Pairing: W/A
Rating: R eventually, just to be on the safe side
Distribution: whoever wants it
Feedback: I would love feedback, especially since this is my first story J
Summary: Willow goes to L.A. to fight evil, and gets some unexpected surprises
Spoilers: None directly, since I'm pretty much making my own world, but there may be a few references to incidents from BtVS high school episodes or AtS up to season 4.
Disclaimer: BtVS, AtS, and all characters associated with them belong to Joss Whedon, I own nothing but the plot
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Part: 1~
Willow juggled her books in one hand while reaching into her backpack with the other. After a few moments of fumbling, she fished out her keys and opened the door to her apartment. Throwing her backpack to the side, Willow set her books down on the table and grabbed a soda from the fridge. As she sat down at the table, the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Wills!"
"Buffy! How's it going?"
"Ah, you know, annoyingly cryptic prophecies, new big evil, slay big evil."
"No bronzing?"
"Well, okay, that too."
"So in other words, nothing too exciting?"
"Nah," the slayer said, "Although I did find this colony of ants in my bathroom."
"Eeew."
"I know, it was so disgusting, they were everywhere."
"At least they weren't some nasty hell-mouthy ants that were trying to re-open the hellmouth or something."
"Having the hellmouth in the library was bad enough, but having the hellmouth in my bathroom would have been so much worse."
"Yeah, what excuse would we have told your mom for "studying" in your bathroom?"
"With Giles and Xander," Buffy cut in, laughing.
"And Cordelia," Willow said, joining in Buffy's laughter.
There was a pause as both girls finally stopped laughing.
"So." Buffy said.
"What's up Buff?" Willow asked, sensing that her friend had something on her mind.
"Nothing, just wondering how L.A. is treating you?"
"Okay, I guess, not much has really happened besides going to class and moving into my apartment though."
"Yeah, that's true. Hey maybe Angel's in L.A."
Willow snorted. "He probably left the country."
"Hey, you never know. I'm just saying that it'd be nice to know someone when you're down there all by yourself."
"Well, maybe I'll run into Cordy."
"Yeah, if you do say hi to her for me. Anyway, don't kill yourself looking for Angel, you hear me?"
"Don't worry, I wasn't planning to."
"Okay then, you take care of yourself Wills."
"I will. You too Buffy. And let me know if you need me for anything."
"I will. We miss you lots."
"I miss you guys too. Give my love to Giles and Xander okay?
"Okay."
"Bye Buffy."
"Bye Will."
After she hung up, Willow thought about Buffy's question about Angel. I wonder where he is she thought to herself. She briefly wondered if he was in L.A, but quickly dismissed the notion. Why L.A. of all places? He probably went to Europe somewhere. Back to Ireland even. Shaking her head, Willow brought herself out of her musings. Well at least Buffy's moved on, there's one good thing that come of Angel leaving. Willow got up to throw her soda can away. Even if he didn't bother to say goodbye to me before he left she thought bitterly. Willow threw the can at the trash can. A look outside told her that it was almost sundown. She fastened her cross necklace around her neck and hid a stake up her sleeve. Then, she added a stake in her jeans pocket, along with two small vials of holy water. There's got to be some vamps in L.A. Willow thought to herself as she headed out into the L.A. evening.
~Part: 2~
Willow walked down the streets, familiarizing herself with the new city. She rounded a corner and kept walking, wondering idly if she was going to run into any vampires at all in L.A. Soft light from inside a window spilled out onto the sidewalk, and as she walked through it, Willow thought she saw a shadow move behind her. <Finally>she thought. Willow slowed her steps just slightly, letting the shadow catch up with her. She paused for a moment as if deciding which way to go next. She crossed her arms in front of her and shook the stake in her sleeve down. <1.2.3.> Willow quickly spun around to face the vampire, and drove the stake into his chest.
"Not too dramatic, but that's okay," she said to herself, as she watched the ashes swirl to the ground.
Willow turned and headed back to her apartment, a small, triumphant smile on her face. She twirled the stake in her hand, tossing it up in the air before trying to catch it again. The piece of wood fell to the ground, and Willow bent to retrieve it. "Damn, I've got to ask Buffy how she does that," she said to herself. She picked up her stake and kept walking, completely unaware of the figure that was watching her.
At first, Angel had been surprised to see Willow in L.A., but then he realized that she was probably going to college here. What was even more surprising to him was that she was walking alone at night. <What was she thinking?> Angel wondered. He stayed hidden, but followed her, making sure that she got home safely. He had been about to come out when he saw the other vampire come up behind Willow, but suddenly, she turned around and staked it. Angel was impressed. <So she had known that she was being followed> he thought, <And apparently she's not all that defenseless either.> Angel smiled as he watched the redhead walk home.
Willow turned a corner onto the street her apartment was on, and thought she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around, but saw nothing. <It's probably just my imagination> she thought to herself, and shook it off. She crossed the street, but quickly jumped out of the way as a black car came careening down the road. <Geez, somebody failed Driver's Ed> she thought. Willow brushed herself off, and started to cross the street again.
"Willow?"
Willow turned around, wondering who could be calling her name.
"Cordelia, hi," she said, as the tall brunette got out of the car, "By the way, nice driving back there." She teased.
Cordelia got out of her car and walked over to Willow. "So," she said, "What are you doing in L.A.?"
"Going to UCLA actually," Willow said, "I'm living in that building over there," pointing at her apartment building.
Cordelia nodded. "Wow, I had no idea," she said, "How long have you been here?"
"Only about two weeks. What about you? How's the acting thing coming?"
"Well, I got down here a little before you did. I'm actually supposed to meet someone tomorrow evening."
Willow smiled. "That's really nice, Cordy," she said, "I hope it works out for you."
"Hey, you don't have class in the evening, do you?"
Willow shook her head. "No, most of them are in the morning."
"Why don't you come with me tomorrow evening," Cordelia offered, "I'm supposed to go to this thing and meet a bunch of people, and they said I could bring someone."
Willow thought about it for a moment.
"Oh come on," Cordelia said, interrupting Willow's thoughts, "It's not like you're doing anything else then anyway."
Willow shook her head and laughed, <Ladies and gentlemen, Cordelia Chase> she thought, amused by her bluntness.
"Okay, okay, I'll go," Willow said, "What time is it?"
Cordelia smiled. "Good. It's at 7:00, I'll come by and pick you up at 6:30, so be ready. Make sure you wear something nice, a little dressy."
"6:30 then. I'll see you tomorrow, Cordy," Willow said walking towards her apartment. "Oh and Buffy says hi."
* * * * * *
Someone knocked on Willow's door at 6:00, when she was trying desperately to get her makeup to look decent. "Coming," she yelled. When the tip of her eyeliner broke yet again, Willow threw it at the mirror in frustration and went to go answer the door.
"Hi Willow," Cordelia said brightly. She looked Willow over, "Very nice," she said approvingly, "I'm impressed."
"It's not too dressy?" Willow asked. She was wearing a dark green spaghetti strap dress that fell to just above her knees.
Cordelia shook her head, "No, it's just right," she said, "It looks very nice."
Willow smiled a little self-consciously, unused to the ex-cheerleader complimenting her clothes. "Thanks," she said, "I need to find, like a front open blouse or something to wear with it though."
Cordelia waved her hand, "Oh, don't worry about it," she said, "I think I actually have an extra one in my car. You can wear that."
"Oh, okay," Willow said, "In that case, I just need to finish this stupid makeup and we can go."
Cordelia set her purse down on the table. "Here, hold on a sec." She rifled through her purse, opening and discarding various makeup containers. Finally, she settled on a couple and set them out in front of her. "Okay, sit here," she ordered, pulling out a chair, "And don't move."
Willow sat down and waited for Cordy to finish her makeup.
"There." Cordy stepped back to admire her work. "Perfect." She handed Willow a mirror.
"Wow," Willow said, "One of these days, you've got to teach me how to do that."
Cordelia smiled. "Of course," she said, "I don't know how you went on this long without this stuff. Now come on let's go."
Willow grabbed her purse and the two girls went downstairs and out to Cordy's car.
"You sure you don't want me to drive?" Willow offered.
"Ha ha, very funny. I'm not that bad."
"Cordelia, you failed Driver's Ed. The instructor almost had a heart attack."
"That was two years ago!"
"You almost hit me yesterday."
"Momentary distraction," Cordelia defended herself, "There was this really hot guy on the sidewalk."
Willow rolled her eyes and fastened her seatbelt. "Just be careful, ok?"
"Yeah, yeah, I am." She turned the key, and the car lurched away from the curb.
After they had been driving a couple minutes, Willow turned to Cordy.
"Hey Cordy,"
"Mmmhmm?"
"Where'd you put that blouse you said I could borrow?"
"Oh, that. Um, it's in that bag in the backseat, you can get when we get there."
Willow reached behind the seat for the bag, "No, that's okay, I'll just get it now." She pulled the bag onto her lap and started looking through it.
"Cordy."
"Yeah?"
"It's not in here."
Cordelia frowned, "It's not?"
"No, there's just a bunch of CDs and high heels in here."
Cordy tried to look innocent, "Ooops, I must have brought the wrong bag with me." She smiled apologetically at Willow, "You're welcome to borrow a pair of shoes if you want, though."
"Cordy?"
"Yeah?"
"I really hope you're a better actress than that."
"Oh please, admit it, it looks better this way."
"Whatever," Willow muttered, "Let's just get there already."
A few minutes later, Willow and Cordelia got out of the car. "Okay, so it's not supposed to last more than two hours or so, and it's mainly a lot of mingling and smiling."
"Mingling and smiling," Willow repeated, "I think I can handle that."
Cordelia smiled. "Good. Come on then, here we go." An hour and a half later, Willow realized how boring, not to mention tiring, mingling and smiling was. She smiled at Cordelia who waved at her from across the room where she was busy talking to someone. Willow looked around the room wondering how they managed to cram that many people into it. Feeling thirsty, she decided to look for the refreshment table. She craned her neck and stood on her tiptoes to get a better view. <Ah ha found it.> Willow turned around to go there, but caught her heel on a crack in the floor and tripped into someone.
"Oh, excuse me," she said, "I'm so sorry, these heels are so inconvenient. I really should have been more--" Willow paused in shock as she finally got a good look at the man she had bumped into.
"Angel?!"
Angel looked at the redhead standing in front of him. "Willow, hi."
"What are you doing here?"
"Actually I'm here for a client."
"What client? What do you do?"
"Well, basically the same thing we did in Sunnydale. Fight demons. I have my own agency of sorts." He handed Willow a flier.
"Angel Investigations," she read, "So you're here on a case?"
"Yeah. Apparently some vampires have been threatening this guy, and they're supposedly planning to do something here tonight."
"Like what?"
Angel shrugged. "Who knows. Could be anything."
Just then, a crash sounded upstairs and all the lights went out.
"Well," Willow said, "It looks like we're about to find out."
~Part: 3~
There was a moment of complete silence once the lights went out, before chaos erupted in the room.
"Do you know how to get upstairs?" Willow asked Angel.
"The staircase is in the corner by the table with all the food," the vampire replied, raising his voice to be heard over the din of confused voices that surrounded them.
"Okay," Willow said, "Let's go."
Angel started to make his way to the staircase, and Willow followed. He turned back after a moment.
"Can you see?" he asked her.
Willow nodded. "Not perfectly, but well enough."
The two of them continued towards the other side of the room and the staircase.
"Here's the food," Willow said as they passed the table.
"Okay, the staircase is in that corner, over there," Angel said, pointing.
"Wait, where?" Willow asked. They had gotten to the corner Angel was talking about, but Willow didn't see the staircase. Angel turned around and surveyed the room again.
"It was right here," the vampire said, "I walked by it earlier tonight."
"Are you sure this is the right corner? Maybe there was another food table." Willow suggested.
Frustrated, Angel ran a hand through his hair. "No," he said, "It was right there, where you're standing."
She frowned. "Right here?" Willow asked. She walked up to the corner, puzzled. "But there's nothing here but the wall," she said, gesturing at the wood in front of her. Willow's hand hit the wall as she was gesturing, and suddenly she pitched forward, through the wall.
"Willow!" Angel lunged forward to grab the redhead, but she had already fallen through the wall. <Through the wall? How did that happen?> he thought. He couldn't see her anymore, but heard her voice.
"Ouch. Well, here's the staircase we were looking for."
"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, let's find out what's going on upstairs."
"Um, Willow? Where are you?"
Willow stared up at Angel. "Right here," she said, waving her hands, "You're looking straight at me."
"Hold on," Angel said, walking towards the wall, "You're directly in front of me?"
"Yeah, why? Can't you see me?"
"No."
"That's weird," Willow mused, "I can see you plain as day-not that I've actually seen you in the day before, cause of the whole sunlight thing, but night's not really plain so--"
Angel shook his head, amused at the witch's rambling. He had forgotten how refreshing it was to be around her. Following the sound of her voice, the vampire walked confidently forward, trying not to think about the fact that he was walking straight at a wall. Willow smiled brightly at Angel when he joined her on the staircase.
"Shall we?" she asked.
Angel walked up a few steps, and paused for a moment, listening. A second later, he continued up the stairs, motioning for Willow to follow him. As they made their way up the staircase, they heard voices arguing in low tones. They reached the top of the stairs and looked around. They found themselves standing in a large room. A desk and chair sat on the left side of the room, and a large couch was against the right wall. A small, rectangular carpet covered the floor between the desk and sofa.
Willow pointed to a door in the wall a little to the right of the sofa. "Probably your vampires," she said, carefully keeping her voice quiet.
Angel nodded. "Okay," he said softly, "You wait out here, I'm going to go in the room," he said.
Willow frowned, wanting to argue, but decided to let it go. <This is his case> she reminded herself. Willow nodded. Then, she bent down and slipped off her heels.
"Less noise," she said, at the vampire's questioning look.
Angel nodded, and waited for Willow to get behind the sofa. Once she was out of sight, he walked to the door and paused for a moment before kicking it open. Inside the room, two vampires were moving furniture and rummaging through drawers.
"Looking for something?" Angel asked from the doorway.
The closest vampire growled and rushed at Angel. Angel easily deflected the blow, and kicked the other vampire's legs out from under him. The other vampire was still standing by the dresser. He yanked open the last drawer and reaching in, he quickly pulled out a necklace. He looked over at the two vampires that were fighting and dashed for the door.
Willow saw one of the vampires rush for the door, from her place behind the sofa. "Oh no you don't," she muttered. She pulled a small water gun out of her purse and stood up. "Hey!" she called, "Where are you going?"
Startled by the sound of her voice, the vampire swung around. As soon as he did, Willow raised her water gun, squirting holy water into his eyes. The vampire howled in pain, clutching his eyes and dropping the necklace on the floor. Angrily, the vampire advanced on Willow, his eyes still watery and squinting from the holy water. Willow pushed the sofa at the vampire, and used the extra time to squirt more holy water at him. The injured vampire stumbled blindly into the sofa, while Willow scrambled out from behind it. <Stake, stake, where is my stupid stake?> Willow thought as she frantically looked through her purse. Not finding one, Willow gave up and picked up one of her discarded heels. <I hope this is sharp enough>. Willow walked over to the vampire who was still struggling to get around the sofa, and leaning over him, staked him with her high heel.
Angel, having staked the other vampire, left the room and found Willow standing over the sofa, holding one of her heels.
"Wow, I never knew wearing four inch stilettos would be so practical," she said, looking over at Angel.
Angel smiled. "I'm impressed," he said, "I wouldn't have thought of that."
"Yeah, well hopefully you wouldn't have been wearing the stilettos either," Willow teased.
Angel chuckled, "True," he said.
Willow retrieved her purse and other shoe. <Well, he's still being somewhat monosyllabic, but at least I got him to laugh> she thought. Something sparkly on the floor caught her eye. "Ooh, what's this?" she asked, picking up the necklace. Willow turned it over in her hands, admiring it. It was a delicate necklace with small diamonds surrounding a larger emerald. She stood up and handed the necklace to Angel. "Maybe this belongs to your client," she said.
"Yeah, maybe," Angel said, taking the necklace, "You're getting to be really good at this," he added, "Two vampires in two days."
Willow shrugged, "Nah, not really, I was just lucky," she said. They started walking down the staircase. Suddenly Willow stopped. "Wait a minute," she said, "Two vampires?"
Angel almost ran into Willow when she stopped. Suddenly he realized his slip. "Uh.yeah, I just, ah, meant, you know.," he shifted uncomfortably under Willow's gaze. "I wasn't following you," he defended himself. Willow raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't!" he said, "I just happened to see you walking alone, and..and you shouldn't be walking outside alone, you know," he changed the subject.
Willow laughed. "I think that's the most I've heard you say at once," she said. She turned around and kept walking down the stairs. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, she turned around and smiled at Angel. "Thanks," she said.
Angel watched the redhead leave the hidden stairs and re-join Cordelia in the room. He smiled and walked out.
~Part: 4~
Lilah sat at her desk, calmly listening to some underling report to her on the night's activities. Growing tired of listening to his rambling, she stood up.
"So," she said, walking casually to one of the large windows behind her desk, "You're telling me.that we don't have the necklace."
The man shifted nervously. "I'm sorry--" he began.
Lilah turned around and glared at him. "I didn't ask if you were sorry," she snapped, "I asked if you got the damn necklace."
"No ma'am."
Lilah picked up a glass from her desk and took a sip. "I see. And why is that exactly?"
"Well, it seems that the vampires were staked."
Lilah nodded. "The vampires?" she asked. She cocked her head to the side. "Oh wait a minute," she said sarcastically, "You mean the 'professionals' you assured me would get the job done?"
The man glanced down at his shoes, "Yes ma'am."
There was a pause before Lilah spoke. "Well Robert, it appears that we both have something in common."
Robert hazarded a glance up at the tall woman. "W-we do?"
Lilah nodded. "Oh yes. It seems that we both have a talent for hiring incompetent idiots," she said, throwing her glass at the wall behind him, where it shattered.
Robert cowered and returned to staring at his shoes.
"That necklace was the only part of the prophecy we were able to figure out!" she yelled, "Do you have any idea how long it took to find out where it was?"
"Y-yes ma'am," he whispered.
"You make me sick," Lilah muttered, disgustedly. She walked back over to the window. After a minute, she turned back to Robert. "Now you listen closely," she warned, "You will find out where the necklace is, and you will bring it to me. Is that clear?"
"Yes, y-yes ma'am."
Lilah sat down at her desk again. "Well then," she smiled at Robert, "It was a pleasure talking to you, Robert." She held out her hand for him to shake, but the frightened underling all but ran from the room. Lilah shook her head in disappointment. "So rude," she sighed.
* * * * *
Willow was eating breakfast the next morning when somebody knocked on her door. Willow left her bowl of cereal and got up to answer the door. <Hm, wonder who that is?> She looked at her watch. <Too early for Cordelia.> she looked out the window <Too sunny for Angel.> Frowning, Willow opened the door.
"Um, hello," she said.
The man standing in her doorway smiled, "Good morning miss," he said, "I'm Doyle."
Willow stared at the man blankly. "I'm sorry," she said, "You must have the wrong apartment."
Doyle shook his head. "No, no," he said, "You're Willow Rosenberg, aren't you? And I'm a friend of Angel's."
Willow looked at him, as though she was trying to figure something out. "What are you?" she asked.
"_What_ am I? That's a bit rude, don't you think?" Doyle asked, looking offended.
Willow reached for her cell phone, and called Angel.
"Hello?"
"Angel, it's Willow."
"Willow, hi."
"There's this guy at my door who says he's a friend of yours? His name's Doyle. Do you know him?"
"Oh, Doyle," Angel said, "He's the client from last night. You can let him in."
"Okay, just checking."
"No problem. I'll talk to you later Willow."
"Okay, bye."
Willow put her phone away. Opening the door wider, she stepped to the side, and waved Doyle in. "Sorry," she said, "But you can never be too careful."
Doyle stepped in behind the redhead. "It's all right," he said, "The Hellmouth can do that to a girl."
Willow turned around sharply and looked at him. "What did you say?"
"I said the Hellmouth--"
"I know what you said," Willow interrupted.
"Then why did you ask?" Doyle said, smiling.
"What do you know about the Hellmouth?" Willow asked, going back into the kitchen.
"Well I know that you used to live in a charming little town called Sunnydale, with your ever absent parents, your best friend Xander, a cheerleader, Angel, and the slayer," Doyle said, following Willow into the kitchen. "I know that you all closed the Hellmouth, and that your graduation was.interesting, and that you restored Angel's soul."
Willow kept eating her cereal, keeping her face casually bored. Inside, though, her mind was racing. <Who is this?> she wondered <And how does he know everything about Sunnydale?> She looked up at Doyle, "Is that all?"
"All?" Doyle asked incredulously, "I just summarized the past three years of your life, and that's all you have to say?"
Willow feigned boredom. "Well, The Powers that Be have been surprising me for the past three years," she said, shrugging, "What can I say? You kinda get used to it after a while."
"You know the Powers that Be sent me here?" Doyle asked.
<Whoa!> Willow thought, <Not at all! But now we're getting somewhere.> "Of course," she said.
Doyle stared at the witch in disbelief. <How did she know?> he wondered. <Wait a second.> "Well if you knew who I was, then why did you call Angel, huh?" He grinned smugly at her.
<Ooops.think, think fast.> Willow got up and put her dishes away. "I was just.being careful," she said.
"Ah," Doyle said, making it clear that he didn't believe a word of what she had said.
Willow sat down at the table again. "Okay, fine, fine, you surprised me, okay? Now sit down and start talking."
Doyle smiled at sat down. "Thank you," he said, "I would just like to point out that I knew that you were just bluffing the whole time."
Willow changed the subject, "Okay, so you were sent by The Powers That Be," she said, "To do."
"Help Angel."
Willow rolled her eyes. "And here I thought Angel was the cryptic one."
"Ha ha," Doyle said, "Very funny. I was sent here to help Angel fight the good fight. When I went to see Angel last night, he mentioned that you had found the necklace."
"Well, sort of," Willow corrected, "I staked the vampire who had the necklace. I thought it might be yours."
Doyle nodded. "Actually," he took the necklace out from inside his coat pocket, "It's yours." He handed the necklace to Willow.
"What?" Willow said, stunned, "Why?"
Doyle sighed. "A stranger recounts the past three years of your life and you're perfectly calm, but they offer you some jewelry and you're shocked?" he asked.
Willow blushed. "The necklace isn't mine," she said, "You keep it."
Doyle shook his head, "No, really," he said, "I want you to have it. Think of it as a sort of a thank you gift."
Willow finally accepted the necklace. "I suppose, if you inisist--"
"I do," Doyle interrupted.
"Well, all right. But if you ever change your mind."
"Willow! Will you just take the necklace already?"
"Okay, okay," she said. She took the necklace from Doyle. "Thank you," she said, "But you really didn't have to."
"I know. But what can I say, I'm just too charming for my own good."
"I'll say," Willow said, laughing. "Hey, does Angel know you're not really a client?"
"Nah, not yet," said Doyle, "I thought he'd be more receptive to the news if he got to know me first." Doyle got up from the table, "Well, I'd love to stay, but I have to go." He turned back to Willow as he got to the door, and asked
"You wouldn't happen to know where Cordelia lives, would you?"
~Part: 5~
The next evening, Willow and Cordelia stood in the lobby of the Hyperion. Cordelia surveyed the lobby critically.
"This is where he works?"
Willow shrugged. "I guess so."
Just then Angel came down the stairs. "Hi Willow, Cordelia," he said, "Thanks for coming."
Willow smiled, "Anytime," she said.
"God, do people actually come here?" Cordelia asked looking around the room in distaste.
"Well Doyle came here last week for help," Angel said.
"Yeah but Doyle--," Cordelia began.
"Needed help with those vampires," Willow interrupted looking pointedly at Cordelia.
Angel looked a bit confused at this exchange, but didn't give it much thought. Then he noticed something sparkling on Willow's neck.
"Is that the necklace from the other night?" he asked her.
Willow looked down at the necklace. "Yeah, Doyle gave it to this morning," she said.
Angel nodded. "He said he might," the vampire said, "It looks good on you."
Willow blushed. "Thanks," she said.
There was an uncomfortable silence as both tried to think of something else to say. Willow fidgeted a little, and Angel looked down, running a hand through his hair as he tried to think of something to talk about. Cordelia glanced from Willow to Angel.
"Well," she said brightly, "This isn't awkward." She walked over to the table and pulled out two chairs. "You," she said, pointing at Angel, "Sit here. And you," pointing at Willow, "Sit there." Cordelia picked up her purse, slung it over her shoulder, and walked over to the door.
"Wait, where are you going?"
Cordelia turned around. "I am finally going to get my shopping done. I have been here for over two weeks and I still have not gone shopping. I'll be back in two hours. Meanwhile, the two of you are going to talk about whatever it is you were going to talk about and tell me what happened when I get back." With that, she opened the door and walked out.
Willow glanced up at Angel and laughed uncomfortably. Angel smiled a little and looked away. When Willow looked back over at Angel, she saw him run his hand through his hair.
"Do you do that often?" she blurted out.
Angel looked at Willow, a little startled. "Do what?"
"That," Willow said, motioning, "Running you hand through your hair."
Angel laughed at the randomness of Willow's comment. "I guess I do," he said, "It's an old habit."
There was another pause before Willow and Angel both started talking at the same time.
"You first," Willow said.
"I was just going to say that it's, I mean, well, I know that we haven't really talked that much lately, and I know that's my fault."
Willow stayed silent. She wasn't sure what to say. This whole situation was awkward and she really hadn't expected him to bring this up.
Angel sighed. "I'm sorry," he said, "I know I hurt all of you.and I don't blame you if you hate me."
"I don't hate you," Willow said softly, "You can't blame yourself for what Angelus did."
"I am Angelus," he said harshly, "There is no difference."
Willow's eyes flashed with anger. "Really?" she said, getting up from her chair and pacing the room as she spoke. "Because in that case, you have a lot of explaining to do."
Angel cringed. "I know," he said, "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Willow echoed. <Please let this work> she thought. "Why didn't you do something?" she asked, "Why didn't you stop it?"
Angel closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he repeated, "I tried.I-I couldn't stop it," a red tear streaked down his cheek as he spoke, "I swear, I tried, I tried to stop it."
Willow was at his side in an instant. "I believe you," she said, squeezing his hand, "It's not your fault."
Angel looked at Willow, confused. "W-what?"
Willow smiled gently at him. "You said it yourself-you tried to stop it. You couldn't have done anything."
Angel didn't say anything for a moment. Then giving Willow a small smile he said quietly, "Thanks."
The redhead smiled at the vampire sitting next to her. "Anytime," she said, "But promise me that you won't blame yourself for what Angelus did anymore, ok?"
Angel chuckled at the stern expression on her face. "Well, I must admit I'm no match for your resolve face," he said, "So yes, I promise."
"Good," Willow said happily, "So, what have you been up to since you left?" she asked.
Angel sighed. "Not all that much really," he admitted, "I only just got Angel Investigations together. I thought that if people came to me, it'd be a lot easier than trying to find everyone who needed help."
Willow nodded. "That makes sense," she said, "Hey have you tried putting together a website?" Angel just looked at her. "Or not," Willow said laughing , "Since you're not exactly Mr. Technology."
Angel got up and started to lead Willow over to his computer. "I do have a computer though," he said, "You could maybe show me how to use it?" he asked.
"I'd love to!" Willow said, clapping her hands together, "See, it's really not so complicated." They spent the next two hours on the computer, with Willow showing Angel all the things he could do on the Internet. The pair hardly notice when Cordelia returned.
"Hey guys," she said, stepping aside to reveal Doyle, who had his arms full of shopping bags, "Look who I just met."
~Part: 6~
Willow leaned back further into the bubbles surrounding her and sighed contentedly. <There is nothing better than a nice, hot bath> she thought to herself. It was still afternoon, so she didn't have to go out and patrol for another couple hours. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift. <Last night went pretty well> she thought. She had expected Angel to be at least a little bit angry when he found out that Doyle wasn't really a client, but the surprisingly, the vampire hadn't been angry at all. <Shocked maybe> Willow thought, laughing a little. Willow looked down at the necklace that was still around her neck. She ran her finger over the emerald pendant and the smaller diamonds that surrounded it. <Oops> she thought <I probably should have taken this off before getting into the bath>. Willow stood up and reached for a towel. <Oh well, I'm getting out anyway>.
A few minutes later, Willow was bored out of her mind. She looked out the window. <Yup, still sunny> she thought to herself. <God, this is so boring. I need something to do.I wonder what Cordelia is up to> Willow picked up her phone and called Cordelia, but hung up when she heard the answering machine pick up. <She's probably out.Hmm wonder what Angel's doing now?> she wondered.
Back at the Hyperion, Angel was sitting in one of the leather office chairs, drumming his fingers against the desk in front of him. His eyes fell on the computer and the vampire smiled at the website that Willow had put up last night. He shook his head slightly, even after knowing the witch for three years, her computer expertise still amazed him. <I wonder what she's doing now?> he wondered. Angel picked up a dart that was lying on his desk and threw it at the board he had hung on the wall.
Willow flopped onto the couch and turned on the T.V. <Nothing good on, as usual> she thought as she flipped through the channels. A few minutes later, she picked up her phone. <I could call him.> Willow paused, considering, <Then again, he's probably really busy> She sighed and put the phone back. Her stomach growled loudly so she went into the kitchen to see what she could find. <I just had lunch an hour and a half ago> she thought. She shrugged. She pulled out some leftover pizza and heated it up.
Angel stared at the phone in front of him. <I could call> he thought <See how she's doing.> A minute later, Angel picked up another dart. <I bet she isn't even home, she's probably out enjoying herself> he thought miserably. He sighed and threw the dart at the board.
Willow was going out of her mind. <There is absolutely nothing to do> she thought. She looked out the windows again. <And I still have at least an hour to go before sunset.> She looked at the phone. <This is dumb> she thought. She picked the phone up and dialed.
Angel threw the last dart at the board, and growled in frustration. He picked up the phone and dialed.
Willow held the phone, waiting. The busy signal rang in her ear. She hung up. <I knew he was busy>.
Angel sighed as he heard the busy signal. <She's probably talking to Cordelia or Buffy or someone> he thought.
* * * * * * *
An hour later, Willow sprang up off the couch. As she got up, she swayed on her feet a little, and grabbed the edge of the side table for support. She blinked and shook her head a few times to shake off the dizziness. <Weird.> She shook her head. <Finally sunset>. Willow slipped on her black boots and gathered her bag. <All set>. She locked the door behind her and stepped out into the night.
She walked around, following the route she had used her first night. She dusted two vampires easily, and kept walking. <Hey, I wonder what's that way>, she thought, seeing an alley. After checking her stakes and holy water, she turned into the alley. Willow hadn't gone more than a few steps before she realized that something was very wrong. Willow held her stake more securely, and pulled her cross out. <Okay, I just need to get out of here as quickly as possible> she thought. Suddenly, a sharp blow to her wrist knocked the cross out of her hand. She whirled around around to face her attacker, only to feel a hard blow to the side of face. Willow staggered up and pulled out her bottle of holy water. She opened the bottle and threw the water. The vampire hissed in pain, and stepped back. Willow advanced on the injured vampire and shoved her stake into him, but her aim was off and she saw that the stake was embedded in his shoulder. The vampire howled and threw Willow off him. Willow hit the wall with a thud and slumped to the ground. She frantically searched for another stake, and stood up again. The vampire grabbed her as she stood up, and Willow kneed him in the stomach. To Willow's surprise, the vampire doubled over in pain, giving Willow enough time to stake him properly. Her attacker turned to dust, and Willow knelt on the ground for a moment, trying to clear her head. "That was a little too close for comfort," she muttered, standing up.
"Well, looky what we have here," a voice sang from behind her.
Willow turned around and found herself staring up at another vampire. Before she could react, a pair of arms grabbed her from behind and pinned her to the wall. <Shit> Willow thought <This is so not good>.
"I don't think you were too nice to our friend," the vampire in front of her said.
Willow glared up at him. "Gee, I wonder why?" she said sarcastically.
The vampire clawed her cheek with his nails. "Don't get smart with me, little girl," he said.
Willow thrashed in the other vampire's grip, kicking back at him. His grip loosened, but as she fell forward, the vampire in front of her grabbed her. He grinned at her before leaning in to her neck and biting.
Willow struggled at first, but soon saw her vision go blurry. She hung limply in her attackers grip, unable to muster up enough energy to move.
Suddenly, the vampire was pulled off her, and Willow was pulled into someone else's grasp. Her mind was too foggy to think clearly, and all Willow could make out were blurry shapes moving around her.
After pulling the vampire off Willow, Angel staked it. He carefully set Willow down. The other vampire, already intimidated by Angel, quickly fled. Angel looked down at the small redhead he was holding.
"Willow? Willow can you hear me?" he asked softly.
Willow frowned. "Angel?"
Angel smiled in relief. "It's me," he said, "Can you walk?"
"Um, yeah," Willow said, as she stood up. She took a step and almost pitched forward. Angel caught her easily and picked her up. "Or not." Willow said.
"Come on, let's get you home," Angel said.
Angel headed back to the Hyperion as fast as he could. Willow still looked pretty woozy, and he hoped she hadn't lost too much blood. <Please let her be okay> he prayed silently.
They got to the Hyperion, and Angel settled Willow on the couch while he got the first aid kit out. He walked back over to the couch, kneeling beside Willow. He opened the first aid kit and gently tilted her neck to the side so that he could tend to it.
"Willow?"
"Yeah Angel?"
"The bite mark is.gone."
~Part: 7~
"What do you mean it's gone?" Willow asked. She touched her hand to the side of her neck, and felt nothing. "But-but it was bleeding just a few minutes ago," she protested.
"I know," Angel said, frowning, "Is your head feeling better?"
"Yeah, it's a still a little sore, but I'm not nearly as dizzy," Willow said. She opened her bag and pulled out a small mirror. There was a small pink mark on her neck, where she had been bitten, and faint marks on her cheek from the vampire's nails. She ran her hand over her cheek, completely puzzled. "How on earth did they heal that fast?" she wondered aloud.
"Could it be some side effect of a spell you did?" Angel suggested.
Willow shook her head. "No, I haven't even done any spells since I've been in L.A. I went to class, I dusted a few vampires, and went with Cordelia to that party thing where we saw you," she said, thinking out loud.
"Even Buffy didn't heal that quickly," Angel murmured, "Hell, I don't know if I can heal that fast."
"I wonder what it could be?"
Angel shrugged, "I have no idea. We should probably talk to Doyle, he was sent here by the Powers That Be, maybe he knows something."
Willow sat up suddenly, "Of course!" she said, "How could I have forgotten?"
Angel looked at her, confused, "Forgotten what?" he asked.
"Doyle," Willow said, gesturing animatedly with her hands, "He gave me the necklace remember?"
"You're right," Angel said, "And didn't one of those vampires drop it on the floor?"
Willow nodded, "He did. And Doyle insisted that I keep it." she fingered the emerald pendant thoughtfully as she spoke. "I wonder just what this necklace is."
* * * *
At the sound of someone knocking, Lilah looked up. "Come in," she called. The door opened, and Robert walked in. Lilah smiled pleasantly. "Robert, how are you?" she asked.
Robert smiled, "Fine," he said, "And you?"
"Well," Lilah said, "That depends on what you have for me."
"We found the necklace," Robert said. He placed a manila folder on Lilah's desk. "It is in the possession of a Willow Rosenberg."
Lilah opened the folder and thumbed through the contents. "Willow Rosenberg," she read, "Age 18, graduated from Sunnydale High School, currently enrolled as a freshman at UCLA." She thumbed through a few other pages.
"Nothing particularly remarkable," Robert said, "There's plenty of information, it just isn't very helpful."
"Yes I see that," Lilah said, "School records, permanent address, doctor's records.but nothing on how she could have gotten the necklace."
Robert shrugged, "She probably just found it lying someplace," he said, "It's probably safe to assume that she has no idea what it is."
"Perhaps, but look," Lilah said holding up the picture of Willow, "This is the picture you took yesterday, right?" Robert nodded. "And she's wearing the necklace. If she didn't know at first, she's going to find out about the necklace soon enough."
"What do you want me to do?" Robert asked.
Lilah looked down at the picture as she thought. "Find out more about this girl," she said, "Who her friends are, what she does.And whether she knows about the necklace or the prophecy." Lilah paused to glare at Robert, "I will not have some bumbling teenager mess this up, is that clear?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Good. You can leave now." She dismissed him.
Robert left, leaving Lilah alone in her office. Opening one of the drawers, Lilah pulled out the prophecy they were working on. "God, I hate these things," she muttered. They'd had their best team of experts working on this, and they still only had half of it understood. "How hard is it to just describe the damn ritual?" she said, frustrated. She read it over again. The prophecy was supposed to describe a ritual, but so far all they had figured out was that the necklace was needed to 'prepare the vessel'. They had exactly two weeks before the night of the ritual. Two weeks to get the necklace and 'prepare the vessel' and figure out who this Willow Rosenberg is.
* * * *
"Honest, I don't know what it does!" Doyle protested.
"Come on Doyle," Angel said skeptically, "The PTB give you a necklace to give Willow and don't tell you why?"
"Well the PTB are kinda known for being cryptic," Willow broke in.
"Yeah," Cordelia said as she filed her nails, "Kind of like someone we all know and love."
Angel glared at the ex-cheerleader, and Willow bit her lip to keep from laughing. "I am not cryptic," he argued.
"Okay, okay, people," Willow interrupted, "Weird healing thingy and the necklace, remember?"
"Look, the PTB don't tell me everything," Doyle said, "They sent me here to help Angel, and gave me the necklace."
"Because, what? They thought a necklace would complete his gloomy look-at-me-I'm-still-brooding look?" Cordelia asked. She continued her filing. "Nobody gives me expensive necklaces with healing powers," she muttered.
"I don't know much about what the necklace is supposed to do," Doyle continued, "They told me that Willow would be helping Angel, and I was to give her the necklace. They didn't tell me why."
An hour later, Cordelia and Doyle had gone home. Angel and Willow were sitting in the Hyperion, talking.
"I don't like this," Angel said. He looked at Willow. "You shouldn't be involved in this."
"Involved in what?" Willow asked.
"This," Angel said, gesturing around the room, "Evil, demons, risking your life every night." He got up and paced a little as he spoke. "You did enough of that in high school. You deserve a normal life. And I may have been dead for a couple centuries, but I'm pretty sure this isn't normal."
Willow shrugged, "Maybe not," she said, "But necklace or not, I would have been involved." She motioned for Angel to sit back down on the couch. "I spent most of high school unraveling prophecies, researching demons, and helping Buffy slay the latest big bad," she said, "And in a strange way, I liked it."
"Why?" Angel asked, "Didn't you miss those days when you didn't worry about vampires or demons, or risk your life every night?"
"Yes, I did miss it. And it was scary, and more often than not we almost died." She paused. "But I was doing something good.something that made Sunnydale just a little bit safer. It became almost normal, you know?" She paused to grin. And I liked being able to go out at night and kick some vampire ass."
Angel smiled at her. "You are amazing, you know that?"
Willow blushed. "Nah, just Willow."
"Hey," Angel said, "I happen to think Willow's pretty special."
Willow turned redder, "Stop it! You're making me blush."
Angel laughed. "I can see that," he teased. "But I mean it," he said becoming serious, "You are amazing." He smiled fondly at the redhead sitting next to him. "You've got a good heart Willow."
Willow smiled up at Angel. "Thanks," she said softly, "That's really nice of you to say." She settled back into the comfortable cushions of the couch. "Mmmm, this is a nice couch," she sighed, leaning back.
"Here, why don't you make yourself comfortable, and I'll go get you some hot chocolate to drink?" Angel offered, standing up.
"You have milk?" Willow blurted out. She then blushed, "Not that you wouldn't, I just-"
Angel laughed again. <Somehow I seem to do that a lot more when she's here>. "It's okay, I know what you meant. I actually bought some in case you or Cordelia dropped by once in a while."
Angel returned with Willow's drink, and found the redhead asleep on the couch. He set the cup down on the table and went upstairs to get her a blanket. He draped the blanket over her, and tucked a pillow under her head. He paused for a moment, smiling at the sleeping witch. Then, leaving her to her dreams, he went into the other room to make a few calls. <A necklace that gives the wearer enhanced healing.Have I seen that before?> he wondered. Well, it was something to look into. Angel sat down at his desk and pulled out a phone number.
~Part: 8~
Lilah stood at the head of the table, addressing the five who were sitting around her. Waving a folder as she spoke, she said, "We have here, all the details necessary for the ritual that is to take place exactly one week and six days from tonight." She set the folder down and opened it, laying five pieces of paper on the table. "Each of you needs one of these. It describes the ritual as well as your specific duties." She paused to glare at each one in turn, "This ritual is big, very big," the lawyer said, resting her hands on the desk and leaning forward, "And I will not tolerate anything short of perfection. Is that clear?"
All five of them nodded their agreement. Lilah stood up again. "Good. Read your papers and prepare yourselves for a very eventful night."
~~~*~~~
Cordelia slammed her book shut. "Well I'm done," she said.
Doyle stretched his arms up over his head and sighed, "There's nothing in here," he agreed.
Angel frowned. "This doesn't make any sense," he said.
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "So what else is new?" she muttered.
"Maybe the Powers That Be were just.preparing us, or something," Willow suggested.
"For what, though?" Angel asked.
Willow shrugged, "Helping you fight evil, probably."
Angel looked at Doyle, "Have you tried going back to the Powers That Be?"
Doyle nodded. "Yeah, they gave me the song and dance about how 'we are all here to play our part' and that they couldn't just tell me everything."
"Everything? More like anything," Cordelia muttered.
Willow stayed quiet, thinking. <Something big is coming> she thought <And this is their way of getting us ready>.
"Willow?"
Hearing her name, Willow looked up. "Huh?"
Cordelia sighed. "I said, I'm leaving now, do you want a ride?"
"No," Willow said, "That's okay, I think I'll check a few more things out on the computer before leaving."
The ex-cheerleader shrugged and gathered her purse and keys. "Suit yourself," she said, "I'm going out."
"Aww, leaving the party so early, princess?" Doyle asked.
"Well you know how it is, having a life and all," Cordelia said. She stopped for a moment, "Or wait, never mind you probably don't." She opened the door and stepped out, turning back for a moment to smile brightly at the three people left in the Hyperion. "I have a date," she said, and closed the door behind her.
Doyle sat up suddenly, "A date?!"
After Doyle left, Willow and Angel were left alone, once again, in the Hyperion. Angel looked over at the small redhead sitting next to him. "You looked pretty deep in thought earlier," he said.
"Yeah," Willow said. She debated with herself for a moment, before deciding to tell him. "It's just.I have this feeling.," she frowned, "Something big is coming. I don't know what, and I guess, really, I don't know for sure that anything is even coming at all, but still.It's just a feeling, you know?"
Angel nodded. "If there's anything I've learned," he said, "It's to trust your instincts. More often than not, they're right."
Willow smiled. "Okay then wisdom-guy," she teased. "But I really hope I'm wrong about this."
"Wrong or not, we'll deal with it, whatever it is," Angel said confidently.
~~~*~~~
The doorbell to Cordelia's apartment rang. She gave herself a final once over in the mirror, before opening the door. She smiled at the tall blond man standing in her doorway. "Hi, I'm Cordelia," she said, "And you must be Peter?"
Peter smiled. "That's me," he said, "So, are you ready to go?" He held out his arm.
"Of course," Cordelia said, slipping her arm through his.
As they walked out to his car, Cordelia looked her date over. <Blond hair> she thought <Have I dated a guy with blond hair before?>
Half an hour later, Peter parked the car in front of a big building. "Here, I want to show you something," he said, opening Cordelia's door for her.
"I thought we were going to dinner," Cordelia said, as she stepped out of the car.
"Oh, we are, but I just thought you'd like to see where I work, it's on the way to the restaurant anyway."
"Okay," Cordelia said. <Oh God, he's going to be a weirdo isn't he> she thought to herself as she followed him to the building.
"Isn't it great?" Peter asked her.
"Well, we're still standing outside," she said. She looked up and read, "Wolfram and Hart." She looked at Peter. "I'm not supposed to recognize that am I?"
"It's a law firm," Peter told her, "In fact, Wolfram and Hart is the best in L.A." He opened the door and motioned Cordelia in.
Cordelia looked around as they walked down the hallway. "Wow," she said, in spite of herself, "It looks.expensive."
Peter smiled. "It is," he said. They walked up a flight of steps to another hallway.
"So.is your office around here?" Cordelia asked.
He pointed to a door at the end of the hallway to their right. "Over there," he said. They walked over to Peter's office, and he unlocked the door, turning on the light inside. "This is mine," Peter said, gesturing around the room. He pointed to a door near the back wall. "This room actually connects to my partner's office."
"You have a partner?"
"Yeah, basically Robert and I work on cases together. You know two heads are better than one and all that."
Cordelia forced a laugh. "Oh right, of course." <Two heads are better than one? God, Lame much?> she thought. She pasted a smiled on her face, "Is there a ladies' room nearby?" she asked him.
"Right across the hall," Peter said.
Cordelia smiled. "I'll be right back," she said. She walked into the bathroom, seeing a few couches as she went in. "Couches in a bathroom?" she muttered aloud. She sank down into one and checked her watch. <An hour gone and we still haven't even been to dinner yet>. She sighed. <How can I get out of this one?> she wondered. She closed her eyes and relaxed on the sofa for a moment longer before forcing herself to get up.
As she was walking back to Peter's office, an open door caught her eye.
She paused to look inside, admiring the room. <Now there's somebody
with taste> she thought, impressed. She glanced up and down the hallway.
<Surely there's no harm in looking.> She cautiously walked in.
The room looked even bigger once she was inside. She walked over
to the bookcase, glancing at the titles. <Wait a minute> she thought
<This looks familiar.> Cordelia pulled the book out and opened it, flipping
through the pages. "Oh my God," she said, shocked, "Giles has this
book." She looked back at the bookshelf, taking a few more books
out. "What kind of law firm is this?" she wondered aloud. She
looked around the room again, and saw a folder open on the desk.
Opening it, she almost dropped the books she had in her hand. In
the floder were several pictures of Willow, some older and some more recent.
Cordelia picked up the last photo. In the picture, Willow was wearing
the necklace that Doyle
had given her. Cordelia put the books back on the shelf
and went back to the folder. She leafed through the papers that went
along with the pictures. Doctors records, school transcripts, and
tons of personal information all collected on one Willow Rosenberg.
"Hoo boy, this does not look good," the brunette muttered to herself.
The last few papers were in a language that she couldn't recognize.
Cordelia quickly took the papers and folded them into her purse.
Hearing footsteps in the hall, she hurriedly re-arranged the papers and
ducked into the hallway.
"Cordelia?" Peter called, he walked further down the hallway and called her name again, "Cordelia?"
Cordelia walked over to Peter, "Hi," she said, "I was looking for your office, and I guess I got a little lost." She smiled. "So, are you ready for dinner?"
Peter smiled back at her, "Of course," he said, "Follow me."
~~~*~~~
"Three hours?" Willow asked.
Cordelia nodded, holding the phone with her shoulder while she got some cereal out. "I know, can you believe it? And he was blond too."
Willow laughed. "That was definitely a sign, Cordy," she said teasingly, "Why on earth did you ever go out with him?"
"I don't know," Cordelia replied, "Anyhow, he works for this freaky 'law' firm."
"What's so freaky about it?"
"Let's just say it was as much a law firm as the Sunnydale High Library was a real library. I found a bookshelf with a bunch of books that Giles had."
"Weird," Willow mused, "Why would a law firm need books like that?" She went over to the computer, and started typing rapidly. "I'm going to see what I can find on them." "Oh and they also had this folder full of information on you, with pictures and everything."
"What?!"
"I know, it's like someone was stalking you or something."
"Stalking me?"
"Having a stalker's not all that it's cracked up to be, is it?"
"Cordy!" Willow said, "Focus. What kind of pictures?"
"A bunch of them. And in the last one you were wearing the necklace."
Willow shivered. <I've been wearing the necklace for two days now> she thought. "Someone's been taking pictures of me during the last two days."
"Yeah. Creepy isn't it."
Willow didn't say anything. <When would they have taken the picture?> she wondered. <Better yet, why?>
"Wait Willow, where are you?"
"At the Hyperion."
Cordelia looked at the clock. "It's seven-thirty, Willow! How long have you been up?"
"Um, not that long, maybe half an hour or so."
"Why would you wake up that early when-Wait a minute, you spent the night there, didn't you!"
"I did not spend the night!" Willow protested.
"Ah."
"I didn't!"
"Okay then, what time did you get home?"
Willow sighed. "By the time I finished working on the computer, it was really late. Since we haven't really figured out everything about this necklace-deal, Angel didn't want me to go back so late. That's all. Nothing happened," she stressed.
"Well duh," Cordy said, "He is Angel. It's not like he's going to get over his obsession with Buffy anytime in this century."
Willow forced a laugh. "Yeah."
"Well anyhow, I have to go," Cordelia said, "I'll meet you guys there later."
"Okay, bye Cordy."
Willow hung up and put her cell phone back in her purse. Angel walked into the room with a plate of eggs and a glass of milk.
"I didn't know what you eat for breakfast, but if you like eggs."
Willow smiled up at the vampire. "I love eggs," she said, "Thank you."
Angel set the plate down in front of Willow. He looked at Willow for a moment. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Cordy just called," Willow told him, "You know the date she went on yesterday?" At Angel's nod, the witch continued. "Well apparently, Peter works at this law firm called Wolfram and Hart, and he showed Cordy around yesterday. But get this, the bookshelf in one of the offices had a bunch of the same books that Giles had back in Sunnydale."
Angel frowned. "What would a law firm need those for?"
Willow shrugged. "I don't know. But that's not all. Cordy also found a folder full of pictures of me and practically all my records. And one of the pictures was taken sometime in the past two days."
Angel looked at Willow, alarmed, "How do you know?"
"Because I was wearing the necklace," she said, touching the pendant.
"So Wolfram and Hart are interested in the necklace," the vampire mused.
"Looks like it," Willow said, "Cordy said she'd be over later with some papers she stole. I wonder if Wolfram and Hart know much about the necklace?"
Angel shook his head. "Probably," he guessed, "I doubt they'd go to all that trouble if they didn't even know what the necklace does."
"Enhanced healing would be useful.It still doesn't make sense though. What would they want with it?"
"I don't think the necklace just heals the wearer," Angel said.
"What do you mean? What do you think it does?"
Angel hesitated. "I think it makes the wearer immortal."
Willow looked shocked. "Immortal? I.well, maybe." she trailed off, thinking, "So that means.I mean, you think that I'm.immortal?"
Angel nodded. "Look, don't worry about it yet," he said, "We don't know for sure."
"It makes sense, though," Willow said, thinking, "Someone at Wolfram and Hart wants the necklace so that they can become immortal.But there's got to be more to it than that."
"Maybe not," Angel said, "Remember Ford? To the average person, immortality can be pretty tempting."
"True," Willow said, "But something as big as Wolfram and Hart is supposed to be?" She shook her head. "Although, for all we know it's just one person there who wants to be immortal."
Angel brushed a stray piece of hair from Willow's face, and smiled at the redhead. "Don't worry, okay, we'll se what Cordy has tonight, and we'll find a way to get some more answers," he said.
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