AUTHOR: Tisienne Blue
E-MAIL: tisatko@msn.com
DISCLAIMER: I own no-one... all characters belong to whichever warped and twisted minds spawned them... Except Serena, who IS mine...
RATING: overall, probably a hard R... we'll see.
PAIRINGS: W/A; W/Methos...
NOTES: OK, this is an X-over fic between Buffy, Angel, Highlander, and
probably Pretender, too (Just because I love Jarod)... it's a b-day gift
for Natty, who wants W/A, but also wants
some Methos in there, too... I have NO idea of where I'm going with
it, but bear with me... it could be quite a ride... or not... for my purposes,
the last season (5) of Highlander never
happened, because I thought it just sucked... On, and ***** indicates
location/scene changes, while ~~~~~ indicates passage of time within a
segment... hope you understand what I
mean...*G*
DISTRIBUTION: Charity can have it, as always, if she wants it... any one I've said yes to before can have it as well... otherwise, just ask...
FEEDBACK: ummm... OK, but keep in mind that I've never written an X-over before, so...
DEDICATION: for Nat, of course... hope you like it, hon'... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*
< Sunnydale, California--- 2 am >
The redheaded cyber-witch barely managed to hold in the gasp of horror
as she finally finished reading the pages of text that her new translation
program had just completed. It was
important that she not call any attention to herself from the other
Scoobies assembled in Giles' shop, mostly because they would all want to
know what was wrong, and she just couldn't
bring herself to tell them. Not to mention the fact that if she did
tell them, they would all try to find some way to stop her from what she
had to do... and there was no way! The
translated prophecy was irrefutable... when the demon in question finally
chose to descend upon Sunnydale, it would succeed in opening the Hellmouth
unless a certain redheaded
witch, child of the moon, walker of the hidden paths, and wielder of
light, was... gone. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment, reconciling
herself to the necessity... she had to leave.
She plastered an almost silly smile on her face as she stored the pages
in her computer's memory, and turned to face her friends. "Sorry, guys,"
she said perkily, interrupting their
conversation, "I guess I must've done something wrong..." She folded
her laptop and walked quickly to the table. "I don't know what happened,
but.. the program didn't work. I waited
and waited, but when it said it was done, well... there was nothing
there!"
Xander Harris tore his eyes away from his girlfriend's for a moment
and glanced quickly at his best friend. "And Net Girl strikes out!" he
joked lamely, before turning back to the
conversation he'd been having with the girl he loved.
Giles glared daggers at the young man before turning his attention to
his young protege. "It's alright, Willow," he said, feeling slightly smug,
"After all, those infernal machines can
only do so much... sometimes it takes good old-fashioned research to
figure these things out..." He looked down at the book in front of him,
trying hard not to smile... what the girl could
accomplish on those electronic boxes often left him feeling useless,
and wrong as it might be, he rather enjoyed it when easy answers were not
forthcoming... It made him feel...
happy... and not expendable, as such. "Here," he said, handing her
the top book from the stack next to him, "Why don't you start with this
one?"
Willow sighed and sat down in the empty chair next to him. She opened
the book and began to act like she was reading... It was all right, though,
because she figured she would spend
a few hours there, and then, when she went home... She would pack,
and leave them all a note... She would e-mail the file with the translation
to Giles' shop, and then... Then, she
would be gone. The only question left was where she would go, and she
thought that she could probably figure that one out during the time she
was pretending to research. She only
hoped that they wouldn't be too upset when they found out she was gone,
but... what else could she do? She couldn't stay, not if it meant the end
of the world... and it did. If she was
still there when the demon came to Sunnydale, it would make her its
tool, and use her to open the Hellmouth, and there wouldn't be a single
thing that she could do to stop it,
because it would own her... body, mind, and spirit, it would own her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4 hours later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willow sighed to herself as she finished disconnecting the laptop from
the wall. Wrapping the cord tightly, she slid the entire assemblage into
its case, slipped the strap over her
shoulder, and pulled her suitcase from the bed. She stood by her bedroom
door, and gazed once more around the room she'd spent most of her life
in, making sure that she hadn't
forgotten anything important. She knew that she was just delaying the
inevitable, but... it was hard! She was about to leave the only life she'd
ever known for a future that was fraught
with uncertainty, so of course she was a little bit hesitant... but
it was necessary. She kept telling herself that as she walked quickly down
the hall, and descended the stairs, responding
to the blowing horn of the taxi out front.
She stepped from the house, locking the door behind her, into the cool,
pre-dawn of morning, and smiled. While she was certainly about to take
a very scary, very big step, a part of her
was looking forward to it! She was still smiling as she placed her
bags in the boot of the taxi, and got into the back seat. "Sunnydale Autos,
please," she said to the driver, and relaxed
against the seat as he pulled away from the curb.
She loved her friends, all of them, and she knew that they would try
to find her, no matter what she'd said in her letter. But if she bought
a car, they would have a much more difficult
time of it than if she took the bus, and she figured that they'd eventually
stop looking as life on the Hellmouth distracted them from their search...
besides, she would keep in touch via
e-mail, so they'd know that she was all right, wherever she was...
Yes, she thought, as she watched the sun beginning to peek over the horizon,
they would be fine... and so would she!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
<Los Angeles, California--- 10 am>
Angel was bored. Granted, he was often bored in the daytime. While the
rest of LA was running around, enjoying the bright sunshine, he spent his
days cooped up in the big dusty old
hotel that he'd taken as his own. It hadn't been so bad before he'd
fired Cordy, Wes, and Gunn, mostly because he could always count on them
to at least keep him occupied, but... It
had been for their own good. Being connected to him had made them into
great big targets, and if anything had happened to any one of them, well,
he never would have forgiven
himself. He sighed, making one more morose circuit of the grand lobby
before sitting down at Cordelia's desk and staring at the completely silent
phone, willing it to ring. Hell, he'd
even talk to one of those annoying tele-marketers, if they'd just call!
He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the
small form entering through the main lobby
doors; in fact, he even jumped a bit in surprise when it spoke.
Willow smiled softly to herself as she watched the depressed-looking
vampire from across the large main room of the old hotel. He certainly
hadn't changed much! She waited for a few
minutes for him to notice that he had company, but when he didn't even
glance her way, she decided that she'd waited long enough. She was a new
Willow... more adventurous, less
introverted, or at least that's what she'd told herself, and now that
she was out on her own, she was damned well going to become the Willow
she had always wanted to be. "Still
brooding, I see," she said lightly, laughing softly when she saw him
jerk in shock. "Geez, Angel..." she started, only to find herself cut off
by the breath leaving her body as he flew
across the room and pulled her into a tight hug! "I... I'm glad to
see you, too..." she finally managed to gasp out, while hugging him back
for all she was worth.
Angel was caught between wanting to laugh and wanting to cry... there
he had been, hoping for some kind of distraction, anything to alleviate
the boredom he was experiencing, and
suddenly, there she was! "Willow..." he said happily, finally loosening
his grasp on the girl, "I can't believe it's you! Why didn't you call and
tell me you were coming?" His smile faded
as a thought occurred to him. "Is everything all right? Did something
happen back in Sunnydale?" All of a sudden he was frowning, and he let
the redhead go. "What's wrong?" he
demanded.
Willow almost laughed as she let her arms fall from their position around
his waist. "Nothing's wrong, Angel," she finally said, after a moment's
thought. "That's why I'm here." She did
giggle when she saw the confusion painted across his face. She took
one of his large hands in hers and pulled him towards the couch she had
passed on her way in. "It's like this," she
said, pulling him down beside her as she started to explain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 hours later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She waited anxiously for him to finish reading the translation through
for the third time, pacing the enormous lobby while she did. She had never
been one to enjoy the waiting and
wondering parts of life, and 'new' Willow or not, she didn't think
that that was ever going to change. She was across the room, and at his
side, in a flash when she finally saw him lean
back in the desk chair. "Well?" she demanded, "Was I right?... Or did
I just run away from home for no reason?"
Angel sighed, glancing swiftly up at the redhead. She had one edge of
her lower lip grasped between her teeth, and he suddenly wondered just
what Oz had been thinking to let her
go the way he had... The boy had been a fool! If there had ever been
a woman like her in his life when he'd still been Liam, he never would
have been in that tavern, much less have
gone into that alley with Darla in the first place! He quickly gave
himself a good mental shaking. This was Willow he was thinking about, and
she was his friend! He had no business
entertaining thoughts about her, and he damned well knew it! Besides,
it wasn't like she'd ever seen him as anything more than a friend. Of course,
he hadn't seen her that way either...
not until just that minute. "No..." he finally said, forcing his mind
back to what he'd just read, "No, you weren't wrong..." His brow furrowed
slightly when she nodded sadly, and he
wanted, more than anything, to make her smile again. One corner of
his mouth twitched up as he answered the rest of her question. "And you're
over eighteen, Will... I don't think it
counts as running away from home when you're legally an adult." He
grinned fully, feeling well-rewarded when she smiled at him and chuckled.
"Maybe not," she burbled, her eyes crinkling slightly at the corners
in response to his grin, "But you know how the Gang's gonna take it..."
She giggled even more when he rolled his
eyes, an exaggerated grimace pasted on his face. "That's right, Angel,"
she went on, amused by his antics... this was a side of Angel that she'd
always suspected existed, but had never
seen... she wasn't sure if anyone had! "If they find me, they're gonna
try to make me go back, regardless of what you just read, and I... I can't
take that." She was suddenly serious. "I
won't endanger the world, Angel," she said flatly, "And if they find
me... well, I'll probably go back to Sunnydale, just to avoid a confrontation...
so if any of them call you...?"
Angel nodded his understanding. And he did understand. The girl was
doing what she knew was right, throwing her own desires and comforts out
the window in an effort to protect the
people she loved, and billions of other people she'd never even meet,
but... her friends would never understand that.
They were all geared towards seeing themselves, and their little town
as the be-all and end-all of existence, but Willow... maybe it was all
the time the girl had spent on the Net, but...
Willow thought globally, and... she would give up the only life she'd
ever known in an attempt to save the entire world, because if the Hellmouth
ever did open? He shuddered to
himself at the very thought. "I haven't seen you," he answered, his
brown eyes locked on her emerald green ones, "I haven't seen you, or heard
from you, and I doubt that you'll ever
even call me... after all, it's not like we're really friends or anything."
She tried to keep the pain of his words from her eyes. "Angel?" she said sadly.
His eyes widened when he realized how she'd taken his comments, especially
the last one. "In... in other words, Will," he said shakily, hating the
wounded look on her face, "I'll lie,
from beginning to end!" He stood as she moved away from him, and reached
out, pulling her back against him, his arms wrapped around her waist. "Don't
ever think that I meant that,
Willow," he murmured, refusing to let her go until she understood,
"But they don't know that we've kept in touch, or that you're damned close
to being the best friend I've ever had..."
He loosened his hold on her ever so slightly, turning her in his arms
so that she could see the truth in his eyes. "You know that, right?" he
asked pleadingly, holding her gaze with his
own.
Willow smiled tremulously up at him before wrapping her own arms around his solid form. "Yeah," she finally said, holding tightly to him, "Yeah, Angel, I do."
He sighed in relief, and led her back to the couch they'd been sitting
on earlier. They needed to talk... figure out what they were going to do
next. Because even if she didn't realize it
yet, he knew that she couldn't stay in LA. It was too close to Sunnydale,
and even if, by some miracle, none of the gang found her there, he wouldn't
be willing to bet even a nickel on
the chance that that demon wouldn't. No, she would have to get far,
far away, preferably out of the country.
Europe might be good, he thought... he hadn't been anywhere in Europe
for quite a while... and he was looking forward to showing it to her. "I'm
going with you, you know... when you
leave..." he finally said, hoping that she wouldn't mind. She really
was his best friend... there was no way he was letting her go alone. He
grinned to himself and settled back against
the couch, looking forward to the argument that he just knew was coming.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 hour later~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angel smiled to himself as he watched the redheaded witch climb the
stairs to the second floor. It was about time she got some sleep, not that
her fatigue hadn't worked in his favor
during their little... discussion, but... he hated seeing her all tired
out like that. He'd hate seeing any friend so exhausted, he told himself
repeatedly as he pulled out the Yellow Pages
and turned to the section for air charter services... He had accumulated
an awful lot of money during his Angelus days... it was time to start using
some of it, and if all went well, they
would be in Paris by this time tomorrow... He couldn't wait to see
the look on her face the first time she saw the city from the top of the
Eiffel Tower...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
< Paris, France--- 1 hour later >
Joe Dawson looked up from his guitar to see just the man he'd been thinking
of standing right in front of the stage. He grinned, dropping his pick
as he set the instrument in its cradle
and rose slowly from the stool he'd been sitting on. "Methos, old man...
how've you been?" He grimaced slightly, snatching his cane from beside
him as he balanced himself on his
artificial legs.
The oldest immortal smiled back at the much younger, though older-looking,
man. "I'm fine, Joe..." He stepped back, resisting the impulse to help
the former watcher make his way
down the stairs and, as always, released a sigh of relief when his
friend made the floor without any incident. "So," he continued, sitting
down at the bar, "Where's MacLeod?"
Joe chuckled slightly, reaching across the mahogany to snag a bottle
of whiskey and two shot glasses. "He's out of town," he said, rolling his
eyes, "With Amanda." He filled the two
glasses, passing one to the dark haired man beside him. "I'm not entirely
sure of what they're up to, but the trip was Amanda's idea, so I'm pretty
sure that I don't even want to know..."
Methos laughed out loud, tossing back the shot of whiskey Joe had given
him. "I'd say that that's probably a wise decision, my friend." He laughed
again. "God knows I love Amanda
dearly, but she can be a bit..."
"Crazy? Dangerous? Maybe even... delightfully wicked?" Joe broke in, well aware of the fact that he sounded envious.
The immortal laughed again. "Well, while any of those choices would
work, I was actually thinking... impetuous. But really, staying as much
in the dark as you can about her actions is
a very good idea... after all, the less you know, the better... especially
if you have to stand up and swear to 'tell the whole truth and nothing
but the truth'..." He smirked a bit, tossing
back another shot. "So," he said, getting to the point now that the
niceties had been observed, "Why am I here?"
The former watcher sighed. He had known that the question was coming,
but... he'd hoped that it would wait for a little bit longer. He drank
down his own shot of whiskey before quickly
pouring himself another and drinking it, too. He turned his gaze to
meet his friend's eyes. "It's about the girl," he said flatly, fully aware
that Methos would know exactly which girl he
meant. "She's apparently gotten into some trouble at home, and before
you ask," he rushed on, "I don't know what kind, but... She's left Sunnydale,
and she's coming here."
Methos couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Wait... Willow?... Willow
Rosenberg is coming here... to Paris..." He shook his head slowly, almost
afraid that his friend was joking.
"She... Willow... you're sure it's the same Willow Rosenberg? Think,
Joe, it's very important!"
"Of course I'm sure, Methos! Would I have called you if I wasn't sure?"
he asked impatiently, sighing hugely when the immortal just stared blankly
at him. "Like I said, I don't know what
kind of trouble she's gotten herself into, but there's more." He glanced
away from his friend, and poured them both some more booze. "She's not
coming alone," he stated, downing the
liquor while Methos did the same. "She's got a companion for the trip,
a friend... Ever heard of an immortal named Angelus?" he asked slowly,
completely unprepared for his friend's
violent reaction.
"Angelus!" the immortal shouted, standing so quickly that his bar stool
skittered across the floor before hitting a nearby table and toppling over,
taking one of the chairs with it. "No!" He
threw his shot glass at the mirror behind the bar, not feeling even
remotely better when the large mirror shattered. One clenched fist impacted
harshly on the wooden bar, the cracking
sound very noticeable in the empty room. "That is not possible!" Methos
grated out between clenched teeth.
The salt and pepper haired man stared in shock as the oldest immortal
pitched what could only be described as a screaming hissy-fit. "I'm sorry,"
he eventually said, as his friend finally
appeared to run out of steam, "But that's the name my sources gave
me... And I've gotta tell you, Methos, I've read accounts of this 'Angelus'
in some of the Watcher's Chronicles, and...
well, he didn't really strike me as a good guy, but... he's nowhere
near as bad as some of your kind."
The man sighed deeply, grabbing the bottle of whiskey and drinking directly
from it. "Well," he finally said, still angry over the bit of information
he'd just been given, "There's a lot
that you watchers don't know about." He sighed, taking another long
swig, before replying to the look in Joe's eyes. "Ever heard of the Scourge
of Europe, Joe? Four immortals, two
male, two female, who cut a bloody swath throughout most of western
Europe? They decimated more than a hundred small villages, and almost fifty
good-sized towns... Their victims
were drained of blood, but not before many of them were... sodomized
and skinned alive... some were burned to death, one limb at a time... others
were... hung, upside down, and
sliced into until the ground beneath them was soaked in their blood,
and covered with their innards, before they were put to death." He drank
again, draining the bottle this time. He
knew that his voice sounded clinical, disconnected, but he couldn't
help it. "I used to ride with a group who hunted them. We pursued them,
harried them at every turn... and we never
caught up with them. But we did manage to find out who they were, Joe.
The women were called Darla and Druscilla, and the men... the men were
known as William the Bloody,
and... Angelus."
Joe Dawson, former watcher, swallowed hard at that little bit of information,
and reached over the bar again, coming back with a bottle of Scotch and
a water glass this time. "Well," he
finally said, after filling the glass and drinking almost half of it,
"Maybe he's changed... I mean, it's not unheard of for your kind... You
did!" He tossed back the rest of his glass when his
companion snorted.
Methos shook his head angrily. "He hasn't changed. That isn't even a
possibility." He shook his head again, snatching the bottle from the ex-watcher's
hand and drinking from it before
handing it back. "I don't know what kind of game he's playing, but
whatever he may have her believing, he's not Willow's friend! One way or
another, he's going to end up hurting her,
or trying to kill her, and that's the last thing we need, trust me
on that!" He sighed, looking again at his now-drunken friend. "I'll need
to know when they're arriving, and where they're
going to stay." He pulled another bar stool over and sat down for a
moment before standing again, agitated. "I know that you won't understand
this, Joe, but that doesn't stop it from
being true. Angelus is an immortal... but he's not one of my kind..."
A bleary-eyed Joe blinked a few times, trying to puzzle that out. "Wait..."
he finally mumbled, "You mean there are other kinds of immortals out there...?"
He turned his eyes to the
empty space which had formerly been occupied by his friend. "Shit..."
he mused, as he heard the front door of the bar click shut, "I'm gonna
have to tie a little bell around his neck..."
End-- Pt 1