Part 3
"Hey guys, what’s happening?" Buffy asked as she entered Xander’s basement.
"We were wondering if you’d seen Willow lately?" Xander asked, concerned at his friend’s absence. "I’ve tried calling her, but all I get is her machine."
"Oh, god, I’m sorry Xand," Buffy apologized. "I forgot to tell you. Willow decided to take off for a little while, because of the whole Oz thing."
Anya let out a derisive snort, You know, men like him make me really wish I still had my powers. I’d teach the wolf a thing or two about breaking a girl’s heart."
"For once, Anya, I find myself wishing you could to," Buffy told the newest member of the scooby gang. "But I’m glad that she is getting over it. I mean, I’m taking this going away thing as a good sign."
"Same here, Buff," Xander agreed. "I mean, it’s been over a week now and it’s time that she moves on."
Anya looked back and forth, between her boyfriend and Buffy, not believing her ears. "You are kidding, aren’t you," she asked her disbelief clearly evident in her voice, "I mean, it has only been ONE week since her only boyfriend left her. It’s gonna take longer than that to get over the guy."
"Come on, Anya. You have to admit that it was getting kinda old how she always broke down when something reminded her of Oz." Buffy told the former vengeance demon.
"Gee, Buffy, and how long was it before you stopped crying when something, or someone reminded you of Angel?" Came Anya’s sarcastic retort.
Buffy didn’t say anything, but the look on her face told everyone that she still was upset over the dark haired vampires absence from her life. Xander felt sorry for his friend and admonished Anya.
"Anya, that wasn’t cool. You know how much Angel hurt Buffy when he left."
"Yeah, about the same as Oz did to Willow, but you all conveniently forgot that." Anya stood and grabbed her purse, not able to be in the same room with Xander and Buffy. Xander got up to kiss his girlfriend good-bye but, for the first time, she pushed him away.
"Anya?" Xander questioned, confused by her actions.
"Xander, I have to get out of here," Anya explained. "The fact that the two of you seem so unconcerned for your best friend’s state of being is making me sick. I mean, I may not have been human for as long as the rest of you but I have dealt with more broken hearts then the two of you can imagine. Being over 1100 years old gives you the chance to see a lot. And Willow is hurt and all the two of you can think about is when is she going to stop crying over Oz and move on. Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way." With that said, Anya left a stunned Buffy and Xander behind.
"Okay, is it me or did we just get dissed for no reason by your girlfriend?" Buffy asked as stunned Xander.
"No, that was a definite dissage moment," he replied.
"What got into her? I mean, she’s never cared about Willow before."
Xander shrugged his shoulders, "I don’t know. Maybe it’s just an aftereffect of being the demon for so long."
"Must be," Buffy replied, cheering up quickly. "So we still Bronzing
it tonight?"
The Initiative Lab
"Has there been any progress with the hostile, Riley" Professor Maggie Walsh asked the young man who joined her as she watched Willow sleep.
"No ma’am," came the reply. "He still refuses to answer any of our questions and has yet to eat any of the blood given to him."
"Amazing," Walsh shook her head, " I have never seen a hostile that has had such amazing willpower over his hunger. Do you think it may have something to do with the girl?" She said, pointing to Willow, who was mumbling in her sleep.
"It could. He seems very interested in her well-being," Riley conceded. "He has repeatedly asked to see her and what we are doing to her. It is odd to see that kind of devotion from a hostile."
"Yes, intriguing. Miss Rosenberg has been the same," Walsh stated. "Refusing to give us any straight answers, no matter what we have done. She refuses to eat any of the food that we have given her, even though we know that she is hungry. Her devotion to the hostile is remarkable."
"Do you have any idea what she is mumbling?" Riley asked as he heard Willow’s voice again.
"No," Walsh sighed, "her voice is too low for us to pick up, but it has been the same way for the two days since we picked her and hostile 13 up." Riley and Professor Walsh went silent as they watch Willow moan in her sleep, both wandering what she was dreaming about.
"Angel, are you okay? Can you hear me?" Willow had been trying to contact Angel through her dreams. Willow’s magick had increased quite a bit since she had first started learning and she had read about how you could communicate with people in their sleep. That’s what she had been trying to do, but without much success.
"Come on, Angel. You have to hear me. Please. I need to know that you’re all right." Willow’s voice had taken on a pleading tone, worried for her friend and scared for his safety. She didn’t care what happened to her as long as Angel was okay. Angel was the one person that meant the most to her. While her other friends told her to get over Oz and thought that it was time for her to stop crying, Angel had been so concerned for her that he came back to a place full of memories to comfort her. And, because of that concern, they had both been captured. Willow knew that whoever held her, did so because of her connection to Angel. Whoever they were hunted vampires. And now Willow had no idea what had happened to the vampire that had stolen her heart so many years ago with his quiet brooding nature.
Willow remembered the first time she had seen Angel, when he came to see Buffy at the Bronze their sophomore year in high school. (Goddess, was that only three years ago.) She couldn’t get over how handsome he was, a fact that many of the female population in the Bronze was quick to agree on. The fact that he saved her life over and over again endeared him to her. She knew the torment that he was constantly living with over his actions during his time as Angelus. She always could read people pretty well and his guilt was always apparent in his eyes. She had always wondered what she would do if those eyes would ever look at her the same way they did when they looked at Buffy. But that was before Oz.
"Angel, come on, you have to hear me. Please."
"Willow?" came a surprised voice. "Willow, is that you?"
"Angel? Thank the goddess you’re still alive. I’ve been so worried about you."
"I’ve been worried about you too, little one. They wouldn’t tell me what they had done with you. All they told me was that you were safe being away from me."
"I know. They kept saying that I was safe and that you wouldn’t hurt me. I tried telling them that you have never hurt me, that you were my friend but they wouldn’t listen to me. Oh Angel, I’ve been so scared not knowing what was going on."
"Don’t be. I’ll try and figure something out to get to you. I won’t let anyone hurt you. You mean too much to me. You’re my best friend Willow."
Willow smiled in her sleep. "Really?"
"Yes. You have no idea how much your friendship has come to mean to me. That’s why I came here. To help my friend."
"But if you hadn’t come, you would still be free."
"We’ll get out of this, don’t worry little one. I’m not sure how, but we will."
"Angel, do you have any idea of who has us? I haven’t seen anybody yet. They drop food in from the ceiling and when they asked me questions, it’s via some kind of hidden microphone."
"The only person I’ve seen is some kind of soldier that comes to ask me questions and tries to goad me into telling him something." Angel chuckled as he remembered his last encounter with the man. "Let’s just say, memories of Angelus have come in handy. Commander Riley Finn has no idea who he is dealing with."
"Riley!"
Angel noticed the recognition in Willow’s voice. "Willow, do you know who he is?"
"He’s Buffy’s new boyfriend. He’s the TA for my psychology class." Just then something that had been bothering her about the voice that always talked to her, came to her. "Damn it. Professor Walsh."
Angel’s mind was still reeling from the idea that Buffy’s new boyfriend and his friends had captured her ex and best friend. (What are the odds) "Who’s Professor Walsh?"
"She’s the teacher of that class. I just realized that it’s her voice that asked me those stupid questions. Angel if they are the ones who have us, Riley can help in hiding our disappearance. Oh Angel, she won’t even know to look for us."
Angel tried to reassure the girl. "Willow, it’s okay. I’m sure that Buffy is worried about you. She knows that you don’t just take off."
"I guess you’re right. At least, I hope you are." Willow had doubts about her friends, considering how they had been treating her lately. Suddenly she felt the connection with Angel breaking. "Angel?"
"They’re coming back Willow. I have to go. I love you, okay. Remember that."(Where did that come from?)
"Angel? Angel?" Willow could tell that the connection had been severed. (Did he say that he loved me. He couldn’t have said that.) Willow was woken by the sound of the female’s voice again asking her questions. She pulled herself together, feeling powerful in the knowledge that Angel was okay.
Angel woke up to see Riley standing at the edge of the cell, watching
him. (So you’re Buffy’s new boy toy. She really has to get herself a life.)
Angel stood, prepared for the assault of questions that he knew would come.
His hopes bolstered by the knowledge that Willow was alive and well and
worried about him. He hadn’t meant to say what he did, but he meant every
word of it. There was something about the girl that called to him and he
was more than willing to answer that call as soon as it was feasibly possible.