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Part 13
She was sleeping when the feeling swept over her like fire, and she flew from the bed, not even stopping to dress herself before dashing out the door and down the hall. "Angel!" she screamed, her feet touching only every third step on her way down to the lobby. A dark, dangerous glow started in her eyes, even as she took in the unexpected sight awaiting her. One hand flew out, fingers spread towards the intruders who were trying to hurt her Mate. "Still!" she shouted, stalking across the large room when every figure other than she and Angel froze. She fell to her knees by his side, hands searching his body for wounds she might not see. "Angel..." she almost sobbed, "Are... are you all right...?"
Even his demon was calmed somewhat by her very presence, but it was still hard to force himself to speak rather than growl. The fear in her eyes, however, prompted him to put more effort into it, and he finally covered her hands with his own, holding them to his chest. "Yeah..." he made himself say, glaring hotly at the motionless group scattered about the room, "Yeah, baby, I'm fine. They didn't have the chance to do more than knock me down..." He did growl then, when she threw herself into his arms, his glare intensifying as he realized that while his attackers might be frozen in place, their eyes were still working, and... his *Mate* was *naked*! Not that he didn't enjoy the view himself, but... He swiftly stood, his girl still in his arms, and turned his back on the group, carrying his Willow into Wesley's office before setting her down. He snatched the former watcher's coat from the hook on the back of the door before removing his robe and covering her pale flesh with it. "That's better," he told her, still a little miffed that Giles and Xander had seen her in all her glory. The two girls he wasn't too concerned about, even if one of them *was* Willow's ex, and he figured that Wesley and Cordelia didn't really care much, in any case-- what with having seen her that way once before. He still didn't *like* it, but... He pulled Wes' coat over his own nakedness, and taking his witch's hand, led her back into the lobby. "So..." he said, voice coloured with very obvious pride, "How long are they gonna *stay* like that?"
Willow giggled, holding the long silk robe off the floor. "Until I let them go, which *won't* be until we've taken their weapons away." She pulled her hand from his reluctantly, and moved to the former watcher and the Seer. "Resume," she whispered softly, and grinned when they almost toppled over. "Sorry, guys," she said smugly.
"Yes..." Wesley responded, being the first to regain his voice, "Well, that was quite... impressive, really. An odd sensation, but... very well done, Willow!" He moved quickly to follow Angel's lead in relieving the Sunnydale gang of their crosses, stakes and crossbows.
Cordelia's eyes were wide, and she stared at the redhead-- for a moment-- like she'd never seen her before. "Wow," she finally said, "I guess you really *are* a witch..."
Willow giggled again, smiling widely at her friend. "Remind me to tell you about the 'my will be done' spell I did a while back..." Her amusement faded when her Mate returned to her side, his grasp on her waist indicating that it was time to release the people she'd thought were her friends. Well, his grasp, and his slight nod. She nodded shortly in return, and pulled away from him to face them. "Resume!" she cried, repeating her earlier gesture.
"Naked Willow..." was all Xander could manage to say at first, his mind spinning from the sight, "Oh, God... naked Willow..." He finally managed to pick himself up from where he'd fallen, his eyes still wide and dazzled. She'd been... and all... "You're a *vampire*!" he accused, entirely sure that that was the only way she would ever have been naked in public. "He's evil again and he's made you a *vampire*!" He was in the process of trying to fashion his fingers into a warding cross when the loud laughter from the LA crew-- including the redhead-- stunned him silent.
"God, Xander," Cordy finally chuckled, "You're even stupider than I thought!"
Giles gazed searchingly at both Willow and Angel for a few moments, ignoring Xander's offended 'Hey!', before finally nodding. "Well," he said, in response to Cordelia's comment, "Be that as it may, we were under the impression that things were... obviously not what they *are*."
"But, Giles," Tara whined, trying to hide her deeply seated hatred of the vampire, only to be cut off.
"No!" the Sunnydale Watcher announced, "Regardless of what we were told, Angel is not *evil*. He's not Angelus; I can tell *that* just by *looking* at him. And Willow is *here*, apparently of her own free will." He shook his head slowly, his eyes locked on the two men and the redhead. "I think we should talk. Perhaps Cordelia could take the children out for some dinner or something...?"
Angel and Wesley began discussing the possibility with the man, paying no mind to the objections coming from Cordy and the 'children' in question, so none of them noticed when the jealous blonde witch slid a hand under her coat and pulled the hand-held crossbow pistol from its hiding place at the small of her back. Unfortunately for Tara, Willow *did*.
"No!" she screamed, throwing herself into the path of the streaking wooden dart.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He was amazed by how much the girl had loosened up around him, considering. Not that he was going to complain about it any time soon! Still, it was... puzzling. Not as puzzling as the fact that she'd been at the club for over three hours, and she wasn't shrinking away from him at all. Loose he could understand, but... after what his kind had done, comfortable was beyond his comprehension. That didn't change anything, though. She was still sitting at his usual table with him. And she wasn't even drinking, so *that* didn't explain it, either. Of course, *he* was drinking enough for the *both* of them.
"... And that was when I met Cordelia," Fred was saying, fully aware of the fact that Lorne wasn't really listening to her, "And you... well, you know what happened after that..." She didn't know why she was taking so long to get to the point. Something was definitely wrong; she was absolutely *certain* of that, but she couldn't seem to find the words to explain *how* she knew, especially when she wasn't sure of what, exactly, it was. Still, the reader-demon had turned out to be much better company than she'd expected, and... much as she didn't want to face it, after five years of being surrounded by his kind, she almost felt at home in his presence. Well, she had ever since she'd stopped twitching. Something inside her told her that *this* man wouldn't hurt her; she somehow knew that the thought wouldn't even occur to him.
"Alright," Lorne finally sighed, the sudden silence registering on him, "I don't want you to think that I haven't been *enjoying* our little tet-a-tet. I *have*, cutie-pie! But... what does all this have to do with whatever brought you here?"
The woman shrugged, a slightly perplexed smile twitching at the corner of her lips. "I... I don't know..." she said softly, suddenly shy.
The green-skinned demon sighed again, reaching behind him to grab one of the sheaves of paper from the table behind him. "Well, sweets," he murmured, passing the list to her, "Take your pick, and we'll *both* find out..." He couldn't help but smile in response to the young woman's sheepish grin. Oh, no, he told himself, this is *not* a good idea...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He heard her shouting 'No'; felt her move from his side. Still, all his swiftness and beyond-human abilities weren't enough to let him stop what was happening. It was almost like the entire world was moving in slow motion. Soul and demon both were screaming silently *and* out loud as he spun-- too slowly! Too god-damned slow! he told himself-- and caught the suddenly pain-wracked body of his Mate. "Willow!" he cried, fear drowning the anger he should have been feeling as he lowered himself to the floor, his witch in his arms. He stared at her for less than a moment, horrified, true face slipping out, and his fingers trembled, stopping short of the bolt piercing her just above her breast. "Will..." he whispered, tears slipping down his cool cheeks when she didn't answer. His eyes hardened as his gaze shifted momentarily to the blonde witch who had *claimed* to love his woman. "If she dies, I will kill you," he said slowly and carefully. "And I will make it hurt more than anything you've ever even *imagined*." He nodded swiftly when Xander and Anya pushed the bitch harder against the floor. "Willow," he said again, his eyes locked on her too-pale face, "Will, please..."
She didn't know exactly what had happened. She remembered Tara pointing *something* at Angel's back, but she hadn't really stopped to see what it was. No, the look on her ex-girlfriend's face was enough to tell her that whatever it was, wasn't meant to make him feel *good*. Of course, she'd figured it was some kind of magic thing, but... She groaned softly, the sharp pain in her chest alerting her to the fact that she'd underestimated Tara's hatred for her Mate. "A... Angel..." she whimpered, her eyes cracking open. A small smile crossed her lips when she met his worried, wet golden eyes. "D- don't cry... baby... I'll be..." She gasped when taking a breath shifted the quarrel. "Owww..." she sobbed, still trying to down-play how much she hurt.
A fresh batch of tears welled up within him, along with a large lump in his throat. He swallowed hard twice, trying to speak. "I... I love you, sweetheart," he finally whispered, "And... I *know* how much it hurts. I can feel it, too, you know..." His lips slowly approached hers, barely brushing them. "I... I have to move you, Willow," he told her quietly. "That... *bolt* has to come *out*, and..." He swallowed again. "The office is closer, but..."
She barely nodded, knowing that as much as it was going to cause screaming agony, she couldn't leave the damned thing where it was. Still, "Not... office..." she panted, forcing herself to remain conscious. "Our... room..." She sighed softly and allowed the dark to fall over her when he nodded.
"Check the bolts," he demanded, trying to gather himself, "I need to know if they're..."
Wesley moved swiftly, snatching up the crossbow pistol from where it had flown when the blonde had been knocked to the floor. He glanced quickly at the three remaining bolts strapped to the side of the weapon. "They're not barbed, Angel," he answered, relief clear in his voice. At least they wouldn't have to *cut* the thing from the girl's flesh, but that was the only bright spot. "Do you... can I help...?"
Angel shook his head before struggling slowly to his feet, doing everything he could to avoid jostling the small arrow in his glorious witch's perfect skin. When he was finally steady on his feet, he glared again at the blonde who was, in turn, glaring at *him*. He felt the snarl crossing his lips, and he growled loudly. "They go nowhere," he ordered Wesley and Cordelia, "*None* of them." He put them all from his mind then, and carefully carried his Mate up the stairs. He'd been shot before, himself, and he was well aware of the fact that it would be much less painful for his love if he pulled the damned spike from her chest before she came to again. He'd worry about the others-- including the little *bitch*-- later.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Giles watched the vampire slowly climb the steps with the limp redhead cradled protectively to his chest, and suddenly felt like an incredible idiot. His gaze shifted to Xander and Anya, hardening as he took in the unwelcome sight of the blonde girl they were holding to the floor. "I had no *idea*," he said, the words directed to Wesley even though he wasn't looking at him.
The former watcher's glare shifted from the blonde to the man he'd once counted as mentor. "Yes. Well. You could have *asked*! You could have called us before coming in here, guns blazing. Or crossbows, as it were. And you *certainly* never should have brought that... that... *girl* here!" His arms crossed angrily over his chest, even as Cordelia followed the meaning of Angel's last instruction and locked the lobby doors. "You should have known better, Giles. And if Willow doesn't rally...? I wouldn't bet a wooden nickel on Angel letting *any* of you live."
Giles sighed unhappily, but nodded, understanding exactly what the younger man was saying. He knew that Angel wouldn't actually kill them, not with still having the soul, but... There was certainly going to be a reckoning for the pain they'd caused Willow. "We will pay the price, should it prove to be necessary," he said softly, ignoring yet another startled 'Hey' from Xander, although this time the boy was joined by Anya in the sentiment. "We *all* should have known better."
Cordelia nodded quickly, the urge to tell him 'duh' almost impossible to contain. She managed somehow, though, and disappeared into Wesley's office for a moment, only to return with a very nice set of chains and shackles. "For the bitch," she announced, dropping them on the floor and kicking them towards Xander. A satisfied smirk crossed her face as her ex-boyfriend silently fastened them on the blonde witch. "I'm thinking we put her in the basement."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He could barely see through the tears still blurring his vision, but he had to do this. She was his *Mate*; the tending of her was his responsibility, and usually his joy! But not in this case, he knew. No, in this case... it was *his* fault that she was injured. Oh, sure, the little bitch had pulled the trigger, but... he should have been expecting it! He should have been able to sense the loathing on her, and... He should have moved *faster*! It was the *soul* that slowed him. The soul was what had blinded him to the blonde's true nature. His *demon* had never trusted the girl; not even at the very beginning! Well, he decided, he was going to start *listening* to Angelus; especially where their Mate's safety was concerned!
He shook the tears from his eyes, settling his girl gently on their bed. His hands gripped the silk of the robe he'd wrapped around her earlier, and he slowly, simply tore it, exposing her skin and the shaft that pierced it. "I love you, Will," he whispered softly, one hand pressing hard against her shoulder while the other wrapped tightly around the wood. "I love you..." he said again, pulling steadily until the long bolt finally slid from her body. His fingers pressed gently against the suddenly gushing puncture, and he closed his eyes, feeling her through their bond. A slight hopeful smile blossomed on his face. At least the bolt had missed the lung; she'd probably be fine. He could feel the demon rattling around inside him, and listened carefully to it before lowering his mouth to the wound. He licked slowly at the pulsing flow of blood, relief flooding him when the flow slowed to a trickle, then to just a slow seep. Angelus was right. His nearness and saliva *were* helping. He nodded to himself and sat up, raising his wrist to his jagged teeth and biting swiftly through the skin. He held the dripping wound over her skin, allowing his cool, dead blood to fall and join her own living essence, and by the time his wrist had healed itself, just moments later, he was thrilled to see that she was no longer bleeding at all.
"I love you, my Mate," he whispered into her ear as he pushed Wes' coat from his shoulders and lay down beside her. His arms closed gently around her soft, warm body, and he tucked her tenderly against his chest, her strong, steady heartbeat soothing the inner rage he felt towards her 'friends'. Oh, they would still *pay*, he assured his demon, but it would no longer be necessary to *kill* them. Except for the *witch*, of course.
End-- pt 13