Chapter 7

Sunnydale 2009

Angel carried Willow up to their bedroom, gently setting her on the bed. "I’ll be right back love," he said, giving her a gentle kiss on the mouth. He watched as she lay back in the bed, closing her eyes. Angel left the room and headed to Jenny’s room, where he found his two daughters playing with Spike and Dru. Angel motioned for Spike to join him in the hall. Spike could see the toll that the return of his sire’s first love had taken on Angel.

"I take it that the Slayer wasn’t all to happy to find out what changes have occurred since she left?"

Angel shook his head and looked back over toward his bedroom, "You could say that. She slapped Willow." Angel wasn’t surprised to hear a growl come from Spike. Angel knew that Spike cared for Willow almost as much as Angel did. Willow had given Spike something that the younger vampire never thought he would have again. A family and friends and the thought that someone would even dare to harm the witch did not sit well with him and he made sure Angel knew that.

"I’d kill the bitch if I hadn’t made that promise to Willow not kill a human unless absolutely necessary." Angel nodded his agreement. No matter what his feelings for Buffy were in the past, she killed them when she struck his mate. "What are you going to do about Buffy?"

Angel looked down at the floor and thought a moment about that, "Right now, nothing. My main concern is with Willow." When Angel raised his head again, his childe was surprised to see moisture in his sire’s eyes. "I need a favor Spike."

"Just name it. You know I would do anything to help the little woman Peaches," Spike said, meaning every word of it.

 "I was wondering if you and Dru could take the girls back to your place for the night. I just think that I need to spend some time alone with Willow." Spike nodded his head and headed back into the room. He picked up little Kathryn and looked over at Dru. She had seen the way Angel and Spike had been talking and knew that her "little tree" was upset over something that the bad slayer had said to her.

"Hey girls. I’ve got a wonderful idea, how about we go have a slumber party at mine and Dru’s house?" The question was met with cheers from all three women in the room. Angel smiled at them, before heading back to Willow. When he got back to the bedroom, he saw that Willow was in the same position that she was when he left her. The tracks from the tears that she had been shedding clearly evident on her cheeks. His heart went out once again to the girl that had given him so much. He walked over and joined her on the bed, taking her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist, drawing comfort by his presence. No words were spoken between the two. They didn’t need them. And as they sat there, in each other’s embrace, he found himself remembering the events that led to them being together.

Sunnydale 1998

"Hey Angel, are you here?" Willow yelled as she entered the mansion, using the key that Angel had given her the month before.

"In the kitchen," came the reply. Willow wasn’t all that surprised. Ever since his return, Angel had found that he had a knack for cooking and he took pleasure in doing it as much as possible. It was one of the reasons that the scooby-gang had accepted him back as readily as they did. They loved having a good meal made for them when it came time for the all night research parties and they were more than willing guinea pigs for his newest creations.

As she entered the kitchen, she got a whiff of the food. Taking a deep breathe in, "Mmmm, smells good. What’cha making for us tonight?"

"Chinese. Did up some lo mein for Xander and Cordy. For Giles, some sweet and sour pork. And for you ,of course," he grabbed a forkful of the food that he was working on and gave it to Willow to taste, "your personal favorite."

 "Only when you make it," she grinned. "General’s chicken. " Willow looked up at Angel, affection in her eyes. "You are way too good for me."

 "I know," Angel laughed. Willow grinned at her friend, glad to see him so happy. In the two months since she had brought him back from hell, she had noticed a lot of changes in Angel, the most obvious, his willingness to laugh, even at himself. Willow couldn’t get over the difference in Angel. Willow remembered how tense things were at first. Although Giles was willing to give Angel a chance, he still held onto some of the hatred toward Angelus for the death of Jenny. And Xander, who never really gave Angel a chance before because of his jealousy over Buffy, resented him even more so because of the closeness between Angel and Willow. The two people who surprised her most were Cordelia and Oz. She felt a pang in her heart at the mention of her former boyfriend. They had broken up about three weeks before and it was a mutual decision. They had decided that the best thing for them was to be just friends. He had even started dating Faith.

 Angel had become a big part of Willow’s life. She spent more time at the mansion than she did at her home. She loved helping Angel learn more about the human that he was now. She convinced him to redecorate the mansion, insisting that while the darker colors might have been appropriate for a brooding vampire, they were not right for the new person that he was becoming. And once Willow put on her resolve face, Angel found that he too was not immune to her charms. Angel felt comfortable with Willow, more comfortable than he had with anyone else in a long time. He could share things with her, that he couldn’t with anyone else, including Buffy. Willow and Angel would spend many hours in front of the fireplace, talking about both of their childhoods. Willow was fascinated with tales of his native Ireland. She never tired of hearing about his family, especially his younger siblings. Angel, for the most part, found that by finally talking about them to someone helped close the wound that had been open for so long. By mutual consent, the two never discussed Angel’s time as Angelus.

 "So what are the plans for tonight?" Angel finally asked, breaking the comfortable silence between the two friends. "Faith is going to patrol and hopefully find out what killed that boy last night," Willow looked down. "The rest of us are going to keep an on Oz. We want to make sure that it wasn’t him that did it, since we can’t be sure whether or not he got out thanks to Xander." Angel could see the tears in Willow’s eyes at the thought that her ex could have killed someone. Angel knew that the break-up was mutual and that she didn’t love Oz, but Oz was still her friend, and Willow always hated it when her friends were hurt. He went over to comfort her, and she willing allowed him to hold her. (Nice chest. Whoa, bad Willow, bad bad Willow.) Once she got her crying under control, Willow sheepishly looked up at Angel. "Umm, seems I got another one of your shirts all wet."

He smiled down at her. "I’m used to it by now. It’ll dry." This brought a smile to Willow’s lips also. It was common now for her to Angel’s shirts as tissues whenever she had one of her crying fits. He never seemed to mind and she always felt better knowing that he was there with her. Angel looked out and noticed that it was getting late.

 "Okay, little one. I believe it’s time to head to the library. Don’t want everyone thinking that I’m taking advantage of you or something." Willow just grinned at him. Willow started wrapping up the food while Angel went to go change his shirt. By the time he was done, Willow had finished packing up everything and was waiting for him by the door. Angel just took in the sight of her standing in the late afternoon sun and smiled. (Gods, she is so beautiful. She looks like a Goddess.) With that final though, Angel and Willow headed to the library for another night of research and fun.

Sunnydale
Four months later

The slayerettes were gathered in the library for their research party. They had found out that the mayor was up to something and they were trying to find out what it was. Giles was in his office, arguing with Wesley, Faith’s new Watcher. Willow and Angel were huddled together by the computer. Cordelia and Xander were as far apart as they could get while in the same room. Willow pretended not to notice, but she couldn’t stop herself from feeling guilty about the break-up of her best friend and the former cheerleader. (Why did I have to kiss Xander?) Willow knew that Cordelia was hurt when she caught Willow and Xander kissing in that warehouse Spike had kept them locked in, but was grateful when it appeared that the girl didn’t hold Willow responsible. Instead, all of Cordelia’s anger seemed to be focused on Xander. Willow’s thoughts were interrupted when Faith burst into the library breaking the silence. Angel was the first to his feet, completely hiding Willow from Faith’s view.

 "It’s Willow", Faith gasped trying to catch her breathe. "I just saw her at the Bronze. She’s been vamped."

Everyone in the library stared over at the computer where Angel turned to see an ashen Willow look up at him. He moved so that Faith could see Willow. Once the hacker came into view, the slayer’s jaw dropped open.

"What? How? I mean, I just left the Bronze and she was there, all vamped out. We’re talking skank central." Giles went over to the confused brunette.

"Faith, Willow’s been here all day. She’s never left the library." Faith looked at everybody as they confirmed Giles statement. Faith was even more confused now.

 "Okay, then I’m hallucinating or something." Giles led Faith over to the table and sat her down gently.

"Tell us what happened."

Faith took a deep breathe and began, "Okay, I was at the Bronze to listen to the Dingoes when suddenly in came a bunch of vamps looking for some snacks. And the leader looked just like Willow. Oz told me to leave and to tell everyone back here, so I snuck out the back and ran all the way." Willow grabbed Angel’s hand and when he looked down at her, he could see how scared she was. She walked over to Faith.

 "Faith, I have to know. The vamp me, was she all in red and black leather?" When Faith nodded yes, Willow fell back into Angel’s chest. "Oh goddess no."

 Angel gently turned Willow around and hugged her to him. "What is it, little one? Do you know what’s going on?" He felt her head nod into his chest. Finally, when he could tell that she was getting her emotions under control he pulled her back from him, forcing her to look into his eyes. "What happened, Willow"

 "I did a spell. I know I’m not suppose to without you looking it over Giles," she started as Giles was about to interrupt, "but it was only suppose to be a simple recovery spell. But something went wrong. When I was doing it, I got a vision of something straight out of hell. There was a fight. A lot of vampires. One of them was me. I stopped the spell right then, I was so scared." Willow looked up at Angel, expecting him to be angry at her, but she could only see concern in his eyes. "What if I brought the other Willow here." Willow started to cry and Angel pulled her close to him again.

"Sshhhh, it’s going to be okay," he whispered so that only Willow could hear him. "We’ll think of something, don’t worry."

 The group had decided that they were going to head back to the Bronze and see what was happening. As they were leaving the school, Willow suddenly remembered that she left the items for the protection spell back in the library. Promising Angel that she would be right back, she ran back to the library, only to be confronted by her vampire double.

"Oh looky, it’s boring ole me," the vamp said when she noticed Willow. She walked over the girl, slowly, looking her over. She stopped when their faces where level. "So deliciously innocent. Yummy."

 "What….do…you…." Willow stuttered.

 "What do I want with you?" vampire Willow finished. She put her mouth so that it was next to Willow’s ear. "Hmmm, I believe that would be you."

Willow tried to move around the desk, putting distance between herself and the vampire Willow. "Me?" she squeaked. "Why would you want me?"

 "Because, I know what you’d be liked as a vampire," vamp Willow said, running her hands up and down her body, "and I think it would be a lot of fun."

 "Sorry, I don’t go for the leather look. So not me." Vampire Willow looked disappointed by Willow’s refusal to join with her willingly.

 "You don’t want to join me?" Willow shook her head no. "Oh well, guess I’ll just have to kill you then." The vampire shifted into game face and reached over the desk, grabbing Willow’s head. She pulled the frightened girl’s neck to her mouth and was about to sink her fangs into it when she suddenly found herself on the receiving end of a stream of holy water. She jumped away from the desk, releasing Willow who clamped her hands around her neck. Vamp Willow turned to face the person responsible for interrupting her fun, only to be confronted by one very pissed off slayer and friends, one in particular member of the group held her attention though.

 "Puppy," Willow’s double said walking over to Angel. When she got nearer to him though, she could tell that he wasn’t the same vampire that she had so much fun torturing. He was human. "Not puppy," she pouted.

 Faith grabbed the vampire from behind, pinning her arms to her side. "I know we can’t stake her, but what do you want to do with her."

 "Put her in the cage for now," Giles replied. Faith threw the vampire into the book cage that usually held Oz during his wolf stage, while Angel went over to Willow making sure she was okay. When he looked her over, he was relieved to find out that she wasn’t harmed, just scared. He pulled her close to him, thankful that the witch was going to be okay. (Gods, what would I have done if anything happened to her. I won’t lose her. I love her too much.) Willow, for her part, just held onto Angel for dear life.

 "Angel, could part of me be like her?" Willow asked, refusing to let go of him. "I mean, vampires retain some of their human personality right? So somewhere deep down, I’m a skanky nympho?"

 "No, sweetheart. You are nothing like that," he whispered to her, trying to soothe her frazzled nerves. "You are everything that is good in this world." < And I plan on making sure that nothing ever hurts you again.>

 Willow looked up at the person who meant the most to her and closed her eyes as he bent to give her a feather light kiss on her forehead. (Okay, I can get used to him holding me like this. I don’t want him to ever let go.)

 Finally Angel and Willow parted to join the rest of the Slayerettes gathered at the cage, watching the her vampire double. They came up with a plan that had Willow, dressed in her counterparts clothes, and Angel going in to distract the rest of the vampires in the Bronze. After everyone was rescued, they sent back Willow’s double and Angel and Willow went back to the mansion. Her parents were out of town again and he didn’t want to leave her alone. By the time they got there, Willow had collapsed from a combination of exhaustion and fear. Angel carried her to the guest bedroom and laid her on the bed. As he turned to leave, he heard her whisper.

 "Stay? Hold me?"

 It was a simple request but one that he was more than willing to fulfill. He removed his socks, shoes and shirt and climbed into bed next to the red head that had filled him with so much happiness. He wrapped his arms around her protectively and felt her move back into him. He stoked her hair, lulling her back to sleep before joining her. That night Willow and Angel had dreamed of a future with the person by their side.
 
 

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