Sequel to "Where I Wanna Be"

Author: Poppy.

Email: Slayerkitty@yahoo.com

Rating: PG.

Pairing: Willow/Angel.

Summary: Someone needs saving...

Spoilers: Very beginning of season 4 Buffy/ season 1 Angel...

Disclaimer: Unless I turned into a guy named Joss with tons of money in the last 3 seconds, they're not mine. The lyrics to the song "All You Wanted" belong to songbird Michelle Branch.

Feedback: As always, YES!!!!

Dedication: For Angel S. and Len for getting me kickstarted with their feedback and guilt trips. ;)
 

SAVE YOU

Cordelia Chase sat at her desk in the office of Angel Investigations, filing her nails, and worrying about her vampire boss. He was brooding. Again. He was leaning against a window, staring out at the L.A. night.

"He's doin' it again?" A dark haired man with an Irish accent asked as he entered the room. Cordelia looked up from her nails and smiled at him. "Hey, Doyle. Yep, he is. He started brooding at sundown, and hasn't stopped since."

Angel turned and glared at his two employees. "I'm standing right here, you know. I can hear you. And I'm not brooding." Angel crossed his arms over his chest.

Cordelia looked over at him, and arched an eyebrow. "Uh huh. Right." She deadpanned. "If you aren't brooding, dear boss of mine, then what are you doing?"

"Thinking." Angel told her. "I'm just thinking. I don't brood."

Doyle laughed, and Angel glared at him. Doyle smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, man. I thought you were jokin'."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Angel. What's going on? You're acting the way you used to act when you were mooning over Buffy." The former May Queen's eyes grew wide, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my God! Angel, tell me you're not in love with Buffy again?!" Cordelia gasped.

Angel shook his head. "Cordelia! No! I haven't loved Buffy since..." He trailed off.

His secretary nodded. "Since the whole Angelus thing." She walked over to him, and placed a hand on his arm. "Okay, so it isn't Buffy. What is it? What's going on?"

The souled vampire sighed. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." He moved away from her. He couldn't tell Cordy or Doyle the truth. He couldn't tell them how he felt about Willow. He couldn't tell them *Willow* was the reason he left Sunnydale. How he left to protect her. To protect her from his feelings. He loved Willow with a blinding intensity. Even Angelus, his demon, was in love with her. Even now, Angel was painfully in love with the sweet innocent witch. Every time he had seen the little redhead, the urge to blurt out his feelings grew stronger. It was harder and harder to be around her without being able to touch her, or kiss her. He knew such a sweet and tender creature could never respirocate his feelings. After all, Willow was all that was good and light, and Angel was nothing more than a monster. He left Sunnydale to save her from him. He wanted her to live a normal life. He wanted to see her happy, and he knew she could never find happiness with him. So he left Sunnydale. He left her. His Willow, his Angel.

"Angel!" Cordelia exclaimed. "You keep zoning out on me."

"Sorry." Angel told her quietly, and moved past her.

"Damn it, Angel!" Cordelia swore, grabbing his arm as he moved to go past her. "What is going on?! Talk to me!"

Angel turned back to face the brunette. "I'm fine, Cordy. I really am." He faked a weak smile for her benefit.

"No, you're not." Cordelia said sadly. "You've been acting weird ever since I told you about that email from Willow." Cordelia's eyes widened.

Angel jolted slightly at the mention of Willow. "I'll be in my office." Angel muttered as he strode past Cordelia, quickly shutting his door.

Cordelia moved back to her seat, her eyes wide. "Whoa." She said softly.

Doyle watched the woman in concern. "Cor, what is it?"

Cordelia chuckled. "I can't believe I didn't notice this before. How could I have been so stupid?!"

"You're not stupid." Doyle told her.

Cordelia shook her head. "It was so obvious. The way he would always ask about her. His worries about her patrolling with Buffy. His grief when he saw the Skanky Willow from Bizarroland. His obsession with her when he was Angelus. God, I even saw the drawings he left her, and what he did to her fish! He was so protective and possessive of her when he came back from Hell! He always seemed so jealous of Oz! I can't believe this! How could I have not of seen this before now?!" Cordelia exclaimed. She gasped again, and her eyes widened. "That's why he left!"

Doyle took Cordelia's hand. He had never seen her so worked up. He gently touched her face with his other hand. "Cordy, what are you talkin' about?"

"Willow." Cordelia whispered. "Angel's in love with Willow."

I wanted to be like you
I wanted everything
So I tried to be like you
And I got swept away

Willow laid on her bed in her dorm room, her face buried in her pillow as sobs racked her body. After all they had been through together, Oz had left her. Willow thought about their last conversation. He claimed that Willow was in love with someone else...Angel. He told her she had changed ever since Angel left for L.A. He told her he knew she wanted Angel instead of him.

Willow had tried to argue with him, but couldn't, because she knew he was right. She had loved Oz, still did to an extent, but she loved Angel more. Somehow, Willow had fallen in love with the souled vampire. On one of the many night he stood on her balcony, watching her, protecting her, he had taken her heart. Willow knew he would never feel the same. After all, she wasn't beautiful or special like Buffy. She was just plain old Willow. He could never love her, no matter how bad she wanted him to. She started as the phone rang. She leaned over to the nightstand, and picked up the reciever. "Hello?" She said listlessly.

I didn't know that it was so cold
And you needed someone
to show you the way
So I took your hand and we figured out
That when the tide comes
I'd take you away

Cordelia sighed sadly, and looked at Doyle. "I hate seeing Angel so miserable. And I know that Willow's miserable, too."

"How do ya know what?" Doyle asked.

"In her email, she told me her boyfriend Oz dumped her. She really loved him. And it doesn't sound like she's having much fun in Sunnydale. Apparently Buffy is being super bitchy, Xander and Anya are too caught up in their sex life to notice anyone else, and Giles is enjoying unemployment too much to be bothered." Cordelia said. She sighed. After she moved to L.A., she had struck up a friendship with the hacker. They met once for coffee, and ironed out their past differences, and Cordelia had apologized for being so cruel to Willow for so long, and Willow had accepted her apology without hesitation. That had cemented their friendship, and they found they had a lot in common, and they were always emailing each other or gabbing on the phone. Cordelia could honestly say that Willow Rosenberg was the best friend she ever had. She was like family. Cordelia knew that Willow could make Angel happy, and Cordelia was certain Angel could make her friend's pretty green eyes light up again. Suddenly, it was so clear what to do. She grabbed the phone on her desk, and dialed her friend's number. After a moment, someone answered.

"Hello?" The voice said listlessly.

"Willow?" Cordelia spoke into the mouthpeice of the phone. "Willow, is that you?"

"Yes." Willow replied, sounding confused.

Cordelia leaned over at her desk to make sure Angel was in his office, and not aware of what she was doing. "Willow, it's me." Cordy said.

"Cordelia?" Willow said, surprised. "You're calling kind of late..."

Cordelia looked at her watch, and saw it was just past one o'clock. She cringed. "Sorry, Will. I'm just so used to keeping Angel's hours, it seems early to me."

"Angel?" Willow asked. "How...how is he?"

Cordelia beamed when she heard the emotion in Willow's voice. Suddenly, she had a brilliant idea. "Pack a bag."

"What?" Willow asked, completely thrown by the statement.

"It's Friday night, Will. Pack a bag, and come stay the weekend in L.A. with me." Cordelia replied.

Willow paused to think about it. "Well, I don't know..." She said unsurely.

"Oh, come on, Will! Please? You're my best friend, and I miss you!" Cordelia begged.

Willow laughed. "How can I say no to that?" Her tone turned sad. "No one here will even notice I'm gone. Unless they need me to do their research."

"All the more reason to tell them to do their own damn research." Cordelia muttered, disgusted with the Scooby Gang for treating Willow like dirt.

"Come on, Will, please? Angel will be thrilled to see you." Cordelia begged.

Willow laughed without humor. "I'll bet. I'd just be in the way."

"What? Are you crazy? Will, he'd love to see you!" Cordelia said.

Willow sniffled. "Yeah, right."

Cordelia becamed alarmed. "Willow, are you crying?!"

Willow sniffled again. "I'm fine, Cordy. Don't worry about it."

Cordelia shook her head vehemently. "Like hell! Will, what's going on?"

"It's why Oz left me..." Willow whispered in a teary voice. "He knew..."

"He knew what?" Cordelia asked gently.

"He knew that I'm in love with Angel..." Willow sobbed.

If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonely inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted
was somebody who cares

Cordelia almost dropped the phone. "What?!" She exclaimed.

"I know." Willow whispered. "It's ridiculous."

"Willow..." Cordelia started.

"I mean, why would he ever like me? Buffy is everything I'm not. She's beautiful, outgoing, funny and special. I'm just boring, mousy little Willow Rosenberg."

"Willow, no..." She started again.

"It's true, Cordy. I'm nothing like Buffy. He could never like me." Willow said sadly.

"Willow, you're wrong." Cordelia told her.

Willow laughed. "Yeah, right. Angel doesn't like me, Cordelia."

"He doesn't like you, Willow." Cordelia said softly. "He *loves* you."

I'm sinking slowly
So hurry hold me
Your hand is all I have to keep me hanging on
Please can you tell me
So I can finally see
Where you go when you're gone

The line went deathly quiet, and Cordelia was afraid that Willow had hung up. At last, the redhead spoke. "What...did you just say?"

"He loves you, Willow." Cordelia said.

"Are you sure?" Willow asked.

Cordelia nodded. "Of course I am! Willow, he's always asking me about you. He's been brooding ever since I told him about your email. Hell, he loved you even before he came to L.A. Do you remember how worried he'd get whenever you and Buffy went on patrol? And you saw the look on his face when he saw the VampireWillow, and thought you were dead. The man's in love with you Willow, and he has been for awhile."

There was another long silence, before Willow spoke up. "What should I do?" She asked softly, sounding vunerable.

Cordelia smiled. "Come to L.A."

"I don't know..." Willow said worriedly.

"Willow, he won't come to you." Cordelia said. "He won't be the one to make the first move because he's scared. He's afraid you'll reject him. He's miserable, Willow. He loves you. He needs you. You can save him."

The line was once again very quiet. Then Willow spoke. "Where is your office, Cordelia?"

If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonely inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted
was somebody who cares

Cordelia hung up the phone, and beamed at Doyle. "She's on her way. She said she be here in two hours."

Doyle chuckled at Cordelia's pleased smile. "You're quite the matchmaker, aren't ya, love. Maybe you could set me up with a beautiful brunette with lovely brown eyes?"

Cordelia smiled. "I would, but I think Angel's already taken." She said playfully, her eyes sparkling mischiviously.

Doyle gaped at her, and the color leeched from his face. "Not funny."

The former May Queen just laughed as Doyle sputtered.

***

Cordelia watched the minutes tick by impatiently, willing her redhaired friend to be at the front door of Angel Investigations. She fidgeted imapatiently, and looked back down at her nails. Doyle was sitting in the chair across from her, watching her impatience in amusement.

The door to Angel's office opened, and the dark haired vampire entered the lobby. "Hey, boss." Doyle greeted. "Quiet night, eh?"

Angel nodded. "Apparently. I don't know if that's a good thing, or a bad thing."

"So, what's the latest word from Captain Brood?" Cordelia asked, applying another layer of dark pink nail polish to her perfectly manicured nails.

"Still workin' on that tact concept, aren't ya?" Doyle asked the brunette.

Cordelia pulled a face at him. "Whatever, Jack Daniels."

There was a tenative knock at the door, and Cordelia nearly jumped out of her seat with anticipation. She managed to mask her excited smile with indifference. She looked over at Angel. "Could you get the door?" She asked sweetly. "I would, but my nails are wet." She said apologetically, holding up her hands.

Angel looked at Doyle, who was sprawled in his seat. Doyle glanced up at Angel and shrugged. "What?"

Angel rolled his eyes, and went to open the door, muttering. He was oblivious to Cordelia's grin, and Doyle's snort of amusement. He swung open the door, and gaped. His eyes widened, and he felt his mouth go dry. Willow was standing there, looking nervous. Angel ran his eyes over her, drinking in her beauty. She had gotten her hair cut shorter, down to her shoulders. He noticed she was becoming more daring in her style of dress as he eyed her form fitting shirt and her body hugging jeans. He thought she had never looked more beautiful. At last he managed to find his voice. "Willow, what are you doing here?" He asked hoarsely.

Willow looked at the man she loved, and knew there was only one thing she could do. She moved forward, and stared into his eyes. "Saving you." She whispered softly as she grabbed his head and met his mouth with her own.

Please can you tell me
So I can finally see
Where you go when you're gone

THE END.

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