By Neva
Send Feedback To: neva.crandall@csus.edu
Please send me feedback -- motivation is needed to keep writing in between grading papers.
Rating: PG-13
Classification: Willow/Angel, X-over Highlander
Distribution: Anyone can archive this story or my first two stories if they want to. Just send me the address to your site please.
Information about my version of the BtVS and Highlander universes can be found with my first story "Dreams?" The first two stories should definitely be read before this one.
Disclaimer: None of these characters (except the bad guys) belong to me. All rights and properties of Highlander are owned by Rysher entertainment etc., and all rights and properties of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are owned by Joss Whedon, Warner Bros. and Mutant Enemy, etc. (Okay the legal stuff is out of the way.)
** Note to Readers: Thoughts are indicated with < and > markings. **
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angel leaned against the fridge and watched through the wide doorway into the
workroom. That is what they had all come to call the main room which dominated the first floor, where Willow and Cass were currently setting up the circle and elements they needed for the evening's lesson in magic. He'd managed to get Willow alone for a few minutes while they'd washed the dinner dishes. Cass had just smiled at them when he'd volunteered to help. Angel doubted she would have been so amused if she had known why he'd wanted Willow to himself. <Well I do want to get little one alone, but tonight we just needed to talk. > And letting Cass overhear them trying to decide how to handle Methos's cryptic message would have been a bad idea. Finally, they had decided that he would call the Immortal while Cass was preoccupied with training Willow. That way a prolonged phone conversation would go unnoticed.
Reluctantly the vampire pulled his attention away from his redhead and headed upstairs. He headed to his sparely furnished room and pulled the disk from his pocket. Then he sat, patiently waiting while the phone rang.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Methos eagerly picked up the phone on the first ring. Unfortunately for the oldest Immortal's rapidly dwindling sense of patience it wasn't Willow. Instead it was an angry Joe. Apparently Mac had mentioned that Methos had left town for a few days -- and where. <Of course I didn't exactly hide my tracks; I didn't tell Joe where I was going, but left openly enough. That and I apparently made the mistake of telling Mac where I was going. Shouldn't have done that. Trust the boyscout to be curious about what's so interesting in Sunnydale. . . though I'm going to have to ask Joe how he got my room number. I didn't give that to Mac.>
"What the hell do you think you were doing using my computer to break into Watcher files, and what the Hell are you doing in Sunnydale?!"
"Curiosity." Not surprisingly the terse answer didn't go over well.
After awhile Joe ran out of steam, and swear words, and fell silent.
"Joe, I promise you that I will stay well away from Cassandra.
I am not a fool," Methos patiently ignored the snort on the other end of
the line. "I'm just going to see Willow, give her the info on that
headhunter, and leave town."
"And where is she supposed to say she so conveniently got this information? Hmm?" The Watcher's voice was sarcastic.
"You," Methos kept his voice neutral and completely reasonable.
"What! You are not dragging me into this."
"Joe, Willow is a nice kid who fights evil for hobby. Why should she have to go without a little warning until she has just a little more training? I want this kid to make it. You and I can both name several others who wouldn't care what kind of person she is." On the other end Joe sighed.
"That's not the kind of sentiment I'm used to hearing from you. You usually belong in the dictionary next to cynical."
"Don't get too used to it. It's temporary --- I've just spent too much time around Mac. Bye now, I'm waiting for a phone call." After that he'd hung up on the Watcher, and he spent the next three hours waiting for Willow to call. <He had better give her that disk. She'll need it. Namir is a nasty piece of work, and she isn't fully trained yet. > He was about to order dinner when the phone finally rang. Methos picked it up hoping it wasn't Joe or even worse, Duncan. It wasn't either of them, nor was it the person he expected to call.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Am I speaking to the person who sent us an encrypted disk by rather confused
messenger this afternoon."
"Well you have the right number, but who is it that got the disk?" Methos couldn't keep his voice from being suspicious.
"Angel"
"Ah, Willow's significant other without a pulse. Is Willow all right? She wasn't hurt fighting the demon or anything was she?" Methos realized with mild alarm that he was babbling and not hiding his concern for the girl at all. However, his clear worry had a beneficial effect. The voice on the other end of the line relaxed, and a sense of wary caution that had somehow been transmitted even through telephone lines eased off. It did not go away entirely Methos noted appreciatively.
"She's keeping Cass busy. We had a feeling that you didn't want Cass to know you are in town. What's on the disk?"
"Information - rather extensive- on a headhunter that's moving
into your area. I 'borrowed' it from the Watcher's Chronicles."
A snort of amusement was the response to that. "I've got the disk with
the decryption code on it. Knowing Willow she can break it, but that
would be a waste of time. Simpler if she just meets me."
"That should be fine. May take a day or two. One of us will call you to let you know when and where we will meet you."
<Protective sort aren't you? Ah, Willow did tell me, didn't she. > "All right, I look forward to the call."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the events of last night it didn't take long for the magic lesson to wear Willow out. She was asleep on her feet as she headed up the stairs. It took only a few minutes to find and put on a nightshirt. Halfway to the bed Willow abruptly remembered that Angel had called Methos. Reluctantly leaving her bedroom she crossed the hall.
Angel opened the door to her quiet knock, letting Willow slip quietly into his room.
"Did he answer the phone?" Willow tried to sound awake -- without noticeable success.
The vampire grinned down at the sleepy redhead. "Yes he did; I told him we would meet with him sometime in the next couple of days. We have to call and tell him where."
"What's on the disk?" The question came out a little muffled as Willow leaned against Angel's side, tucking her face against his shoulder. Staying awake was becoming impossible.
"Information about a headhunter. Methos has a disk with the encryption key we need. Also, I think he wants to meet you." Angel realized that he was holding all of Willow's weight, although she was still technically upright, and she didn't seem to have heard anything he'd said. <Sleepy, little one? > Angel gently lifted her into his arms. He looked at the door then smiled and turned to his bed. The vampire eased her onto the edge of the bed and pulled back the covers. As soon as he had Willow tucked in Angel shed his shirt and shoes and slid in behind her. Angel grinned when the slender witch turned to cuddle against him, one arm around his waist. He watched her sleep until fatigue pulled his eyes closed as well.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cassandra seemed determined to make up for every bit of training time lost during the pursuit of the latest demon. As soon as the breakfast dishes had been cleared she directed Willow to the main room. The rest of the day was spent working on combining magic and incantation with sword and knife techniques. Fortunately, Willow found the lessons intuitively easy, if tiring, and she was able to keep inserting comments about spending more time with Angel.
Finally Cass broke laughing down around mid-afternoon. Willow waited patiently until Cass had stopping choking and wiping the tears of laughter off of her face.
"All right child, I get the point. I'll stop interfering with your love life as long as your training doesn't slide. We'll train tomorrow morning before you go to class, then the evening is yours. Happy?"
Willow tried not to wince as Cass smiled at her with affectionate amusement and forced a playful return smile to her face. < I wish this was just about spending more time with Angel. I hate lying to you, Cass! But can I really afford to turn down Methos's help and friendship? He's helped us twice already -- even if you don't know about it. >
"Take a break, and get a drink. We've been pushing today." Cass went upstairs to change her ripped shirt. She'd been pleased with her student today. Willow had gotten is several good blows, even winning two rounds.
Willow walked over to Angel, who'd been silently watching them practice.
"I hate lying to her."
"I know, little one. You should have told her about that first message. The one you sent to him to say thank you. I think she would have accepted that one."
"You're right. I thought about it. It's just . . . her face goes so cold when his name comes up. I don't want her to look at me like that. She's my teacher, and we've become friends," Willow paused sadly while Angel stroked her sweaty hair. "I should have told her then, and now it's too late."
"Maybe you should still tell her."
"I'm thinking about it. She'll be livid. I have to find the right time to tell her."
For a little while they stayed quiet, simply enjoying each other's presence. Angel finally broke the silence. "Cass will be down in a minute. Want me to call Methos and tell him we'll meet him tomorrow after dinner."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Willow sighed, "I'll tell Cassandra that we're going to go to a movie or maybe the Bronze."
Angel felt the slight flinch that passed almost imperceptibly through Willow's slender frame. He hugged her again, trying to return some of the strength that she'd shared with him so generously.