that. She stutters
and she turns red. And let’s not even mention that whole thing where I
forgot she was going out of town. Spike remembered, but I didn’t. Isn’t
that just great? The bloodsucking demon recalled precisely what she said to
me, yet I had no clue."

"There is that," Buffy conceded as she leaned back against the cushions of
Giles’s couch.

"Thank you, Buffy, I feel much better now."

"Glad I could help," the Slayer responded as perkily as she could before
giving up and sighing. Leaning forward so she could look in her friend’s
face, she covered his hand with one of her own. "I know you’re worried
about her. We both are. I mean, Willow’s our best friend, and we love her.
It’s only natural to wish we were there for her... to feel guilty that we
weren’t. But she’s safe now. Angel’s with her, and no matter what you may
think about him, you and I both know he would never let anything hurt her."

"I know," Xander admitted with a sigh as he turned his hand over so that he
could link it with Buffy’s. "I’m just worried about her is all. But I know
Angel won’t let anything happen to her."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Are you absolutely certain about what you heard, Agent Gates?" Professor
Maggie Walsh asked, her eyes calmly assessing the man at her side as she
strolled through the halls of the Initiative.

"Positive," he said with a brisk nod.

"Very well then. Come with me," the head of the Initiative said as she led
Forrest into her office in the underground compound. She gestured for him
to be seated as she shut her door, then sat down behind her desk, a
thoughtful look on her face. "I’ve never heard of a vampire with a soul
before. It’s quite an... interesting concept. It definitely needs to be
explored." The professor tapped her fingernails against her desk for a
moment, then looked up at Forrest, her gaze sharp. "And Riley... Agent
Finn... knows about this? He knows about this vampire?"

"Riley was the one Summers was explaining the situation to. It seems that
one of her friends was attacked, and the vampire is currently looking after
the girl."

"Interesting," Maggie said, trying not to grit her teeth. She refused to
believe that Riley would keep something like this from her, instead choosing
to believe that Forrest Gates simply got to her before Riley could. Riley
had been still been in the company of this Summers person when Forrest had
left, hadn’t he? She’d just have to wait, and he would come to her and
explain things. "And who exactly in this Summers person?"

"She’s Buffy Summers. She’s Riley’s new girlfriend. They just started
seeing one another."

Maggie’s eyes widened as she realized just who Gates was talking about.
Buffy Summers... the slender, slightly flighty blonde that was in one of her
introductory psychology classes. Dear Lord, what was Riley thinking getting
involved with that girl? "And how did Miss Summers come to know such
things?" she asked calmly.

"It seems that she thinks she is the Slayer, if you can believe that,"
Forrest said with a smirk before sobering. "Riley seems to be buying her
story, too. She was in a hurry this morning, and I heard him ask her if it
was about Slayer stuff. That’s why I followed them in the first place."

"Slayer stuff? I’d always been led to believe that the Slayer was a myth,"
Walsh said thoughtfully, her brow furrowed.

"She probably is."

"And if she isn’t, Agent Gates? It would explain why Miss Summers knows
about vampires. And it would explain Agent Finn’s fascination with the
girl."

Forrest nodded slowly, although he was pretty sure Riley’s fascination with
Buffy had more to do with her tight clothes than the possibility that she
was the Slayer. "That could be true."

"Of course, even if Summers isn’t a Slayer, which is distinct possibility,
especially considering the fact that we’ve never found any proof that the
story was anything other than a myth, the fact still remains that the girl
does know about vampires. Perhaps in her contact with them, she learned of
the myth of the Slayer, and she decided to call herself one."

"I believe she may know about the Initiative as well," Forrest said quietly.

"What?"

"Actually, I know she does. They were discussing the group," he told heard,
leaving out the fact that another man had been present during the
discussion. The British man hadn’t look dangerous, and Forrest preferred to
leave him out of it.

"Are you certain of this?" Maggie asked, her surprise evident on her face.

"Yes. If he believes she’s the Slayer, and he seems to, then he may think
it’s okay to tell her about us."

"Yes, you may be right. We should probably keep an eye on her - without
Agent Finn’s knowledge. Despite what you’ve told me, I don’t doubt that his
loyalties still lie with us. However, I still don’t want him to know about
this. He could still slip up and tell her that we’re watching her. Perhaps
I’ll assign Agent Miller to that duty."

"And the vampire?"

"Yes, the vampire. What did you say his name was? Angel?"

"That was what Summers called him."

"Quite the misnomer... A demon named Angel," Professor Walsh said with
something resembling a smile before schooling her features back to normal.
"And he runs an investigative agency?"

"Yes. I believe Summers made a comment about an ‘Angel Investigations.’ It
was also mentioned that he lives in an apartment below his office."

"Which should make it easier for you to locate him."

"Me?" Forrest asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"Yes, you. I’m sending you to LA. If you think you can capture him on your
own, do so. Otherwise, contact me, and I’ll have reinforcements sent."

"Yes, ma’am."

Maggie smiled and nodded his dismissal. "I’ll expect to hear from you soon.
Oh, and Agent Gates?" she said as Forrest turned to go.

"Yes?"

"If you see Agent Miller, tell him I’d like to see him."

"I’ll do that."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

As the doorknob to Maggie Walsh’s office turned, Graham Miller hurried from
his position just outside the door, quickly making his way towards the
elevator that would take him upstairs to Lowell House. His mind was
spinning from everything he had just overheard. With a sigh, he entered the
elevator, quickly pushing the button to close the door, thankful he had
managed to get out of the compound without being seen by Forrest.

He had to find Riley.


Part Ten

"You know, you should wear my clothes more often. Either that, or you
should get yourself some just like them," Cordelia said perkily as she
studied the small redhead before her. "They look good on you."

"Thanks," Willow said softly as she looked down at herself. Angel didn’t
have any mirrors, so she was going to have to take Cordy’s word for it when
it came to how she looked, but the clothes were comfortable. The brunette
had kept the clothing she had brought over simple - just a knee-length skirt
and a sleeveless top. The shirt had a high neck that covered some of
Willow’s bruises, including the one on her collarbone that Angel had found
so fascinating. Quickly pushing that little memory out of her head, the
redhead looked down at herself once more, just to check. Given the height
difference between the two young women, the skirt was a bit long, but it
still looked good. Thankfully, it had turned out that both Willow and
Cordelia wore the same shoe size, so Willow had been able to borrow shoes to
match from the brunette. The sneakers she had with her would have looked
terrible with the outfit she was wearing.

"It’s really got to be a relief for you to be getting out of Angel’s
shirts," Cordelia continued as she popped a donut hole in her mouth. She
had brought breakfast along with her offering of clothes - donuts and coffee
for herself, Willow, and Wesley. Since Angel wasn’t exactly on solid foods,
she’d just brought him some coffee.

"Yeah, I guess so," Willow said, not wanting to admit to the other girl just
how much she had enjoyed wearing the vampire’s clothes. They’d made her
feel surrounded by him, and that in turn made her feel safe. Angel made her
feel safe.

"You guess so? Please! Think about it. Now, since you’re, well,
completely dressed, you can come up to the office and keep me company all
day. And, if we wanted to, we could actually go out to lunch, thank you
very much. You couldn’t exactly do that when you were parading around in
Angel’s shirts, now could you?"

"Not without raising a few eyebrows, that’s for sure," Willow admitted with
a rueful grin. She hated to admit it, but she was actually enjoying the
brunette’s company, and she was looking forward to spending the day with
Cordy.

"See. And I’m right as always," Cordelia said, brandishing a donut hole
emphatically before popping it into her mouth. "Oh, wait!" the brunette
exclaimed as she reached for her purse, a move that nearly caused her to
tumble off the table she was sitting on. "I almost forgot," she continued
as she dug around in her purse. She smiled triumphantly as she pulled out a
small mirror and handed it to Willow. "Here. You can at least check your
makeup now." She watched the redhead expectantly as the other girl the
mirror. Cordelia had supplied the makeup along with the clothes, and she’d
had fun giving Willow a mini makeover. She just hoped the other girl
realized how good she looked.

"I look... wow," Willow said as she looked in the mirror. Cordy had kept it
subtle, but had emphasized her eyes, making them seem even larger and
somehow mysterious. Smiling, she returned the mirror to the brunette.
"Thanks, Cordy. You’ll have to show me how to do that."

"Cool. It’s too bad you can’t see the whole effect, though. I mean, the
clothes and everything. Angel so needs to get a mirror down here," the
vampire’s secretary said as she put her mirror back in her purse and hopped
off the kitchen table.

"He’s a vampire. Mirrors would be pretty useless."

"Not to me. Come on, we probably should get up to the office," Cordy said
as she gathered her purse, the bakery bag that held the rest of the donut
holes, and her coffee. "Let’s go see if you can make Wesley stutter."

"What if I don’t want to make Wesley stutter?"

"Oh, come on. Give it a try. It’s fun."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Kate Lockley entered the precinct, nodding randomly to her coworkers as she
made her way to her desk. A few said hello, but none tried for a polite
conversation, probably because her bad mood was written on her face. One of
her busts had gotten off today, thanks to the vigilant efforts of Wolfram
and Hart. Damn lawyers. One of these days, she was going to catch them in
something illegal and send them to jail. Yeah, and one day she was going to
be Miss America, too.

"Kate!"

The blonde detective turned to see who was calling to her and she sighed.
"What is it, Randy? Today has not been good," she told him, hoping that
would convince Detective Randell Newbourne that now was not the time to
continue his quest to get her to go out with him. She always said no, and
would always continue to do so. She just didn’t believe in dating someone
she worked with.

"And it’s gotten worse," the detective in question said as he fell in step
beside Kate. "New case. I already dropped the file off at your desk.
Kidnapping. A girl named Sophia McGuire. Signs of a break-in, signs of a
struggle. A neighbor admits that she heard a scream sometime around eleven
last night, but did nothing about it at the time. Stupid." With a shake of
his head, Randy continued. "I’ve got an interview set up with the parents.
I’ll see if I can get them to remember anything they didn’t remember last
night. Then I’m going around the neighborhood to question anyone with eyes
or ears to see if they’ve got anything. I want you with me."

"Okay."

"We leave in about an hour for the parents. Is that enough time for you to
look over the file? There’s really not much information in it."

"I’ll be ready," Kate replied as she sat at her desk, already picking up the
file. "I’ll meet you at your car in an hour." With a nod, Randy left, and
Kate opened up the file, only to be met with a picture of the missing girl.

According to the report Kate held in her hands, the girl’s full name was
Sophia Elizabeth McGuire, and she was eighteen years old. A senior in high
school. She’d been at home the night before, studying for an important
test. Her parents claimed no one was expected to come over. They
themselves had gone out with colleagues of Mr. McGuire’s. The broken window
in the living room told of the forced entry, and the broken lamps and
overturned furniture told that Sophia had definitely tried to fight off her
attacker. This was no teenager who ran away because of pressure or family
troubles. This was a kidnapping, plain and simple.

But that wasn’t what caught and held Kate’s attention. That honor went to
the picture in her hand.

It was a lovely shot; an eight by ten that read ‘Sophia 2000’ in gold
lettering at the corner. A senior picture. Sophia’s face stared back at
her. Pale skin, green eyes, red hair. With her brow furrowed, Kate looked
at the physical description of the girl, not at all surprised to discover
that the girl was described as petite, her estimated height and weight at
5’3" and around 105 pounds. Small, slender, fragile. Red hair. Green
eyes.

The similarities weren’t what one would call striking. The girls had
different facial structures. Sophia’s face was rounder, her lips fuller.
Willow’s eyes were larger, and the older girl’s hair was shorter. But it
still sent a warning chill down Kate’s spine.

Without a second thought, Kate pulled out the file on Willow’s attacker,
checking the address given, then went off in search of Randy. She didn’t
think they’d be making that meeting with Sophia’s parents today.

They had somewhere else to be.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Forrest Gates walked past the building again, trying to see inside without
anyone noticing that was what he was doing. Yup. He was right. That’s
what the sign said.

‘Angel Investigations.’

The young man shook his head. This was almost too easy. And something
about it didn’t feel right. He’d surreptitiously run a scan on the office,
and it had come up with three human occupants. No vampires. Of course,
Forrest reasoned, the British guy had reminded Buffy that Angel’s apartment
was under his office. They dead guy could still be down there.

Or not.

Forrest watched out of the corner of his eye as a man came up into the main
office, stepping out of an elevator. Both women in the office - Forrest
knew one of them to be Buffy’s redheaded friend, the one who had been
attacked by Hostile 17 - greeted him with a smile, and the brunette handed
him a cup that proclaimed it was from a coffee shop just down the street. A
vamp that drank coffee and exchanged pleasantries with humans? Not exactly
normal. Of course, Forrest reminded himself, this particular vamp was
supposed to have soul, if you could believe that.

Forrest couldn’t. No, he didn’t believe Angel had a soul anymore than he
believed Buffy Summers was a Slayer. He just thought Angel was a damn good
actor and that everyone around the vampire was a fool.

Of course, they could be dangerous fools, which meant he couldn’t just go in
there, bag the hostile, and be on his way. He had to catch him alone, had
to surprise him.

And what better way to surprise him than to catch him alone in his
apartment?

Forrest smiled at the idea. He’d go down, wait for the vamp, shoot him with
a stun gun, then drag him back to Sunnydale. And there had to be a way to
get to the apartment without the others seeing him. There had to be another
way into Angel’s apartment besides the office. This was after all, sunny
California, and vampires certainly had a bit of a problem with sunlight. It
would make sense to have an underground entrance that led to say... the
sewers, or somewhere else equally as dark and dank, wouldn’t it? Of course
it would.

Now he just had to find it.

Part Eleven

Cordelia sat at her desk, humming to herself, not even caring that the
sounds were a bit off-key. Although she hated the reason why Willow was
still in LA, she was grateful for the company of another female. And not
just any female, either: Willow was someone she knew she could trust. That,
coupled with the fact that the redhead had spent the day fixing the filing
system (which was admittedly a mess of her own making) and telling her all
about life on the Hellmouth, had put the brunette in a better-than-usual
mood. Hence the humming.

"Cordy, you need to stop that. Angel’s going to think you’ve been possessed
or something," Willow teased. Cordelia responded to the comment in the most
mature way possible: she stuck out her tongue, then resumed her humming.

Willow smiled at her friend’s antics as she exchanged a laughing look with
Wesley. The former Watcher had been extremely cautious around her at first,
probably afraid he would somehow frighten her or something, but he had
thawed out as the day wore on, and Willow had discovered that she rather
liked the Englishman. He wasn’t nearly as uptight as she had originally
believed, and she had found herself actually enjoying his company.

"Wesley, could you come in here for a moment?" Angel’s voice floated in
from the other room, and Wesley handed the file he was holding to Willow as
he stood.

"Duty calls," the former Watcher muttered quietly, and the redhead smiled in
response before turning her attention to the file in her hand. It was for a
Mrs. Ingrid Bauer, and she had apparently been filed in the S’s. Given
Cordy’s reasoning when it came to filing, it was probably Angel
Investigations had helped her find her missing Shih Tzu. Either that, or it
was because the woman lived on Spring Street. Sighing, the redhead put the
file in its proper place, then moved on to the next one. While she was
trying to figure out just how Wanda Michaels ended up in the U’s, she heard
the sound of the bell that signaled that someone had just entered the
office. Frowning, Willow glanced at her watch, confirming that it was
indeed over an hour past the closing time posted on the door.

Cordelia apparently had the same thought. "I’m sorry, we’re closed right...
Kate!" The brunette’s eyes widened as she took in the sight of the police
detective, and she immediately rose from her seat and went over to the
blonde woman. "Are you okay?" she asked, taking in the weary, defeated look
in Kate’s eyes.

"I’ve been much, much better." the older woman allowed as she let Cordelia
lead her to the chair that the brunette had so recently vacated. "I... I
have some news," she said softly, glancing at Willow. The redhead nodded
her understanding and quickly left the room to go get Angel and Wesley. She
knew the men would want to know what was going on, and she didn’t think she
was going to want anything to be said twice.

Biting her lip, Cordelia looked down at the detective and shifted from foot
to foot, uncertain of what she should do. "So, um, do you want some
coffee?" she offered tentatively. "Willow made it this afternoon, so it’s
actually good."

"Yeah. Coffee would be good," Kate muttered, trying to find those steel
nerves she was so famous for at the precinct. It was just that it had been
such a long day, and she was so tired... and well, it was just everything,
actually. After taking a few sips of the coffee Cordelia had handed to her
- which really was quite good, although she couldn’t make out what blend it
was - Kate was feeling together enough to look up when Willow, Angel, and
Wesley entered the room.

Much to Kate’s surprise and relief, the redhead looked much better than she
had just a day or so ago. Since Kate knew that bruises on the throat and
scrapes on the cheek didn’t disappear in a day’s time, she was certain that
at least some of Willow’s improved appearance was due to the wonders of
make-up. Even so, it was clear that the redhead was more at ease and a
great deal less shaky than she had been the day before.

"Well, now that we’re all here," the redhead said quietly as Angel sat down
in the chair she had been using just moments before. "I guess it’s time to
find out what happened."

Kate nodded slowly. "Yes, I suppose it is." Taking a deep breath, the
woman decided to simply plunge in. "The man who attacked you is named
Richard Sawyer. You’ll probably hear his name on the news quite a bit in
the near future. He’s been arrested."

"But that’s good, isn’t it?" Cordelia asked, a confused look on her face.
"I mean, he can’t get to Willow now that he’s in jail..."

"What happened?" Willow asked, certain that her heart stopped while she
waited for Kate’s answer.

"He attacked someone else. A girl. Her name’s Sophia McGuire. We found
her at his house, chained and beaten. She survived, but..."

"But what?" Angel questioned quietly when Kate trailed off.

"We found the bodies of five other girls in his apartment."

"Oh, God," Willow whispered as her knees turned to jelly. The offending
limbs gave out on her, and she sat down hard on the chair behind her.
Unfortunately, that chair was already occupied by Angel. When Willow
realized she was now sitting in the vampire’s lap, the redhead started to
rise, only to be stopped when Angel wrapped his arm around her waist,
effectively holding her in place. With a sigh, the young witch leaned back
against him, accepting the comfort he seemed to be offering.

Angel wasn’t just offering comfort, however. He was also seeking
reassurance. He needed to feel Willow’s warmth against him; he needed to
hear her heart beat. He needed to know that she was alive, that Sawyer
hadn’t taken her, too.

"How?" Wesley asked, his voice filled with sadness and anger. "How could he
manage to do that to so many girls without getting caught?"

The Englishman’s question was clearly rhetorical, but Kate answered anyway.
"I don’t know. He was careful, I guess. If I hadn’t made the connection
between the cases, he would have gotten away with killing Sophia."

"What do you mean, ‘the connection’?" Willow asked. "What connection?"

Kate winced at the thought of telling the others the connection, but she
knew that she would rather have them hear it from her than on the news.
And, given the tendency for major cases like this to be leaked to the press,
she knew she had better tell them everything so that there would be no
surprises later. Taking a deep breath, the detective began. "She...
Sophia... There are similarities in your builds, your hair color, even your
eye color. Small, slender, red hair, green eyes. The same is true for the
bodies we’ve found. They’ve all been identified, and they range in age from
seventeen to twenty. We’re looking to see if their have been others.
Here... somewhere else, we aren’t sure. He made it sound like there might
be more, but we can’t get him to tell us where to look."

"But why? Why is he after women who look like that?" Cordelia asked, a
stricken look on her face. She hated the fact that she had been momentarily
relieved to be tall with brown hair and hazel eyes. She felt that she
should be more worried for Willow than for herself at the moment, even if
the bastard was in jail.

"He’s looking for Delilah," Kate replied. "We don’t know who she is, or
what she is to him, but that’s all he’ll tell us. He has to find Delilah.
He told us that once he finds her, it’ll stop. But it can’t stop until
then." Sighing, the blonde woman put down her coffee mug, then rubbed her
hands over her face wearily. After a moment, she lifted her eyes to gaze at
Willow. "He said he found her a couple of days ago, but she got away. He
said it was my fault that she got away."

"He thinks..." Willow whispered, trailing off in shock as the full
implications of what Kate had said hit her. "He thinks I’m her?" she asked,
this time able to finish her question.

Kate nodded sadly. "I’m only telling you this in case he gets out. He
won’t be permitted bail, not with everything that’s happened, but... he’s
tricky. He’s killed five women in the past two years, and we don’t know how
far back his crimes really go, and if he escapes..."

"He’d come after me."

"Yes."

"Because he thinks I’m Delilah. But if he thinks I’m Delilah, then why did
he take Sophia? Was it because he was mad that I got away, and he had to
take it out on someone?"

"Willow, don’t do this to yourself," Angel said as the redhead pushed
herself off of his lap.

"Why not? It’s true, isn’t it? " Willow asked, glancing wildly at Kate as
a gasping sob escaped her. All she could think about was the fact that
Sophia had been taken because of her. It was her fault.

Her fault.

"Willow, please-" Angel began, standing up as he reached for her. Willow
shrugged his arm off her shoulders.

"No! I just... I have to get out of here. Excuse me," she managed as she
pushed past him and ran for the elevator that went down to the vampire’s
apartment.

Without a second glance at the others, Angel followed her.

Part Eleven

Cordelia sat at her desk, humming to herself, not even caring that the
sounds were a bit off-key. Although she hated the reason why Willow was
still in LA, she was grateful for the company of another female. And not
just any female, either: Willow was someone she knew she could trust. That,
coupled with the fact that the redhead had spent the day fixing the filing
system (which was admittedly a mess of her own making) and telling her all
about life on the Hellmouth, had put the brunette in a better-than-usual
mood. Hence the humming.

"Cordy, you need to stop that. Angel’s going to think you’ve been possessed
or something," Willow teased. Cordelia responded to the comment in the most
mature way possible: she stuck out her tongue, then resumed her humming.

Willow smiled at her friend’s antics as she exchanged a laughing look with
Wesley. The former Watcher had been extremely cautious around her at first,
probably afraid he would somehow frighten her or something, but he had
thawed out as the day wore on, and Willow had discovered that she rather
liked the Englishman. He wasn’t nearly as uptight as she had originally
believed, and she had found herself actually enjoying his company.

"Wesley, could you come in here for a moment?" Angel’s voice floated in
from the other room, and Wesley handed the file he was holding to Willow as
he stood.

"Duty calls," the former Watcher muttered quietly, and the redhead smiled in
response before turning her attention to the file in her hand. It was for a
Mrs. Ingrid Bauer, and she had apparently been filed in the S’s. Given
Cordy’s reasoning when it came to filing, it was probably Angel
Investigations had helped her find her missing Shih Tzu. Either that, or it
was because the woman lived on Spring Street. Sighing, the redhead put the
file in its proper place, then moved on to the next one. While she was
trying to figure out just how Wanda Michaels ended up in the U’s, she heard
the sound of the bell that signaled that someone had just entered the
office. Frowning, Willow glanced at her watch, confirming that it was
indeed over an hour past the closing time posted on the door.

Cordelia apparently had the same thought. "I’m sorry, we’re closed right...
Kate!" The brunette’s eyes widened as she took in the sight of the police
detective, and she immediately rose from her seat and went over to the
blonde woman. "Are you okay?" she asked, taking in the weary, defeated look
in Kate’s eyes.

"I’ve been much, much better." the older woman allowed as she let Cordelia
lead her to the chair that the brunette had so recently vacated. "I... I
have some news," she said softly, glancing at Willow. The redhead nodded
her understanding and quickly left the room to go get Angel and Wesley. She
knew the men would want to know what was going on, and she didn’t think she
was going to want anything to be said twice.

Biting her lip, Cordelia looked down at the detective and shifted from foot
to foot, uncertain of what she should do. "So, um, do you want some
coffee?" she offered tentatively. "Willow made it this afternoon, so it’s
actually good."

"Yeah. Coffee would be good," Kate muttered, trying to find those steel
nerves she was so famous for at the precinct. It was just that it had been
such a long day, and she was so tired... and well, it was just everything,
actually. After taking a few sips of the coffee Cordelia had handed to her
- which really was quite good, although she couldn’t make out what blend it
was - Kate was feeling together enough to look up when Willow, Angel, and
Wesley entered the room.

Much to Kate’s surprise and relief, the redhead looked much better than she
had just a day or so ago. Since Kate knew that bruises on the throat and
scrapes on the cheek didn’t disappear in a day’s time, she was certain that
at least some of Willow’s improved appearance was due to the wonders of
make-up. Even so, it was clear that the redhead was more at ease and a
great deal less shaky than she had been the day before.

"Well, now that we’re all here," the redhead said quietly as Angel sat down
in the chair she had been using just moments before. "I guess it’s time to
find out what happened."

Kate nodded slowly. "Yes, I suppose it is." Taking a deep breath, the
woman decided to simply plunge in. "The man who attacked you is named
Richard Sawyer. You’ll probably hear his name on the news quite a bit in
the near future. He’s been arrested."

"But that’s good, isn’t it?" Cordelia asked, a confused look on her face.
"I mean, he can’t get to Willow now that he’s in jail..."

"What happened?" Willow asked, certain that her heart stopped while she
waited for Kate’s answer.

"He attacked someone else. A girl. Her name’s Sophia McGuire. We found
her at his house, chained and beaten. She survived, but..."

"But what?" Angel questioned quietly when Kate trailed off.

"We found the bodies of five other girls in his apartment."

"Oh, God," Willow whispered as her knees turned to jelly. The offending
limbs gave out on her, and she sat down hard on the chair behind her.
Unfortunately, that chair was already occupied by Angel. When Willow
realized she was now sitting in the vampire’s lap, the redhead started to
rise, only to be stopped when Angel wrapped his arm around her waist,
effectively holding her in place. With a sigh, the young witch leaned back
against him, accepting the comfort he seemed to be offering.

Angel wasn’t just offering comfort, however. He was also seeking
reassurance. He needed to feel Willow’s warmth against him; he needed to
hear her heart beat. He needed to know that she was alive, that Sawyer
hadn’t taken her, too.

"How?" Wesley asked, his voice filled with sadness and anger. "How could he
manage to do that to so many girls without getting caught?"

The Englishman’s question was clearly rhetorical, but Kate answered anyway.
"I don’t know. He was careful, I guess. If I hadn’t made the connection
between the cases, he would have gotten away with killing Sophia."

"What do you mean, ‘the connection’?" Willow asked. "What connection?"

Kate winced at the thought of telling the others the connection, but she
knew that she would rather have them hear it from her than on the news.
And, given the tendency for major cases like this to be leaked to the press,
she knew she had better tell them everything so that there would be no
surprises later. Taking a deep breath, the detective began. "She...
Sophia... There are similarities in your builds, your hair color, even your
eye color. Small, slender, red hair, green eyes. The same is true for the
bodies we’ve found. They’ve all been identified, and they range in age from
seventeen to twenty. We’re looking to see if their have been others.
Here... somewhere else, we aren’t sure. He made it sound like there might
be more, but we can’t get him to tell us where to look."

"But why? Why is he after women who look like that?" Cordelia asked, a
stricken look on her face. She hated the fact that she had been momentarily
relieved to be tall with brown hair and hazel eyes. She felt that she
should be more worried for Willow than for herself at the moment, even if
the bastard was in jail.

"He’s looking for Delilah," Kate replied. "We don’t know who she is, or
what she is to him, but that’s all he’ll tell us. He has to find Delilah.
He told us that once he finds her, it’ll stop. But it can’t stop until
then." Sighing, the blonde woman put down her coffee mug, then rubbed her
hands over her face wearily. After a moment, she lifted her eyes to gaze at
Willow. "He said he found her a couple of days ago, but she got away. He
said it was my fault that she got away."

"He thinks..." Willow whispered, trailing off in shock as the full
implications of what Kate had said hit her. "He thinks I’m her?" she asked,
this time able to finish her question.

Kate nodded sadly. "I’m only telling you this in case he gets out. He
won’t be permitted bail, not with everything that’s happened, but... he’s
tricky. He’s killed five women in the past two years, and we don’t know how
far back his crimes really go, and if he escapes..."

"He’d come after me."

"Yes."

"Because he thinks I’m Delilah. But if he thinks I’m Delilah, then why did
he take Sophia? Was it because he was mad that I got away, and he had to
take it out on someone?"

"Willow, don’t do this to yourself," Angel said as the redhead pushed
herself off of his lap.

"Why not? It’s true, isn’t it? " Willow asked, glancing wildly at Kate as
a gasping sob escaped her. All she could think about was the fact that
Sophia had been taken because of her. It was her fault.

Her fault.

"Willow, please-" Angel began, standing up as he reached for her. Willow
shrugged his arm off her shoulders.

"No! I just... I have to get out of here. Excuse me," she managed as she
pushed past him and ran for the elevator that went down to the vampire’s
apartment.

Without a second glance at the others, Angel followed her.


Part Twelve

Instead of waiting for the elevator that would take him down to his
apartment to return, Angel headed for the stairs and took them two or three
at a time, actually managing to beat the redhead down. The worried vampire
was already standing in front of the elevator door when Willow blindly
pulled the cage up and stepped out, running directly into him. He
immediately reached out and grabbed her arms, holding her against him.

The redhead gasped in shock as she unexpectedly collided with a hard body,
and Willow looked up through tear-filled eyes to see Angel in front up her.
Somehow, he had gotten down into the apartment before her. Damn him and his
vampire speed. She should have known that he would do something like this.
Quickly, the redhead shrugged his arms away and turned around, about to go
back in the direction she had come from.

"Oh, no, you don’t," Angel said softly, turning her around and pulling her
into his arms once more.

"Let me go!"

"No, little one. Not this time," the vampire responded.

"Please, just leave me alone," she begged, once more trying to head for the
elevator. "Just... I’ve got to go."

"Do you really want to go back up there with them?" he asked, still not
releasing her. He kept his grip firm, but was careful to make sure it
remained gentle as well. He didn’t want to hurt her; he just wanted to
reason with her. "Do you want to be with the me, or do you want to be with
the others? Those are your choices."

"Please, Angel... Just let me go," she whispered, her voice breaking. She
tried to pull away from him, but he held fast.

"Why? So you can lock yourself up alone and brood?"

"It’s what you would do," Willow shot back weakly, finally ceasing her
struggles and leaning against him. He was just too strong; she couldn’t get
away from him.

"And I’m obviously the person you should model your behavior after," Angel
said wryly as he pulled Willow closer and began stroking her hair. He hoped
that she would cry herself out in his arms now without argument, but that
was not to be.

With a strangled sob, the slender witch pushed herself out of Angel’s arms,
succeeding only because the vampire had relaxed his grip on her.

"Willow?" he questioned, reaching for her.

"Don’t! I don’t... I don’t deserve this... your comfort."

"What?" Angel asked, stunned. How could she say something like that? How
could she possibly believe it?

"I don’t... Oh, God... Don’t you see? This is my fault! What happened to
Sophia... My fault..." Now sobbing uncontrollably, the redhead made her way
to Angel’s bedroom, the stunned vampire trailing behind her.

"What? Willow, no," he told her as he stumbled after. He whirled her
around, then grasped her arms, determined to make her look at him. "How can
you even think that?"

"If I... If I hadn’t gotten away..." she told him, desperation in her voice.

"If you hadn’t escaped, he would have raped you and killed you," Angel
stated forcefully, shaking her slightly.

"Didn’t you hear Kate in there? He went after Sophia because I got away!"
Willow cried. "It’s my fault, Angel! My fault!" Tears ran down her face
unchecked, and her chest was heaving with the force of her crying. "My
fault," she repeated a bit more quietly, choking on a sob.

"No, it’s not! This is not your fault," Angel nearly shouted, trying to get
through to the girl in front of him. It was breaking his heart to see her
like this. For the millionth time in the past two days, he found himself
wishing for some time alone with Willow’s attacker. Oh, how he would love
to torture that bastard. But first, he had to make Willow see that she was
not to blame for what had happened. "First of all, Kate’s the one who got
you away from him. You don’t blame her, do you?" Without waiting for her
answer, he continued, knowing that he had gotten her attention with that
comment. She looked stunned that he would even suggest such a thing. "And
if you hadn’t gotten away, then Kate wouldn’t have been able to make the
connection between you and Sophia. Sawyer would still be free, and Sophia
would be dead."

"If I hadn’t been rescued, he wouldn’t have gone after Sophia in the first
place," Willow ground out.

"You can’t be sure of that. We both know you’re not Delilah, which means he
would have figured it out, too. And then he would have gone out again, and
found someone... maybe Sophia, maybe someone else, I don’t know. But he
would have kept doing this. He would have kept killing people. No one
would have known how to stop him. And he would’ve gotten you," Angel told
her, his voice filled with suppressed emotion. Just the thought of that guy
having Willow made his stomach turn. "He would’ve killed you, and I don’t
think I could have handled that."

The redhead simply looked at him for a moment, emotions he couldn’t quite
discern crossing her face. After a moment, she spoke again. "But don’t you
see?" Willow insisted. "If it wasn’t for me-"

"No, baby, I’m not going to let you do this to yourself. You’re not to
blame here." Seeing that she was about to stubbornly deny it once more, he
let her go and stepped back, ready to try a something a bit different.
"Okay, then I may as well blame myself. I mean," he said, pretending to be
deep in thought, "I could have found out where he lived... I’m sure Kate
would’ve told me. She’s a cop, she has access to things like that. Then,
in order to get around that whole ‘I need an invitation’ thing, I could have
simply hired someone to kill him. If I’d done that yesterday, then he
wouldn’t have been alive to attack Sophia."

Willow stared at him for a moment, her face defiant. "That’s ridiculous,"
she shot back, hastily wiping at the tears that were still falling down her
face.

"You’re right, it is," Angel admitted, nodding his head as he cautiously
approached the redhead once more. "Completely foolish. And you’re not to
blame any more than I am. Sawyer’s the one to blame here, Willow," he told
her as he reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders. For once, she
didn’t try to shrug them away. "He’s the bastard. He’s the one who hurt
you. He’s the one who hurt Sophia."

Willow nodded slowly, her lower lip trembling. "I know," she whispered, her
voice breaking. "It’s just..."

"It’s hard," Angel finished for her as he wrapped her in his arms, holding
her close as she finally began to accept his comfort. He could feel her hot
tears through the thin material of his silk shirt. "I know it’s hard,
sweetie. But sometimes... there’s just nothing you could’ve done."

He felt Willow nod against his chest, and he sighed in relief as he began to
stroke her back soothingly. He carefully made his way over to his bed and
sat down, pulling her with him so that she was sitting in his lap, wrapped
in his embrace while she cried out her grief and sorrow. After a while, she
calmed down and shifted her position, simply resting her cheek against his
chest instead of burying her face in it. Without thinking, Angel leaned
down to press a kiss to Willow’s forehead. The move surprised the redhead,
and she looked up.

Her lovely face was tear-stained and sad, and it hit the vampire like a ton
of bricks. Suddenly, all he wanted to do was pull her closer and lay back
in his bed and kiss her until she forgot everything that had made her cry.
And then he wanted to kiss her again.

Willow obviously saw something on his face, and her brow furrowed in
confusion. "Angel?" she asked tentatively.

"I want to kiss you," he blurted out before he could stop himself. Her eyes
widened, but she didn’t say anything, so he continued. "I know that it’s
probably wrong, but I can’t help it. I’m dying to kiss you, and I have been
since last night."

Willow blushed slightly at the allusion to what she had come to think of as
‘the towel incident,’ and she swallowed hard before speaking. "Then why
don’t you?" she asked, her voice soft but sure.

Angel stared at her in shock for a moment, then, not giving himself a chance
to recount the million reasons why he shouldn’t be doing this, he leaned
down and gently pressed his lips to hers. He held himself in check, raising
his hands to cup her face when what he really wanted to do was crush her to
him. He was afraid such a move would frighten her, and he knew he would
never forgive himself if he scared her. Taking it one step farther, he
gently traced the line of her lips with his tongue, nearly moaning in
pleasure when she opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to sweep inside to
dance with hers. When he felt her tremble against him a few moments later,
he pulled back, worried that he had pushed things too far. She looked up at
him with wide eyes, and he studied them carefully, looking for any traces of
fear.

"Angel?" she questioned. "What’s wrong?"

"Nothing... It’s just, I don’t want to scare you. I couldn’t stand it if I
did that," he told her as he ran his hands over her cheeks, wiping away what
was left of her tears.

"You didn’t. I could never be afraid of you."

The sincerity in her eyes caused his chest to tighten, and he leaned down to
press a kiss to her nose, then another to her forehead. "Thank you for
that."

"For kissing you? Because I actually enjoyed that."

Angel couldn’t help but smile. "So did I. But I meant thank you for
trusting me."

"Oh."

The vampire caressed Willow’s cheek for a moment, then glanced at the clock
on the wall. "It’s getting late, little one, and you’ve had a rough day.
You should sleep. I need to go finish a few things, then I’ll be back,
okay?"

"Okay."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Forrest watched from his hiding place as the girl gathered a few things and
headed for the bathroom, apparently about to take a bath or something. The
vampire stood staring after her for a few minutes, and Forrest raised his
stun gun, taking aim.

He’d considered shooting the vamp the minute he had come bounding down the
steps, but then the girl - Buffy’s redheaded friend - had come down, too,
and it had become impossible. He couldn’t shoot the vamp while the girl was
in his arms; the electrical charge would have gone through her as well as
him. Not to mention that whole thing where the redhead was, technically, a
civilian. He wasn’t trained to go after civilians, and they really weren’t
supposed to take out hostiles in front of them. He supposed that rule still
stood if the civilian knew what a hostile was.

So he had waited.

He had simply waited for the right moment to shoot at first, then he had
started to actually listen to what was being said. While he was entirely
certain of what had happened, he’d gotten the gist of it, and he’d also seen
something he’d never expected: the vampire doing everything in his power to
comfort the girl and convince her that she wasn’t at fault. Forrest had
heard the emotions in the vampire’s voice, and he had seen how careful he
was with the girl. And for Forrest Gates, that maybe changed things a
little.

Forrest sat in his hiding place, his stun gun aimed and ready, as he watched
the vampire head for the elevator. And then, Forrest did something he would
have sworn he would never do: he lowered his gun and simply watched as the
vampire left.

Once he was sure Angel was gone and Willow was occupied, he got up and left
the apartment.

Part Thirteen

"I... I’m sorry about all of this," Kate murmured as she turned to look at
Wesley and Cordelia. I didn’t mean to... That’s a stupid thing to say. I
knew this would upset her. But I certainly didn’t mean to tell her
everything, and I’m sorry about doing that."

"Yes, I’m sure you are, but it’s better that she hear it from you than from
some reporter, isn’t it?" Wesley reasoned. "It’s my understanding that the
media seems to have a way of finding out all the gory details in situations
like this."

"But..."

"Don’t beat yourself up over this, Detective Lockley," the former Watcher
advised. "It cannot be changed, and having as much information about this
man as possible... well, it may be quite useful to us in the end." With
that, Wesley turned to Cordelia, who had remained silent since Willow and
Angel’s sudden departure just minutes before. "I really don’t believe we’ll
be needed here any longer tonight, Cordelia. If you would gather your
things, I would be more than happy to take you home."

"Okay," Cordelia said softly, still thinking about the stricken look on her
friend’s face. Shaking her head slightly to clear her thoughts, she looked
over at the Englishman. "That would be great, Wes. Just let me get my
purse," she told him as she rose to get her bag.

After watching the young woman worriedly for a moment, Wesley returned his
gaze to the policewoman. "Do you have a car with you, detective? Or did
you...?"

"Actually, I was with another detective earlier today, and I just had him
drop me off here, so I don’t have a vehicle with me. I’ll just take a cab-"

"Nonsense," Wesley interrupted. Since Willow had been attacked, Angel,
reluctant to leave the redhead, had asked that Wesley be sure that Cordelia
got home safely each night after work. The vampire had even given the
former Watcher use of his car in order to do so, partly because the former
cheerleader refused to ride on Wesley’s motorcycle. "There is no need for
you to spend money on cab fare when I can take you home just as easily."

"Well, if you’re sure."

"If I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t offer, detective."

"Please, just call me Kate."

"As you wish."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Angel breathed an unnecessary sigh of relief when he heard the others leave.
Once he was sure they were gone, he made his way into his office and began
going about the business of making sure everything was shut down and locked
up for the night.

He was glad that the others had left. It wasn’t that he wanted to avoid
them... Well, maybe it was. He knew that they were probably curious about
what had transpired downstairs, and he was in no mood to try to explain what
Willow was feeling to them. Besides that, he didn’t think it was his place
to.

With a sigh, Angel shut down his computer, being sure to save what he had
been working on before doing so. He’d originally planned to finish typing
up his notes before going back down, but he really wasn’t in the mood to do
so at the moment.

After checking to make sure the front door was locked - not that the
precaution would really do much good against a burglar - Angel went back
downstairs to Willow.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"This is it," Kate said as Wesley came to the turn-off for her apartment
building. "Thanks for the ride."

"It was my pleasure," the always polite Englishman told her as he parked the
car. After a moment of silence, he turned to face the detective. "Are you
certain you’ll be all right?"

"What? Oh, I’ll be fine," Kate replied as the question registered. "I’ve
had cases like this before."

"And do they always have this type of an effect on you?"

"I don’t know what you..." the blonde woman trailed off with a sigh.
"Sometimes. This isn’t the first time I’ve had a guy in my grasp, only to
have him be released on bail, then... boom. He does something else, or we
find out he’s a serial rapist, or something equally as awful. It does
something to you."

"What do you mean?"

Kate sighed and ran her hands over her face, suddenly glad that Wesley had
dropped Cordelia off first. She wouldn’t have been able to talk about this
in front of the young woman; she liked her well enough, but she just wasn’t
completely comfortable around her. Of course, Kate wasn’t sure why she felt
so comfortable around this man she had met just days before, but she was.
Maybe it was his quiet manner, the way he seemed to be listening without
judging. Whatever it was, it made her want to talk to him.

"Kate?"

"Sorry. I was just... thinking. I guess what I mean is, it’s like, each
time something like this happens, it kills a little piece of something
inside of you. I’m supposed to help people, and I had this guy, and because
of the system I work for, he got free, and he went out and did it again. It
hurts you deep inside to know that. I had him in my hands, and-"

"Were you the one that opened up his jail cell and sent him on his way?"

"No, of course not."

"You didn’t want him released, I know that. I could see it when you came in
the office the other day to tell us that he had made bail. It was the
system that dictated his release, and to employ a phrase that some of my
former charges would probably use, the system sucks."

"That it does," Kate admitted, then sighted. "But I still feel..."

"Like you could have done something?"

"Yeah. Like... there some point where I could have changed things, but I
missed it. I feel like I messed up."

"I know the feeling," Wesley said softly, and Kate turned to him, surprised
by the sadness on his face.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. "Do you want to talk about it? You
know, I tell you my problems, you tell me yours, and-"

"Then we’re even?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of ‘and then we’ve helped each other,’
actually," Kate told him dryly.

"Oh, sorry," the former Watcher said softly, his voice contrite. "It’s a
long and complicated story, and it’s a bit late to get into it tonight."

"But maybe later?"

Wesley thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, maybe so. Thank
you for the offer, Kate."

"Thank you for the ride and the listening ear, Wesley," Kate replied as she
got out of the car.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Forrest made his way into his hotel room, a slightly shell-shocked look on
his face. He had gone over it in his head dozens of times, but he was still
having trouble believing that he had let that vampire walk away. Even so,
he knew there was no other way he could have done it. Whatever that
creature - Angel - was, he wasn’t evil. Forrest had seen that with his own
eyes.

As the young man flopped down on the bed that took up most of the room, his
cell phone began to ring. He momentarily considered ignoring it, but
quickly changed his mind, knowing the insistent ringing would drive him
crazy within seconds. Sighing, he answered the phone.

"Gates here."

"Oh, Agent Gates, so nice of you to answer. I was about to give up."

"I’m sorry Professor Walsh. I was...I had just stepped out for a moment,"
he decided.

"Of course. Have you found the hostile?"

"Yes, I have," Forrest answered before he could think better of it.

"And will you be bringing him in soon?" the head of the Initiative asked.

"No, I won’t. I can’t."

"And why not?"

Why not? Hmm, good question. "He’s... dead."

"What? What happened?"

"He was... staked. He’s... gone. I’m sorry, Professor Walsh, but there’s
nothing even enough left of him to bring anything back."

"How unfortunate. I suppose this means I’ll see you tomorrow then.
Goodbye, Agent Gates."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Maggie Walsh hung up the phone, a considering look on her face. Agent Gates
was lying, of that much she was certain. The split-second pauses between
his words were a sure sign. ‘I was... I had just stepped out for a moment.
He’s... dead. He was... staked. He’s... gone.’ If he had been telling the
truth, there would have been no pauses, and he would have been angry about
having his target destroyed before he could reach it. No, the vampire named
Angel was no deader than he had been the day before, and, for some reason,
Forrest was purposely trying to hide it. She knew that for a fact. What
she didn’t know was why Gates was protecting this vampire. However, that
bit of information could wait until later. There were much more important
matters still at hand.

Shaking her head slightly, Maggie picked up her phone and dialed once more.
When it was answered on the other end, she spoke, he voice grin and
determined.

"Get me Agent Miller. I have a mission for him."

Part Fourteen

"What did you say?" The voice was somewhere between anger, desperation, and
fear, but the dangerous look on the face had Graham backing away instead of
reaching out to give comfort. "No. You’re wrong. You have to be wrong,"
she said as she advanced on him. Knowing that he would feel foolish if he
kept backing away from the petite young woman in front of him, he stood his
ground, but quickly came to question his decision when she grabbed him by
the shirt. "He is not dead, damn it! Angel is not dead!" With that, she
shoved him away from her, and Graham tripped over the footstool that had
been behind him, landing on the floor.

Riley watched the incident unfold in stunned silence, but quickly moved to
help his friend up when Buffy sent Graham to the floor. Graham, however,
shrugged off the offer of help and stood, glaring at the blonde girl as he
brushed himself off. He’d been trying to get her alone - or at least just
with Riley - ever since he had overheard Forrest talking to Professor Walsh,
and now that he’d gotten his new assignment, he had redoubled his efforts to
talk to her, finally resorting to following her to the apartment they were
now standing in. Of course, considering the reception he had gotten, he was
beginning to regret his decision to give the girl a heads-up about what was
going on.

"Are you done attacking the messenger now?" he asked Buffy. "Because if you
are, then I’ll continue. I’ll even repeat my original statement, since I’m
pretty damn sure you didn’t listen the first time."

"You said Angel was dead."

"I said that Forrest told Walsh that Angel was dead. There’s a difference.
You see, Walsh doesn’t believe Forrest. And if she doesn’t believe him,
there has to be a reason for that."

"What do you mean?"

"Walsh isn’t stupid. And she wouldn’t be sending me to Los Angeles to
finish Forrest’s mission myself if she didn’t think it was necessary."

"You’re being sent after Angel," Buffy repeated dumbly, taking a step
towards Graham. This time, however, Riley put a hand on her shoulder,
halting her progress.

"With a team. Which means that I’m going to have to be awfully creative in
order to keep him out of danger."

"Wait a minute. How does the Initiative even know about Angel anyway?" As
a horrific thought came to her, she whirled on her boyfriend, murder in her
eyes. "Was it you? Did you go and run to your boss, bursting at the seams
to tell her all about the vampire with a soul? Did you?"

"Look, Buffy, you’ve got the bitch thing down, but I suggest you give it a
rest for now," Graham told her, causing her to spin back around to face him.
"Forrest overhead the two of you discussing it."

"Overheard?" Riley repeated.

"Eavesdropped is probably more like it," Graham replied with a shrug. "All
I know is-"

"Hello, everybody... And who the hell are you?" Xander said as he entered
Giles’s apartment. The young man glanced around, immediately taking in the
tension that permeated the trio in the room. Years of being best friends
with the Slayer also led him to the quick conclusion that Buffy was in a
very, very bad mood. Maybe not PMS-worthy, but close. "So, uh, what’s
going on here? And is there going to be any violence? ‘Cause if there is,
I want to be somewhere that’s... away. Far, far away."

"Well," Buffy ground out, obviously still annoyed over Graham’s bitch
remark, "Graham here is part of Riley's little demon-hunting group. And
according him, Forrest claims that Angel is dead."

"Like deader than usual? Because, unless you got the news within the past
five minutes, that’s completely not possible. Deadboy’s... well, still
undead and kicking."

"So Walsh was right. Forrest is lying," Graham muttered almost under his
breath, wondering what had caused his friend’s change of heart.

"Are you sure about this?" Buffy asked Xander. "I mean, how do you know?"

"Well, I just got off the phone with Willow-"

"Willow?" the Slayer repeated dumbly.

"Yeah, you know. Little bitty redhead, about this high," he replied,
holding up his hand in an approximation of Willow’s height. "Absolutely
adorable, an amazing kisser - not that you would know that, been our best
friend for quite awhile now. Got attacked a few days ago... Any of this
ringing a bell with you?"

"You called Willow." It was a statement rather than a question.

"Right on the first... well, let’s just say you’re right. Anyway, I’m
pretty sure she would have told me if Angel had suddenly turned to a big
pile of dust during our conversation. And I know he was around when I first
called, because he’s the one who answered the phone. He threatened to come
to Sunnydale for the sole purpose of pulling my spleen out through my nose
if I said something to upset Willow. I tried reminding him that it would
upset Willow even more if he hurt me, but I don’t think he cared. Anyway,
the point is, Angel’s alive, and Willow sounded okay. A little tired I
guess, but okay."

"Well, that’s good," Buffy said after a moment, nodding her head slowly.
"Not that Willow sounded tired, but that she seems okay," the Slayer amended
hastily. "It’s also really good that Angel’s alive."

"Well, undead," Xander said absently, his attention going to Graham once
more. "So, is anyone going to clue me in to what’s going on, or do I just
get to stand here and feel dumb?"

"You do realize that I could say something rude at this moment, don’t you?"
Buffy asked, then continued without waiting for a response. "The basic idea
is that Forrest overheard me telling Riley about Angel, then went off to the
head of the Initiative to share that little discovery. For reasons we don’t
know, Forrest changed his mind about bringing Angel in and told Walsh he was
dust. Walsh doesn’t believe him and is now sending Graham and a team of men
to LA to take him down."

"Okay... Can I just say that that’s bad?" Xander asked, then turned when he
heard the door opening behind him. He groaned when he saw who it was. "And
this is worse."

"Oh, bloody hell," Spike muttered as he entered the Watcher’s apartment.
He’d come wanting to get away from the Harris’s basement for awhile, and the
vampire stopped when he saw the four humans that were in the room. "Bloody,
bloody hell," he groaned to himself when he saw the Slayer’s lapdog and an
unknown man staring at him, recognition on their faces.

"Hostile Seventeen," Riley managed in a stunned voice.

"Actually, it’s Spike. I’m so happy you remember me," the vampire said
sarcastically.

"You have Hostile Seventeen," Riley said in the same astonished tone,
turning to Buffy. "You’ve had him, and you didn’t say anything about it."

"I don’t see why you’re so stunned, Iowa," Spike said as he moved further
into the apartment, deciding that he was rather enjoying this little show.
"You’ve seen me with her before. Of course, I was wearing the moron’s
clothes at the time, so I was probably a bit difficult to recognize."

"So, you’re not just friends with a vampire with a soul, you’re also
protecting Hostile Seventeen," Graham stated after a moment.

"Spike," the vampire corrected, obviously enjoying himself immensely.

"Spike," Graham conceded. "What? Does he have a soul, too?" he asked
Buffy.

"Hell no!" Spike growled. "I haven’t had a soul in well over a century.
I’m nothing but I demon, I’ll have you know."

"And you’re helping him why?"

"He’s sort of like a mascot," Xander said with a shrug. "Plus, you know how
they always say not to tease strange dogs because they may bite you? Well,
see, now that he’s neutered, we can tease Spike all we want, and he can’t do
a damn thing about it. It’s fun. Here, you try it."

"I’ll have to pass on that," Graham said before turning to his friend.
"Interesting company you keep, Finn."

"I’m beginning to see that," Riley replied.

"So what now?" Xander asked. "Are you going to take Spike away and do
experiments on him? ‘Cause, you know, I’d pay to watch."

"We can leave him. He’s harmless," Graham said after a moment, ignoring the
growl the vampire sent his way at the comment. "We have bigger things to
worry about right now, anyway. I mean, I’m about to lead a team to LA in
search of Angel, and I have to figure out a way to keep him from getting
captured."

"Couldn’t you just refuse to go?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, that would work," the young man replied, annoyance in his voice.
"Then, not only would Walsh be pissed at me, but I’d get in trouble for
refusing to follow orders and they would just send someone else."

"Well, then maybe I should go up there. You know, help him."

"Yeah, and you’d lead everyone right to him. My best bet is pretending we
can’t locate him, at least for awhile. Having you in LA would completely
screw that up."

"And just why is that?" the blonde retorted.

"Because we’ve got men on you, too. They’d follow you to Angel, and I’d
have no excuses."

"And just why are people following me?" Buffy asked, outrage in her voice.

Graham sighed, more than a little annoyed by Riley’s girlfriend. He’d come
here trying to help, and he’d been knocked down, yelled at, and discovered
that Buffy and her friends were harboring an escaped Hostile. He was tired,
frustrated, and he was putting himself on the line in order to protect
people he’d either never met or hardly knew. The least Buffy could do was
be civil. Fine, he decided suddenly. She’d been a pain in the butt; he
could be, too.

"Why are there people watching you? Well, I don’t know *Slayer*," he said,
emphasizing the title. "Why don’t you tell me?"

The stunned look on her face didn’t disappoint him.

Part Fifteen

"Everything okay?" Angel asked as he entered his bedroom wearing only a pair
of pajama bottoms. Willow was sitting on his bed wearing her version of a
nightgown - one of his shirts - and it took all his willpower not to just
walk over to her and kiss the young woman. The only thing that kept him
from doing so was the fact that he felt he didn’t have the right to kiss
her. He knew that they had kissed only hours before, but what did that
really mean? A kiss was just that... a kiss. Nothing had been said or
decided, they had simply shared one of the most soul-searing kisses of his
existence. He had no rights when it came to Willow; all he had for sure was
her friendship.

Willow smiled as she turned to face the vampire. "Yeah. Everything’s good.
I talked to Xander."

"I know. I’m the one who answered the phone," he replied as he gave in to
the urge to go over to her. He didn’t reach for her, though. He simply sat
on the bed beside her, gazing at her pale face. After a moment, though, he
succumbed to his desire to touch her, lifting his hand to the redhead’s
cheek as his face clouded over. "You’ve been crying. Did... did he say
something? Do I need to go to Sunnydale and hurt him?"

Willow laughed softly at his offer as she reached up and covered his hand
with her own, pressing his palm more firmly to her cheek. She leaned into
the touch, even closing her eyes for a moment. Suddenly, her eyes popped
open again, and she pulled back slightly, regaining herself. What in the
world was she thinking? Angel was just her friend. Sure, they had kissed
earlier, but that hadn’t put a permanent shift in their relationship, had
it? They were still just friends. Sure, they were friends that comforted
each other when it was warranted, but other than that, they were friends of
the non-touching variety. Weren’t they? And why did that thought
disappoint her so?

"Willow?" Angel asked softly, a bit confused by both the redhead’s actions
and her silence.

"What? Oh, um... Xander. No, no, no. He didn’t... he didn’t say anything
wrong, which isn’t surprising, considering the fact that you threatened him
and everything," she told him, giving him a knowing look before averting her
gaze again. Angel had the grace to look chagrined at her statement, but the
look quickly dropped off his face to be replaced by confusion when he
realized that she wasn’t even looking at him. What was going on here?
Was... was Willow afraid of him? Was it because he was too close? No, no,
that couldn’t be it. Just moments ago, she had been leaning into his touch.
But now... what was bothering her? Sighing, he reached out to take her
hand, grateful when she didn’t flinch or pull away from his touch. Whatever
was bothering her, it wasn’t his nearness. At least, he was fairly sure it
wasn’t.

"Willow? Are you sure everything’s okay? I mean... I don’t really know
what I mean."

The redhead shrugged, looking down at their joined hands. "It’s nothing, I
guess. It’s not really important."

"If it’s bothering you, then that makes it important," he countered gently.

"It just... it was really great talking to Xander, you know?" she began.
She pulled her hand from his grasp as she spoke, then began tracing a random
pattern on the back of his hand. The gentle touch tickled slightly, but
Angel didn’t move, hoping she would continue talking to him and touching him
if he remained where he was. "I mean... he was just so concerned. And
he... he was great. He made me laugh, and he told me he loved me... It just
made me miss him. And it made me think ‘well, at least now I know that
Xander really does care about what happens to me.’ I’d been beginning to
wonder. Not that you and the others haven’t been great. You’ve all been
amazing, even Cordelia. Even Kate cares, and she hardly knows me. It’s
been nice, you know? Knowing that I can rely on you guys..."

"But you still needed to hear from the people back home," Angel said softly,
silently blessing Xander for actually calling his best friend and letting
her know he cared.

"I guess," Willow said with a shrug as she flipped Angel’s hand over. She
resumed tracing patterns on his skin, this time using his palm as her
surface of choice. The sensation caused him to shiver slightly, but the
redhead didn’t seem to notice. "It just really helped to hear from him."

"Especially since you haven’t heard from Buffy." He hadn’t intended to say
the words, but they just came out. The vampire had been annoyed by the
Slayer’s apparent lack of concern for her best friend’s welfare since the
whole incident had happened, but Xander’s call had brought the annoyance to
new heights. Angel had always considered the young man to be thoughtless
and inconsiderate, especially when it came to Willow, but he realized now
that, while Xander had done some stupid and hurtful things in the past, he
obviously did care about Willow. It was Buffy who was being thoughtless
this time, and the knowledge infuriated the vampire. Even so, he hadn’t
meant to mention it to Willow. The young woman had been through so much -
was still going through it - and he hadn’t meant to bring up anything that
would upset her. And it was clear that the reminder of Buffy’s seeming
unconcern upset her.

"It’s like she doesn’t even care," the redhead said softly, her eyes still
on the hand she was tracing patterns over. "She didn’t call or anything."

"She was probably afraid I would answer," Angel replied without thinking,
wincing when he realized that what he said could be interpreted as a defense
of the Slayer. He didn’t mean it as such; he just knew that Buffy would use
it as an excuse for not calling if she were questioned about it. That
certainly said something about the girl, didn’t it? She was brave enough to
face the Master, Faith, and the Mayor, yet she was too much of a wimp to
call the person she called her best friend for fear her ex-boyfriend would
answer the phone.

"So?" Willow asked as she looked up at him, and Angel was glad to see a
spark of anger in her eyes. He’d been afraid that his comment would make
her feel guilty for being upset with the Slayer. "If you answered, she
could have simply asked to speak to me. You and Xander have never exactly
been friends, and he called. Damn it, she could have even sent a message to
me through Xander. It wouldn’t have mattered to me how she said it..."

"You just wanted to know she cared," Angel finished for her, removing his
hand from the reach of her wandering fingers and pulling her into a gentle
hug. "You have every right to want to know that," he told her as he glanced
at the clock on the wall. Sighing, he pulled away from her, pressing a
quick kiss to her brow. "It’s almost two in the morning," he told her.
"You should get some sleep."

"What about you? Where are you going?" Willow asked as the vampire stood
and began to his way out of the room. She hated the little bit of panic she
felt at the thought of him leaving, but it was there, and she had to admit
to herself that she didn’t want him to go. She needed him to stay with her.
She didn’t think she could bear sleeping if he left. Not after the
nightmare of the night before. Not after everything that had happened
today.

Angel turned to face her before he spoke. "What do you mean?"

"Don’t you need some sleep, too?"

"That’s where I’m going. To sleep on the couch."

"But you don’t have to do that," she told him, glancing at his large bed.
It was more than large enough for the two of them. In fact, they’d actually
shared it only the night before. "You can stay in here with me."

Stay? Dear Lord, was she honestly asking him to stay with her? He couldn’t
do that. There was no way he could do that. He knew she was just
suggesting it out of concern that the couch was too small for him - he’d
seen her eyeing it critically earlier - but he knew there was no way he
could comply with her wishes. He realized that she meant for them to sleep
side by side, completely platonically, but he wasn’t sure he could handle
it. What if he ended up frightening her or making her uncomfortable by
accidentally brushing up against her or something. No, there was no way he
was going to climb in that bed beside her, and nothing she could say-

"Please Angel. Please stay with me. I don’t want to be alone."

And all of his resolve went out the window.

Willow was sitting there, asking him to stay because she needed his comfort,
his friendship. He could see how much the words cost her, how much she
hated the soft plea that had entered his voice. But it was there, tearing
at his heart, and there was no way he could deny her.

"I’ll stay."

And with that, Angel made his way towards the bed, knowing he would have a
very difficult time getting to sleep that night.

Part Sixteen

"What are you doing?"

Willow turned at the sound of the vampire’s voice, and she smiled at the
sleepily disgruntled look on his face. "I’m getting dressed. It’s what one
does when they get up in the morning," she informed him cheerfully. Unlike
the man in the bed, she had slept quite well the night before, the
nightmares and fear having been held at bay by Angel’s strong arms. She had
woken up thirty minutes before and immediately called Cordelia, wanting to
get out of the apartment for the day and do something normal, something fun.
Something that would make her feel more alive. The brunette had quickly
accepted the invitation to go out and have some fun, barely even griping
over the early hour of the redhead’s call. Personally, Cordelia had just
been happy that the other girl felt up to doing something, especially after
the events of the night before.

"What time is it?" Angel asked as he watched Willow comb out her hair.

"Almost nine thirty. Cordy will be here in an hour."

"But today’s Saturday. She has Saturdays off unless there’s an emergency...
Oh, no," Angel said, sitting straight up in bed. "Something’s wrong, isn’t
it? Did she have a vision? Why didn’t anyone wake me?"

"Because," Willow replied, enunciating her words carefully as she set down
her brush and turned to face the vampire, "nothing is wrong. She’s just
coming for me. We’re going shopping."

"Shopping?" he repeated dumbly.

"Yeah, you know. It’s when you go and try on clothes, and then you buy what
you like-"

"I know what shopping is. It’s just... are you sure you-"

"Want to get out? Yeah, I do. Cordy will keep me busy, and if I’m busy,
then my mind isn’t on things that I really don’t want it to be on, you know.
Besides, I figured you could use some time without your house guest
hanging around."

"I wouldn’t say that."

"Yeah, well, I would. I just did, actually. Anyway, Cordy’s coming here,
and then we’re off to be the teenagers that we are."

"That you so seldom get to be," Angel added a bit sadly.

"Oh, no you don’t. You are not going to get all broody on me. Do you
understand? Nod your head." She waited until he did, then continued.
"Good. Now we’re on the same page. I don’t brood over what’s going on, and
you just... don’t brood."

"Willow-"

"No whining, either, Mr. Big Bad Vampire," she told him in a semi-warning
voice.

"You know, no one’s going to think I’m big and bad if I take orders from a
little redhead."

"Then we just won’t tell anybody," she replied with a winning smile, and
Angel couldn’t help but smile back. He didn’t know where this cheerful,
playful mood had come from, but he was certainly happy it was here. After
studying her for a moment, a question came to mind.

"Where did you get the outfit?" he asked, taking in the short green dress
she was wearing. It was sleeveless, but its high neck covered the worst of
her bruises. Her other bruises seemed remarkably... well, gone, leading
Angel to wonder if it was a miracle of makeup or one of magick that had
completed that particular task.

"Cordy brought it."

"When?"

"Well, you see, yesterday, when Cordelia brought over an outfit for me to
wear, she actually brought over several. She wanted to give me options,
plus she figured that I might need clothes for more than one day. Do you
like it?" she asked, doing a quick spin that made the skirt flare out
slightly.

"I do," he told her sincerely, then glanced at her feet. "Did she bring
shoes, too?"

"Yeah. Cordy and I are actually the same size when it comes to shoes,
believe it or not," the redhead replied before glancing at the clock on the
wall. "Ooh, she’ll be here soon, and I promised I’d make breakfast," she
said as she headed for the door. She stopped in the doorway, though, and
turned back to face the vampire who was currently getting out of bed. "You
do have actual food, don’t you? ‘Cause if you don’t, I am so screwed."

"No need to worry," Angel told her as he stood. "The pantry and
refrigerator are pretty well-stocked. I keep it that way for Wesley and
Cordelia."

"Oh, good. I can actually cook then," Willow said with a grin before
heading towards his kitchen.

Angel smiled at her retreating figure, then made his way to the bathroom,
shutting the door behind him and immediately turning on the shower. Because
of his lack of natural body heat, he tended to take his showers very hot,
and he slowly removed his clothes as he waited for the water to heat up.
Once it was hot enough for his taste, he stepped under the spray, going
through the motions of washing his hair and his body while he thought about
Willow. He was glad she was in a good mood, and he was happy she and
Cordelia seemed to be getting along so well, but the thought of her going
anywhere without him was unsettling. He knew that Sawyer was now in jail -
hopefully permanently - but there were still other things that could happen
while she was out with Cordelia. It was only natural that he worry about
her. She had, after all, been through a lot over the past few days, and he
was responsible for her... and who was he trying to kid? Certainly he felt
responsible for the little redhead, but he was no more responsible for her
than he was for Cordelia, and he felt no qualms about the fact that the
brunette was going to out and about without him. And certainly he felt
protective Willow. Who wouldn’t after the events of the past couple of
days? But there was more to it than that, and Angel knew it. There was
something that was going on between him and the little redhead, but he
wasn’t entirely sure what it was. There was friendship, yes, but it was a
level of friendship that far surpassed what they’d had in Sunnydale. It was
a friendship that sat precariously on the balance of being more, and he was
beginning to wonder if that balance had already been tipped. The sexual
tension between them had grown, and he had kissed her.

And she had kissed him back.

So where did that leave them?

Were they friends, or were they more? What did he want to come out of this?
What did Willow want out of this? And what was he going to do if what he
wanted turned out to be different than what Willow wanted?

And why was he standing there in the shower and becoming a prune, all for
the sake of pondering what seemed to be an impossible question?

Sighing, Angel got out of the shower, drying off quickly before wrapping a
towel around his waist and steeping back into his bedroom. He dressed
slowly, listening to the sounds of Willow and Cordelia talking and eating
breakfast. After awhile, he heard them scoot their chairs back, and he
heard the water turn on as someone - he figured it was Willow - rinsed off
the dishes they had used.

A couple of minutes later, Willow came back into his room. "So you are up."

"Just finishing getting ready," he told her.

"Well, I just came in to tell you that Cordy and I are leaving now."

"Have fun."

"We will," the redhead replied, and Angel could see a split second of
indecision cross her face. It was gone almost as quickly as it had
appeared, and before the vampire had a chance to question her about it, she
darted forward and pressed her lips to his in a fleeting kiss. The kiss was
over almost before it had begun, and then Willow was gone, leaving a stunned
Angel behind.

Slowly, the shocked vampire raised his fingers to his lips. He stood that
way for what seemed like forever, his eyes trained on the door the redhead
had left through, and he probably would have stayed there indefinitely had
it not been for the ringing of the phone.

Still moving as if in a trance, Angel left his bedroom and went into the
living area where he answered the phone.

"Angel here."

The voice on the other end was clearly Xander’s, and he sounded worried
about something. That in and of itself wasn’t all that shocking, but what -
well, who - he was worried about certainly was.

"Hold up a minute, Xander. You’re talking too fast. Did you say army guys
are out to get me? No, it’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s just that...
hold on a second, would you? I need to turn the television off so I can
hear you better," he said, searching for the remote for the appliance that
the girls had left on. He finally found it on the kitchen table and he had
it pointed at the television, ready to hit the off button when the sight of
Kate on the screen gave him pause.

"This morning, while being transported from his cell to the room where his
lawyer was waiting, Richard Sawyer attacked a guard and disarmed him,
killing the man and injuring his partner during his escape. If anyone sees,
they are asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department immediately.
Sawyer is armed and considered extremely dangerous," she reported, and then
her picture was off the screen only to be replaced by a mug shot.

Richard Sawyer’s mug shot.

The man had attacked Willow, and now he had escaped. And Willow and
Cordelia were out shopping, blissfully unaware of what was going on, and he
had no way to warn them, no way of knowing where they were.

And Sawyer was still after Willow.

As he sat there, unhearing as Xander’s voice rambled in his ear, Angel’s
blood ran cold.

Part Seventeen

"That outfit was absolutely frightening, Cordelia," Willow told her friend.

"Oh, please!" the brunette she was walking with protested. "It was not
frightening. It was cute. Very stylish."

"Cute, my foot! And I really don’t care that much about stylish. I mean,
come on, Cordy. If you make one wrong move when wearing an outfit like the
one back in that store, your boobs would pop out, and you’d end up giving
everyone a free show."

"Oh, you’re right; that would be bad. I mean, people should pay to see
something like that."

"Cordelia Chase!"

"What?" the brunette responded with a laugh. "It was just a joke, I swear
it. Gosh, Will, where’s your sense of humor?"

"I think I must’ve left it back in Sunnydale," Willow responded dryly.

"Very cute. So, anyway, what’s going on with you and Angel?" Cordelia asked
suddenly, causing the redhead walking with her to sputter indignantly.

"And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Not a thing," the secretary replied, all innocence. "It’s just that-"

"Nothing is going on between me and Angel," Willow informed her before
wrinkling up her nose and backtracking slightly. "Or, at least, well, I’m
not entirely sure..."

"See? I was right; there is something going on between you two. I knew it!
I can just sense these things, you know. It’s, like, vibes and stuff.
Plus, there was that thing where I kind of saw you kiss Angel this morning
before we left."

"You were spying on us?" Willow asked incredulously.

"Not spying, exactly," Cordelia said, defending her actions. "I just stuck
my head in the room, thinking maybe I would say hi to my boss, and - boom -
I saw you kiss him. I barely got myself out of there before you turned back
around," she informed the redhead before adding, "So, what are you going to
do about this whole Angel thing?"

"Nothing."

"And just why not? You like him. Doesn’t he like you, too?"

"Well, yeah," Willow said, thinking about their first kiss, the one he had
actually initiated. Not to mention that whole towel incident. Oh, yeah,
she was pretty damn sure he liked her.

"Then what’s the problem? I mean, you two have a mutual thing for each
other..."

"Oh, I don’t know, Cordelia. Could the problem be that Angel’s curse just
happens to contain a loophole big enough to drive a Mack truck through?
Remember? Complete happiness is very, very bad. Eternal celibacy is a
must. Is any of this ringing a bell for you?"

"Ooh... So you’re already thinking about having sex with him? Hmm... that’s
certainly interesting."

"Cordelia..." Willow groaned.

"Sorry. Serious mode now. Okay, I admit that there would be problems..."

"Yeah. I’d say the possibility of him losing his soul and killing everyone
I love would definitely qualify as that."

"Then find a way to take that out of the equation. Eliminate that
possibility. Find a way to make his soul permanent."

"I’ve been trying to do that ever since I found out he was back from Hell.
I’ve had a few leads, but none of them panned out."

"Then keep looking, and just make sure that things don’t go too far before
we find a way to fix his curse."

"We?" Willow asked.

"Yes, we."

"You’d really help me with this?"

"Hey, what are friends for?" Cordelia replied. "I mean, you and Angel are
both my friends. The least I could do is help find a spell to keep him from
going evil again if the two of you ever get horizontal."

"Thank you, Cordy. That was a beautiful sentiment."

"I thought so."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

He listened from a few feet away, seething in anger. How dare she do this
to him? How dare Delilah be with this Angel guy, when she knew she belonged
to him and him alone? And the way she was trying to fool him, calling
herself Willow now. Didn’t she know he’d see through it? Didn’t she know
he realized it was her? No, she didn’t, and she was obviously trying to
make him seem like a fool. Oh, she would pay for this. She would pay for
this, and so would her little friend, if it came to that.

Keeping his head down as he passed the two girls - his redheaded Delilah and
her brunette friend Cordelia - he continued on for a few blocks, then ducked
into an alley, where he prepared to wait.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

She seemed to be doing better than she had been the day before, which was
nice. She was no longer crying or anything; instead she was talking and
laughing with the pretty brunette he’d seen her with while watching the
offices of Angel Investigations. He wasn’t close enough to hear what they
were saying, but he was glad to see her smiling. Unfortunately, though, her
smile told him something he’d been afraid of. Because of the conversation
he’d overheard between Willow and Angel last night, he was fairly certain
that this Richard Sawyer guy - the one who had escaped that very morning -
had attacked Willow in some way. And, because of her obviously carefree
attitude, he also had to assume that Willow didn’t know about the escape.
Add to that the fact that, being a vampire, Angel couldn’t exactly protect
her while she was out during the day, and the pretty little redhead walking
down the street was a sitting duck.

So he followed her.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Maybe you should get a new outfit," Cordelia was saying. "Something
spectacular. You know, really knock him dead."

"He already is- Ahh-mmphh-"

Willow’s scream was cut off by the hand placed over her mouth, and she
struggled hard against the man that was dragging her into the alley. She
knew without being told who it was. It was him. Sawyer. She could sense
it. She didn’t know how he had gotten out of jail, and she didn’t know how
he had found her, but he had. And if she didn’t get away from him, she knew
she was as good as dead.

"Let her go!" Cordelia screamed, kicking at Sawyer’s leg and grabbing at his
arms. Her merely grabbed hold of the brunette’s long hair and flung her to
the side. She hit the wall hard, then slumped to the ground, stunned.

"Come on, Delilah," Sawyer whispered in Willow’s ear as he pulled a knife
out of his pocket and pressed it to the pale skin of her throat. "You’re
coming with me. I’m going to let go of your mouth now, okay? If you
scream, you’re friend gets it."

"Drop the knife!"

The command came from the end of the alley, near the street, and Willow, who
had closed her eyes in an effort to contain the tears that threatened to
fall, opened them to find a black man that she found vaguely familiar aiming
a gun at her and Sawyer.

"Let the girl go!"

"What’ll you do if I don’t? Shoot me? Oh, wait. I’m holding her right in
front of me. There goes your shot, asshole."

"Maybe you’re underestimating my shot, asshole," Forrest replied in the
exact same tone Sawyer had used. He held his gun aimed directly at Sawyer’s
head, but the thought that he might actually have to shoot the guy terrified
him. He knew he had good aim - he was the best damn shot in the entire
Initiative - but Willow’s head was right by Sawyer’s. It wouldn’t take much
to miss and kill her instead of him. Trying to keep his breathing steady,
he took a step closer to the redhead and the man who was holding her at
knife point, silently praying that the 911 call he’d placed right before
coming into the alley would be taken seriously and the cops would get there
before he had to do anything drastic.

Sawyer saw Forrest start to ease closer, and he altered his grip on the
knife at Willow’s throat. "One step closer and I kill her." To prove his
point, he pressed the point of the knife into the delicate skin of the
redhead’s throat, and a line of blood appeared.

Forrest’s hand shook slightly as the thin trickle of blood made its way down
Willow’s slender throat, and he tried not to cringe at the whimper he heard.
He couldn’t tell if it had come from the redhead or the brunette, both of
whom currently had wide, terrified eyes, but that didn’t really matter.
What mattered was getting them all out of this alive. Taking a deep breath,
Forrest forced himself to remain steady. "I don’t think so. Because if you
killed her, your shield would be gone, and I’d have a free shot at you.
You’d be dead before she hit the ground."

"Drop the knife, Sawyer!"

The strident female voice made Forrest sigh in relief, and he turned his
head to see a blonde woman beside him, gun out and ready. His eyes widened
slightly as he realized that it was the same police officer who had
announced Sawyer’s escape on television that morning.

Sawyer cocked his head slightly, then smiled at the blonde bitch who had
arrested him. He had the knife, and he had his Delilah, which, to him,
meant he had all the power. "Hmm... let me think. No. Delilah’s mine."

"She’s not Delilah," Kate hissed at him, taking careful aim.

"She may not go by that anymore, but she is. She’s my Delilah. She can
fool everyone else, but she can’t fool me. She could never fool me."

"Delilah’s dead, Sawyer. You already killed her. This isn’t Delilah. Now,
one more time. Let. Her. Go."

"One more time, officer. No-"

Sawyer’s retort was cut off by the sound of Kate’s gun going off, and
Cordelia screamed at the sound of the blast. Willow, splattered with blood
and gray matter, stumbled forward as she was suddenly freed, and Forrest
immediately dropped his gun and reached out to keep her from falling. She
rested against him for a moment, then began to turn her head.

"No," Forrest told her. "You don’t want to see it."

But it was too late. Willow had already turned her head and looked down,
and she had already seen what she was looking for.

Sawyer was laying on the ground in a growing puddle of blood, and most of
his face had been blown off. Kate had shot him in the head, killing him
instantly. She had put a bullet in him less than a foot from Willow’s face.
The realization hit Willow like a ton of bricks, and she immediately did
what many people would do when confronted with just how close they had come
to death.

She fainted.

Part Eighteen

Angel burst through the doors to the hospital at top speed, nearly knocking
two men over in his haste. Barely taking the time to mutter an apology, the
vampire immediately made a beeline for the nurses’ station.

"Angel! Over here!"

The ensouled vampire turned at the familiar feminine voice, and he hurriedly
made his way over to where the attractive blonde detective stood. "Where
are they? Are they okay? What happened?" he asked, the words coming out
rapid-fire.

Kate raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Woah. I never knew you could speak
so quickly. I’d tell you to slow down so you could take a breath, but there
really wouldn’t be a point in that, would there?"

"Kate..." Angel said warningly, his voice a near-growl.

The blonde woman shrugged. "Sorry about that. Look, I know it’s only
eleven in the morning, but this has already been a really long day for me,
okay? So, which of your questions do you want me to answer first?"

"Just answer them all; I don’t give a damn about the order."

"Works for me. Um... okay. First of all, Willow and Cordelia are both
fine. There in treatment right now, and they are pretty shaken up, but
they’re perfectly okay. I mean, Cordelia does have a bump on her head, and
Willow has a cut on her throat, but once the doctors finish checking them
out, they’re free to go. And they should be out shortly. And as for what
happened out there... Well, it’s kind of complicated."

"What do you mean, complicated? Sawyer is the one who did this, isn’t he?"
he asked. Kate hadn’t actually told him that over the phone, but he’d just
assumed...

"Yes. Yes, he was. And I want to say I’m sorry."

"Excuse me?" The vampire’s confusion was clear in his voice. Kate had just
told them Willow and Cordelia were okay, hadn’t she? And if the women were
okay, just what did Kate have to be sorry about? "What are you talking
about?"

"I’m sorry that I didn’t call to warn you about Sawyer’s escape," the
detective explained, an apologetic look on her face. "I got the news myself
barely five minutes before I was forced into that damn press conference, so
I didn’t have time to call you then, and after the conference..."

"Things were pretty hectic," Angel finished for her, and Kate nodded.
"Look, I appreciate the apology, but that doesn’t really matter now, okay?
All that matters is that you got out there and stopped Sawyer, and Willow
and Cordy are all right. How did you know where to find Sawyer, anyway?"

Kate smiled weakly. "That’s kind of where the story gets a bit
complicated."

Angel opened his mouth to ask Kate just what she meant by that, then quickly
altered his train of thought when he noticed a familiar figure walking
through the door. "Wesley!" Angel called, waving his colleague over.

"Are they okay?" Wesley asked without preamble as he hurried over, clearly
worried about Willow and Cordelia.

"They’re fine," Kate assured him. A look of relief crossed the former
Watcher’s face.

"Thank God," he murmured quietly before asking what he really wanted to
know. "Was it Sawyer?" At Kate’s nod, he went on. "He did get taken in
again, didn’t he?"

Kate bit her lip. "Not exactly."

"Well, that’s a - Wait a minute. What did you just say? Is Sawyer still on
the loose?" Wesley asked.

"He’s dead."

"He’s... he’s what?" the Englishman sputtered, stunned.

"He’s dead. He had Willow, and he was threatening her, so..."

"You shot him," Angel stated, not entirely sure how to take that news. He
was thrilled that the threat Sawyer posed to Willow’s safety was gone, but
he was also pissed off that he’d never had the opportunity to get his hands
on the bastard before he died.

"I blew his ugly face off," Kate told them, leaving both the vampire and the
Englishman momentarily speechless.

Wesley was the first of the pair to recover from the detective’s blunt
statement, and the former Watcher pushed his glasses, which had begun to
slide down, back into their proper place before speaking. "Well, um, be
that as it may, I for one am eternally grateful that you were there.
However, I was wondering, how did you know where Sawyer was?"

"See that young man over there?" Kate asked, pointing at a young black man
who appeared to be in his early twenties. He was standing quietly, staring
at one of the bland paintings that adorned the waiting room wall.

"I see him," Angel replied, looking the guy over for a moment before
returning his attention to Detective Lockley. "What about him?"

"His name’s Forrest Gates. He’s the one who made the 911 call. He made the
call from his cellular phone. Apparently, he saw Sawyer pull Willow into
the alley, and he called for help." Kate paused then, and she seemed to be
weighing what she was about to say next. After a moment, she spoke again.
"When I got there, he had a gun trained on Sawyer."

"A gun?" Angel echoed, surprised by the revelation.

"Not just any gun, either. It was military issue," Kate informed him.
Kate’s words pricked something in the back of Angel’s mind, and he turned to
look at the young man suspiciously for a moment before pushing the thought
away and turning his attention back on the woman standing with him.

"Not that I’m complaining or anything, but what the hell was he doing in the
middle of Los Angeles with a military issue weapon?"

"You’ll have to ask him that."

"Maybe I will," Angel decided, making a move towards the young man, but
stopping before he got very far. He turned back to Kate and Wesley.
"What’s going to happen to him? I mean, I doubt it’s legal to have the gun
he was carrying. Concealed weapon and all that."

"Well, since only five people ever saw that gun, and one of those people is
dead, and the rest of us aren’t talking... Well, let’s just say the gun
never existed. That way, there’s no hard question for the army guy to
answer. I figure it’s the least I can do considering the fact that he kept
Sawyer from getting away with Willow."

Angel nodded at that, then walked over to the man, leaving Kate with Wesley.
The young man looked up as Angel approached, and a spark of recognition
crossed Forrest’s face before he schooled his features back to normal.

"Hello, Forrest. I’m Angel. Kate - Detective Lockley, that is - told me
that you saved Willow and Cordelia," the vampire stated, and Forrest nodded
in response.

"You could say that."

"She also said you had a military issue weapon."

Forrest’s eyes widened at that; she’d told him that she wasn’t telling
anyone about that, claimed it would make things easier. Less questions.

Angel smiled slightly at the look on the man’s face. "Look, I’m just happy
that you helped; I don’t care how you did it. But there is something I’m
curious about. Why were you there?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just wondering, I guess. Maybe it just seems odd, you know. See, this
morning I got this phone call from a friend of mine. He lives in Sunnydale,
if you’ve ever heard of it. Small town a couple of hours from here. It
seems that some military types are supposedly after me. Don’t know why,
exactly. I was too busy watching the press conference on Sawyer to pay much
attention. But they’re after me. And then you, some anonymous guy with a
military issue gun, just happens to save two women who are very close to me.
It seems a tad bit weird, you know? Not that I’m saying coincidences
don’t happen; it’s just that it’s in my nature to question."

Forrest’s mind was stuck back on the fact that the phone call warning Angel
had been made that morning. "I told them you were dead," he blurted out
without thinking.

Angel smiled at that. "Can’t argue with that," he murmured.

"Look, if they’re still after you, this is serious," he said, turning to
face the vampire fully. "They know what you are. Demon with a soul and all
that." Angel’s eyes widened at the words, and he quickly realized just who
was after him. When he’d been in Sunnydale over Thanksgiving, Giles had
told them they were after some sort of military group, and the former
Watcher had later called him to update him about it.

"You’re part of the demon-hunting group, aren’t you?"

Forrest gave a quick nod. "You could say that. It’s called the Initiative.
Look, they’ll experiment on you if they catch you, and if they can’t catch
you, they’ll kill you. I was sent here to take you down. I was supposed to
bring you back to Sunnydale with me."

"But you never got close enough?" Angel mused.

"Actually, I did. I just chose not to go after you. You’re not like other
demons... The way you act, well, it’s just obvious that you’re different."

"I’m not the only demon that’s not so bad."

"You’re the only one I’ve seen. The point is, I came here planning to take
you down. Then I changed my mind, and I told my superior that you were
dead. As in the forever kind of death. Apparently, she didn’t buy it."

"What changed your mind about bringing me in?" Angel asked, but a slight
commotion drew his attention away before Forrest could answer. Cordelia and
Willow had walked out into the waiting area, and the two women, who both
appeared to be fine, had been immediately greeted by Kate and Wesley. Angel
quickly headed in the direction of the group, and Forrest watched as the
vampire pulled the redhead into a hug, completely surrounding her in his
embrace as he leaned down to press a quick kiss to her lips. It was then,
as he was watching the exchange, that Forrest answered Angel’s question.

"She did, man."


Part Nineteen

"Now this is getting interesting," Cordelia said as she and Willow sat alone
in Angel’s office.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" the redhead asked. The two girls were
currently sitting on the couch in the office, their legs curled up
underneath them as they faced one another. Kate had to go back to the
precinct, and Wesley was getting the girls some food. He had been so
adamant about it that the girls hadn’t had the heart to tell him they
weren’t up to eating. Seeing Sawyer’s gray matter splattered across the
ground had ruined their appetites indefinitely.

"Nothing, really. It’s just, Angel obviously feels comfortable enough with
whatever is happening between the two of you to kiss you in public."

"He was just happy that I was all right. Okay?"

"He didn’t kiss me," Cordelia pointed out.

"Well, maybe he wasn’t happy that you’re okay. Maybe you annoy him, and
deep down he wishes you were dead," Willow stated dryly, earning a glare
from her brunette friend.

"Not funny, Miss Thing," Cordy retorted.

"Sorry," the redhead replied contritely. "I guess everything that’s
happened kind of has me cranky. And it’s not over yet. Well, the Sawyer
thing is, I guess, but we’ve got something new to take his place."

"Don’t I know it," the struggling actress replied as she looked into the
outer office where Forrest and Angel stood talking. "If it’s not one thing,
it’s another."

"Yeah. This time it’s army guys."

"All the way from Sunnydale," Cordelia murmured, her eyes on the mysterious
Forrest Gates. She was grateful to him for what he had done, but she still
wasn’t sure if she trusted him. He had been sent here to go after Angel,
after all.

"I seem to bring the bad stuff with me, don’t I?" Willow mused.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"They’re watching us."

"What?" Forrest asked, surprised by the vampire’s statement. Was the
Initiative really out there? And what was more, could Angel really sense
them? The young man squinted as he looked out the office window. It had
started to rain not long after they’d left the hospital, and the rain was
coming down in sheets. It was coming down so hard that he could barely make
out more than a red blob as a car slowly made its way down the nearly
flooded street. "What are you talking about?"

"The girls," Angel replied, nodding in the direction of his office.
"They’re trying to figure out just what the hell is going on out here. I’m
pretty damn sure that they don’t trust you."

"That’s understandable," Forrest said with a slight nod as he continued to
stare out into the rain. It was easier to do that than to look at the
vampire beside him.

The vampire beside him.

Dear Lord, it was really true. Here he was, Forrest Allan Gates, one of the
top agents in the entire Initiative... talking to a vampire. One of the
creatures he was sworn to either capture or destroy, and he was having a
conversation with him. He was actually trying to help him! He had never
seen this coming, and even the knowledge that Angel was no ordinary vampire,
and that he was doing the right thing, wasn’t enough to erase the shock
Forrest felt over the situation.

"Are you okay?" Angel asked, and the young man nodded slightly, but didn’t
turn around. After a moment, he spoke.

"It’s just strange, you know... to be standing here with you. My mind keeps
screaming that you’re a vampire."

"Well, you’re mind’s certainly hit the nail on the head with that one,"
Angel said, drawing a small smile from Forrest.

"But you’re different," the Initiative member continued quietly. "I saw you
with Willow. You actually care about her," he said as he turned around.
"You love her. Demons don’t love."

"Some do," Angel stated, thinking about Spike and Drusilla. Crazy bitch or
not, Spike certainly loved the female vampire.

"How many care about humans? How many vampires?"

"One that I know of," Angel replied.

"That’s what I figured. Anyway, I saw you with her, and then I thought
about how you acted with the other two in the office."

"Cordelia and Wesley," the vampire supplied.

"Yeah, them. Anyway, I just decided that you shouldn’t be a target."

"Why was I a target anyway? How did you know about me?"

"I eavesdropped," Forrest replied, no longer proud of his actions. "I heard
Riley and Buffy talking, and she was telling him about you."

"Buffy? As in Buffy Summers?" Angel asked, getting a bit angry. He knew
from Willow that Buffy was involved with this Riley guy - and he didn’t
really care all that much, especially now that he was discovering he had
feelings for Willow - and he also knew that Riley was supposedly involved in
this demon-hunting group that the Slayer had been investigating. Which of
course meant that Angel was led to the unavoidable conclusion that Buffy had
told Riley all about him, thus putting both him and Willow in possible
danger from Riley. And obviously, that danger was coming to fruition.

"Yeah, Buffy Summers. It’s not exactly a common name, you know. Girl
thinks she’s the Slayer. Some imagination, huh?"

"Not imagination," Angel replied, his voice slightly hard as he thought
about the danger Buffy had probably brought to all of her friends as well as
herself by divulging her secret to this Riley guy. "She is the Slayer."

"But-"

"Trust me on this, Forrest."

"Slayers don’t exist."

"And you know this how? I’ve been walking this earth as a vampire for the
better part of two and a half centuries. Trust me when I tell you that
Slayers do indeed exist. And Buffy Summers is a Slayer. Just like I’m a
vampire with a soul." Annoyed and frustrated, Angel began pacing back and
forth across the room. "I can’t believe she told some guy she barely knows
these things. Doesn’t she know how dangerous that could be? And not just
to her, either. To everyone around her."

"Riley cares about her."

"Like I care. All I care about right now is the fact that a bunch of your
friends are on their way up here to come after me, and I have to find a way
to keep from getting captured. And let’s not forget those two women in
there on the couch. They depend on me, and I have to keep them safe from
your friends."

"We don’t go after civilians."

"Are you really certain about that?" Angel asked. He knew what had happened
to Willow at the girls’ dorm room back in November when Spike had attacked
her - the military guys had wanted to take her back with them, too - and he
wasn’t willing to put anything past these army guys.

"Look, Angel, I’m sorry for my part in this. I thought it would be over if
I told them you were dead. Obviously I was wrong. But I want to fix it. I
mean, it is my fault. I’m the one who told Walsh about you. Buffy and
Riley had no idea that I was outside listening in on them. And Riley hasn’t
told anybody about anything. The whole Slayer thing... apparently it wasn’t
new to him. I mean, he didn’t seem surprised. He was actually the one who
brought it up. So he’s been keeping that from the Initiative for awhile
now. I’m willing to bet that he would have kept you a secret, too. Which
means that this is all my fault. It’s my mess. I’d like to help you fix
it."

"Look, Forrest, I really appreciate the-"

"Oh, my God! Somebody help!"

Both men turned toward the office at the scream, and they almost
simultaneously made a dash for the room. Angel quickly dropped to his knees
beside Willow, who was struggling to keep Cordelia from falling off the
couch as the other girl writhed in pain.

"Vision," the vampire muttered softly, wondering just what the hell was
going to happen now. Hadn’t they had enough for the day? He certainly
thought they had. But, no, the Powers That Be just had to send Cordelia a
vision and complicate things even more. Sighing, the vampire glanced up at
Forrest. "The top drawer of Cordy’s desk... she has some type of headache
medicine there. Bring that and some water." Forrest nodded his acquiesce,
and he was returning with the requested items just as the vision ended.

"I really hate that part," Cordelia groaned as she reached out for the
much-needed items Forrest had brought.

"What did you see this time?" Angel prompted, wanting to get whatever it was
over with so he could get back to the matter at hand.

"A cave... it was raining... I think it may have been on the beach. I got a
flash of a carnival and lots of wet sand," she told him. "Two little
kids... and a demon. Green, scaly, really ugly. I think it had a horn."

"Okay, so I head down to the beach. But where?"

"A carnival on the beach near some sea caves," Willow murmured. "I think I
may know where it is. I passed by something like that when I came up to
LA."

"Where?" Angel asked.

"I’ll show you," the redhead said as she began to stand.

"No way. You’re not coming with me."

"Yes, I am."

"It’s too dangerous."

"And I really care," Willow said. "Look, Angel, you get the demon. You can
kill him all you want to, and I’ll stay the hell out of the way. In fact,
I’ll be the one getting the kids out of the way and back to their parents
while you get the bad guy, okay?"

"Willow, I-"

"Resolve face," she told him, and Angel sighed.

"Fine. You can come. I’ve got some weapons in the trunk that should work."
He looked up at Forrest. "Will you stay-"

"I’m not going anywhere," the young man assured him. "I’ll keep an eye out
for the Initiative, and I’ll get Cordelia the hell out of here if it seems
like something’s going down."

"Thanks," the vampire replied as he stood and headed out of the office,
Willow at his heels.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Subject is on the move," the young man said as he watched the vampire leave
his office.

"Underground?" the voice on the other end of the phone asked.

"Negative. Cloud cover caused by the rain is apparently sufficient
protection from the sun. Also, subject has someone with him. A young
female redhead that appears to be human. They’re getting in a car right
now. What should we do?"

"What do you think you should do?" the voice asked slightly mockingly.
"Follow them."

Part Twenty

"Um... this whole thing that just happened here... does is happen very
often?" Forrest asked, eyeing Cordelia as if he was afraid she might shatter
into a million pieces at any moment. Of course, the brunette did feel as if
her head might break at any given moment, so Forrest’s reaction really
wasn’t all that far off.

"You mean the whole vision thing?" she asked tiredly as she rubbed her
temples.

"That would definitely be the thing," the young man replied as he sat down
on the couch next to the brunette woman, turning so that he could study her
for a moment. She was beginning to get her color back, which he took as a
good sign. Of course, that still didn’t explain what had just happened. He
was hoping she could do that for him.

"I, uh... well it’s actually kind of simple. Okay, so that’s not entirely
true. The basic thing is that I get visions of people who need help."
Sighing, she turned her head so that she was looking at Forrest. "Angel’s
one of the good guys, and the Powers That Be, whoever they are, know that.
I’m his link to the people that need his help."

"Has... has it always been this way?"

Cordelia laughed hollowly. "Not even close. Until Angel and I met up here
in LA, we didn’t really know each other all that well. Back when we were in
Sunnydale - I actually went to high school with Willow - I was just some
snobby girl who happened to help out on occasion. Then, well, stuff
happened, and Angel and I both moved to LA - separately, of course - and we
ran into each other here. I needed a job, he needed a secretary..."

"But the visions..."

"That was Doyle’s domain. At least, it was in the beginning. He... he was
a friend of ours. Doyle was, um, he was half-human and half Brachen demon,
and he was the one who had the visions. He... died... and he, uh, he passed
his visions on to me."

"I’m sorry. About your friend, that is. And your visions, too, I guess."

Cordelia smiled slightly. "Thanks."

Forrest returned the smile, and the two proceeded to sit in silence for a
few minutes, neither of them sure what to say next. After awhile, Forrest
cleared his throat and spoke. "So, uh, what do we do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, do we just sit here and wait for them to come back, or what? I mean,
what do you usually do while Angel runs off to help the people in your
visions?"

"Before or after I make friends with migraine medication?"

"Well, since you’ve already taken the headache stuff, I’d say after."

The brunette shrugged. "It depends, I guess. Sometimes I go with him, and
Wesley does, too. It’s not just him fighting the bad guys. It’s all of
us... And to tell you the truth, I really don’t get a ton of visions. A lot
of times, the bad guys find their way to us without any work at all on our
part..." Cordelia trailed off as the bell that indicated that someone was
entering the main office jingled, and both she and Forrest jumped up off the
couch, Forrest pushing the young woman behind him.

"Well, I imagine everything’s cold by now, but..." Wesley trailed off as he
saw the defensive stance both young people were in, and he frowned as he set
down the bags containing the food he had brought. "Well, hello."

"Wesley," Cordelia said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Yes, it’s me," the Englishman said, sounding a bit confused. "Of course it
is. Why? Were you expecting someone else?"

"There’s always the possibility that some of Forrest’s commando buddies
could show up," the brunette reminded the man.

"Yes, yes. Quite right. Is, um... where are Willow and Angel? Are they
downstairs, or-"

"Vision," Cordelia interrupted him. "They went out to get the demon, and
Forrest and I stayed to hold down the fort, so to speak."

"A vision... bloody hell," Wesley murmured. "I can’t believe that on top of
everything that’s been happening..."

"Well, believe it. ‘Cause it happened. My pounding head can attest to
that."

"What a day we’re having," the former Watcher said softly. "When it rains,
it pours, I guess."

Cordelia looked out the window, where the rain was still coming down in
sheets. "It certainly does."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Can you drive any slower?" Xander asked sarcastically. "’Cause, you know,
at the rate you’re going, we may actually get to LA before I die!"

"Oh, shut your gob!" Spike returned, leaning forward to see through the
downpour. "The rain out here is awful. I’d like to see you do any better."

"Fine. Pull over, and we’ll switch seats so I can drive."

"Not bloody likely," the vampire replied.

"Will you two shut up? You’re giving me a headache," Riley complained from
the backseat. "And Spike, can you please drive a little faster?"

"And why exactly are we going here again?" the bleached blonde asked as he
grudgingly complied with Riley’s request.

"To help Angel," Xander replied. In all honesty, that wasn’t what was
foremost in his mind, nor was it what was most important to Riley. They
were far more concerned with the possibility that the Initiative would come
for Angel, and Willow or someone else (such as Cordelia) would get caught in
the crossfire.

"And why in the name of Satan would I want to help my poof of a sire?" the
vampire returned as he slowed down again.

"Because if you didn’t, Buffy said she would shove a stake up your ass,"
Xander reminded him. Since Graham had told them that the Initiative had the
Slayer under surveillance, it had been decided that she should stay in
Sunnydale in order to avoid tipping off the army guys to the fact that
reinforcements were heading Angel’s way. Of course, Xander figured it would
have been a good idea to keep the Slayer away from the City of Angels - and
one Angel in particular - anyway, especially since Riley was going in an
effort to talk his friends out of this missions. Riley meeting up with
Angel for the first time was going to be bad enough, and add Spike to the
mix... yee, gods, this was going to be scary. And Buffy’s presence would
have just made it worse. Therefore, Xander was glad the blonde girl was
staying in Sunnydale. The fact that he was still pissed at Buffy for not
even calling Willow once during this entire ordeal had nothing at all to do
with his joy over the Slayer’s absence. No, none at all. Okay... maybe a
little. Or a lot. He just wasn’t going to admit to it.

"So what if Slutty the Slayer shoves a stuck up my ass? It’s not like it’ll
*kill* me or anything," Spike replied, his voice breaking through Xander’s
thoughts.

"Yeah, but I imagine it would hurt you pretty badly. Unless of course, you
regularly shove a stake up your... and I really don’t want to think about
that," Xander said, his distaste showing on his face as Spike laughed. He
loved getting to Xapper, and this time, he hadn’t even had to try.

"Cut it out, you two," Riley said, his voice annoyed. "And *please* speed
up, Spike. I don’t know how much a of head start the Initiative had, but I
imagine they’re probably already in LA, and if we hope to be of any help at
all, we better get our asses down there, and be quick about it."

"Well thank you, Commander Sunshine," Xander muttered sarcastically, his
worry for Willow rising twofold.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Angel? Angel, are you okay?!?"

The vampire turned at Willow’s voice, and he saw the slight redhead
scrambling back into the cave. She nearly lost her footing, but instantly
recovered, quickly making her way over to the vampire, visibly checking him
over for any injuries.

"Willow, I’m fine," he told her, reaching out to brush her drenched hair
from her face. "The demon went down easily. He would have been able to
take out those kids..."

"But he was no match for a big, bad vampire?" the redhead said with a smile,
which Angel returned.

"Something like that. And about those kids..."

"They’re fine. I helped them find their parents, and I think the parents
were so happy to see them that they’ll completing forget about punishing
them for wandering off. I swear, the mom was so happy she actually hugged
*me* like five times," she told him, the grin on her face seeming to light
up everything around them. Damn, but she was beautiful. "Angel?" Willow
said tentatively, not sure what was on the vampire’s mind.

"Yes?"

"What... well, the look on your face... What are you thinking?"

"I’m thinking about how damn much I want to kiss you," Angel told her
bluntly, and Willow’s eyes widened slightly in surprise before she grinned
at him.

"Well, how about doing it instead of just thinking it?" she asked, and it
was Angel’s turn to look surprised. He recovered quickly, though, and
leaned in to kiss her.

Bliss. That’s what this felt like. That’s what this tasted like. Lord,
how he wished he had no curse to hold him back... He wished that this could
just go on forever, but...

"You’re cold," Angel said softly as he pulled back, looking down at the
young woman in his arms. "You’re trembling."

"I think part of that’s because of you," she whispered, making Angel fall
for her all the more.

"We should still go back, though. Then others are waiting, and they may be
worried. We need to get back to the office and-"

And it was then that an unexpected voice broke in.

"Oh, no, vampire. I don’t think you’re going anywhere."

Part Twenty-One

"Hello, hello. The cavalry is here!"

At the unexpected sound of her ex-boyfriend’s voice, Cordelia quickly
stepped out of Angel’s office and into the main room of Angel
Investigations, stopping short when she saw that Xander was with some guy
she’d never seen before... and Spike.

What the hell was Spike doing there? She knew he was neutered and all that,
but still... The brunette opened her mouth to ask why the bleached blonde
vampire was there (and why the others were there, as well), but Forrest
managed to speak first.

"What in the *hell* is Hostile 17 doing here, Riley?" he asked, leaving
Cordelia to assume that the unknown blonde man with Xander and Spike was
Buffy’s new boyfriend Riley Finn. She studied him for a moment. He wasn’t
all that bad looking, though his head was kind of big. Of course, that
wasn’t really the most important thing at the moment, now was it...?

"The name’s Spike, mate. And it’ll do you good to just accept that I’m here
to help and move on," the vampire ground out, his eyes flashing slightly.
Another damn commando boy...

"Why are you here, Forrest?" Riley asked, confused by his friend’s presence.
If he’d known Forrest was going to be there, he would have never shown up
with Spike. Too many questions to answer.

"He saved Willow’s life, so we invited him over to stay awhile," Cordelia
said dryly. "Of course, he has an invitation to be here, and you don’t,
which begs the question... Why are you here?"

"We’re here to... wait a minute. Did you say he saved Willow’s life?"
Xander asked, his eyes widening. Dear Lord, what had happened now?

"That Sawyer guy tried to grab her again, and Forrest here stopped him..."
the brunette said with a shrug, not sure how far she really wanted to go
into it. As it was, she’d probably have nightmares about Sawyer’s face
exploding for weeks to come. She didn’t exactly want to do anything that
would cause the incident to be even more prevalent in her mind.

"Well, is she okay? Where is she? Can I see her?" Xander asked, the
questions spouting forth at such a rapid-fire pace that, at first, Cordelia
could only blink in response. After a moment, however, she found her voice,
and quickly went to reassure him.

"She’s fine. I promise. A little shaken up, but hey, who wouldn’t be?"

"Where is she?" Xander asked again, anxious to have his question answered so
that he could go find his friend. All thoughts of helping Angel had flown
from his mind the second he had heard that Willow had been attacked again.

"She’s with Angel."

"So, what... she’s like downstairs or something?" Xander asked, already
headed for the elevator. Cordelia grabbed his sleeve in order to halt his
progress.

"I had a vision. They went to take care of it," she told him, wincing when
the dark-haired young man whirled on her.

"He let her go with him?!?" he nearly yelled. "What the hell was he
thinking?"

"She used her resolve face," Cordelia said in defense of her boss. "She’ll
be fine, okay? Angel will take care of her. I mean, Sawyer’s dead now. He
can’t hurt her anymore."

"Yeah, but Riley’s little army buddies can," he retorted, glaring at Buffy’s
boyfriend as if it were all the blonde man’s fault.

"Hey, the Initiative doesn’t go after humans," the young man protested. His
mind was still on the fact that this Cordelia girl apparently had visions,
but he knew that now was not the time to ask about them.

"Not even if they interfere with a capture?" Xander challenged, his eyes
flashing in anger.

"He’s right, you know," Forrest said softly. "If she tries to keep Angel
from being taken in - and I assure you, if the Initiative does catch up to
them, she will do that - then we both know they wouldn’t have a problem
taking her in, too."

"Great. This is just great," Cordelia muttered, throwing her hands up in
the air before she continued, her voice sarcastic. "What the hell did we do
to deserve all this fun and excitement?"

"Well, perhaps, the Initiative, as you call them, won’t find-"

"They had a head start on us, Wes," Xander interrupted. "They’ve probably
already been here for a couple of hours."

"But Graham’s with them," Riley pointed out. "He’ll try to keep them away
from Angel until we can do something."

"Oh, yeah, and if my success at diverting the Initiative’s attention away
from Angel is any indication, then we’re all royally screwed," Forrest said,
his voice a cross between anger and worry.

"Okay, so we’ve got to find Willow and Angel, figure out what to do..."
Riley began.

"Wouldn’t it be easier to just wait for them to come back?" Cordelia asked.
"I mean, look at it out there. It’s a mess. The rain’s coming down so hard
you can hardly see ten feet in front of you."

"And that’s all the more reason to go now," Riley replied, and Forrest
nodded in agreement.

"You’re right. This kind of cover... It’s make it all the more easy to just
grab them and run without anybody noticing that it’s been done."

"Oh, God," Cordelia muttered, suddenly extremely worried for her friends.

"My thoughts exactly," Riley said, though his worry was only for Willow.
The way he saw it, no matter how nice the guy was, Angel was still a vampire
when the day was done. And that meant Riley didn’t particularly care for
the creature’s well-being. But Willow on the other hand... She was Buffy
best friend, and he didn’t want her to get hurt. And he knew that there
were some guys in the Initiative who wouldn’t give a rat’s ass that she was
human, especially if she was willingly with a vampire. "Okay... where...
Where would they be going? Willow and Angel?"

"The beach, to fight a demon," Cordelia said, her brow furrowed slightly as
she once more tried to recall the details of her vision. Usually, in an
effort to try to distance herself from the hurt and the pain that filled
each vision, she tried to forget them as soon as she told Angel about them,
so it was odd to be drudging one up again. "There was a carnival nearby,
and... damn it, it’s so hard to remember these stupid things! They’re
really just flashes and stuff..."

"Wait a minute," Xander said softly, lifting his hand. "I... I think I
remember a carnival on our way up here..."

"I saw it, too. It’s not too far from here," Riley said with a nod. He
turned to Cordelia. "Could that be the place?"

"Were there caves around it?"

"I... maybe. I mean, I can’t guarantee it, but I think there were."

"Okay, then. That’s where they’ll be," she said, rubbing her temple and
grimacing. Damn, all this thinking and talking was hurting her head. In
general, she tried to take it easy after one of her mind-cracking visions,
but that clearly wasn’t in the cards for today.

"Are you okay?" Xander asked, his eyes concerned as he gazed at his
ex-girlfriend. He may have been with Anya now - and he did love the
ex-demon - but that didn’t mean he had stopped caring for Cordelia.

"Just a headache," the brunette replied, waving away his concern.

"More like a vision-induced migraine," Forrest countered softly. He was
fairly certain he wouldn’t forget the sight of Cordelia on the couch,
writhing in pain as the vision ran its course, any time soon.

"I’ll be fine," Cordy told him. "Don’t worry about me. It’s Willow and
Angel that we should be concerned with right now."

Xander nodded, still not sure Cordelia was completely okay, but willing to
let it go for now. After all, Willow could be in serious trouble here. "We
should get going then."

The others nodded, and began to head for the door.

"But Spike should stay here," Riley said before anyone got outside, and the
blonde vampire turned and growled.

"And just why should I do that?"

"Because the Initiative is human, and you’re neutered," the blonde man
replied. Before Spike could growl out a response to that, he continued.
"Look, you being there would just cause more problems. They’d be going
after you and Angel, that would make Willow more likely to get caught in the
crossfire."

"Then why the hell am I here to begin with, you wanker?"

"My car’s in the shop, so we needed a ride," Riley replied. "Plus, you
would have come in handy in case we ran into a demon."

"So what am I supposed to do now?"

"Stay here with Cordelia, make sure everything goes okay on this end. Think
of it this way, if a demon comes by, you get to kill it," Xander told him.

"I think Forrest should stay here, too," Riley put in, only to have his
friend turn on him.

"And why the hell should I do that? If the Initiative has an entire team
here, we may need all the help we can get."

"Your career will be totally screwed, man."

"And so will yours. And seeing as Walsh obviously knew I was lying when I
told her that Angel was dead, I’d say my career’s already down the toilet.
Come on, let’s go," Forrest said, heading out the door with Wesley, Xander,
and Riley at his heels.

Cordelia, too worried to care that she had just been left alone with Spike,
watched as the men headed out in search of Willow and Angel.

She just hoped they wouldn’t be too late.


Part Twenty-Two

Stunned, Willow and Angel whirled around in unison to face the unexpected
voice, a sight that would have been comical had the situation not been so
dire. The redhead’s eyes widened in shock as a group of army men filed into
the cave. There were five - well, actually there were six, if you counted
the person who had spoken - but that person definitely couldn’t be
considered an army *man*, that much was for certain. The speaker was the
only one who wasn’t heavily armed, and Angel could see that the commando
guys held not only stun guns, but two of them held crossbows as well, a
clear sign that if they didn’t manage to capture him, they intended to
simply take him out.

The witch and the vampire exchanged a look, both knowing that they were in
deep trouble. "I knew I shouldn’t have let you come with me," Angel
murmured softly, so softly that only Willow could hear him.

"Let me? Please, you didn’t *let* me do anything. I wanted to come. And
remember, if I hadn’t come along, then you may not have gotten those kids
out of here in time to save them, and they’d be demon food. So there," the
redhead whispered back, somehow managing to sound firm even though her voice
was quiet. Giving him a stern look to drive home her point, she turned her
head to face the obvious leader of the group.

Professor Maggie Walsh.

"What a pleasant surprise, Professor. Well, really, it’s not so pleasant,"
Willow said in a clear voice as she eyed her psychology teacher. The
redhead knew instantly that this woman was the head of the Initiative, and
it sickened her to think that she had once respected this woman. This same
woman who was now out to capture Angel. "I never expected to see you here.
Does the college know of your... extra-curricular activities?" Out of the
corner of her eye Willow caught sight of a man that she was fairly certain
was one of Riley’s friends, and it was all she could do not to use her magic
to knock him in the head with his own weapon. The only thing that stopped
her was the fear of what these people would do to her if they knew she was a
witch. No, it was best not to let these people know of her mystical
abilities - however slight they might be - unless absolutely necessary.

Graham watched the scene unfold in silence, trying to figure out how to get
all three of them - Willow, Angel, and himself - out of this mess unscathed.
At the moment, the odds were bad: four armed Initiative operatives, plus
Professor Walsh, against a vampire, one operative, and a teenage girl.
Graham knew that even if it was to save his own life, he would have a very
difficult time shooting one of the men he worked with - even if the gun was
only set on stun. Plus, he was pretty damn sure that Willow and Angel
weren’t exactly leaning towards trusting him at the moment, which would make
escape even more difficult.

"I suggest you step aside, Miss Rosenberg," Walsh said coolly, eyeing her
student. She hadn’t expected to see the redhead here; originally, all
Forrest had told her was that the vampire was looking after a friend of
Buffy Summers. He’d never said which one, and she’d never even suspected...

"I don’t think so," Willow replied, her voice equally cool as she took a
step closer to Angel. She knew that if she moved away from him, the
Initiative members would immediately try to take him out. At the moment,
Walsh didn’t want to hurt her, and Willow had decided to try to use that to
buy some time and try to come up with a plan. Not that any plans were
currently forthcoming...

"Must I repeat myself?" Walsh asked. "I said, step aside. It for the best,
Miss Rosenberg. You have no idea what you’re dealing with here."

Angel opened his mouth to speak, but Willow silenced him with a look. She
was sick and tired of this crap. All she had come to LA for was some damn
de-ratting spell for Amy, and what had she ended up with? Chaos, absolute
freakin’ chaos. First there was the psycho who had thought she was his dead
ex-girlfriend and attacked her twice, then there was the whole Forrest thing
(which had actually turned out pretty well), then Cordelia’d had a vision,
and now she and Angel were being cornered by the damn Initiative. No, this
trip had not turned out as she had expected.

And Willow was way beyond pissed.

"*I* don’t know what I’m dealing with? No, back up just a damn a minute,"
the redhead retorted, her voice angry. "*You* are the one who has no idea
who she’s dealing with. If you did, you wouldn’t be here."

Walsh’s eyes flashed angrily at this outburst, and Willow could tell that
the woman was used to giving orders and having them followed. Well, Willow
sure as hell wasn’t going to follow orders. Not this time. Not when
Angel’s life could be at stake.

"Miss Rosenberg, as your professor, I order you-"

"Yeah, that position wields a whole hell of a lot of power out here in the
real world. Here’s a news flash for you: this isn’t college, and the
semester’s already over. I’m not moving. So deal with it."

"Willow maybe you should-"

"Shut up, Angel," the redhead snapped, and Angel snapped his mouth shut. He
could practically feel the angry energy coming off of the redhead, and if
there was one thing he knew, it was that pissing off somebody with magical
abilities could be a Very Big Mistake.

"Listen, chick, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into," one of
the Initiative guys spoke up. "This guy is-"

"A vampire?" Willow interrupted, pleased with the shocked look that crossed
the man’s face. "What? You thought I didn’t know? I know what Angel is,
and, more importantly, I know who he is. It’s you idiots who don’t know
squat. Hunt, capture, destroy. That’s all it is for you people. Good and
evil doesn’t mean jack to you. Angel’s good. And from where I’m standing,
it’s you guys that are evil."

"Girl, you have no idea who we are," the guy tried again, and Willow
seriously considered attempting a spell that would make the guy lose his
voice temporarily. Of course, with her luck, she’d probably wind up turning
him into a frog or something.

"You’re the Initiative. You hunt vampires, capture them, and make them
virtually helpless. Believe me, I know a whole hell of a lot more about you
than you do about me."

Willow’s eyes narrowed slightly as she caught sight of some movement to
Walsh’s left, and her gaze focused briefly on Riley’s friend. Her eyes met
his for just a moment, but she could read the look in his eyes easily. He
didn’t have the steely gaze of Walsh, or even the look of disbelief that was
on the face of the commando guy who was trying to talk some sense into her.
He was gazing steadily at her, and, even though their eyes met only briefly,
she could see that he recognized her, and that he was trying to come up with
some sort of a plan.

He was trying to find a way to get them out of this mess. All three of
them.

Graham saw the exact moment when Willow realized and accepted that he was on
her side - and Angel’s side, too. The redhead’s stance relaxed almost
imperceptibly; it would have been impossible to see if one hadn’t been
deliberately watching for it. It made him feel a little better - he knew
she was willing to work with him. Of course, he still didn’t have a plan.

Walsh eyed the redhead angrily, sick of the girl’s resistance. It had been
so long since someone had told the older woman no that she was no longer
capable of dealing with it. "Move her," the blonde woman instructed her men
in a steely voice.

Angel stiffened at the command, and Willow instinctively knew that the
vampire had changed into game face. "Nobody touches her," he growled, and
the Initiative members paused, glancing at their leader. None of them had
really been close to a vampire that hadn’t been de-fanged before. Usually
they were a good twenty yards away from a vamp when they dropped them.
Either that, or they snuck up behind it...

"I said, move her," Walsh commanded again, and apparently deciding they’d
rather risk the wrath of Angel than Maggie Walsh, four of the Initiative
operatives - all except for Graham - made a move toward the redhead.

"No!" Willow yelled. What happened next was, well, unexpected to say the
least. The redhead had no idea how she managed to do it - maybe it was the
extreme emotions that had built up within her over the past few days,
whatever. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that it did happen.

A white flash of light filled the cave, and a wave of power rushed over the
approaching commandos, knocking the men on their butts.

Willow’s eyes widened as she took in the sight of what she had done, and she
turned to Angel, looking to the vampire for some sort of an answer. Instead
of answering - for he had no answer - Angel grabbed the redhead’s arm,
hoping to get the hell out of this place before the commandos regrouped.

And that was when they heard the clattering of steps as more people made
their way inside.

"Oh, Goddess, what now?" Willow muttered, not even noticing that one of the
commandos had recovered and was currently reaching for her.

"Get the hell away from her!"

Forrest’s voice boomed out, echoing through the close quarters of the cave.
Willow looked to the entrance, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that
the new arrivals were friendly ones. Riley and Xander had stumbled in after
Forrest, which meant it was now six against five, much better odds than
before.

Riley stared at his boss, then looked over his subordinates, all of whom had
frozen at Forrest’s sudden outburst. His gaze settled on Graham for a
moment, then moved to Willow and the still vamped-out Angel. "Come on.
Let’s get out of here."

"Oh, Agent Finn, I don’t think that’s going to happen," Walsh said, and it
was then that they realized that Walsh had pulled out a gun - not a stun
gun, not a crossbow, but a real gun. The kind of gun that was used against
humans rather than vampires.

And it was pointed straight at Willow.

Part Twenty-Three

Riley stared at the gun pointed at his friend, then lifted his shocked gaze
to the face of the woman he had considered his mentor.

"What are you doing?" the blonde young man cried. "Are you insane?"

"She’s one of them," Walsh said coldly. "We’ll take her in, too. And if
she refuses to cooperate, she’ll be destroyed."

"What the hell are you talking about, ‘one of them’? Willow’s human!"
Riley, Forrest, and Xander hadn’t been there when Willow had put on her show
of magical powers, so they had no idea where Walsh’s reasoning was coming
from.

"Is she, Agent Finn? Is she really? Have you ever seen what she can do?
She knocked four of my men across the cave without even touching them."

"In self-defense," Willow put in, still standing there staring down the
barrel on the handgun.

Riley nodded slightly, realizing what was going on. He’d been aware of the
redhead’s interest in witchcraft, he’d just never seen a demonstration of
her powers. He’d had no idea how powerful she was. "So she’s a witch," he
said with a shrug, his voice calm and reasonable. Something in the
professor’s eyes told him that the woman was on the verge of totally losing
it, and he didn’t want to set her off. He knew she’d shoot if anyone made
any sudden moves, so Willow’s life truly depended on it. "She’s still
human. And I was led to believe that the object of the Initiative was to
protect humans, not hurt them. Put the gun down, Professor."

"That’s not going to happen, Riley," the woman replied. "I want that
vampire, and if the girl interferes, I’ll kill her."

"And just why do you want Angel so badly, anyway?" Willow questioned, her
eyes flashing.

"Willow-" Angel said softly, trying to warn the redhead not to say anything
that would incite the woman. He thought he could get the young witch out of
the way in time if Walsh made a move to actually shoot, but he wasn’t
certain. Therefore, he wanted to make sure no shots were fired... He didn’t
want to take a chance with Willow’s life.

However, Willow ignored him.

"Why do you want him so much, Professor Walsh?" She glanced around at the
weapons that the Initiative members held, her eyes resting on the crossbows.
"It’s certainly not to *study* him, or whatever it is you claim to do to
demons. You’re more than ready to kill him right here, that much is
obvious. And why is that, Professor? Is it because he’s proof that not all
the creatures that walk the night are evil? Here he stands, proof that you
and yours are wrong. Is that what frightens you so much? Someone finds out
- whoops! Walsh is full of crap - and there goes your funding."

"That is not true!" Walsh insisted. "The Initiative is right! You’re the
one who is wrong."

"Says who? You? Well, this may come as a surprise to you, but I don’t give
a damn what you think," Xander broke in suddenly, trying to draw the woman’s
attention away from Willow. He couldn’t stand the sight of his best friend
having a gun pointed at her, and he was willing to do anything he could in
order to help, even if it was simply acting as a distraction so Angel could
play hero. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Angel beginning to ease
Willow to the left, where she would be out of the path of any bullet fired.

But that wasn’t the only thing he saw.

One of the Initiative members had apparently decided to take advantage of
the fact that the individuals around him were distracted, and he had raised
his crossbow to the ready. Xander’s eyes widened as the guy took careful
aim at Angel, obviously intending to take the vampire out - permanently.
Wildly, Xander looked towards Angel and Willow, and he saw from the look on
the redhead’s face that she had seen it, too. Xander opened his mouth,
preparing to shout out a warning...

And that was when all hell broke loose.

"No!" Xander and Willow screamed, their voices both sounding out in unison
just as the Initiative member prepared to release the bolt and send it
flying into Angel’s chest.

Without thinking - for there was no time for conscious thought - Forrest
leapt at the man who held the crossbow - a man named O’Connor that Forrest
had once called friend - hoping to knock off his aim. He heard the man
curse as he slammed into him, but he also saw the bolt leave the crossbow
and go flying off in the general direction of Angel and Willow. He just
hoped that he had knocked into O’Connor hard enough to make the shot go
wide.

Then, somewhere, in the back of his mind, Forrest registered the sound of a
gunshot.

Riley lunged for professor Walsh as her finger squeezed the trigger, and he
could have sworn his heart actually stopped when he heard the gun going off.
He felt her body jerk as the recoil went through her, and he grimaced as
they both fell to the ground, colliding hard with the floor of the cave.

Graham was momentarily frozen when the gun went off, unable to move or even
think for a split second that felt like an eternity. When he regained his
senses, however, he tossed his weapon aside and quickly went to help Riley
subdue Walsh, searching for the handcuffs he knew he had tucked away
somewhere on his uniform as he made his way to the struggling pair.

The instant Xander had opened his mouth to yell out a warning to Willow and
Angel, he had also lunged for the pair, hoping to knock them out of the way
of the bolt that was sure to go whizzing towards the vampire and the witch.
He’d seen Forrest dive for the guy with the crossbow, and he’d barely been
able to keep from screaming when he heard Walsh’s gun go off. He just
prayed that the bullet didn’t hit Willow.

Willow.

She was all Xander saw at the moment, and he heard her gasp as he impacted
with the redhead and Angel, who was also trying to push Willow out of the
way. The three of them went crashing to the ground in a heap, with Xander
landing on the bottom.

Angel could feel the bullet that Walsh had fired rip through his side, and
he swore loudly as the pain from it tore through him. The vampire snarled
as he hit the ground, and he heard both Willow and Xander grunt as he fell
on them.

Quickly, Angel pushed himself off of the pair, turning to see where Walsh
was. Riley and one of the Initiative members - Angel didn’t know the guy,
but suspected that he was the Graham that Forrest had told him about - had
subdued the woman, and she was currently lying in the dirt that covered the
floor of the cave, her hands cuffed behind her back. It didn’t appear that
she would be causing trouble for the time being. The vampire then turned
his gaze to the shell-shocked Initiative members who seemed stunned into
immobility, then looked to Forrest, who had apparently disarmed the guy with
the crossbow.

The guy with the crossbow.

Where the hell had that bolt ended up?

Xander groaned softly as he pushed himself up off the ground, hearing Willow
whimper softly as he jostled her.

"Hey, Wills, are you - oh, God," he said as he got a good look at her.

Riley heard the stunned horror in Xander’s voice, and he looked over to
where Xander, Angel, and Willow were, his jaw dropping in shock when he saw
what Xander was looking at.

Sticking out of Willow’s back, lodged just below her shoulder, was the
crossbow bolt.

"Oh, Jesus," Forrest breathed as he rushed over to Willow’s side, reaching
for her as if he wanted to do something to help her, then pulling back,
obviously worried that touching her would just do more damage.

"I’m... I’m fine," Willow managed.

"Like hell you are," Angel growled in a voice tinged with panic. "There is
a crossbow bolt embedded in your shoulder."

"I’m aware of that. It’s not that deep, I don’t think."

"We’ve got to get her to a hospital," Riley said, hardly aware of the fact
that the Initiative members were leaving the cave, hauling the
still-handcuffed Maggie Walsh with them. Of the uniformed agents present,
only Graham stayed behind.

"Take the bolt out first," Willow instructed.

"What? We shouldn’t-" Graham protested.

"Take. It. Out," the redhead ordered.

Angel looked over at Riley over Willow’s head, and the young man nodded to
the unspoken question in the vampire’s eyes. Carefully, Riley reached out
for Willow, holding her still while Angel pulled the bolt out of her back.
The redhead stiffened and cried out, then relaxed against Riley, breathing
heavily.

"Time for the hospital," Angel said as he tossed the bolt away and stood up,
reaching for Willow.

"I don’t think you should go," Xander put in, and the vampire whirled on
him, furious that he would even suggest such a thing.

"What?!?"

"In case you haven’t noticed, you’ve got a bullet wound that is currently
bleeding. You go to the hospital, they’ll take one look at you and drag you
into an examining room. Do you really want to try to explain why you’re
walking around when you just so happen to be dead?" Xander asked.

"Damn, you’re right."

"I know I am. Why don’t you go back to the office, get cleaned up, and get
the others. The rest of us will get Wills to the hospital."

Knowing it wasn’t worth the time it would take to argue (and also knowing it
was the best plan) Angel simply nodded, then watched as Xander, Riley, and
Graham led Willow out of the cave, headed for the hospital.

Forrest, who had stayed behind, turned to the vampire. "Come on, Angel,
let’s go break this to the others. Since you’re kind of bleeding profusely,
I’ll drive."

Instead of responding, Angel simply followed Forrest out of the cave and
into the rain, heading for the car.


Part Twenty-Four

Willow turned around when Angel walked in, favoring her injured shoulder
slightly. It had been nearly two weeks since the Initiative’s botched
attempt at capturing Angel that had ended up with Willow going to the
hospital - again! - and the redhead was still in Los Angeles. She showed no
signs of leaving, and for that, Angel was glad. However, he wasn’t overly
thrilled with the fact that she had taken up residence at Cordelia’s instead
of staying with him.

"Well, somebody sure is grumpy," Willow said, smiling slightly at the sour
look on the vampire’s face. "What did you do? Drink some bad blood?"

"Very cute," Angel replied, his lips doing that thing where they curl up
just a little bit in an almost-smile.

"I thought it was," the redhead stated as she returned to the filing she was
doing. In order to keep her arm immobile while her shoulder healed, her arm
was in a sling, which made filing quite a painstaking task.

After watching her for a moment, Angel went over and began to help her.
"You shouldn’t be the one filing these, you know. That’s what I pay
Cordelia for."

"Yes, and such a wonderful job she does of it," Willow responded as she
moved Lillian Mitchell’s file from the P’s to the M’s. "Anyway, there’s
filing to be done, and Cordelia’s at an audition, so I thought I’d do it.
Or at least fix what Cordy screwed up yesterday." Sighing softly, the
redhead sent a sidelong look in Angel’s direction. "So what exactly crawled
up your butt today?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you’re being all surly and growly. Well, more so than usual.
There’s got to be a reason for it."

Angel shrugged. "I just don’t see why you have to stay with Cordelia. You
were perfectly safe here."

"Yeah, but were you?" Willow asked with a smile before leaning over and
kissing the vampire. They hadn’t talked much about their budding
relationship yet, and, for now, it was simply enough to know that they
actually had a chance at being together. Given the things that had happened
a couple of weeks earlier, that opportunity hadn’t been a certainty.

"What do you mean, but was I?" Angel questioned, confused. After a moment,
he realized what Willow was getting at, and he nodded. "My soul."

"Your soul," the redhead confirmed. "I care about you, Angel. Maybe it’s
not love yet - it’s too soon for that - but it’s getting there. And what
would happen if something happened between us... and things went too far? I
couldn’t deal with that, you know?"

The vampire nodded, knowing that it would kill him if he were to somehow
lose his soul and end up hurting her. "I know," Angel said sadly, feeling
his relationship with Willow slipping away. How could he have been so naive
as to think-

"Anyway," the witch continued, seemingly oblivious to the desolate thoughts
swirling through the vampire’s mind, "the point is, until we can find a way
to make your soul permanent, I’ll stay with Cordelia. It’s really very
safe, you know. Dennis is kind of like a guard dog or something - a guard
ghost, I guess - only better. I mean, the bad guy would have no warning, so
Dennis could just sneak up and hit him-"

"What did you say?" Angel asked, his mind suddenly grabbing hold of a part
of her speech that seemed to be Very Important.

Willow looked over at him, slightly confused. "Which part? ‘Cause, you
know, I kind of said a lot..."

"The part about my soul."

"Oh, about making it permanent?"

"That would be it."

The redhead nodded, then began to speak. "Well, um, you see, I’ve got this
friend. A new friend, but I think she’s trustworthy. Her name’s Tara, and
she’s a witch like me, and she agreed to look into some things for me.
Plus, I’ve got a few leads through Jenny’s old contacts. I’m hoping
something pans out there."

"Gee, you work fast," was all the stunned vampire could think to say.

"Not really," she replied with a shrug. "I’ve actually been working on this
for quite awhile now."

"How long?"

Willow bit her lip, looking slightly nervous... or embarrassed... or...
something... he just wasn’t sure what. "I’ve been looking for a way to make
your soul permanent since senior year - ever since I found out you had come
back from hell."

"What? Why?"

"Goddess, what a question," the redhead said with a small smile. "Most
people would just say thank you and move on."

"Willow, I’m sorry if that seemed ungrateful-"

The grinning redhead waved off his apology. "You’re just curious, I know."
Her smile faded a bit as she stood there, considering what to say. After a
moment, she nodded her head, apparently deciding she had found the right way
to put this. "And I’m going to be honest with you. Part of it was purely
selfish. I didn’t want Angelus to come back - I guess I should say I
*don’t* want Angelus to come back - and that’s the only way to do it."

"Not the only way-"

"It’s the only way I’m willing to accept," the redhead said sternly, not at
all thrilled that Angel would even allude to his own death. "Back then, I
was also doing it because I wanted Buffy to be happy. Then you decided to
leave, and it simply became the fact that it was something I wanted to do.
What you do - what we all do, really - it’s not an easy way to live.
Fighting all the time... How many times have we faced death in the past
month? It’s just... I think we all deserve the chance for whatever
happiness we can get. Of course, now I’m being a bit selfish again... I
don’t want to find the spell just for you anymore. I have quite a stake in
this myself."

Angel couldn’t help back smile back when Willow grinned at him, and he had
leaned in to kiss her - perhaps show her just a bit of how grateful he was
to her - when the phone rang.

"Damn. I knew I should have unplugged that thing," the vampire muttered as
Willow pulled away and reached for the phone. As the redhead perkily
chirped their slogan into the receiver, the vampire turned around and went
back to the filing, not really paying much attention to what was being said.
If it was a case, then he’d hear all about it when she hung up.

Willow did hang up a few moments later, squealing as she did so.

"Good news, I take it?" Angel asked.

"Xander’s coming to visit, and he’s bringing Forrest, too," she told him
with a grin. Forrest and Cordelia had spent quite a bit of time talking on
the phone over the past couple of weeks, and Willow knew her friend would be
thrilled that the young man was accompanying Xander.

"I thought this was supposed to be good news," the vampire returned dryly,
and Willow shot him a dirty look.

"It is. He’s bringing some books Tara found. She thinks they might help
with the soul thing.

"Couldn’t they have just sent them?"

"No can do. They’re also bringing Amy."

"Amy? As in your rat?"

"As in my former classmate who accidentally turned herself into a rat,"
Willow confirmed. "I still have to try out that spell I have, see if I can
make her human again. After all, the de-ratting spell was what I really
came to LA for in the first place."

Angel’s lips quirked slightly as he walked over to the redhead and put his
arms around her. "Well, you certainly got a whole hell of a lot more than
you came here for."

Willow smiled as she leaned her forehead against the vampire’s chest,
enjoying the feel of his arms around here. Yes, she had certainly gotten
more than she intended when she came to Los Angeles.

But given how things had ended up, how could she regret it?

The End