SERIES: Passing Time
AUTHOR: Tisienne Blue
E-MAIL: DISCLAIMER: Joss owns pretty much everyone in the Buffy-verse... I am
no t Joss.
RATING: this part, maybe R-ish... but eventually it'll be NC-17...
PAIRINGS: A/W/Liam... eventually.
DISTRIBUTION: Charity can have it of course... and you know the drill.
I f I said yes, have at it. If you never asked, but want it, I WILL say
yes, but DO ask!!!
FEEDBACK: tells me if you want more of it.
DEDICATIONS: to Di.
NOTES: Fairly AU, about 6 years from now. This is a response to a person
al challenge from Diana. * *3D emphasis.
SUMMARY: I generally don't DO summaries, but... OK: It's 07, Willow's
working for A.I. in LA; she and Angel are just 'Good Friends'. Meanwhile,
on an alternate timeline...
&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*
&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*
"What do you mean?" he screamed into the void, the wind whipping his
short hair angrily as nature abhorred the vacuum. "I *can't*! No, I *won't*!"
He glared at the blue and gold skinned man as yet another of the
marble pillar scrashed, in pieces, to the ground. "I've *done* my time,
and if the world is ending, then..." He swallowed hard against the gritty
dust of destruction odged in his throat, "Then it's *over*!" he cried angrily.
"I was promised peace! I was *promised*... that I would be able to re-join
my *love*!" His fingers clenched harder against the doorway he was being
forced through, one manicured nail tearing slightly at the strength of
his grip. "No!" he shouted again, against the howling of the angry
air, "I *won't*! I've *done* my part; let me go... in *peace*!"
The last remaining oracle stared sadly at the eternal Warrior, his fingers
lightly stroking back the hair on his dead sister's head. "I'm sorry,"
he said quietly, pulling her body further into his lap as a slow tear slid
down his cheek, "But you were promised peace when it was *over*, and...
it's *not*. Not yet." He waved his hand harshly in the tall, dark-haired
man's direction, and sighed when the space around them both suddenly stilled.
"It may well be over *here*," he said, his tone defeated, "But the battle
continues, and it may be lost again without you in it." He bowed
his head then, another tear trickling stealthily down his cheek. "You weren't
enough. There was too much here for any *one* Warrior to defeat. But it
isn't over... and with any luck," he continued, his calm voice suddenly
steely, "It won't end this way again." His sharp gesture caught the Warrior
by surprise this time, and he sighed as the man was flung out into the
void. He gazed down into his sister's dead eyes and sighed as yet
another pillar broke apart. "I only hope you can handle it..." was his
last comment as the armies of darkness swarmed their stronghold and
destroyed it , once and for all.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Angel," the small-ish redhead said, poking her head into his office,
"There's fresh coffee in the pot, and I hid a few jelly doughnuts behind
Cordy's monster-sized jug of sardines for you, okay?" She grinned widely
when he finally pulled his eyes from the enormous tome in front of him.
"Me, Cordelia, shopping... for my *date* tonight, remember?" she teased,
seeing the confusion in his eyes, "Or has senility finally set in? After
all, it *has* been a couple centuries..."
The vampire smiled back at her as his mind returned fully to the present
. "Oh... senility? I don't *think* so... You still get a dollar an hour,
right?"
Willow smirked slightly at his attempt at humour. "Very funny, old man,"
she replied, just as jokingly, "But you *know* it's a buck and a *half*!
After all, I make the coffee, don't I? Or would you rather I gave
that little job back to my former nemesis..." She tried to hide her grin,
failing miserably when he shuddered.
"Okay, okay," Angel chuckled softly, "Fifteen dollars an hour, but you
*never* let Cordelia near the coffee machine again..."
The redhead grinned. "You got it, boss-man," she agreed, "Now, we'll
be gone for a few hours, but the machine'll pick up any calls. I
got you some fresh blood this morning; it's in the fridge..." Her
brow creased slightly as she thought about what else she had to tell
him. "Oh, Gunn's spending the day training his Kid Crew, and Wesley's at
the museum... something about an old manuscript, he said..."
The usually broody vampire laughed again, smiling at the little witch
who had somehow become his very good friend. "Go, Willow!" he finally instructed
her, "I think I can manage to hold down the fort, but... this date of yours...
are you sure he's right for you? I mean, he doesn't *sound* terribly..."
"What?" the redhead questioned lightly, "Reliable?" She grinned a bit
more when he unwittingly nodded. "It's just a *date*, Angel! I mean, it's
not like I'm planning to *marry* him or anything! I just want..." she sighed
a bit, not sure of exactly how to explain. "I guess I just want to
do something *normal* for once, and... going to dinner and out to a club
is pretty damned normal, so..." She smiled softly when he nodded
again. "Are you *sure* you're okay with me and Cordy leaving? Because,
I can go *alone* if you want her to stay..."
"No..." the vampire said slowly, "I *think* I can manage on my own for
a few hours... Um, the radio goes in the shower *with* me, right?" he chuckled,
a slight twinkle in his eyes.
Willow smiled and blew him a joking kiss, giggling herself when he caught
it from the air and pressed it to the spot where his heart had once beat.
"Fine, Mister Smart-Ass," she said, turning away, "But if the hotel falls
down around your ears, I *don't* want to hear about it!"
Angel's grin became a touch softer as he listened to her cross the lobby
, and softer still when he heard her collect Cordelia, saying that they
were going to 'Leave broody in peace...' He wasn't entirely sure of how
it had happened, but... the redhead had become an incredibly important
part of his life in the last few years. Maybe it was the fact that she
liked him regardless of the things she knew he was capable of, or
maybe it was the fact that she trusted him enough to live in the hotel
with him, despite his nature, but... whatever it was, she was damned close
to being the best friend he'd ever had, and she somehow managed to cut
through his brood-fests, pulling him-- time and time again-- back
into contact with the human world. He glanced at the clock. 'A few hours,'
she'd said... He stood and left his office, grabbing his mug on the way
out as he went in search of the coffee and jellies she'd mentioned. He
was *sure* that he could manage on his own for just a *few* hours...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He screamed into the nothingness, his eyes squeezing tightly closed
in an effort to block out what was happening to him. He couldn't believe
that Mathry had done this to him. He'd been made certain promises, and
he'd held up his end of the deal, but... trust the Powers to renegotiate
his contract. He wasn't entirely sure of where he was being sent,
but he just *knew* he wouldn't like it. After all, how *could* he, when
he'd be without his love? A part of him , deep inside, was telling him
to just relax and accept the inevitable, but the rest of him? The rest
of him was screaming out at the injustice of it all.. . He shouldn't be
traveling the void, on his way to whatever destination the last oracle
had chosen-- he should be *dead*, and reunited-- after far too long- -
with the woman who owned his heart. "My love..." he sighed into the vacuum,
the words torn from his lips as though they had never been uttered. He
had so looked forward to seeing her again, but... the Powers had screwed
him, and... a single tear squeezed itself from the corner or his clenched
eyes, freezing immediately in the bitter coldness. "Soon..." he promised
himself, and her, as he pictured her in his mind, "Soon..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"So?" she asked, doing a slow pirouette in front of him, "What do you
think?"
He tried desperately to keep his eyes from blazing golden as he thought
about what to say. She was, after all, a very good friend, and... he'd
never seen her looking better, not in the almost ten years that he'd known
her. The softly shimmering blue dress she was wearing hit her just
a few inches below the knee, which *was*, after all, suitable for a first
date, but... the rest of it? Well, the *rest* of the sapphire-coloured
dress was just too... tight, and... revealing, to *his* way of thinking.
Not that it was *slutty* or anything, but... the skirt portion was
slit to mid-thigh, and showed a tantalizing glimpse of creamy flesh beneath
the black nylons every time she moved, and the... bodice...? he wondered...
well, the *top* of it seemed to... *mold* itself to her every curve,
outlining the tense nubs of her nipples *very* clearly. All in all, it
was the kind of dress that was, he thought, designed for seduction. It
didn't help any that the halter-style fastening at the back of her neck
made it clear that she was basically naked to the waist, and... if she
hadn't been his friend, he *knew* that he would have been attracted
himself. "Uh..." he finally said, when her impatient eyes stabbed at him,
"It's... *nice*."
Willow sighed, knowing that his choice of those particular words meant
that he didn't like it, but what she didn't know was... "Why?" she asked,
staring into his face. "Why don't you like it?" she clarified. She, herself,
had thought that it looked good, and she'd been thrilled when Cordy had
agreed with her , but... Angel was a guy, and... maybe it wasn't the kind
of dress that a guy would like her in? She wasn't entirely sure;
mostly because it had been so long since she'd actually had a *date*.
"Is it too... modest?" she asked in a small voice, because that had been
Cordelia's only objection.
His eyes almost bugged out at the very notion. Here she was, looking
like *any* man's most wondrous fantasy, and she wanted to know if her outfit
was too *modest*!? He barely kept himself from choking on his own tongue,
but eventually he actually managed to force some words out. "N... no! It's
not..." he rolled his eyes, refusing to look at her again, "It's *not*...
In fact it's almost obscene..." he muttered to himself.
"What?" Willow asked, not sure that she'd heard him correctly, "What
was that, Angel?"
The vampire cleared his throat, barely looking at her from the corner
of his eye. "I said," he replied, his mind racing for any answer other
than the truth, "I said 'It's meant to be seen'..." He relaxed slightly
when she smiled at him.
She hadn't thought that he'd said that, but... apparently she'd heard
wrong, because why would he think that she was dressed obscenely when she
was covering almost twice as much flesh a Buffy had when she'd still been
alive? Not that she would have asked him that... ever... but still. She
shook off the sad thoughts of her late friend, and smiled brilliantly,
pulling her scarlet lipstick from her bag and applying another coat to
her lips with the aid of her compact. "There," she said, smiling
at herself in the small mirror, "I think I'm ready!"
He watched her, almost floored, as she folded the small powder compact
and placed it in her purse. He didn't know exactly what was wrong with
him, but after a moment or two, he figured it out. Willow--- his
very good friend Willow-- was going out on a date.... with someone he'd
never met, and she looked so... His mind boggled for a moment, trying to
find a suitable word to describe her appearance, because...? In that dress,
with that make-up, and that lips tick? The only word that came to mind
was... *tasty*, and he was almost entirely sure that it wasn't a
vampire thing. "Uh..." he said quietly, staring at her intently, "I...
I guess you.. *are*... "
She smiled slightly, her mind completely engaged with her hopes for
the evening. With any luck, she'd have a bit of fun, maybe do some
dancing, but ... that was all. All she wanted was a *date*, after all.
Just a good time. Nothing serious, nothing important, but... a bit of enjoyment.
Besides, she reminded herself, even if she *had* wanted something more,
she would never find it with *Jeremy*. He was a nice guy and all, but...
he didn't have the kind of substance she'd be looking for in a mate...
if she was *looking*... which, she reminded herself, she *wasn't*. "Well,"
she began, smiling into Angel's eyes until she saw the look they bore.
She trailed off for a moment, almost unable to comprehend it. She stopped
thinking about it, however, when she realized that whatever she'd *thought*
she'd seen, she had been wrong. "I'll be going now ," she finished, turning
away. She stepped out of his room, sighing silently. There was just
no way that he'd looked *jealous*, and she *knew* it! She deliberately
chose to ignore-- as she walked down the hall to the main staircase-- the
voice in her head that was telling her that she *wanted* him to be.
Angel sighed to himself as he listened to her leaving through the lobby
of the hotel they called 'home', his mind turning over all the possible
outcomes of her date. She'd said that she wanted a 'normal' evening, but...
how did she know that that was what she'd get? There were, after all, all
manner of fell creature's that made LA their home, so how did she know
that this guy she was meeting wasn't *one* of them? Hell, he thought, brow
furrowing, for all *she* knew, this guy might even be a vampire! Right,
he told himself-- as he stood and walked quickly from his room and down
the stairs, grabbing his coat on his way through the lobby-- if she
was going to dress like that, and go out with god only knew what, then
*he*-- in his capacity as her friend-- was going to follow her... to make
sure that nothing unpleasant occurred. And if this guy who he'd never even
met tried *anything* with her... well, he *might* just have to let his
demon out to dance on the man's twitching corpse. He smiled, just a touch
wickedly, at the thought, and got into his car, hurrying towards the intersection
once he started it up. He barely slowed down for the yellow light as he
caught sight of her car, and he settled in to a matching pace with her--
staying a good ten feet back so that she wouldn't notice him. He knew that
she could take care of herself, but... it never hurt to have a little back-up.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He was growing weary of fighting the void. He may have been eternal,
but it didn't mean that he had unlimited energy, and... he'd been fighting
it for so long. He had no real concept of the passage of time, mostly
because he wasn 't sure that time even *existed*-- in the usual sense--
where he was. For all he knew, he could have been flying through
the featureless cold forever... or for a moment. It didn't matter,
though, he realized, because time, as always, was a relative thing. The
three years he'd had with his love had passed by in a flash of brilliance...
and the almost five years since her death had crept by so slowly
that he wasn't sure it hadn't been a hundred.
He closed his eyes, smiling as he remembered her. Their first date...
their second... the first time he'd kissed her, and the way she'd laughed
just before asking what had taken him so long... standing backstage and
watching her perform, knowing that *he* was the one she'd be leaving with...
their small , silly arguments over which couch to buy when he'd finally
convinced her that they should move in together... the first night they'd
spent making love on the roof, under the stars... and the night she'd driven
off to the studio, and had never come back...
He felt the tears freezing at the corners of his eyes, and wished, more
than anything, that he could just hold her one more time... touch her soft
cheek , and hear her beloved voice telling him that she loved him, and
that everything would be all right. Of course, that would never happen,
and he knew it, but... He had the right to dream, didn't he? Of course
he did, he answered himself, and he also had the right to give up. To lay
down his portion of the fight, and just... fade away. And that was exactly
what he'd do, he told himself-- if he ever got to wherever it was
he was being sent. He would refuse to fight for whatever cause he
was being sent to assist in, and eventually, the Powers would with draw
their 'gift', and... he would die.
He smiled then, a bit wistfully. He would die, and be reunited with
his love in the Summerland. "Soon, my love..." he murmured into the
emptiness screaming by him, "Soon..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
She'd been a fool, and she knew it. What was more, everyone *else* knew
it, too! But... dinner had gone so well, and Jeremy had been so attentive,
that she'd let her guard down, and when he'd offered to drive them
to the club in *his* car, she'd accepted. He'd been a perfect gentleman,
too, or he had until they actually *got* there. At that point, he'd dragged
her onto the dance floor, and had proceeded to become very well acquainted
with her leg.
She grinned slightly at her own naivety, and watched her 'date' from
the corner of her eye as he tried to pick up yet another poor girl. She
leaned back against the bar, ordering a gin and tonic when the barkeep
approached her, and when she turned back to the main room, Jeremy
was nowhere to be seen. She smiled again, slightly, as she realized that
she was on her own.
Of course, that wasn't necessarily a *bad* thing. There was no reason
that she couldn't go outside and hail a cab to take her back to her car,
but... she didn't want to go home just yet-- mostly because she didn't
want to have to see the 'I-told-you-so' in Angel's eyes when she returned
so soon. No, she decided after taking a long sip of her drink, she'd stay
right where she was for a while, and after an hour or two she'd catch
that taxi she'd been thinking about.
She smiled warmly at the tall, dark-haired man who approached her then,
and when he asked her to dance with him, she readily agreed. After all,
she reminded herself as she stepped onto the dance floor, she *had* wanted
a 'normal' evening, and... What with her date getting all graby and obnoxious,
she supposed it had *been* one.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Angel almost growled when he saw the man who'd driven Willow from the
restaurant leaving the club after less than an hour, and with a different
woman, no less! He knew, deep down, that Willow hadn't cared much for the
guy, but still, that was just... *rude*. But maybe, he told himself,
ignoring the sense of glee flowing through him at the very thought, maybe
she'd *told* him to leave! Maybe she'd spent enough time with him
to realize that he-- with his too-carefully-groomed appearance, and
too-colorful wardrobe-- just wasn't someone she wanted to spend any more
time with. And besides, the man was a blond, and... he just couldn't
see Willow getting all *involved* with him. After all, her tastes
ran-- the whole 'Oz' period of her life aside-- to brunettes.
He sat back against the car seat, his eyes trained on the club's door
as he waited for her to exit. She'd be a little bit pissed-off that he'd
followed her, he knew... but he figured she'd forget about it soon enough
when he offered to drive her home. She was his *friend*, after all, so
he figured it was the least he could do, and... On the bright side, it'd
be an early night for her, so maybe they could watch a movie or something,
like they usually did, and... maybe the *next* time some guy asked
her out, she'd remember what had happened *this* time, and she'd
just say 'No', and stay home with him, where she belonged. "Damn
it, Willow," he muttered after a glance at his watch revealed that it had
been almost an hour since her 'date' had left, "Where *are* you?" He frowned,
glaring at the door, his expression become more glowery by the moment.
"Fine," he said to her after another fifteen minutes, even though
she wasn't there to hear him, "I'll just have to come in there after
you!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
His quiet screams finally ceased, and he forced his eyes open, as he
felt himself slowing in his travels. Somehow, he could tell that he was
nearing whatever destination Mathry had selected for him, and he
wondered for a moment whether the oracle would still have sent him on this
unwelcome journey if Sionelle hadn't died. He shook his head then, at the
very thought. He actually knew better, but... it would have been so much
easier if he could *hate* the male oracle. He couldn't, though. Whatever
reasoning had been behind Mathry 's decision to disavow the deal he'd had
with the powers, he didn't *really* think it had anything to do with the
female oracle's death.
He could see a threshold looming before him, and much as he didn't want
to pass through it, he wanted to remain in the void even less, so... He
readied himself as much as he could, although he still screamed out loudly
in pain when he was through, and the warmth of a living world surrounded
him before he collapsed to the cement ground in what appeared to be-- based
upon the glimpse he'd gotten during the one moment he could actually focus--
an alley of some kind.
He lay there, on the garbage strewn concrete, and waited for whatever
was going to happen next.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Willow smiled happily at the latest guy who was trying to chat her up.
If she'd known that going out alone could be so much fun, she would have
done it *long* ago, but... she hadn't known, of course,and maybe
that was a good thing. After all, there really *were* more important things
in the world than getting her ego stroked by a bunch of strange men. She
frowned slightly, thinking of Jeremy. Of all the men she'd spent time with
that night, the one who'd actually *invited* her out was the only one whose
stroking had proven to be of a literal nature, and... she didn't know *what*
she'd been thinking when she'd agreed to go out with him... he wasn't even
her *type*!
Not that his blond good looks weren't appealing, but... she tended to
go for the tall, dark sort of guy, and... she shook her head slightly as
she retrieved her jacket from the coat-check girl. Besides, Jeremy had
been *way* too experimental with colour... Not that she had any serious
objection to a man wearing a blue suit with a red shirt, but... *navy*
blue, please... not *cobalt*!
No, she decided, as she stepped out into the street, eyes peeled for
a taxi, too much colour was *not* something that attracted her. Her eyes
continued to scan the street before she started just a bit, wondering
if she could *really* have seen what she thought she had, just a moment
earlier. "Angel?" she asked herself, slowly walking towards the mouth of
the nearby alley she could have *sworn* she'd just seen her friend ducking
in to, although... what in the world would *Angel* be doing *there*?
But
still, she'd learned to trust her own senses in the time she'd spent in
LA, and she was *sure* that it had been him. But maybe, she blushed,
he was taking care of some strange... *vampire* call of nature that
she didn't know about...
She leaned against the wall of the building, a good five feet from the
alley's opening, not wanting to interrupt him in... whatever it was he
was doing, and she waited for him to come back out. It wasn't until
she heard the sounds of a scuffle coming from that same alleyway that she
considered the possibility that maybe he was there because Cordelia'd
had another vision, and she almost cursed herself for having gone
out instead of staying home and being there to back him up.
But she was there *now*, she reminded herself, and steeling her mind
to the sight of whatever nasty beastie he was fighting, she quickly
moved into the alley, striding purposefully towards the sounds of
fighting coming from its end. Her eyes widened as she got closer and took
in the sight of Angel... her friend... holding a *human* man in a headlock
and pounding that same man's head against the brick wall. "Angel!"
she shouted, eyes blazing, "Stop!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He'd been walking to the front door of the club when he felt the icy
wind blowing from the alley beside it, and while he really wanted to ignore
it, he remembered what it was... what it meant. He'd only felt that
deeply penetrating cold twice before, but it wasn't something that he'd
ever forget, and... the fact that it was blowing *out* of the alley was
proof enough for him. Something had been released, and unfortunately for
whatever hell-beast was arriving, *he* was there to *stop* it! He
slid stealthily into the dark corridor between the club and the store on
its other side, moving down the wall like a shadow, until he finally stopped--
shocked-- at what he saw laying in a shivering heap on the ground.
He didn't understand at first, because it *appeared* to be a *man*...
and a *human* man, at that! He could *hear* the heartbeat, *feel* the blood
pumping through the new arrival's veins, and... the vampire part of him
could sense the man's fear, and... anger?... and relief, too, and he wondered,
just for a moment, if maybe he'd been *wrong*; if maybe it *hadn't* been
the same icy- cold wind he'd felt when he'd been sent to hell, and felt
again when he'd returned. He was just on the verge of approaching; asking
the man what had happened and if he was alright, when the object of his
heavy stare finally turned, with a moan, until he was laying on his back.
Angel's eyes widened then, in anger, as he finally understood what
was happening, and he attacked.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He lay still in the alley, sighing silently as the warmth of the human
world seeped in to his bones, removing the last, lingering traces of the
deathly chill that he'd traveled in for that timeless moment of eternity,
and... he knew. He didn't have what it took to stick to his guns; he wouldn't
really refuse to fight for the Powers. He couldn't; not anymore.
It had been too long since they'd brought him in and made him a force
to be reckoned with in the fight . It was almost second-nature now, and...
Much as he wanted it to be over; much as he wanted to find his peace
in the arms of his dead love... If he gave up, he would no longer
be the man she'd fallen for in the first place, and he'd never been able
to handle even the idea that she might be disappointed in him. No, he
knew he'd do whatever was required of him, and he'd hope that *this* time,
when it ended, the Powers would keep their word.
That decided, he forced himself to move, groaning at the pain in his
abused muscles. Finally, after what felt like hours, he was laying on his
back, staring up into the night sky. The stars looked the same, he thought
in wonder. He didn't quite see how that was possible, because he'd
*seen* the world being destroyed; he'd watched from a far hilltop
as LA disappeared in a fiery burst that stank of brimstone and despair,
but... whatever Mathry had done, apparently he'd been given a second chance
to stop things before they got out of hand. He was about to smile for that
knowledge when he was crushed, suddenly, beneath the snarling form of a
very angry vampire.
Angel pulled back, smiling through his snarl, and slammed his fist into
the thing's face once; then again. He didn't know whose idea this had been,
but he had a fairly good notion of what was supposed to happen, and he
thanked the Powers for putting him in a position to stop it. " You
come to *my* world," he growled, pulling the man to his feet and flinging
him against the wall, "Wearing *my* face," he slammed the man's head into
an iron dumpster, "And what?" he inquired facetiously, wrapping his
arm tightly around the man's neck as he started ramming it into the
brick wall, "Find a way to get *rid* of me? Pretend that you *are* me,
and that you achieved *my* redemption?" He growled again , still slamming
the headlocked man's forehead into the bricks. "Well, *I* don't *think*
so!" He snarled again when he felt the small, warm hand on his arm
through the sleeve of his coat, and turned, his golden eyes widening at
the slap he received then. "Will!" he whined slightly, dropping the impostor,
"What was *that* for?"
The redhead glared angrily at him. "Just what in the *hell* do you think
you're *doing*?" she demanded, still glaring into his yellow eyes. "He's
*human*, Angel! Even *I* can tell *that* much! And yet-- here you *are*,
beating him like he's some kind of a *demon*! And don't even *try* to tell
me that the Powers sent you here, because you and I *both* know that
they want you to *protect* humans; not *attack* them!" Her eyes narrowed
dangerously as she glared even more strongly at him. "I'm just so...
disappointed in you right now..." she finally said, shaking her head.
She was breathing hard from her short run down the alley in the high
heels she was wearing, and from her little outburst, so she didn't notice
that two sets of eyes-- one golden, and one coffee brown-- were locked
intently on her.
Angel couldn't help it. Somehow, the thought that she really *was* disappointed
in him bothered him more than he would have thought. She was *Willow*,
after all, and... "I.... But..." he began, gesturing at the man laying
at his feet, "Willow, you don't *understand*! He's a..."
"What, Angel?" she spat, not even looking down, "He's a *what*? He's
not a *demon*, and he's not a *vampire*! And from what I can *tell*," she
continued angrily, her wild hand motions indicating the space around them,
"He wasn't doing anything but minding his own business until *you*
decided to *attack* him!" Her words stopped suddenly when his hands
gripped her shoulders and shook her quickly.
"Just *look* at him, Will!" Angel demanded when he released her. "*Look*
at him; *then* tell me what he's not." His own glare faded as he let the
demon 's features slip away. "And more to the point," he added softly,
unable to be angry with her, "Tell me what he *is*, because... I
can't see any way that he's n ot a trick. Maybe Wolfram and Hart."
He didn't know what was happening. One minute, he'd been getting beaten
by a furious vampire, and the next? The next minute, that same vampire
had... *stopped*! And there was a *human* there, and she was the one who'd
stopped him! His mind was whirring from the very impossibility of it all,
and then he'd made the one mistake that he hoped wouldn't turn out
to be fatal. He'd actually *looked* at the girl. The very *human*,
very *alive* girl who was, at that very moment, chastising the large
vampire for beating him up, and... 'No...' he whispered, so softly
that even the vampire didn't hear him, 'No, Liam... yo u're dreaming...'
He *had* to be dreaming, because there was just no *way* that she
could be... His brain shut down completely when the girl crouched down
beside him, and he was frozen, for a brief moment that seemed timeless,
by her wide green eyes.
She'd glanced down at him quickly, only to find her eyes growing wide
at what she saw, and-- almost against her will, she found herself bending
down to get a better look. She could suddenly understand why Angel had
reacted the way that he had, but... there was such pain and sorrow in this
man's eyes that somehow. .. she didn't think that the evil law firm had
anything to do with his being there, and... The look in his eyes while
he stared into hers was... heart-rending. She almost wanted to cry herself
when the tears started to flow silently down his cheeks, and she reached
out to him, catching one small, salty drop on her fingertip. "You... you're
safe now," she murmured, still staring into his warm, wet brown eyes as
the captured tear rolled down her finger, into her palm, "I don't
know who you are, or where you came from, but... you're *safe*, okay? "
She dragged her eyes away from his and stared up into Angel's surprised
face. "Whatever he is," she said quietly, a slight tinge of 'other-ness'
creeping out in her voice, "He's not *evil*... and he needs our help."
She stood then, extending a hand to the human version of her friend. "Come,"
she said softly, a gentle smile gracing her lips when he let her help him
up, "I don't know how you got here, but you must be tired..."
Angel's eyes narrowed, and his lips compressed into a thin line when
he saw the way the... *human* was looking at his Willow. She was
*his* friend, and he'd be damned if he'd let this... bastard just step
in and take her away from him. But he only nodded when the redhead looked
at him expectantly, and turned a way, leading them from the alley and to
his car. His lips twitched slightly when Willow put the other man
in the back and climbed into the front seat with * him*. At least *she*
knew where she belonged, even if the jerk in the back seat seemed to have
other ideas, and... judging by the way he was staring at her, he *did*.
End.