By Neva

neva.crandall@csus.edu

Feedback is much appreciated -- PLEASE

Note to the Reader:

This is the sequel to my previous story "Dreams?"; a description of my version of the BtVS universe was included with part one of that story.
I apologize in advance for all inaccuracies related to Highlander. I missed many of the episodes, so I'm making things up.

Disclaimer: All characters from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Highlander belong to the shows' creators. I'm just borrowing them for
entertainment.

Rating PG13

< and > Indicate thoughts

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It was barely after twilight when they all headed purposefully to the cemetery. Cassandra and Buffy moved ahead to double check and
prepare the spot where they wanted to confront the demon. Both women were already in battle mode, scanning the surrounding area and
poised to fight. Willow hung back a little and watched as her teacher vanished into the tangle of trees and burial plots ahead --- she had
other things on her mind besides the upcoming fight. She'd brought her sword along but barely even noticed its presence. The redhead's
mind was on the man walking along side of her, holding her hand.

He was being great in some ways, giving her time to adjust to being Immortal before they let their relationship get really serious. Willow's
thoughts unerringly turned to the flaw in their relationship -- a flaw that grew more aggravating all the time. <He's getting so overprotective.
He doesn't even want me to spar anymore. And he looks at my sword like it's an enemy. > Even training with Buffy was a point of contention.
When Angel had begun teaching her self-defense techniques he'd been encouraging and enthusiastic about teaching her. He was glad that
she could take care of herself, but that had been before he'd seen her lifeless body. Angel was constantly on the lookout, fearing that another
headhunter would appear. It wasn't as though she wasn't afraid of that herself, but she wasn't going to let it control her life --- and she'd wasn't
going to let Angel protect her from every paper-cut or sprained ankle for the next century. <Oh Goddess, did I just think century? > Willow
turned her mind back to her love life again.

Since the night of her death he had been pressing her to spend more time on magic lessons instead of sparring. Buffy was actually handling
it much better than the vampire, asking for help both in patrolling and in practice. <Maybe it's 'cause she didn't see me dead. I mean, I told
her it happened; she's seen me heal fast, but she didn't SEE me dead. I’m not sure that she even knows that a lot of that blood was mine,
not the dead guy's. Plus, a lot of the blood was already cleaned up when she got there. Angel did see me dead, and he knew how badly
wounded I really was. > Angel didn't seem to want her to get within a few feet of her opponent, which simply wasn't reasonable. Cassandra
hadn't said anything, but Willow knew she hadn't missed the vampire’s extreme change in attitude. <This had better be a phase. >

All the way to the graveyard, Angel hovered at Willow’s side. He spent the entire walk scanning for trouble.

"I don’t like this," Angel muttered.

"It’s the most sensible way to take out the demon. Everything will be fine," Willow replied levelly. <I will not get angry with him. He just cares. It
just a phase. He will adjust. > Slowly she took a deep breath, consciously relaxing the muscles in her shoulders.

"It’s too dangerous."

"We’ll be fine," Her tone was decidedly more strained this time. <Okaay. Maybe a little angry. >

For a few minutes the vampire stayed quiet. "You will be careful." It wasn’t a question.

Willow decided to ignore him, partially because she was clenching her jaw.

He didn’t take the hint. "Did you have to bring the sword?" Angel asked quietly. Giles overheard the soft question but decided to pretend he
hadn’t – he slowed so that he was a bit behind them. Willow did not look happy about the question. She stepped ahead of Angel and turned
sharply to glare at him. Anya took one look at her friend’s stormy face and decided that preparing the battleground with Buffy and Cass was
safer than sticking around to listen. The former demoness took off.

Actually, ‘not happy’ didn’t quite cover it. The young witch looked decidedly pissed. "What do you mean ‘Did I have to bring the sword?!’" It
came out in a yell, and Angel jerked back in surprise. Giles snickered quietly – he had wondered how long Willow would put up with her
beloved’s hovering.

She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "What should I have brought – a welcome basket? We’re going into a fight! I’m an Immortal.
I’m not on the front lines – this time – but I am not going to go unprepared!" Her voice had been gradually rising until she was shouting again.
Angel started to open his mouth.

"No – do - not - say - anything! You’ve been training me for months now. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don't need or want
you to protect me!" Angel recoiled as if she had slapped him.

Willow spun around and stomped ahead. <I will not listen to another ‘be careful’! I am careful! He can’t be my boyfriend and my big brother.
Calm down, Will. You have to center yourself. > By the time she caught up with Cass and Buffy she had managed to become outwardly calm,
although Cass sent her a questioning look as she and Buffy moved a inconvenient concrete bench out of the way.

Willow sent back a look that clearly said, "I’ll tell you later." As Angel strode into the small clearing, brooding, as he hadn’t in months, Cass
realized that her student had finally lost patience with him. The vampire stood stiffly to one side as they set up the area. The clearing was
only open on two sides and was actually an opening between two large crypts. Willow moved to the center and sat; she also drew her sword
and laid it near to hand, sending a rather pointed look at Angel. Anya and Giles took up their positions beside her, and they all looked at
Cass. She nodded and moved to stand at one end of the clearing while Buffy stood opposite her.

Willow began to pull the magic in, gathering it in slowly from the area around her and from within herself and feeding it into the simple spell.
Giles’ eyes went wide as he felt the pull and slight drain of Willow’s mind. It was only a slight tug, but he could feel the power hovering behind
it -- the power that the young woman carried inside her.

Willow sat for a second, rolling the power around in her mind, setting the magic she’d borrowed to the task of shaping and channeling the
mass of her own power. The amount of power was overwhelming, far more than she normally needed to pull together at one time. It moved in
chaotic ripples and eddies, blurring her sight and dulling her hearing. The magic was oddly seductive, beckoning to the young witch to just
release the power and to see what it would do. <Oh, wow. Control -- control is a good thing. > A soft glow began to surround her, setting her
red hair afire and leeching the color out of her clothes. Slowly Willow began letting a trickle of the power out, struggling to control it as she
expanded the trickle to a slow steady stream as she lit the 'lantern'.

For a few long minutes nothing happened. Then Willow jerked as a presence, unfamiliar and cold, jabbed into her mind, cutting through the
swirling bulk of her power. The presence was single-minded and hungry – and it was clearly thinking that it had found a tasty meal. Willow
struggled to keep from running away from that icy touch, but her hold on the spell slipped ever so slightly and she forgot the cold touch in her
struggle to maintain control. She couldn’t keep from paling to a sickly white that was visible even through the glow of her power. Angel jerked
forward, reaching to touch her. It was only a brief, abbreviated movement, and he stepped back, afraid to interfere with the spell. His
movements made the dry grass crackle in the silence. It almost covered the tiny, nearly inaudible sound of scrabbling on the roof the crypt
behind him.

Only a vampire could have heard the sound, and Angel turned quickly, unconsciously taking a fighting stance. But he didn’t turn quickly
enough. A dark blur flew off the roof, launching itself at the source of the appetizing spell. One long, wickedly clawed arm lashed out and
backhanded Angel, sending the vampire over to Cassandra and knocking the Immortal over. Buffy dashed into the fight, swinging the
battle-axe she’d deemed appropriate for tonight’s task. The Slayer’s first blow was true, slicing into one of the demon's legs, but her second
blow missed, glancing off one of the demon’s many claws as it ducked and rolled away from her. As it rolled, one long leg lashed out,
sending the petite blond flying into Cassandra, who had just managed to get out from under the unconscious vampire. The two fighters fell
into a heap, and the demon turned to find its prey. Cassandra shoved the Slayer out of the way and leapt between the demon and her
student. With the skill developed over centuries the Immortal began blocking the slicing blows of the demon. Giles and Anya took off running,
not realizing that Willow wasn't behind them; still caught in the whirlwind of power she had called up, the young witch sat in a daze in the
center of the clearing -- not yet able to fight or flee.

The demon had a small, almost delicate looking torso and face. It lacked the horns and sharp teeth of most of the demons seen regularly
around Sunnydale, but it made up for it in claws. It had three sets of legs -- or arms -- it used all six long, spindly limbs to shift its balance and
attack it opponent, and direction of attack didn't seem to matter. To make matters worse, each arm/leg was tipped by long, razor sharp
claws. Judging by the damage being done to her sword and the crypt walls on either side, the claws were covered in acid. All in all, not
something you wanted to have to fight.

Cassandra was holding her own but was gaining no ground. Her sword was rapidly losing it's edge and the demon moved too fast for her to
progress past anything except defensive moves. Giles and Anya, watching the fight from the relative safety of the crypt door about hundred
yards away, looked at each other worriedly. After seeing the Immortal take out Angel's demon they had thought that she would be the victor
without difficulty, especially as she would have Buffy's help this time. Instead the Slayer was just starting to regain consciousness off to the
side, and Cassandra seemed to be incrementally losing the battle.

The power was overwhelming, threatening to take control of her. But the icy cold touch was gone, dancing around the borders of her mind
instead. She needed to know what was going on around her now. Slowly, through sheer will power, she returned the power to where it came
from and broke the spell she'd been containing the wild stuff in. Sight and sound returned, overwhelmingly vivid. Willow got to her feet,
shaking off the dizzying aftereffects of the spell, sword already in hand. For a moment the ground tilted under feet, then she found her
balance and focused on the scene around her, quickly realizing that her teacher was losing ground.

She darted around Cassandra's side, moving to protect Angel from the creature's flailing limbs. She swung hard at one of the three leg/arms
the demon was using for balance, left unprotected as Cassandra attacked. The creature howled as it lost it leg. Pungent gray ichor squirted
from the wound, sizzling in the grass. The horrid smell worked effectively to jolt Buffy and Angel back to awareness, though neither was
completely clearheaded. For a moment Buffy just stared blankly at the fight, then her Slayer instinct kicked in. She darting in behind the
demon, narrowly missing a vicious kick from its back leg. The blonde dropped and rolled, and sprang into a fighting position with her
retrieved battle-axe in her hands.

The demon circled unsteadily on three of the remaining legs, two clawed arms held defensively. It’s delicate head swung back and forth as it
tried to the keep an eye on all of the three armed women that surrounded it. Cassandra took advantage of it's confusion and destroyed
another leg, being careful to avoid the acidic blood that sprayed the area. The demon released a high pitched shriek. Buffy swung her axe
and pulled another leg out from under it. Cassandra moved quickly as the demon fell. It's head flew across the clearing, trailing acid until it hit
the crypt wall.

For a minute the three women just stood over the body and attempted to catch their breath. Buffy shook her throbbing head experimentally
then decided that none of her injuries were serious and turned her attention to her friend.

"Willow, you okay?"

"I'm good," Willow grinned at her friend reassuringly.

"Cass?"

"Fine -- though it's a good thing I heal quickly"

Buffy moved to help Cass dispose of the demon. "Why don't you head back to the house. Cass and I can handle this. You help Angel get
home and get some rest."

"That's an excellent idea. You may not be feeling it yet, but that spell took a lot out of you," Cassandra seconded the Slayer. She looked at
the acid marks covering the ground and etched into the walls of the crypts. "This is going to take a while to clean up, and you need the rest."

Angel thought about getting up; his head felt fine. However, he felt a strange and rather unusual urge to hide. After weeks of worrying about
her safety, Willow had had to rescue and protect him. It was a touch embarrassing, and also made it painfully clear that she'd had every right
to be pissed and annoyed about his hovering. Cassandra had given them an opening to talk, but Angel wasn't sure if his redhead would
want to take it. He wouldn't blame her if she didn't. The vampire stayed on the ground, diligently studying the grass.

"I love you -- blockhead." Angel's head jerked up to find Willow's hand right in front of his nose. "No brooding." Her voice was firm.

Willow reached down and pulled the battered vampire to his feet. His eyes were decidedly nervous, upset. He had apparently realized,
watching her attack the demon, that she was right about him being overprotective and what it would cost him if he didn't let it go. Angel was
also upset at failing to protect her . . . actually, shredded inside came closer. But there was nothing accusatory in her dark green eyes.
"Partners, okay. I need you to look out for me sometimes. Sometimes you need me to look out for you. Otherwise we'll drive each other nuts.
I don’t think there's much we can't take on -- TOGETHER" The redhead’s face was a mix of her normal resolve face and a look of passion
warm enough to set off two or three volcanoes. Angel felt relief that she was forgiving him for hovering. Willow noticed his relief and had to
fight an urge to giggle. She also noticed that he was returning the warm look.

Buffy and Cass ignored the couple; Anya openly laughed as she and Giles rejoined the group.

Willow grabbed Angel's jacket and pulled him closer. She tried to pour all of her feelings into the embrace. She felt his hands come up to
hold her arms, and he returned the kiss passionately, his cool lips burning hers. After several breathless moments Willow relaxed her grip
enough to tilt her head to rest on his shoulder. Angel let go of her arms, wrapping his arms to hug her close instead.

He murmured in her ear, "Partners." Willow could hear the smile and the agreement in his voice. "Shall we go rest before we have to take on
the next thing, together."

"I don't know about resting, but the together part sounds right." Willow looked up through lashes and a veil of tumbled red hair, eyes
sparkling naughtily. Angel grinned in surprise and quickly followed Willow as she took off towards home, laughing happily. After a few
running steps they slowed to a walk, arm in arm. Behind them, Giles rolled his eyes and Anya smirked.

"Perhaps we ought to go to my apartment instead of the house," Giles muttered, cleaning his glasses and ignoring Anya's glee over the
couple's behavior.

"What about Xander?"

"I'm quite sure they will tell him to leave. If he's smart he'll listen."

"Angel wouldn’t hurt him, would he?" Anya voice was now a touch concerned.

"No, but Willow might."

Cassandra and Buffy dropped the demon back onto the grass and burst into laughter.

THE END
 

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