Show/Couple: BtVS - Angelus/Willow/Percy
Rating: PG
Disclaimers: Characters don't belong to me. They belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: This story takes place in the current timeline, but Angelus is still around. And he has established a relationship with Willow, after she saved his life. The relationship has alienated the others. Simple, right? :-)) Well, it's the result of being sleep-deprived. So take it for what it's worth! :-)
Fist part is Percy's POV, the second Part is Angelus.
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Percy sat with his jock buddies, but wasn't paying much attention to what they were saying. Instead his gaze, as well as his thoughts, were on the redhead sitting in a corner booth. When they were in high school, he'd barely even noticed she was around. Then Principal Snyder had recruited Willow to tutor him. Of course, Percy had figured she should just do the work for him. He didn't have time to bother with homework. But, then he'd run into her at the Bronze....and she'd kicked his ass! After that, he'd made quick work of getting the paper written. It wasn't that he was stupid, he just wasn't interested in school.
As Percy watched her, his mind wondered about the girl. That was the only time he'd ever seen her act that way, and she didn't look strong enough to have sent him flying, but he wasn't about to test that. After that night, he'd started watching her and found that she was quite a mystery. She hung out with people who also had secrets, but them he didn't care about one way or another. It seemed that the more he learned about her, the less he knew.
In high school, she'd been tight with her group of friends. But now, he'd seen a seperation between them. He knew Cordelia had left town, Buffy was hanging around with that geek Riley, Xander was dating some chick who'd just kind of shown up in their senior class, and Oz had up and left town. Whenever he saw Willow around campus, she was by herself. He'd seen her start keeping to herself, and this was the first time he'd even seen her out at night for months. Whatever had caused the split must have been pretty bad
Percy didn't know what it was about her, or why he was so interested in her life. She wasn't exactly his type, but she fascinated him. Percy was so busy watching Willow, that he didn't notice when his buddies started talking to him. He reluctantly turned his attention back to them.
"What?" Percy asked.
"Take a picture, man. It lasts longer." Said one guy.
"And it would be a hell of a lot safer, buddy." Another jock added.
Percy looked at his friend. "What do you mean by that?"
"Her boyfriend doesn't look to be someone you want to piss off. And I don't think he'd take too kindly to you staring at her."
"Willow's boyfriend left town months ago. And even if he hadn't, I certainly wouldn't be scared of him." Percy said.
"Not the guy in the band. This is some other dude."
Percy hadn't seen Willow with anyone lately, but maybe she and Xander had mended their friendship. But when he asked for a description of the guy, he knew it wasn't Xander.
"I don't care who he is." Percy said.
"What is with you and this chick? You've been eyeing her for months, and I don't see why. Of course, don't see what the other guy sees in her either. He could have any one of these women, but he doesn't even seem to notice anyone else."
Percy knew he could never explain to his buddies what drew him to Willow. He didn't understand it himself. Percy turned back to Willow just as he saw a man approach her.
"That's him, West. Why don't you go and make a move? Bet you could take him." One of his buddies said sarcastically.
Percy didn't acknowledge anyone as he watched the man sit down next to Willow. He saw her look up at the man and smile shyly. There was something familiar about the man, and Percy realized that he'd seen the guy at the Bronze quite a bit when they were in school. But at the time, the guy seemed to always be with Buffy.
As he watched the couple, Percy glared at the man. He watched as the man put his arm around Willow. Percy didn't understand the jealousy he felt watching his rival touch Willow. {My rival? Rival for what?} But even as his mind was asking the question, Percy knew the answer. This mystery man was a rival for Willow.
Having decided he wanted Willow, Percy decided he'd pursue her regardless of whether the man liked it or not. And when he saw the man glance across the club at him, Percy could see the man didn't like it. A chill ran down Percy's back at the look the man gave him, but he wasn't about to backdown.
End Part 1
Angelus glared at the young man. From the time he'd walked in, he'd seen the punk watching Willow. And he didn't like it. After all this time, he finally had Willow away from the Slayer and her little friends, and he wasn't about to have some punk kid get in his way. The sooner the kid learned that Willow was off limits, the longer he'd live.
Willow was talking to him about school, but Angelus' attention was on the man who still hadn't taken his eyes off of the redhead. Angelus slid his arm around Willow's shoulders in a purely possessive manner, and smiled as he felt Willow snuggle into his hold. In the months since Willow had gone against the Watcher's orders, and performed the spell to save him, Angelus had found himself growing fond of the young woman. He'd always thought she was weak and easily manipulated, but she'd proven him wrong. Willow had made her own decision, even though she knew what the consequences could be. And that had earned his respect.....well, that and saving him from an extremely painful death.
Angelus had made sure he was there for Willow when the others turned away from her. He had worked hard to earn her trust, and to isolate her from the others at the same time. Wanting Willow in his life was a new feeling for Angelus, and he didn't want it complicated by people who'd just as soon stick a stake in his heart. The relationship he'd built with Willow had become important to him, and he'd found himself doing things he'd never would've thought he'd do....such as agreeing not to kill the innocent. Willow had been adamant about walking out of his life if she found out he was still murdering innocent people. He still fed from humans, but stopped before he killed them.
Angelus still had trouble believing that he'd agreed to her demands. No one had ever told Angelus what to do and what not to do.....or at least no one who lived to tell about it. But here was this little bit of a girl, a mortal, telling him not to kill anymore....and he was doing as she asked. Oh, he'd roared and yelled about it, trying to scare her, but she'd simply looked at him. Angelus could still feel the panic he'd felt when she'd responded.
"Fine, keep killing. But I won't stay around and watch you."
Angelus had watched as she turned and walked away from him. He'd told himself it didn't matter, that he didn't need or want her in his life. She was nothing more then the Slayer's little sidekick. But, hours later, he knew he was lying to himself. He'd gone to her and promised her what she wanted to hear. And he hadn't broken that promise yet.
But as Angelus glared back at the young man, he considered making an exception. Angelus recognized the look in the boy's eyes, and knew that Willow had found another admirer. The boy's expression made it clear that he considered Angelus an obstacle in getting to Willow, but an obstacle he fully intended to bypass.
Well, if he thought he had a chance with Willow, the boy was seriously deluded. There was no way in hell that Angelus was going to let go of Willow. He'd gone through too much to get her. Willow belonged to him.....and Angelus had no intention of sharing.
Angelus helped Willow with her jacket, and pulled it tightly together in front of her. He pulled her against him, and kissed her. The kiss was possessive, and he knew the boy was watching. Angelus had effectively staked his claim. Willow wrapped her arms around Angelus' waist, never once aware of the eyes watching them from across the room.
As they were leaving, Angelus turned back to the boy, aware that his eyes had never left Willow. The two locked gazes, and both recognized each other for what they were.......enemies. Both wanted the same thing, and neither was willing to back down.
Angelus wrapped his arm around Willow, and led her out into the night. The young woman had no idea that a war had just been declared, and she would be the ultimate prize.
The End