AUTHOR: Susie: susanne@zoom.co.uk

DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me. *sigh* Joss the King of all things we love does!! The Bogeyman belongs to all the people out there that believe and then some that don’t! *grin*

DISTRIBUTION: My Site, I am Evil! Hear me Roar! http://evilroaring.cjb.net The G4G site Mysteries Untold, BK can have it for HatBH. Anyone else just ask me k?

SPOILERS: Umm, well, none really this is taking place in my own little universe ok!! But in general I would say season 4 Buffy and one Angel ok? Don’t hold me to that though!!

RATING: PG (this part)

PAIRING: Willow/Angel

DEDICATION: To anyone that is still reading this one.
 
 

Pampering #4: Caring for an Angel.

"Jeez don’t do that!" Xander clutched to his rapidly beating heart as he glared at Angel.

"Sorry." Angel smiled and looked down the street behind Xander. Gently he pushed him toward the wall and stepped forward.

"Angel what -?"

"Shhh. There’s a demon." Angel held his hand up to silence the young man and concentrated on the far end of the street. "Where were you just now? Were you followed?"

"I was looking for some information on the Bogeyman. Who would want to follow me?"

"Apparently that." Angel swung his arm out and struck what appeared to be thin air only his fist collided with something. There was a grunt of pain from an unseen demon and then silence. "What the hell was that Xander?" Angel turned quickly flashing yellow eyes to the man who was trying desperately to be swallowed up by the brick wall. "Can you see it?"

"Oh my God! It can’t be. Oh God." Xander paled further and pressed himself further against the wall. Angel stared at him for all of two seconds and then he found himself being propelled through the air by the unseen – well to him anyway – demon. He slammed against the opposite wall and slumped to the ground. Blinking through the dizziness he tried to focus, he could sense the demon if he concentrated hard enough but he couldn’t see it. Closing his eyes so he could truly rely on his sense he shakily stood and let himself be guided back across the street. There was the demon, he felt it, it was more powerful than anything that he had encountered, or felt before, and it was getting stronger. He heard Xander cry out and his eyes snapped open, he saw the young man grasping at his throat, the demon obviously had a hold of him. In a beat of Xander’s heart Angel reached forward and grabbed what he hoped was the demon and pulled it from Xander. Keeping his hands tightly gripped on the back of the demon he brought his knee up and felt it connect with something. He may not be able to win but he could hurt this demon.

Xander gasped for breath and slipped to the floor taking in as much air as he could as he watched Angel fight the demon, fight the bogeyman. He blinked in astonishment. He had always thought that the bogeyman was a myth, then Buffy had been called to England to kill what was believed to be the bogeyman and now, now he was facing the bogeyman. It looked exactly like he had always imagined it to. It was a tall ghoul like creature with yellowed and decaying teeth and saliva dripping down its chin. It had long claw like fingers and was as scary as hell. Xander watched in terror as the bogeyman twisted in Angel’s grasp and dragged its claw like fingers across Angel’s chest.

Angel howled in pain and let go. The attack didn’t stop, Angel felt his head being slammed to the right as the demon’s fist connected with his jaw, then he felt himself being once again thrown across the street as the demon’s foot kicked him in the ribs. Crashing into the large metal garbage cans he left an Angel shaped as he bounced off it and fell to the ground teetering on unconsciousness. He couldn’t focus; he couldn’t tell where the demon was. It could be standing over him waiting to finish him off or it could be attacking Xander and he – he had to help, he had to summon the strength to stand and fight. He was a warrior, a protector; he had to do it. He tried to focus all his energy, to give him the strength to stand; all that it resulted in was a deep breath. That was it, that was all he could do. His head fell back to the pavement as his eyes slowly closed he was vaguely aware of Xander shouting.

Xander sat and watched as the bogeyman attacked Angel and sent him flying once again into the wall, he could tell that Angel was hurt, he had to do something, he had to fight this thing. Summoning all his courage Xander pushed himself up off the ground. The bogeyman turned and looked at him, his ghoul like features contorting to a smile.

"Xaaaaaaaaander" it hissed out. Xander stood frozen to the spot, it knew his name, that was never good. The sound of scraping filled Xander’s ears and he realised that it was the sound of its claws on its feet dragging on the road as it slowly moved toward him. "You can no stop me Xaaaaaaander. I am here because of you."

"Ok." Xander laughed nervously. "Then go away for me…pretty please?"

"I can’t go Xaaaaander. I am here." Reaching out with a speed Xander didn’t know existed the bogeyman grabbed his head placing both claw like hands either side of his temples. "You are me Xaaaaaaander."

Blinking Xander looked into the cold and empty yellow eyes of his childhood most feared monster. He remember waking in the night thinking that the bogeyman was there and going to get him, opening his closet and thinking he saw two yellow eyes looking back at him. He then remembered how he suddenly became less afraid of the bogeyman the day he discovered vampires and other demons, demons that he had actually seen and weren’t just thought to be myths. Until just recently he hadn’t even thought about the bogeyman. He was no longer a child that could be scared by a myth. But the myth was real, the myth was holding on to his head, it’s death grip was getting….looser? Focusing back on the bogeyman Xander saw how it began to fade.

"Noooooooooooo you can’t get rid of me Xaaaaaaander I am here always." Its hands fell from Xander’s head.

"You aren’t real?" Xander asked in astonishment as he watched the bogeyman drop to its knees in the street and curl up. "It was all in my head." He watched as it screamed in pain clutching at its own head. "You were my bogeyman that’s why Angel couldn’t see you. Oh God Angel." Xander looked up and across the street and saw the form of Angel lying, looking like a dead corpse. "If you weren’t real then how did you hurt him? Hurt me?" He asked as he touched his throat. The form of the bogeyman was nearly gone; the screaming had been almost turned down. It was as if it was being returned to where it belonged, back to myths and legends. Stepping around it Xander quickly went to Angel noticing the blood that he was quickly loosing. Using all the strength that he could he pulled Angel to his feet and draped his arm around his neck, placing his own around the larger man’s waist he shifted Angel’s weight until he could hold him up. He had to get him back to the motel; Willow had blood there he was sure, she would help. Glancing back to the street he saw the form of the bogeyman vanish. The only reminded that he was ever there was the dent in the garbage can from Angel, and of course the injuries themselves on Angel.

……………………………………

"What happened?" Willow stood wide eyed as her motel door opened and bounced off the wall. She took in the sight of a bedraggled Xander gasping for breath as he held up Angel. Her eyes moved to Angel, his shirt was torn across the chest and blood soaked, there were bleeding cuts on his face and he was only semi-conscious.

"Bogeyman. Help." Xander gasped as he shifted Angels’ heavy weight. Willow was instantly by his side slipping Angels other arm around her shoulders and shuffling him to the bed. Together they gently laid him down.

"Xander –,"

"Long story Wills, he needs blood, do you have any?" At her nod Xander moved back and closed the door.

Going to the small fridge she had in her room Willow opened the door and looked in. Her mind was in a whirl with what had happened, she grabbed the two blood bags and hurried back to the bed. "Xander we need to stop the bleeding first, here." She dumped the bag in his hands as she moved closer to Angel and began to remove his shirt.

Angel lay on the bed, he was vaguely aware of distant voices, they were muted, he couldn’t make out the words, only the emotions. There was fear. What ever was going on some one was scared. He should be there to help; he should be there to protect who ever was scared. He strained his enhanced hearing trying to find out the danger. The voices had stopped, he felt like he floating now. He was out of control, and he felt like he was out of his body. He fought with all of his might, he had to return, he had to be in control, he had to get to those voices - where ever they had gone to.

Slowly the voices came back to him, they were still distant, but no longer laced with fear, they were calmer and soothing, he felt a tingling sensation, warmth against his cool skin. The voice was closer, it seemed as if it was whispering only for him, as if the voice was floating with him, anchoring him, pulling him back, he had to get back to that voice. A bright light assaulted his vision as he slowly opened his eyes. Quickly Angel shut them again. "Angel, you’re ok." There it was again, that voice that he loved so much, it was talking to him, saying his name, it was only for him. He felt the warm touches on his face again, the wonderful prickling sensation that made him feel so alive…yet he knew that he was dead. Slowly Angel leaned into the touch smiling when the pressure and the warmth was increased. The warmth moved across his check, his forehead and to his chest. The touches were soft and gentle, they were erasing the pain that he felt, they were healing him. No longer did he hear the voices but he concentrated on the sensation of the touches. He knew that he was wounded, that he was hurt and now he was being healed. He could smell the antiseptic as it was gently applied to his chest; he pushed past the stinging pain and concentrated on the healing.

Slowly Angel opened one eye and squinted, his view was the most precious to him, Willow was looking down at him smiling. She was the one that was healing him, she was the one that saved him, she was the one, he knew that now. "How ya doing Angel?" She smiled at him as she finished taping the gauze to his chest. "You need blood, here, Xander just warmed it up." She took the mug and held it to his lips, he hesitated not wanting to feed while she was there, but too weak to do anything about it. He looked at her, her eyes told him all that he needed to know, she didn’t care, she didn’t care that he was a demon, that he had to drink blood, she only cared that he would get well again, that he would drink the blood and live, that he would continue to be a part of her life.

Seeing that he was having trouble moving Willow reached behind Angel’s head and lifted it slightly so his lips were to the mug. She saw the unsure look in his eyes as he looked at her and she smiled, her fingers gently rubbing the back of his head. She watched fascinated as his face changed and he tentatively took a sip of the blood, then he began to drink more eagerly as his demon over took him and told him that he needed the blood or else he would die. When the first mug was finished another was placed in front of him. He took the mug himself this time and drank it quickly thankful that there was someone looking out for him.

"So you going to tell me what happened? All I got out of Xander was the Bogeyman." Willow sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Angel.

"I never saw him. I don’t know."

"You never saw who attacked you?" Willow’s eyes widened as she looked at him.

"He was invisible to me. Xander could see him – it, he looked pretty scared by it. I could sense that there was a demon but I couldn’t see it. I tried to stop it. Is – is Xander ok?"

"He’s fine, a few scrapes but nothing serious. He got you here as soon as possible. You had lost a lot of blood, he’s out right now getting more." She patted his hand reassuringly as she smiled at him. "You just need to rest now." She put her other hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down on the bed stopping his efforts of sitting up. "Angel, you’re safe here, you need your strength back before you go back out there, who knows what nasties lurk in the dark?" She smiled at his small smile as he surrendered and let his head fall back against the soft pillow that smelt of Willow.

Willow sat nervously on the bed. What was she going to do? How could she keep him occupied until Xander got back? He had always taken care of her when she needed it most but she didn’t know what to do for him. She had patched him up, fed him and she knew that he should get some rest, but she also knew Angel. He could be stubborn when he wanted to, and he didn’t look very sleepy. Suddenly an idea hit her. "Do you want to watch a movie?" She stood as she spoke and went over to the small tv and bent down to retrieve the one video that was there. Smiling softly she looked up, blushing almost. "Umm, all that I have is, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ you don’t have to if -,"

"That would be great Willow." Angel said smiling slightly at her embarrassment. Quickly pulling the tv closer to the bed and putting the video in Willow sat on the edge of the bed. "You know you can sit up here, have a pillow for your back." Angel moved carefully, wincing at the pain that shot through him. Instantly Willow was by his side to make sure he was ok.

"Angel you shouldn’t move." Her warm delicate fingers danced over his cold torso, as she searched him face for any further signs of pain. When he smiled at her, she blushed and looked away.

"Now you’re here you may as well stay." He patted the bed next to her smiling. "You won’t deny a wounded man’s request will you?" He chuckled slightly.

"I guess not, only if it won’t hurt you though?"

"It won’t, you’ll be fine Willow relax."

Carefully Willow slid on to the bed next to Angel pulling a pillow out from behind her and resting it against the wall to support her back.

……………….

Willow slowly opened her eyes, the low voices of the tv filtered through. She blinked past the sleep and focused on the black and white picture, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ was still on, she must of fallen asleep. She became aware of a slight pressure on her right shoulder; it felt like a hand. Closing her eyes she tried to sense her surrounding, what had happened? She moved her hand slowly, she felt her bed spread underneath her fingers, and something else, something underneath the covers, - a body. Her head was also no longer propped against the hard wall but was replaced with something softer.

"You’re gonna miss the best bit if you don’t open your eyes."

Willow snapped her eyes open, it was Angel, she was in bed with Angel, she was resting against him and he was – holding her? She heard the slight amusement in his voice as he gently squeezed her shoulder and moved her chest carefully nudging her head.

"Angel?" She knew the answer but couldn’t stop the question forming and being spoken.

"You fell asleep, it’s ok, you haven’t missed the best bit yet."

Willow slowly moved her head and looked at the tv screen. "I…I didn’t hurt you did I?"

"No, you are just looked so uncomfortable against the wall." Angel smiled down at her as their eyes briefly locked. Blushing Willow looked away and back to the screen. She didn’t want to move, she was comfortable in Angels arms, more comfortable than she thought she would be, not only did she feel like she belonged there, but she felt safe, so safe and protected from anyone and everything. Unconsciously she snuggled slightly closer to him and felt his arm tighter slightly around her as he welcomed her closeness.

They both looked back to the screen for the end of the film… ‘Every time a bell rings an Angel gets its wings.’….

End Fic #4

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