E-Mail: ash_j88@hotmail.com
Distribution: Anyone who has anything of mine, anyone who asks. :)
Feedback: Would be very helpful. Plus I would worship you.
Disclaimer: None of the characters or settings are mine, the song isn't mine either.
Rating: Will vary. May go up to R.
Note: Starts as A/B, W/O, moves towards W/A. *g* (This is the first short story in a five-story arc based around the song 'When I fall in love.' Story 1 in the 'Falling' arc.
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******** When I fall in love It will be forever Or I'll never fall in love *****
Willow snuggled deeper into the circle of Oz's arms, leaning her head back against his shoulder. She knew that to the rest of the world he probably still appeared totally expressionless, but she could *feel* his smile like a spreading warmth against her skin. With a quiet sigh, she wondered when that had started. When she'd started being able to sense Oz's emotions in the quick touch of his fingers on hers, see his pain in the fleeting shadows that darkened the eyes she loved to watch.
Love. That was when it had started. When she had finally realized that she didn't just like Oz, wasn't just grateful to him for liking her. When she'd realized that she loved him. Now and forever.
"Will? Hey, Will, you in there?" She refocused on reality, or in this case, on Xander's hand waving inches from her face. "Hate to disturb your little cat nap, but those of us trying to prevent the apocalypse could really use your help."
A corner of her mouth curved upwards as she reluctantly eased herself out of Oz's soft embrace. "Very funny." He let her go easily, only the slight pressure of his hands around her waist as he helped her to her feet signaling his disappointment.
Xander spread his hands. "Okay, so it's only a minor demon." He followed Willow across the library floor as she moved back to her place at the computer. "I just thought the extra adrenaline might get your motor running." He looked at her expression. "Or not."
Giles came out of his office, head bent over the pages of an arcane text. Sensing danger, the rest of the group sprang into action like a well-oiled machine. Oz stretched out a foot and nudged a discarded schoolbag away just seconds before Giles' foot landed on it, Xander skipped aside before the engrossed librarian could run into him.
The operation seemed in jeopardy when a tweed-covered elbow knocked a full cup of tea off the table in passing, but a few muttered words under Willow's breath stopped its fall in mid-air and returned it to the table without spilling a drop.
Giles, heedless of the activity, reached the table without incident and lifted his head from the book to say, "Has Buffy returned from patrol yet? I believe I may have located the, ah, likely lair of the creature."
"Nope." Xander answered for the group, casting a glance toward the door. "She's still out there, running around calling 'Here demon demon demon!'"
"Where's the lair?" Willow's fingers were poised over the keyboard as she waited, impatient to violate several federal laws for the greater good.
"Well, when I say that I 'located it' it would be perhaps more accurate to say that I have found the *type* of place where this particular demon prefers to congregate."
There was a moment of silence.
"And that would be... where?" Willow said gently, looking up at Giles with curious eyes.
"Oh! Forgive me, I fear I'm overtired." Giles rubbed his face tiredly. "The demon is likely to head for ah, quiet places. Ones with calm waters nearby and plenty of trees and such."
Xander nodded sagely. "A demon who likes a view, eh? What's its evil plan? No, don't tell me. It's going to settle down, raise a family, build a house with southern exposure and a screen door..."
"Not quite. It will slaughter people there, quite messily actually, until it has enough power to um, call down eternal winter on the world."
There are expectant silences, ones that occur when a group of people look at each other and realize that they and they alone can save their entire species. This was not one of them.
It was Xander who broke it. "Does anyone else remember when that would have freaked us out?"
Willow nodded. "I know what you mean... It's a bad thing, a *really* bad thing, but..."
There was something about Oz. It wasn't that people fell silent whenever he spoke, it was just that his words always seemed to arrive amid an incredibly coincidental lack of noise.
"You're all becoming desensitized." He nodded sagely. "It's very sad." There was a brief second where each person in the room unsuccessfully searched Oz's face for any signs of sadness. Only Willow saw the twinkle in his eye, and she flashed a surreptitious smile at him before turning back towards the computer.
"Let's see..." Willow's fingers danced on the keyboard, easily gaining access to a shaded map of Sunnydale and the surrounding area. One slender finger pointed at a blue line that ran along the corner of the map. "The largest body of water around her is the Elm river. Its coast is about ten miles long, and the demon could be anywhere along there."
Oz was suddenly behind her, moving with unnerving speed for someone who always seemed to be strolling. He pointed at a spot on the river a few miles south of town. "There."
"How do you know?" Willow looked up at him, her green eyes shining with the certainty that Oz would be right. The smiling curve of her lips showed that she was only asking the question to satisfy her endless curiosity about how his mind worked.
He shrugged, one hand moving to rest on Willow's shoulder as he looked at the screen. His thumb traced slow circles over the line of her collarbone. "I woke up there when I turned wolfy. I can't know for sure, but if *I* wanted a quiet place to slaughter people? That's where I'd go. Definitely."
Xander gave him a strange look. "You've put some thought into this, haven't you?"
Oz turned to look at him, nodding seriously. "Oh yeah."
The librarian ignored them both. "Right. We have a probable location, now all we need is-" The library doors swung open, and Giles turned to face the Slayer as she entered, with Angel only a step behind. "Buffy!"
"Hey all." The blonde was limping slightly, her face showing the strain of movement. Angel moved forward quickly, one hand reaching out to take her arm. Buffy stiffened under his touch, her shoulders tightening as an almost imperceptible shiver ran through her. Angel drew his fingers back, pain flashing briefly across his features.
It made Willow ache when she remembered how Buffy and Angel had used to be. How much she had used to envy them, envy the happiness that had arced between them like crackling electricity. The first time she'd seen them- standing mere inches apart with their eyes fixed on each other's face- it made her finally understand the phrase 'Opposites attract.' They were like night folded into day, sun-golden skin and raven-black hair melded into a cohesive whole. Seeing them was like seeing one soul divided between two bodies. < Bad choice of words. >
To ease the tension of the moment, Willow jumped up from her chair and rushed forward to offer Buffy some support. Oz followed her lead and took Buffy's other arm. Together, they helped her to a chair and lowered her slowly into it.
Giles watched his injured charge with eyes that had grown dark and concerned. "The demon?"
Buffy nodded, absentmindedly rubbing a large bruise just starting to appear on her shoulder. "He took us by surprise. He got away, but I think I hurt him pretty badly."
"We think we know where he might have, um, gone." Giles motioned at the map still displayed on the computer screen.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Buffy tried to stand up, but fell back into the chair with a gasp.
"Um, Buffy?" Willow moved in front of her friend, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I know you're the Slayer and everything, but I think you better sit this one out."
"But-"
"I agree with Willow." Giles' tone was firm. "You're obviously in no shape to go out again tonight." He raised a hand when it looked like Buffy was about to protest again. "I'm confident that Willow and Angel will be able to handle this one."
As he had expected, there was an immediate outcry.
"Me?"
"Willow and *deadboy*?"
"I'll go with them."
Giles shook his head. "Before the demon can die, a spell must be recited over it and then a dagger must... must..." He consulted his book. "Must be thrust through its heart. "
He looked fondly across to the petite redhead looking nervously at Angel. "Willow, you're the only one among us with enough knowledge to correctly recite the spell. And Angel, " His voice hardened around the vampire's name, edging it with a razor's bite. "You're the only one of us, besides Buffy of course, who has the strength to hold the demon down. "
The assembled group exchanged glances before reluctantly conceding his logic.
"What about the rest of us?" Xander voiced the question that was on all their minds. Over the years, the group had become almost like one organism. It was profoundly unsettling to think of a few of them going out to face danger while the others stayed behind in safety.
"This form of demon has poor hearing, but is sensitive to *heat*. Even body heat. The less people that go, the greater the chance of being able to catch it by surprise." Giles' voice was firm.
Willow's smile wavered slightly, but she put on a brave face. "We'll be fine, guys, really." She spoke to all of them, but she was looking at Oz.
"Be careful." Buffy's voice was almost too soft to hear, her eyes fixed firmly on the floor. There was everything of love and pain in Angel's dark gaze as it rested on her bent head, a hurt so deep that it seemed that memories of Hell itself must be eclipsed by the terrible distance between him and his love. Buffy didn't look up, didn't dare meet those speaking eyes and read the story they told. She'd read that tragedy too often in the depths of the haunted blue eyes that stared out at her from every mirror.
Giles gave the spell to Willow and handed the dagger, point first, to Angel. The fragile paper of the scroll was almost crushed in Oz's embrace, his arms wrapping around her with the surprising strength that always made her feel safe. His breath was warm on her cheek when he whispered "Love you." She tilted her head and lost a few moments in the soft pressure of his lips.
Disentangling herself, Willow saw two pairs of eyes watching them, one pair the color of summer skies and one with the depth and shade of winter midnights. Her cheeks were flushed as she turned away, away from the naked longing in those eyes.
She and Angel slipped out into the night, not looking at each other as they started their long walk.
Oz and Buffy watched them go.
The End