*~*~*~**~*~*~*~

*~ "Willow," the dark haired vampire was surprised to
see the redheaded witch on his doorstep, holding onto
the handle of a double stroller. Three pairs of green
eyes looked up at him and Angel blinked, slamming his
jaw closed. "What a pleasant surprise. Come in..."
*~ He stepped back and waved them in, watching as
Willow limped past him, pushing the stroller in front
of her. "What...?"
*~ "Brings me here?" she asked, and he was surprised
again at the older tone of her voice. It'd been less
than three years since he'd seen her last, but it
seemed like much more. He'd heard of her marriage
through Buffy, but hadn't really looked into it. He'd
had no idea she'd had any kids. She turned to look at
him, and he noted the many changes that had taken over
the once-shy witch.
*~ Her appearance was the same except for the much
older expression on her face, the weariness in her
green eyes, and the thick make-up the old Willow would
never of even thought of wearing. Her clothing was
much of the same order, a pair of snug black jeans and
a snug black, low cut silk blouse under a black
leather jacket. Her red hair was longer, much longer
than when he'd first seen her, and pulled back into a
straight ponytail that swung almost to her knees in
the back.
*~ "Yeah," he answered after a hesitation, waving her
to sit down on the couch. She smiled quickly and sat,
pulling the stroller closer to her.
*~ "Do you mind if I let them out of the stroller?" At
his nod, she unstrapped the twins and spread a blanket
on the floor for them to play on. She unbundled them
from their outer jackets and opened what looked like a
diaper bag and dumped various toys out, handing each
one. She sat back and watched them for a second before
turning to Angel.
*~ "I'm in trouble, Angel," she said quietly. "There's
someone after me and the twins, and I need your help."
*~ "Wow," Angel said, blinking.
*~ "I know," she sighed and grimaced. "I hate to show
up only to ask for a favor, but I don't know who else
to go to. I would go to Buffy, but she wouldn't
understand. She'd see one side and that would be it. I
know you'll at least listen before you pass
judgement."
*~ "Tell me what happened, Willow, and I'll tell you
if I can help you," Angel answered cautiously.
*~ She leaned her head back against the back of the
couch and closed her eyes. "I married Alexander Tyler
three years ago, not long after I saw you last," she
spoke without opening her eyes. "It happened so fast.
I was blinded by him... By everything... And blind I
was. When we first started dating, I thought I'd have
to hide my magick from him. But the more I was around
him, and the closer we got, the more I realized that
he already knew, and that became one of the
attractions."
*~ "I fell in love with him. He asked me to marry him,
and I did. Everything was great. The wedding was
beautiful, the honeymoon was wonderful. The first few
months were idyllic. Then he started making demands on
my magick. It started out with little spells. I didn't
question. I just performed." She paused, opening her
eyes to look down at the babies.
*~ "Then the spells got bigger and more complex. Easy
enough for me to do," she shrugged. "But the bigger
the spell, the more complex, the bigger sacrafice I
had to offer. I started resisting after a time and he
got mean."
*~ Angel tensed at the casual way she said it, and she
turned haunted eyes on him and he touched her hand.
She curled her cold hand around his and continued, her
eyes watching her redheaded babies play at their feet.

*~ "Mean wasn't exactly the word after the
manipulation wore off and I started really resisting.
Cruel is more like it. His true colors started
showing. I had to do the things he told me to, or I'd
be locked in the darkness of our basement room and
beaten. I'd be left there until I relented. No food,
nothing. Sometimes I'd be left there for days. Then I
found out I was pregnant."
*~ Angel tightened his hand on hers. "When I told him,
he looked pleased. From then until the babies were
born, he treated me like he had in the beginning. No
magick, no beatings... no dark room. It was like he'd
completely changed. I was stupid and believed it. I
should have gotten out while I could." A tear leaked
out from the corner of her eye and she blinked.
*~ "I wish I had..."
*~ "It wasn't your fault..." Angel started to say, but
she cut him off.
*~ "Yes it was," she said quietly. "I could've avoided
everything if I'd just listened to my instincts. You
know, my instincts were the very reason I survived the
Hellmouth my entire life. But did I listen to them
this time? No. I was stupid. Stupid. But then, he
never would have stopped until I stopped him..." She
seemed to shake herself out of her memories and she
turned her attention back to her story.
*~  "Everything was still going good when I brought
the girls home, and it stayed good for a while. We
lasted almost a year without incident. And then he
showed his colors again." She hesitated. "That was two
weeks ago. He came up with another spell. This one was
big. He wanted power... power like mine, only more.
This spell required flesh of his flesh. Twins. And he
wanted me to kill my babies." Her green eyes had
darkened with horror and she beseeched him with her
expression. "I couldn't do it. But I told him I would.
I led him to believe I was too scared of him to
resist. I called up power, all right. But that wasn't
all I called. The demon killed my husband while I
watched behind the protective circle as I held my
children close and prayed it was powerful enough to
hold."
*~ Angel's nonexistent breath sucked in sharply. "What
happened?"
*~  "I sent it back to where it came from and then got
out of there as fast as I could. I burned the house
and all the evidence. I went straight to Buffy's, and
that's where they first found me."
*~ "The police?"
*~ She laughed and it was bitter. "I wish. Alex had
friends in big places and somehow they found out what
I'd done. They figure, power like that could be
harnessed and used..."
*~ "What happened?"
*~ "Buffy killed them and then demanded to know what
happened. I pleaded a headache and left without
telling her. I didn't want her to know. I still
don't."
*~ "Do you have a name for these people who want you?"
*~ "They said they were from a law firm. Wolfram and
Hart. They said they had proof of what I'd done."
*~ Angel's hand tightened almost painfully on hers,
and Willow winced, pulling away. "What?"
*~ "I'll help you," Angel promised quietly. "We need
to talk about this later, but right now we need to
concentrate on getting you a place to stay."
*~ "I have a hotel room-..."
*~ "No!" Willow jumped at the vehelemence in his
voice. "That's not safe... Did you know they're based
here in LA?"
*~ Her face paled. "N-no. Goddess, what have I done? I
can't stay here. I have to get far away! I have to get
the girls..."
*~ "No," Angel said, taking her hand and holding her
from reaching for the girls. "They'll find you
wherever you go, you'd be safer here where we can
protect you."
*~ " But I can't bring them here," Willow bit her lip
anxiously, a habit that Angel was oddly relieved to
see that she'd retained from the old days. "They're
not your ordinary law firm, Angel... They're bad."
*~ "Willow," Angel cut in when it looked like she was
going to continue, his hand finding hers again. "I can
protect you. I've faced Wolfram and Hart and won. I've
been battling them since I first came to LA. They're
not going to win this one."
*~ Willow didn't look reassured, but she nodded. Her
expression was feirce as she looked at her children,
playing oblivious on the floor. "But if they get too
close, I'm gone, Angel. I'm dead serious on this one.
No one threatens my babies. No one. If they get hurt,
there's no one involved who won't suffer, and you can
take my word on that."
*~ Angel nodded, following her gaze. "And you can take
*my* word, that I will help you in whatever you want,
whether you want to stay here or leave. From this
moment on, you and the girls are under my protection."
*~ Willow sighed and her tiny shoulders seemed to
deflate. "I'm scared, Angel," she said quietly. "I
don't think I've ever been this scared. It's always
been about keeping myself safe... Even when we were
living on the Hellmouth, it wasn't really about
keeping anyone else safe... I mean... We all had
Buffy... And Giles... They were our protectors. Yeah,
I worried about them and all, but they took care of us
as well as themselves. Now... Now I have two children
to take care of... If it was just me, I could handle
it. But with Anna and Erin... I can't imagine anything
happening to them. They're my life... I- I couldn't
live without them, Angel."
*~ "I know," Angel said, though he knew he couldn't
know exactly what she was feeling. The closest bond he
could claim as being even remotely related to a
mother-child bond would be his bond with Spike and
Drucilla... And that didn't even really compare,
though some of the softer emotions came close. "But
you're not alone in this now, Willow. I'm here and I'm
not going to let anything happen to you... or the
girls."
*~ Willow sighed and squeezed his hand. "I'm glad I
can still count on you, Angel. I knew I could. I knew
it..."
*~ "How about we call Cordelia and ask her if you can
stay with her? I'm sure she won't mind," Angel
suggested relunctantly after a long pause. "She can
watch the girls while we go after your things."
*~ "No!" Willow blushed at the startled expression on
Angel's face at the suddenness of her refusal. "I
can't leave the girls. I trust Cordelia and all, but I
can't leave them right now."
*~ Angel nodded, getting to his feet and going for the
phone, carefully stepping around the redheaded girls,
who'd stopped playing to watch him with big green eyes
that reminded him strongly of their mother. "I'll call
and see if you can stay with her, and she can come
with us to get your stuff... For the extra room..."
*~ "I don't have that much stuff," Willow said, her
voice tired. "I didn't have much time to grab much.
Just clothes for me and the girls and a few other
necessities. Whatever I need, I just buy when I need
it."
*~ Angel nodded, the phone ringing in his ear as he
was put through to Cordelia's apartment.
*~ "What," the former May Queen answered the phone
bluntly, clearly not happy about being called at three
in the morning.
*~ "Cordelia, this is Angel," Angel replied softly.
*~ "What's wrong? Is it Wesley? Did a demon pop up
somewhere? Do you need research?" Angel had to smile
at the suddenly painfully awake brunette.
*~ "No, Willow's here and she needs a place to stay.
We were wondering if she and the twins could stay with
you for a while."
*~ "Of course," Cordelia answered without so much as a
hesitation. "What's the deal?"
*~ "We'll explain when we get there. We're going to
stop by her hotel and pick up their stuff and we'll be
there in about an hour."
*~ "Okay. See you then." Angel waited until she'd hung
up the other line before hanging up and turning back
to the redheaded witch on his couch.
*~ "It's okay," Angel said, smiling reassuringly.
*~ "Good," Willow responded, getting to her feet. She
started gathering the toys and stuffing them into the
bag, then replacing the jackets on the girls.
Suddenly, she handed one to Angel to hold while she
strapped the other one into the stroller. "Can you
hold Erin for me for a second?"
*~ Angel took the infant without responding, but his
unbeating heart was threatening to start. It had been
so long since he'd held a child, and it raised
emotions he'd long forgotten. Erin looked up at him
calmly, her green eyes wide as they stared into his
dark ones. Her face was faintly curious, and he got
the odd impression that she was memorizing his
features. Neither one moved until Willow reached out
to take her from his arms.
*~ Watching as Willow placed Erin in the stroller,
Angel felt oddly... empty. Willow turned back to him
and pushed her hair back over her shoulder. "You
ready?"
*~ "Yeah," he replied quietly, reaching for his own
leather jacket. "Do you want me to drive, or do you
want to?"
*~ "You drive. I've been driving way too much for my
own good." Angel nodded and led the way out of his
apartment.
*~*~*~
 

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