----------------
Willow’s POV
----------------

Time. Before I met Buffy and found out about everything that exists in the
night, I used to think that we all have our time. I used to think that we
would stay on this earth until we had done what was meant for us to do. But
know I know better. Now I know that we don’t have a specific amount of time,
but rather a possibility to be robbed of that time, or to be given an
eternity of time. I have a friend like that. A friend that has an eternity
of time. No wait, he did. He’s gone now. I don’t know where though. He could
be anywhere. But I know for sure that he is somewhere, I mean, he has to be.
You just don’t disappear. You always end up somewhere.

Sometimes when I think where that somewhere could be, I become afraid. I
become afraid for him and for myself. For him I fear of what could be done
to him in that place, and for me I fear because I know what he did to go to
that place. Sometimes late at night, when it’s dark everywhere and everyone
is sleeping, I go out on my balcony and I look to the sky. I don’t know what
I’m expecting to find, or what I’m actually looking for, but somehow it
gives me the feeling that I know where he is.
But it is also at times like those that I feel an emptiness so great within
me that it almost hurts physically, that my mind tries to go to a place in
the woods to see if he is still there. It never works though, and that’s
when I realise that he is gone. He has gone to the place where his demon
belongs.

Buffy came to me in a dream the other day. It was strange to see her in a
dream after all this time she has been gone. She told me that she needed my
help, that she could no longer live with the dreams she had. I asked her to
tell me about it and she told me that I could not understand why she had
left, the only thing she could tell me that the dreams where killing her. I
remember begging her to tell me where she was so that I could come and help
her. She just shook her head and started to cry and then I woke up. I
haven’t had another dream like that since.

The other dreams I have are nothing like that, except one. Anyway, I’ve seen
some very nice things about Xander and Cordelia for example. Oh, and about
Giles too. The ones I have had of Joyce are less happy, but I guess it’s
only normal. She never was the same after Buffy left.

That reminds me, I called Giles the other day. He and Olivia are having a
great time in Europe. They’re going to go back to England soon. And Xander
called and asked me to come and visit them. Cordelia said that everyone had
to come and see the baby. I think they even convinced Giles to come visit.
Oh, and Oz is going to try and take a break from the tour. I think Xander
said that Oz, Giles and Olivia were all flying in on the same plane. Which
reminds me, I need to buy my plane tickets.
 
 

“What are you up to Will?”

“Nice to see you too Jack,” I reply.

“Yeah, yeah. You know I’m always happy to see you, sugar. ” Jack says and
grins.

“And you know how I hate it when you call me that. For your information I’m
not up to anything,”

Jack just keeps on grinning, and I know he’s going to keep calling me that.
Not that I really mind, he’s the company flirt and he has nicknames for
every female here.

“Oh, so that means you’re either writing in your journal or talking to
someone on the net.” He concludes. I playfully hit him on the arm.

“Don’t you have someone else to pester? Like Sarah?” I ask as nicely as I
can. He just smiles and blows me a kiss before he walks away. After two
years of working together he still hasn’t changed. It’s a part of him that
just makes you love him. Oh, I have to remember to ask Sarah how it’s going
in her hunting. Those two are so right for each other.
 

Where was I? Oh yes, I was coming back to the dreams. Some time ago, I used
to dream about Angel. Sometimes it was bad dreams, like he would be in hell.
I hated those, which is quite obvious why. And then there was those which
were set in a forest. Dreams about a man who let me know all about him. Who
showed me every bad and good thing he had ever done. Those dreams I liked.
But they’re all gone now. I haven’t had a dream about him in months. It’s
funny though. Sometimes when I’m lying in bed, I let my mind wonder to the
memories of that strange night. Even though it’s been years I can still
remember every word and every touch. It’s silly I guess, that I’m clinging,
we were after all just friends. I guess that in some ways I still have the
memory of the crush I had on him and that’s what helps me remember. Or it
might be that I still have it. Ok Willow, you’re babbling. Time to shut up
and get back to work so you can earn the money you need.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Willow worked another hour before it was time to go home. She met Sarah, her
best friend, at the break room for a late cup of coffee. It was a Friday
tradition of theirs, a time to make plans for the weekend. And as usual,
Sarah managed to convince Willow to go clubbing with her. After deciding on
a time to meet at Sarah’s place, Willow said her goodbyes and went to her
car.
After a quick stop at her favourite grocery store to by some dog food,
Willow was on her way home.
The drive home didn’t take very long, even for NY traffic.
As soon as she had her key in the lock, she could hear the happy barking
from inside.
And as soon as she had open the door, she found herself being greeted by a
big heap of fur, also known as Zeke, her golden retriever and a smaller heap
of fur also known as Isthar, her cat.

“Hi cuties, how was your day? Anything interesting happen?” She asked as she
walked into her kitchen, Zeke by her side happily barking every now and
then. She kept on babbling to Zeke as she filled his and Isthar bowl with
some food. She watched them munch away at their food for a moment before
making some coffee for herself.
 

“Hmm… What to wear?” Willow said to herself as she rummaged through her
closet. After some pondering, she settled for a red strap shirt, much like
the one she had worn on Halloween so many years ago, and dark green jeans
and of course her very comfortable sneakers. She’d put on a little more
make-up than usual, and had curled her hair slightly. She grabbed her purse
and headed for the door, giving Zeke and Isthar a pat each before heading
out.
 

At Sarah’s Place

“Hi Will!” Sarah said and hugged Willow as soon as she was through the door.
When she let go, Willow noticed she was looking at her oddly.

“What?”

“Are you…Is this what you plan to wear tonight? Don’t get me wrong, I love
your hair and the top is just so you, but jeans? Honey, how are you going to
get some action with those?”

“What’s wrong with them? I happen to like them a lot,” Willow said, a little
hurt that Sarah didn’t approve or like them at all.

“No, they’re fine. It’s just that…Well, I have something so much more
fitting.” Sarah dragged Willow into her bedroom, and told her to take of her
pants. Willow did as asked and then watched as Sarah rummaged through her
closet, much like Willow had done only a while ago. After only a moment,
Sarah turned to Willow, holding up a short, tight black skirt.

“Are you kidding me? I wore something exactly like that a few years ago.”
Willow said, and took the garment.

“Then it’s fate. Now put it on and let me have a look. See, just perfect,
and I have just the shoes to go with that.” Willow just sighed and wondered
how Sarah always talked her into stuff she didn’t like.
 

An hour later they were on their way to the club. When Willow sighed the
umpteenth time that evening, Sarah got tired of it and decided to speak up.

“Listen Willow, stop sighing. You’re going to enjoy tonight, don’t care
what it takes.” Willow smiled at this. Sarah always knew what to say in
moments like these, well actually Sarah always seemed to know what to say.
 

When they got into the club, the sound was almost unbearable. The place was
filled with your everyday clubbers, all trying to ‘make the connection’.
They found an empty table and sat there for awhile, sipping on their drinks,
talking about what had happened during the week and things to do for the
weekend. Every now and then they went dancing, sometimes with partners and
sometimes just the two of them.
They were sitting at the table, waiting for the waiter to come so they could
get some new drinks.

“He’s taking too long, and I don’t care if he’s cute as hell, I need a
drink.” Sarah sounded frustrated.

“Why stress?” Willow asked bemused. Sarah had the ‘the guy I want is
ignoring me’ tone going on.

“well… Jack just came in,” she pointed to where Jack was making his way to
the bar. <ahaa, so that’s the reason for the tone.>

“Sarah, why don’t you just go over there, to get us drinks and
‘accidentally’ bump into him?”

“You think that would work?”

“Yea! Now go already!” Willow giggled as she watched Sarah skip over to the
bar, and put their plan into motion. It seemed to be working, as they were
on their way to the dance floor.

“Excuse me,” someone said beside her. She looked up and saw a good looking
guy speaking to her, two drinks in his hands.

“Yes?” she asked as he sat down.

“The lady over there,” he said and pointed at Sarah, “she told me to bring
this to you.” He gave her the drink.

“Umm…thanks,”

“No prob,” he said and smiled at her. Willow looked at Sarah and saw her
giving Willow the ‘thumbs up’ sign. Willow sighed to herself, she was not in
the mood to chat with some guy right now. When she turned back to him, she
noticed he was checking out her clothes. <Ugh, I told Sarah not to make me
wear this.>

She smiled slightly at him, and began to listen to him talk about himself,
while sipping at her drink.

----------------
Willow’s POV
----------------
Ugh… My head hurts. I hate migraines! I’m going to find that guy who slipped
something in my drink and then I’m going to kill him.

“Child,” I know that voice. I’m sure I do. “Child, I have a mission for
you.” I turn around to face the voice. Oh no, not him again!

“I see you remember me.” Yup, still the same stone face as the last time.

“Sure, you’re that annoying guy who made my life hell the last time I was
here.” He reaches a hand to me and I’m hit with a wave of pain. I hate it
when they do that! I resist the urge to growl and send him a angry stare
instead.

“Have respect child. Now listen, the warrior has made his choice. Your
mission and destiny is to help him find his way,”

“Who are you talking about?” this doesn’t make any sense.

“Silence!” Oh boy, I pissed him off again. “The choice has been made, leave
and find your destiny. So mote it be.” Huh? Is it just me or is he glowing?
Ouch, definitely glowing. They really should ease up on the light effects.
This is not helping my migraine.

This is just great, all alone in the middle of some…place. Where am I
anyway? What’s this? The desert of dreamland? This is not how I remember it.
It was a lot nicer and a lot cooler the last time. How the hell am I
supposed to get out of this desert anyway? Oh, I’m going to give Sarah a
long talk when I get back.. High heels are so not made for walks in the
desert. But then again, this wasn’t really planned. Damnit, I left this
stuff behind me years ago! Typical higher powers, first they put you through
stuff and then they let you get your life back in order only to show up and
mess with you again. And who’s this warrior guy? And why do I have to help
him? *How* am I supposed to help him?
What’s that? Ooh, a door. What’s a door doing in the middle of a desert? Oh
yeah, dreamland. Well, here goes nothing.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Willow shook her head slightly as she came out of the dream. Her migraine
was worse than ever, as the loud music of the club filled her ears. She
slowly got up, and went to find Sarah and Jack. After a moment, she saw them
by the bar. When she got there, she told Sarah she felt sick and was going
home. After declining their offer to drive her home, she started to walk
home.

It took her a moment to get to the more slummier part of town. As a car
stopped beside her, and a man asked how much for an hour, she realised she
looked just like a hooker. That made her hurry home.

As she walked, she looked at the people who lived in the street. It always
made her feel so bad that there were so many people without a place to be.

But as she was pondering over possibilities to make it better for people,
she didn’t notice the bump in the ground, so she tripped and fell face down
on the ground. She mumbled a couple of well chosen curses as she pushed
herself to her knees. <At least I didn’t hurt myself.> She looked around and
a figure lying in the garbage caught her eye. There was something familiar
about the man. Looking closer, Willow noticed why he looked so familiar. <It
can’t be!> “Angel?”

He didn’t answer her, he didn’t even look at her. All he had was a vacant
stare, and he seemed to be completely lost.
“Angel, are you ok? God, what’s happened to you?” he didn’t answer her, he
only kept staring at nothing.
“That settles it, you’re coming home with me.” Willow said and grabbed his
arm, pulling him up. After that she began leading him to her home.
 

She opened the door and invited Angel in, told Zeke to go to the kitchen so
he’d be out of the way then dragged Angel to the bathroom.
“Angel, we’ll get you cleaned up, and then you’ll get some rest ok?” As he
just continued to stare into nothing, she sighed and sat him down on the
toilet. She looked around her bathroom, and came to the conclusion that the
shower was out of the question. Angel could hardly walk on his own, let
alone stand for a longer time. <Bathtub.> she thought, and went over to the
bathtub and put on the water. She adjusted the temperature, then looked back
at Angel who was now staring at her. She cleared her throat, then got closer
to him. “Angel, take your clothes off.” she tried. When receiving no
response, she moved even closer and proceeded to take off his jacket. It
took her a moment, but then she finally got it off, and threw it to the
floor. She then started to work on getting his shirt opened. With every
part of skin the black material reviled, she felt tears wanting to break
free. He was so thin! And when she got a look at his back, she couldn’t keep
a few tears from falling. There were bruises, scars and scrapes all over his
torso. "I’m so sorry,” she whispered, then sat down on the floor to pull
herself together. She looked at Angel, but he was still staring at her, yet
through her. After a moment she went back to him and took off his pants,
blushing vigorously the whole time. She then turned around and put off the
water, and taking the moment to remind herself that this was purely for
medical reasons. Or as medical as it could be anyway. Willow took a deep
breath to get herself under control, thought of his bruises, and then when
she was calm and concerned again, she turned to him and motioned to the
bath.
When he did nothing, she stepped to him, took hold of his arm and led him to
the tub. When she tried to get him into it, he suddenly came to life and
pulled his arm free and backed away so fast that he hit his back against
the sink, and let out a small whimper at the hit. Willow looked at him in
shock, and saw how scared he looked. He was looking at her then the tub,
then back at her. <he’s afraid of it.> she thought. <They must have done
something to him involving a tub!>
“It’s ok, it wont hurt. It’s just water and some bubbles,” she said and put
her hand in the water to show him. She once again motioned for him to come
to the tub, but he just stood there, frozen in fear.
Sighing, she stood up and started to take off her clothes, once again
blushing. The shoes she was glad to be rid off, but she’d rather kept her
skirt and top on too. When she was down to just her underwear, she got in
the tub and got comfy.
“See, it’s not dangerous at all.” She said to Angel. He just looked at her,
but less scared now. She reached out for him and watched as he stared at the
water dripping from her arm. “Come on,” she said, reaching out even further.
Carefully he took her hand, and crept towards the tub. When he was sure the
water wouldn’t hurt him, he stepped inside, still very on edge. He leaned
back, and was back to chest to Willow. They lay still for a moment, Willow
waiting for Angel to calm down, and then she started to wash his hair, a
task simple to do from behind him. When she was had finished washing and
rinsing his hair, she got out of the tub, a quite difficult task with Angel
laying against her. She stood still for a moment, watching Angel watch the
water run down her body. After a moment, she bent down so she was sitting on
her knees, reached for the sponge and began washing Angel.
When she was done with his upper torso, and started on his lower, she
blushed even more. He had an erection! The medical part of her mind told her
that it was a automatic response, but another part of her mind wanted it to
be because of her. Pushing those thoughts away, she continued on to his
legs.
When she was done, she looked up at Angel and saw him staring at her. It was
one of those intense stares he used to give Buffy before the ‘Angelus’
thing. She looked away, blushing, and reached to pull out the cork. As the
water drained, she got towel for Angel and got him out of the tub. After
drying him, she led him to her bedroom and got him to sit on the bed.

“Let’s see if I can find something for you to sleep in,” she said and went
to the closet, her own state of undress long forgotten. Finally finding a
pair of oversized sweatpants, she went to put them on Angel. After that
Willow took his hand, and made him lay down on the bed and pulled the
covers over him.
“Goodnight Angel.” She said and started to get up, when Angel pulled at her
hand so she had to sit down again. She looked at him questionably, and he
just gave her a scared look. She got his drift, and crawled under the covers
with him. As soon as Willow had settled down, Angel laid his head on her
chest and put his arm around her, pulling her tightly against him. Coming to
the conclusion that there was no way Angel was going to let her change into
something more comfortable to sleep in, she let out a somewhat happy sigh
and started to stroke his hair, then fell asleep knowing that she had won
his trust.
 

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