E-MAIL: WillowLover@aol.com
DISCLAIMER: I don't own them. They belong to joss, Wb, Munant Enemy, FOX, and others.
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: Wild at Heart, Room With a View
SUMMARY: Willow goes to LA and surprises Angel.
DISTRIBUTION: Just ask me.
FEEDBACK: Please!
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Angel folded his paper and looked up as the door opened and Cordelia waltzed in. "Hi," he said as she smiled and set her bag down on her desk, "How was your weekend?"
"Good," Cordelia couldn't help the big smile that stretched across her face, "Why? Because I've finally worked things out with Wesley, I spent the weekend at the spa, and I haven't had a vision in-" Cordelia was cut off when the "powers the be" started another Mind blowing vision. She slumped to the floor and could feel Angel rush to her side, but nothing after that.
Not far ahead of her was a small battle. There were flashes of red hair as the girl fought her way through the vampires. She fought well, as far as Cordelia could see, and didn't look like she needed help. Her view changed and she saw the address. Then it all ended.
"Cordelia?" Angel questioned when her eyes fluttered open, "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," She clutched the back of her head and looked at Angel, "Just get me the aspirin, paper and a pen," She groaned and sat up, "and a way to get rid of these damn headaches!" At the sound of her complaining, Angel knew she'd be fine and he grabbed the aspirin from on top of the filing cabinet. He tossed it to her and poured a cup of coffee.
"Thanks," Cordelia smiled as she took the cup and swallowed the pills. "Here," she scribbled the address on the paper and handed it to him.
"What'd you see?" Angel said as he took his seat again.
"There was a girl fighting a large group of vampires. She had red hair, and she was strong." Cordelia sipped her coffee and recalled what she had seen, "Possibly a slayer." Angel sighed at this and looked down at his lap. "Hey! None of that! It took me all year to upgrade you to semi-brooding guy and I won't have you regressing."
"No worries of that," Angel grinned, coming out of it.
"Good, 'cause I like the new and improved you," She smiled again, glad that he had gone back to smiling, "Anyway, they girl was having trouble fighting them, so I guess it's our job to help her." The door flew open and Wesley bounced down the stairs, "Afternoon Wes."
"Cordy," Wesley walked over to the desk and set his bag down. He sat down next to Cordelia after pouring himself a cup of coffee. "So, I picked up some new magazines on my way in. I thought we could do a quiz today, "How good of a friend are you?", but only if our business doesn't pick up," He paused a second, as if thinking about something, "Wait, we haven't had a client in over a week, so I say it's going to be another interesting afternoon filled with plenty of friendship guidance."
"As much as I would like to spend my day actively multiple choicing, I had a vision," She smiled excitedly, "which mean, clients!"
"We're not going until sunset," Angel interrupted.
"Why not?" Cordelia whined, "We always do the quiz thing, and we have clients lined up. Well technically client, but it pays."
"What exactly was the vision?" Wesley asked while he placed his arm around Cordelia.
"There was a girl fighting vampires here," Angel handed him the address, "Which means it won't be until dark."
"Once again you overlook the obvious, Cordy" Wesley smiled with victory, "The vampires couldn't have been out before sunset."
"And once again you overlook the obvious," her sweet smiled turned into a scowl, "Be nice, or you'll be spending the night alone."
"Right," Wesley sat up and opened the magazine, "Shall we then?"
******
Angel looked down at the paper, checking the address once more. They were standing in an ally, loaded with supplies. Wesley was ready for battle, though Angel didn't think he'd be needed, and Cordelia was on the ground, complaining.
"I don't see why they couldn't have picked a bar or at least a nice ally to fight in," she wrinkled her nose in disgust, "This place smells worse than Wesley after we fought that purple thingie!"
"You smelled just as bad," Wesley sighed, "and why are you sitting down?"
"My feet hurt, the powers should have given me s specific time to be here."
"Maybe you should wear sneakers next time we go evil hunting," Angel growled.
"Hostile much?" Cordelia sighed and got up.
"Sorry," Angel started to pace between the walls, "I just have a weird feeling about this."
The words had just left his mouth when a vampire was kicked into the ally. It was followed by a tall, thin, red head. Her hair was pulled back in a tight braid that swung each time she hit the vampire. Several more vampires ran into the ally, but no one moved.
The woman blocked a punch from the first vampire and ducked as another one jumped at her. She turned around and thrust a stake into the first vampire's chest and it exploded into a cloud of dust. She never gave it a second thought and moved on to the next one. It's foot flew towards her, but she caught it and twisted, snapping bone. The vampire fell to the ground and had a stake in it's heart before it could get up.
The red head spun around and looked at the seven other vampires. She jumped up and did a flip, landing on the shoulders of the closest one. It toppled over and she twisted her legs and waited for the crack before she stood up. Another vampire rushed her and she kicked it into the wall. It stumbled over a box, breaking it. She ran over, picked up a broken fragment of it, and stabbed the vampire.
A vampire attacked her, but she just thrust her hand back and staked it. Two of the four remaining vampires ran at the woman. She slipped a stake out of her sleeve and placed it into the chest of one while she kicked the other back. It came back and she kicked it down and crouched down, staking it.
One of the vampires knocked the red head down from behind and she spun on her hands, kicking it's legs out from underneath it, causing it to land on her well placed stake. The last two vampires looked at each other and fled before she could get up. The woman stood up, brushed herself off, and looked down the ally to see three very stunned detectives. "Hi guys!" she waved and rushed over to see them.
"Willow?" Angel whispered.
End Part 1
Willow followed Angel into his office, listening quietly, "Well, this is it. Have a seat." Angel gestured to a chair and Willow sat down. Cordelia leaned against her desk with Wesley next to her, and Angel took the seat across from Willow.
"Wow," Cordelia smiled, "it's been, like, forever! Or, well two years, but still!"
"Yes," Wesley chimed in, "How have you been doing? You've certainly improved your fighting skills."
"Two years," Willow whispered, "It has been two years." She frowned and thought for a moment.
"Can I get you some coffee?" Angel said as he stood up to pour his own.
"No thanks, I've got it," without even thinking, Willow moved her finger and conjured up a cup of cocoa.
"Willow!" Cordelia gasped, "How'd you do that?"
"Huh?" Willow thought, "Oh, the cocoa. I conjured it. Don't worry, it's not dangerous."
"Your magic has improved as well," Wesley commented, "Has Mr. Giles been instructing you?"
"Giles?" Willow looked puzzled, "No. They were teaching me until I could find the spell for you, and then they let me go," she said to herself.
"Willow?" Angel asked, "Spell?"
"Huh?" she looked up to see all three of them staring at her, then giggled, "Guess I should start at the beginning, right?" She continued when Angel nodded, "Last time I saw you guys was during my freshman year. It was mid January when Giles got a call from the Watchers Council. They told him I was wanted, so we all figured I was to become a watcher. It made sense, right?"
"Yeah, You're like a female Giles," Cordelia joked.
"So I flew over to meet them, and the rest of the gang stayed in Sunnydale," Willow pulled her knees up to her chest and her eyes watered, "That's the last I ever saw of them."
"What?" Angel got up and looked at Cordelia, she nodded and he went over to Willow. He knelt down in front of her and looked up at her, "What happened?"
"The Council didn't like the fact the Buffy had quit working for them, so they decided to get a new slayer."
"But that would mean," Wesley paused, "they'd have to kill her."
"Yeah," she nodded, "They opened the Hellmouth while I was away and everyone died while fighting to close it. Even Spike."
"Xander?" Cordelia slid down the side of the desk and dropped her head, "they got Xander?"
"Everyone."
"We were aware that they had gotten Buffy, but not of the others," Wesley moved to comfort the former cheerleader.
"How?"
"Wesley got a letter from the Council," Angel explained, "They told him she was dead, but not how."
"Are you ok?" Willow took the tissue that Angel handed to her and wiped her eyes.
"I've had two years to deal with it, I'm just as good as you must be."
"Wait," Cordelia looked up, "Why weren't you killed too?"
"I'm the slayer," Willow whispered.
"What?" Angel brushed her bangs out of her eyes, "Why? And what was the spell you mentioned?"
"They wanted me because they knew I had received powers from my mother's side of the family, my witchcraft. I was pretty good at it, and they trained me to be better. I was outraged when they told me what had happened, so I refused to cooperate for the first few weeks. They were going to assign me my watcher when I told them I wouldn't do it unless they let me choose my watcher. Not wanting to kill a powerful slayer, they let me, even my choice was a bit odd."
"A bit odd?" Angel raised an eyebrow.
"They told me to choose someone that was experienced and that I trusted my life with. I could only think of one person. But, they had conditions. The spell was for you. It permanently anchored your soul." Angel took in an unneeded breath and Willow continued, "You're my new watcher, but only if you agree to it. They know you're a vampire, and what's the odds of a vampire slayer having one for a watcher, but you know me and my resolve face."
"Of course I'll do it," Angel smiled and hugged Willow, surprising her, "This must be what I was brought back for."
"The council really let you do that?" Wesley questioned.
"Uh-huh. It took a lot of bargaining, but I managed to get my way. The last thing I needed to do was secure Angel's soul and they said I could go."
"You could go?" Cordelia jumped in, "What does that mean? And why didn't they tell Angel?"
"It means just that, I can go and leave the council. Angel is to be my watcher and keep me doing the good thing, but the council doesn't want any part of it. They won't kill me though, because Faith died while I was over there. The new slayer lives in France and she'll stay with the council. No one will be called after my death, it's like only we know I'm the slayer."
"Wow," she muttered.
"Willow?" Angel asked, "Do you have a place to stay?"
"No," she shook her head, "I've only got one bag, and it's in my car."
"She'll stay with me," Cordelia stood up and took her hand, "It's really late and I wanna go home, so we'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Bye," Willow called out as she was pulled out the door.
End Part 2
Cordelia reached over and flicked on the lights as she and willow entered the apartment. "Dennis!" Cordelia removed her coat and listened until the radio had shut off, "Dennis, this is Willow. She's a friend, so be nice. She'll be here for awhile."
"Dennis?" Willow quietly asked, removing her own coat.
"He's my ghost," Cordelia walked into the kitchen, "Have a seat on the couch, I'm making tea."
"Why am I not surprised that you have a ghost?" Willow chuckled and sat down. "How'd it happen?"
"Well," she called out from the kitchen, "His mother was haunting the apartment when I moved in. She tried to kill me, but Angel saved me. I took out the wall that used to be between the table and the desk, and Dennis was un- trapped. He got rid of his mom and we've been roomies ever since," Cordelia walked back into the room carrying the tea.
"Wow."
"Don't worry though, Dennis likes you."
"How can you tell?"
"He hasn't flicked the lights or switched anything on," she laughed, "He's not the best thing to have around when company comes over. Wesley and Angel are the only company I get, actually."
"Wesley? Is there something between you two?"
"A big thing, we've been dating for about a year. It's work, but I like a challenge."
"What about Angel?"
"Why, do you have an Angel thing?"
"No!" Willow lightly shoved the other woman, "He's a friend."
"Yeah, the only friend you could trust you life with. What happened to Oz? You two were so cute it made me sick."
"We broke up," Willow thought for a minute, "he left, actually. I haven't seen him since I told him about everyone."
"Oh," Cordelia yawned, "It's really late, or early. Whatever. We should get to bed. I'll bring you to work with me tomorrow 'cause Angel will want to get started. He'll probably want you to work for him. You could do computer stuff."
"Ok."
"You can have the guest room, it's this way," Cordelia stood up and lead Willow to her room.
******
"Hello?" Wesley said inot the phone, "yes, I need some information reguarding Willow Rosenberg. Password? Monkey," Angel quit listening to him and went up into the office. Cordelia and Willow were waiting for him.
"Afternoon, sleepyhead," Cordelia greeted him.
"Hi. Willow," He turned to face the redhead, "Wesley's trying to talk to the council, so I guess we should talk without him. Are you going to move in with cordelia?"
"Consider me moved," Willow smiled, "Cordy let me take her guest room, and my bag's been emptyed. I could even work here, doing computer stuff and heklping you guys fight. That is, if you want me to."
"Willow, of course I want you too. Cordy'll add you to the payroll, and we can train in my workout room."
"Angel?" Wesley said as he walked into the office, "Th Council said tht they'd be they if anything was important to them, but we were to work independantly."
"Great, so we're abandoned by the council?" Cordelia scuffed, "This is so not a good thing."
"No, it's good. We don't have to worry about orders when we fight. Well except for mine," Angel grinned at Willow, "this is going to work, isn't it?"
"Darn tootin'!" Willow grinned back.
The End