E-MAIL: sundevil48@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: Damn if they were mine, maybe this writer's block would go away.
Spoilers: Disharmony
Distribution: Want take have.
Rating: PG
Summary: Willow comes to LA and things are said.
Dedicated to Kitti who needed a pick me up after watching the show and I know why.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Tara, you know, you didn’t have to come with me,” Willow told her roommate. “Not like I’m not grateful or anything, but I know you probably had other plans or something.”
“Come on, Willow,” the blonde witch assured her friend. “You’re my best friend. And I know how worried you are about Angel and your friends.Especially knowing that Harmony is there and staying with Cordelia.” Willow shook her head as she thought back to the phone call from the former cheerleader.
“I still can’t believe that we’ve all drifted that far apart,” she said sadly. “Sure, Cordelia and I were never that close, especially after the whole Xander kissing thing, but still. We are all fighting for the same thing. I just thought it would be natural to tell each other things. Keep the others informed.”
“But Angel did come here after seeing Buffy,” Tara reminded the red head.
“Obviously he still thinks of you as his friend.” Willow smiled as she remembered her short visit with Angel.
“I know. I just can’t understand how all of what’s happened in LA continued and no one thought to tell us,” Willow answered. “I mean, we’re talking possible return of Angelus and Cordy and Wes didn’t think that anyone in Sunnydale had the right to know what was going on. Like it didn’t concern us. Angel fired them. Allowed Dru and Darla, whom we didn’t even know was back from where ever she had been sent to when she was dusted, to kill off a bunch of lawyers. Granted, they weren’t exactly of the good, but that’s besides that point.”
“But Angel’s better now, right?” The younger girl questioned. She knew how worried Willow was about the souled vampire that had been through so much. Tara understood that Willow loved Angel, even though the red head never said anything right out. And, with as little time as she had spent with the vampire, Tara had a good idea that Angel shared Willow’s feelings.
And, even though it would surprise their friends in Sunnydale, Tara didn’t begrudge Willow’s love for Angel. She hoped that maybe with this visit, the two of them would finally admit they cared for each other. The others might think that Willow and Tara were lovers, a misconception they did nothing to disprove feeling it was easier than constantly denying it, but the two girls were nothing more than best friends.
“Well, he’s working at it,” Willow explained. “And, from what Angel said, it isn’t exactly easy. Wes and Cordy haven’t exactly been too easy on him.”
There was no mistaking the anger in the red head’s voice as she talked about the two detectives.
“But they have agreed to work out of the hotel again, right?” Tara and Willow stopped in front of said hotel and Willow put her hand on the door.
“That has to mean something.”
“I don’t know. All I know is that Angel needs his friends around him right now,” Willow stated, as she opened the door. “And that’s why I’m here.”
Willow and Tara entered the lobby of the hotel, staring in awe at their surroundings. Even though Angel has had the hotel for quite a while, the red head had never had a chance to get to LA to see it.
“Oh wow,” Tara said in awe. “This is so cool.”
“Man, even after everything that Angel told me about this place, I never thought it would look like this,” Willow agreed.
“Can I help you?” Willow and Tara turned towards the hotel desk and saw Gunn standing there.
“You must be Gunn,” Willow greeted him. “My name is Willow and this is my friend Tara.” Gunn turned his attention to a suddenly shy Tara. Gunn looked the blonde witch over and liked what he saw.
“Yeah, I’ve heard about you,” the vampire hunter said. “Aren’t you a witch or something.”
“Yeah, something like that,” Willow grinned at the other man. She noticed the way her friend was looking at the other man and smiled inwardly. “I was just in the neighborhood and was wondering if Angel might be around.”
“You were just in the neighborhood?” Gunn repeated. Willow smiled her best winning smile at him.
“Yup.” Gunn turned back to Tara. There was something about the way that the young girl tried to blend into the background and not draw any attention to herself that made him want to reach out to her. Make him want to protect her.
“Well, Angel’s in Wesley’s office, talking about something.” Willow and Tara both looked at Gunn, confused at his statement.
“I thought this was Angel’s home,” Tara asked. Gunn nodded his head.
“Yeah, it is, but since the whole thing with Darla went down, the two of them are making him atone for what happened.” The vampire hunter shook his head.
“Sure, what he did was not cool, but he’s working at making up for it. He isn’t pushing us around or anything. Hell, I almost wish he was.”
“Why?”
“Because then, at least, he would be the guy that got me here in the first place,” Gunn explained. “Instead he’s pussyfooting around the two of them.
Trying to not piss them off and they’re letting him. IN fact, if anything, they’re playing it up. Wes is bossing him around like Angel’s some gal Friday, even having him go get him coffee, and Cordelia is just giving him the cold shoulder. I’m surprised Angel hasn’t gone off and told them to leave if they don’t want him to do anything constructive. I would have if I was him.” Gunn stopped talking as he saw Angel enter the room.
“Willow?” Angel walked over towards the red headed witch and greeted her with a hug. When he finally pulled back from her, he saw Tara off to the side. “Hello Tara.” Tara nodded her head in greeting.
“Angel,” Willow said happily, seeing the vampire of her dreams, who was wearing a smile on his face. “You seem to be happy.”
“Yeah, well,” he shrugged off.
“I take it she liked her gift,” Gunn interrupted, a sneer on his face. He knew exactly what had just happened in Wesley’s office, having heard Cordelia shriek before Tara and Willow came in and having seen what Angel was putting in her office.
“Yeah, she did.”
“What gift?” Willow asked, looking between the two men. She could feel the tension between them, but had a feeling that it was anything between the two of them really. “Guys, what’s going on?”
“Nothing Willow,” Angel tried to play off Gunn’s comment. “Just trying to make up for something.”
“Yeah, that’s what they’re calling it nowadays,” Gunn snorted. “More like buying her forgiveness if you ask me.”
“Gunn, don’t.” The smile on Angel’s face disappeared under the other man continued glare.
“Why not, man,” Gunn stopped just short of shouting. “You sure as hell aren’t sticking up for yourself. You just sit there and let them treat you like dirt.”
“After everything that I did,” Angel began.
“Yeah, what you did. And you’ve explained it to us. Why you did that,”
Gunn continued. “But that isn’t enough for them, is it. The won’t be happy until they’ve broken you like some dog that shit on the rug and needs to be punished.” The more Gunn spoke, the angrier Willow was becoming at what was being done to her friend. Sure, she understood why Cordelia and Wesley might have been hurt by Angel’s actions, but that didn’t excuse them treating Angel with anything other than respect. Albeit a begrudging one.
“And now you’re buying Cordelia clothes because you had the nerve to give the things that SHE left here away to Anne’s kids. Talk about shallow.”
“I missed my friend.” With those four words, Willow’s anger finally found a voice.
“Wait a minute,” she interrupted. “Are you telling me that one of the reasons that Cordelia was treating you like shit was because you gave away some clothes.” When neither Angel nor Gunn answered her, Willow turned towards the direction that Angel had just come from. “Cordelia Chase, where are you?” At the mention of her name, Cordelia opened the door to the room that she had been using as her office.
“Willow, what are you doing here?” Cordelia greeted the red head, going over to give her a hug, which Willow made a point of not returning. “It’s so good to see you.”
“Wish I could say the same,” Willow returned icily. Cordelia separated herself from the witch and looked at her friend.
“What’s wrong?”
“What gives you the right to treat Angel the way you have?’ Willow asked, not wasting any time. Cordelia looked between the red head and the vampire that had followed her.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, how dare you treat Angel the way you have just because you were upset at what he had done,” Willow explained. “He’s trying his best at making it up to you all and yet, from what I hear, you refused to forgive him.”
“Willow, you don’t understand,” the brunette tried to interrupt.
“No, you’re right, I don’t understand,” Willow broke off. “I don’t understand how you have no problem moving your office back into the hotel, which is also Angel’s home, and then proceeding to take it over. And yet, you refuse to treat him with any kind of respect. Instead you refuse him your friendship, that is, if things haven’t changed. You always were the type of person to turn your back on someone who didn’t do exactly what you wanted, until you needed them for something.”
“That’s not true,” Cordelia protested.
“Oh really,” Willow’s spiked her eyebrow. “So you’re saying that Angel buying you clothes has absolutely no impact on whether or not you forgive him.”
“But they’re really nice clothes,” Cordelia tried to point out. A door to her right opened, bringing Wesley into view.
“What on earth is going on here? Willow, what are you doing here?”
“Fixing something that needed to be fix,” Willow answered, turning her attention from Cordelia, who had visibly shrank back from the red head’s glare to the former watcher.
“What are you talking about? And what is with all the shouting?” Wesley had heard Willow’s comments to Cordelia and hadn’t been happy to hear the way the witch had stuck up for Angel. He knew that they were being petty in the way that they had been treating the vampire, but there was no way he was going to make it easy for Angel to get back into their good graces.
“I’m talking about the pettiness that the two of you are showing Angel by the way you’re treating him,” Willow told him. “I mean, what, he’s good enough to use for his hotel, which means none of you have to pay any bills anymore, but heaven forbid you treat him like a human being. Geez, how can two seemingly intelligent people be so stupid?”
“Why see here..”
“That’s not fair..”
“Shut up,” Willow yelled. “I know you’re upset because of what Angel did, but here is a bit of advice for you. Get over it. It’s in the past. Angel’s tried to make up for it, but you aren’t letting him. Cordelia, let me guess. Your biggest problem with what Angel did wasn’t the fact that he fired you, but the fact that he gave away some of your precious clothes.”
When no reply was forthcoming, Willow continued. “And Wes, what about you? I bet you didn’t like being thought of as not being needed. Angel gave you a purpose, didn’t he? And then, that was taken from you. So, to make him pay for that, you planned on treating him worse than you would a stranger. Tell me, how does that make you any better than him?”
“See here, because of him, I was shot,” Wesley protested.
“Angel had nothing to do with that,” Willow stated. “Nothing would have been different and you know it.”
“I know no such thing,” Wesley said. “If Angel had been helping us..”
“He was, you just didn’t know it,” Willow informed them. “Angel and Kate were looking into what was going on with the police. In fact, if anything, Angel saved your lives because he was the one that stopped the man that was behind it all. Or did none of you ever bother to figure out why the zombies stopped their attacks.” Cordelia and Wesley looked between each other at the news and Willow smiled at their reactions. Maybe she wasn’t as out of the loop as she thought she was. “So, before you go blaming Angel for everything that happened to you, maybe the two of you better remember that shit happens and you have to live with it, or die ignorant.”
“Hear, hear girl,” Gunn cheered quietly by Tara’s side as Willow wound down from her tirade. Angel wrapped his arm around the red headed witch, drawing her to his side. She smiled up at him, the love she had for him in her eyes and he bent down to place a tender kiss on her lips. No one had ever stuck up for him the way she had and there was no way he was going to screw up any chance he might have at a relationship with the hacker. The way she had defended him told him more than anything else might have that she cared for him.
“Willow, I’m sorry,” Cordelia apologized.
“We had no right,” Wesley added.
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing too,” Willow told them wearily. She leaned into Angel’s embrace.
“Come on, little one,” Angel said, “let’s go get you something to eat. I’m sure you could use it after all of that.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Angel took Willow’s hand and led her towards the kitchen, glad that he had taken to shopping for groceries again when it became apparent that the others would be there again. Gunn and Tara followed, after one last look at Cordelia and Wesley, who only stood there, wondering just when they had become the outcasts.
The End