Part Eleven

"Where do we go from here? The words are coming out all weird. Where are you now, When I need you?"
(The Bends - Radiohead.)
 

Willow, Giles was delighted and relieved to discover, was safely returned home and, once filled in on the latest demon crisis to hit the happy town of Sunnydale, eager to again don her "research girl" cap.

She also set his mind at rest by promising not to leave the house. Buffy was still patrolling and Willow promised to ring Giles once she knew more about the flesh-eating thing at the school so that the Watcher could send his slayer out after it.

Willow's name, it was decided, would not be mentioned to Buffy in relation to the knowledge acquired. Willow dropped her head to bang on the keyboard. <This is ridiculous. > Three hours, and still nothing. <You'd have thought that people would have noticed a demon that glowed blue. > Apparently not. Not even when it ate other peoples limbs.

There were no reports of similar incidents in any papers for the area, no reported sightings anywhere on the net, not even any historical references to such a creature.She was waiting to hear back from what she jokingly liked to call her "sources", with reference to every bad cop or news film ever made. The way she was feeling, she was almost even buying into the X-files conspiracy malarkey. Sources seemed surprisingly appropriate. She decided that the meantime demanded cheese and ham toasties and set off downstairs to make them.<I wonder where Angel is. >

Damn it. She should have known that it was fatal to stop occupying her mind, even for a second. He was always there, hovering just behind her thoughts. She just wanted him to come home. Whatever Giles said, Willow had no doubt that Angel would go straight back to Buffy. But as long as he was happy, that was okay. She wouldn't even allow herself to contemplate a scenario where Angel would come home to her. It would hurt too much when he didn't .She had long ago admitted to herself that she loved him. She suspected that she had felt that way for even longer than she acknowledged, but she had known for definite since she had allowed him to make love to her, for his own release from nightmares. It was such an un-Willowy thing to do. There had to be a reason for it.

And then she had found the reason and almost wished she hadn't, because now he was never coming back. Willow grabbed her food and ran back upstairs, determined to put all her energies into finding out about this demon

~~~~~~~

When she settled back down at her computer, she found a message about the demonin her inbox.

***A glowing demon who eats limbs? Can we get more clichid? Honestly. Do you people have no imagination? Why would anyone create a demon that glowed blue and ate limbs?***

Totally bemused by this message, Willow checked the sender and discovered her mistake. She had sent out her query to a horror writing site, hence the confusion. But now that she thought about it. There was no record of this demon, or its victims. It appeared a completely unlikely creature, and was indeed, outrageously clichid. Its existence was onlyknown to Giles, who saw it.

Could he have been misled? A couple of hours later, Willow had the information she needed. Someone had indeed created this demon cliché. It was an apparition, an illusion. Perhaps even a decoy, to move attention away from something else that was going on.

And only one name she had come across seemed likely to have created this distraction. Apparently, a wizard calling himself Merlin <God, this man is the king of clichés> had set up shop in Sunnydale. He was famous for illusions, especially demon ones. So what the hell was he trying to do?

Willow knew that she should ring Giles. But this man was a warlock <or wizard,as he prefers>, and there was nothing Buffy could do against magic. And Willow was the witch of this group. And she was restless. She might as well help out. <Besides, with a name like Merlin, how tough can he be? > She grabbed her bag of tricks, and headed out the window

~~~~~~~

A way away, Angel was walking along a darkened road when suddenly he stopped. He had the horrible feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong in Sunnydale.
 
 

Part Twelve

"You want me? Fucking well come and find me I'll be waiting With a gun and a pack of sandwiches And nothing"
(Talk Show Host - Radiohead)
 

For once, Angel was glad that he hadn't had the heart to go far away from Sunnydale. As his newly acquired car sped along darkened roads he thought how amused Willow would be at the thought of him stealing a car. Then his expression darkened because he was sure that whatever was wrong, it was to do with Willow. And he needed to be in Sunnydale now, not in almost an hours time. He put his foot down, and started breaking the speed limits even more.

~~~

Willow watched the lights in the library go out as Giles and Buffy left.

"I"m not sure what it is," Giles was explaining, inwardly cursing and wondering why Willow hadn't called back with any information. "So I suggest that we take it slow for now, just keeping our eyes open for any more clues."

"Such as randomly lost limbs?" Buffy said.

"Exactly."

"What fun."

Giles glared at his Slayer as they headed off in the direction of the cemetery. Once she was sure they had gone, Willow snuck in to the school the back way, heading for the library. For some reason, the spell she had found and quickly memorised, was telling her that the only major magic user in the area was hiding out there. Willow hoped that this wasn't going to be another hellmouth thing. Really, couldn't people try to take over the world any other way?As she came to the double doors leading into the Scooby Gang headquarters, Willow noticed a soft blue glow begin to pulse inside, shining through the doors. Willow took a deep breath and quietly opened the door.

~~~

Angel was stuck at a red light, and growing seriously impatient. The wrong feeling he seemed stuck with was getting worse and worse. And until he got to Sunnydale there was nothing he could do about it. He tried to make himself feel better by telling himself that it would only be a few more minutes. If he wanted to drive fast enough to try and get killed a second time. The lights turned green <finally> and Angel and his stolen transport sped along the road at an outrageous speed, now almost back at the hellmouth.

~~~

Inside the library, the blue light was even brighter. And there was the self-fashioned Merlin, standing right at the centre of it. Willow was mildly surprised - Merlin seemed fairly young, and wore a simple black shirt and trousers.

<What did I expect? Long grey beard and a cloak with stars on? On the other hand, he is glowing blue, and that really can't be normal.> He was chanting something, but try as she might Willow couldn't understand it. <He can't have been here long - Buffy and Giles just left. So what ever he's doing, he's only just started, right? >And then the blue light flared, and Merlin turned to look at her.

~~~

Angel screeched the car to a stop outside Willow's house. All the lights were out and he got no response to his loud bangs on the door. He clambered up to peer through her bedroom window, but it was empty.

<Where the hell is she? > Jumping back down to the street, Angel decided to abandon the car and started running towards the cemetery.

~~~

Buffy was busy kicking some vampire ass when Angel arrived, so it was her Watcher that spotted him first.

"You"ve come back then, I see. Any particular reason?"

"Where's Willow?" If Angel had had breath to start with, he would surely have run out by now.

"At home. But I doubt she wants to see you."  Buffy staked her last vampire, and turned to face them.

"She's not there. Something's wrong, I can feel it."

"What are you doing here?" a particularly pissed off slayer asked, stake still in hand.

"But I told her to stay at home. Because of the demon." Giles continued.

"What demon?" Angel asked, horror on his face.

"The one that glows blue," Buffy said, absently. "Now answer my question."

Angel turned to the Watcher.  "Where did you say this demon was?"

"I saw it at the school." Giles started.

But Angel had gone, running swiftly in the direction of the library, and a growing blue glow. Giles followed him. Buffy sighed and, slipping the stake back into her waist band, figured that if she wanted any answers, she had better go too.

~~~

Merlin looked at the red-headed witch, a smile on his face.

"I'm so glad you could make it my dear. There really aren't enough witches to sacrifice around here these days. I want you to know, I do really appreciate this."

The blue light turned a blinding red and the wizard reached out a hand to grab her, his other hand holding a dagger that shimmered in the false light.
 
 

Part Thirteen

"You say I don't have a leg to stand on, So it's a good thing I got two, But if I had only one leg to stand on, That's exactly what I'd do. I'm doing it my own way."
(My Own Way - The Rembrants)
 

Angel and the Giles saw the light turn red when they were still a good few minutes from the library. Angel ran harder. Giles stopped for a moment, out ofbreath, and Buffy caught him up.

"What the hell's going on in there?" she exclaimed.

"We're not entirely sure. But it's a fair bet that Willow's there."

"Shit."

"Exactly."

Buffy grabbed Giles' hand, and they carried on running. A sound like thunder boomed as Angel reached the school. And then the heavens opened and water poured down on him, lightening flaring. Then just as suddenly, they stopped, only to be replaced by a
howling wind. Shaking his head, Angel wrenched open the doors to the school and headed towards the library. He could hear the screams and bangs from all the way down the corridor. The air inside the school seemed to hum with a magical energy, and Angel's concern for Willow grew.

What the hell was going on? The lights from the library flared golden for a moment as Angel reached the door. He tried to yank the doors open, but fell back as if he were burnt. And the doors remained shut. He tried again, but to similar effect. Bracing himself, he grabbed the handles with both hands and pulled. He dropped to the ground in a flurry of silver sparks. This was not good. Picking himself up off the floor, he went to enlist help.

 Back outside the building again, Angel found Buffy and Giles fighting off a collection of vamps, obviously also drawn by the pretty light show the library was so kindly providing. Growling, he jumped into help. He staked one of the vamps attacking Giles even as he was turning to face another of his own. A series of kicks and stabs later, most of them were gone. Glancing around, he noticed another two practically on top of Giles and ran over to perform the traditional "jump-and-stake-and-jump-and-stake" manoeuvre, to great applause.

The vampire and the watcher brushed themselves off and looked around for the third member of their happy bunch. The slayer was nowhere to be seen. And the roof of the library had just turned purple.

"Fuck."

Giles looked at Angel and said; "For once, I totally agree."

They found Buffy pinned to the ground by half a dozen vamps, a little way away. Surprise on their side, the unlikely duo dusted the lot, before pulling Buffy to her feet where she promptly wrapped her arms around Angel's waist and reached up to kiss him.

Wrenching away, he ran back towards the library, shouting, "Doors! We've got to get them open!"

The windows of the library were glowing silver. The Watcher and his Slayer followed, still completely dazed and confused. As the trio reached the door, fire appeared to consume the doorway and the library both, burning and charring everything in its path. Angel screamed and pushed both his hands through the flames to grab the door handles, desperately trying to pull them open. Giles tried to pull him away, but he wouldn't budge. And then the fire turned silver, and disappeared. The doors fell open, and the air cleared.

And in the middle of the library, sitting calmly on a table, swinging her legs, was Willow.
 
 

Part Fourteen

"We were tight, but it falls apart as silver turns to blue. Waxing with a candlelight, and burning just for you. Allocate your sentiment, and stick it in a box. I've never been an extrovert, but I'm still breathing .Someone tried to do me, ache (it's what I'm afraid of) With hindsight, I was more than blind, lost without a clue. Thought I was getting carat gold, and what I got was you. Stuck inside the circumstance, it's lonely at the top. I've always been an introvert happily bleeding."
(36 degrees - Placebo)
 

Angel fell to the floor as the doors opened. Willow very calmly stood and walked over to help him up.

"You came back then."

Angel could only nod.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Giles exploded.

"Merlin." Willow giggled. "You know, he really should have had a cloak."

"What?" Buffy asked, now thoroughly lost.

"I'll tell you what," Willow suggested. "You take me home and crack open a bottle of whiskey to put in my coffee, and I'll tell you the whole story."

There was very little anyone could do but agree with her.They were sitting around Willow's lounge, all drinking extraordinarily alcoholic coffees as the redhead began to explain the night's events.

"So once I realised that the demon was just an illusion, I figured I had to look for the illusioner, and I came across Merlin. Everywhere I looked, I came across him, and every single resource seemed to show him as a simple, over-ambitious and extremely cliched wannabe magician. Hence the demon that glowed." Willow took a long gulp of coffee and carried on talking. "So I cast a spell to track anyone with the power to cast the illusionary demon spell, only the power I came across, Merlin, was far, far more powerful than all the references would suggest. And I figured there was something nasty going on."

"He was pretending to be completely inept in order to lure you in?" Giles interrupted.

"Exactly. He needed the power of my sacrifice to harness the power of the hellmouths. Honestly, one day, someone will come up with a new use for those damn hellmouths. I'm sick of this one. And the letting lose hell on earth idea wasn't a great one ekither."

"So why did you go there alone?" Angel asked, his voice low.

"Because none of you would have been any help at all. He was a serious power to reckon with, and I needed to be able to concentrate. And I knew I could count on you lot to keep the interested vamps at bay. I really didn't want to beinterrupted." She looked at the vampire. "Why, didn't you think I could do it?"

"I didn't say that."

"Really though, you shouldn't have gone alone," Giles put in.

"Seems that there's a whole new dangerous side to Willow, doesn't it." Buffy commented acidly.

Willow ignored her.

"I don't need you to look after me, Angel. I've been managing fine on my own. So you can go back to wherever your latest hidey-hole is without feeling guilty. Sunnydale's doing just fine." Willow drained the rest of her coffee.

"Actually," Angel said casually, putting down his mug, "I think I'm going to stay around for a little while. I'd like to spend some time with my friends."

There was a long silence before Giles said, "Well, we'd better get going. School tomorrow, and all that." He stood up. "I'll drive you home, Buffy."

The slayer reluctantly agreed.

"I'd better get going too," Angel said. "Beat that sunrise. I'll see you tomorrow, Willow."

And then they were all gone, and Willow could sit down and let the tension in her body go, and cry a little as she fell asleep.
 
 

Part Fifteen
(Epilogue)

"Today is the first day of the rest of your days. So lighten up, squirt."
(Lift - Radiohead)
 

Willow was lying on her bed, flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She hadn't been to school that day. She was too tired, too fed up, and too angry to bother.

<What do these people expect from me? I help them out, I solve their problems, I accidentally sleep with the love of my best friend's life, and still it's not good enough for them. And him! The nerve of that man. Vampire. Whatever. Just assuming that I'd need his help. Rushing back to save the day after he ran out on me and broke my heart. No he didn't. I don't care about him. Really. >

Willow groaned and turned over on her bed. There was a rap at the window.

"Come in Angel."

He did.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice tired.

"To talk to you." He perched on the end of her bed, and she turned over to face him.

"What about?"

"Everything that's happened."

"So this is a 'we slept together, now what do we do' talk."

Angel chuckled. "I guess so."

Willow sat up. "What is there to talk about. You're back, I killed the nasty magician bloke, everyone's still alive, and now things can go back to how they used to be."

"How they used to be?" Angel queried.

"Yeah. You and Buffy, me and research, Xander, Cordelia and closets. So what else is there to talk about?"

"What if we don't want things to go back to how they used to be?"

"Doesn't make a difference. That's the way things are."

"They don't have to be."

"I think you'll find they do." Willow countered.

Angel tried a different tack. "I went to see Buffy today."

"See, back to normal."

"No. I told her I wanted her to leave me alone. That everything between us was over, and that I had things to sort out with you." Angel winced at the memory. "She wasn't very happy, I'm afraid."

Willow snorted. "Are you surprised? You slept with her best friend, who is, I'd like to point out, equally unpopular at this moment in time. I didn't even dare go to school and face her today."

"You saw her last night."

"That was different. I was on a crisis high. And I was drinking whiskey."

"Good point. I didn't know you drank."

"I didn't until you left. You left a bottle of whiskey at the mansion. I drank it all, and Xander had to come and clean me up. Giles says we're still linked you know, that you should want to stay with me." <Good going Will, slip that one in while he's not listening. That'll be real popular.>

"I do," Angel said quietly.

"What?" Willow whispered.

"I do want to stay with you. I want to see you every day and talk to you, to sort out all this stuff that's between us. I want to get you drunk and dancing. I want to show you the witch scene in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" to see if you laugh. I want to show you Britain and Europe. I want to take you to the movies and dinner. I want to drink cocktails at a casino with you. I want to kiss you."

Willow didn't think that she'd ever heard him say so much in one go. Without thinking, she leant forward and touched her lips to his, then pulled back.

"It's too difficult, Angel. Buffy."

"Is history."

"She's still my friend."

Angel sighed. "I know. But I think she'll come around eventually." He looked at her speculatively. "Your holidays start next week, don't they?"

"Yes," Willow started, wondering what the relevance was.

"I think we need to get away, to talk things over, rest up, and figure out what's going on."

"But."

"Please. I really think we need this. And it will be an adventure."

Willow knew that he was right. If they ever wanted to move past this, re-build their relationship with the others, and perhaps with each other, they needed time away to figure it all out. Tentatively, she nodded her head.

And so, the following Saturday evening, Willow was sitting patiently on the curb outside her house, bags at her side, when Angel arrived. They packed her belongings into the car and, together, set out into the night, both wondering what the hell happened next.
 

~~~~The End~~~~
 

read the sequal 'When We Wake'

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