AUTHOR: Just Jessie 74 (Just_Jessie_74@yahoo.com)
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: I own none, Joss Whedon, WB, Fox, Mutant
Enemy (Grr, Arg!) own them all. I promise to put them back when I'm
done playing with them (Oh how I love to play!).
These are my own ideas and do not necessarily represent any actual story
lines (How about it Joss?).
DISTRIBUTION: The Buffster and InellWillowFic & Garden of the Jai as well as anywhere else it is welcomed.
FEEDBACK: Yes! Please! It definitely speeds the whole writing process up. Just e-mail me at: Just_Jessie_74@yahoo.com
SPOILERS: General season 4.
SUMMARY: Willow meets a masked savior.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is in response to Latisha's challenge. Thanx for the scene to start!
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Willow glanced around nervously at the darkened
bushes on either side of her. The University commons had suddenly become
very quiet, which was never a good thing on the
Hellmouth. Clutching the stake she held inside her right hand pocket she
quickened her pace to practically a run. She made
it to the dorm's front doors and fumbled for her card to unlock the annoying
barrier. She dropped the card through shaking
fingers and bent down to pick it up. When she raised her head she came
face to
face with a female vampire in full game face.
"Uh, oh." She said. She held up her stake in a threatening gesture and
frowned
when the demon laughed at her.
The vampiress gained her composure and held up
her hands, mocking a small and weak stature. "Oh no, please don't hurt
me.
Help, someone help me!" She laughed again before
she hit the sharp piece of wood out of Willow's grasp. She sighed, "If
you
don't know how to use one, then you shouldn't
be carrying one." She bared her fangs at the redhead and hissed.
Willow instinctively covered her face in defense
and when nothing happened she peeked out from between her fingers only
to
find the female demon being pulverized by what
appeared to be a man dressed in all black. From top to bottom he wore black,
from his black mask covering his eyes as well
as the left side of his face down to his chin, all the way down to his
black leather
boots. There was a black bandanna tied around
the top of his hair. Willow looked on captivated by his mystery. She watched
as
he threw the vampire to the ground and staked
her. He stood, brushing off the dust on his pants and stared at Willow.
She
raised her hand and smiled. He half smiled before
taking off into the bushes, out of sight. "Thanks." Willow mumbled after
he had
left. "That was weird." She said to herself as
she entered the safety of her dorm.
-----------------------------------------------------------
It had been three days since her last encounter
with her masked savior. Over the past four weeks he had saved her a total
of
11 times. She dreamed about him every night, always
ending the same way: she lifted his mask to find the most caring face in
the world, a face that would take her away from
the Hellmouth and always keep her safe. She sighed as she exited the
ex-watcher's apartment. It had been relatively
slow so far this summer, only the typical vampires rising nightly. Buffy
was
keeping the population down easily but the Scoobies
still met every Tuesday night for an update on everyone's lives. Willow
hadn't enjoyed the sessions as much since Spike
had left. After the Initiative had been disassembled, he had run off, damning
all
of them for not helping him get his chip removed.
The young witch missed his quick wit and demeanor. She froze in the middle
of
her thoughts as she came upon two vampires feeding
off of a young college student. They looked up at her and grinned, blood
dripping from their fangs. Willow sprinted across
the commons, heading for her dorm. She silently cursed Buffy for not walking
her home before going off with Riley. She looked
back and heard her assailants catching up with her. The wind knocked out
of
her as she bumped into something solid and fell
to the ground scraping her knee. A gloved hand reached out to her and helped
her stand. They locked eyes for just a moment,
just long enough for Willow to realize that he had blue eyes before he
gently
pushed her aside and fought off the advancing
demons. Willow watched on as her masked savior kicked and punched her
attackers. He threw one onto a broken tree branch
and removed a small sword from under his leather overcoat. In one smooth
motion he swung around, decapitating the last
vampire. He resheathed the sword and walked over to Willow.
"You're hurt." He stated huskily.
Willow touched her scrape and hissed at the pain
rushing through the skin. "It'll be okay." He turned to leave "Wait!" She
calle,.
"Who are you?"
"I'm just a man."
"Of course." Willow sighed. He would be as evasive
as he was elusive. He came in close, closer then he had ever been. In the
space of one wild heartbeat, his knuckles brushed
across her cheek. Then his hand cupped the side of her face. Willow forgot
to
breathe. Amazingly, he came closer still. She
never thought to protest as he touched his lips to hers in a passionate
kiss. It
ended all too briefly. Yet nothing could have
lessened the searing heart or the effect of his touch. Willow made a helpless
little
moaning sound, deep in her throat. She reached
for him trying to hang on to him. He lifted his head, and then bent toward
her
again, brushing his lips across the side of her
face. His mouth ended up near her left ear. "Ah, Willow," he whispered.
"I'm no
angel. No saint, either." And then he vanished
into the night.
Willow stood there, her breathing ragged and wiped
the single tear that fled from her eyes. She took one more sweeping glance
around before running to the safety of her dorm
room.
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She hadn't seen him in almost a whole week and
her cheek still burned from his touch, causing her depths to heat up at
the thought of that
single kiss. She fantasized about her masked savior
everyday, wishing that he would take her away from her life that had suddenly
come to
a screeching halt. Well, okay, maybe not screeching
but the façade had finally been lifted and Willow stopped kidding
herself. What the hell
did she want to do with the rest of her life?
She was bright, she could go to any university in the world and what had
she done? Stayed here
on the hellmouth in some desperate attempt to
hang on to her innocence, which had in affect been torn from her much earlier.
Over the last
two months or so she had suddenly realized that
she no longer wanted to be a part of the Slayer's life; Buffy's life yes,
Slayerage no. At least
not in the form it now took. She never even had
a job! Nineteen years old and not once had she brought home a check. The
problem was
that she had no place el se to go. She missed
Spike, her long-term crush that she had of course missed the chance of
ever doing anything
about. She plopped herself down in front of her
mirror and stared at the face she saw. "What do you want to be when you
grow up Willow?"
She asked her reflection.
It was already July; was it too late to simply
pick up and leave? Start fresh at some new school and life. Somewhere that
didn't have a
hellmouth perhaps. She new there would always
be unspeakable evil in the world but did she have to be at its epicenter?
She dug out the
acceptance letter from Oxford and dialed the number
on the letterhead. Just maybe, it wasn't too late.
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"You're leaving?" Buffy asked sadly.
Willow nodded at her friends. Oxford had taken
her in after her deferment last year. "I have to just see if I can do it.
Hey! I'll be back for the
holidays and all next summer I'm sure…"
"I'll miss you." Buffy said fighting tears.
"We'll all miss you Wills." Xander added.
"Even me." Quipped Anya.
"You will love it there Willow." Giles smiled and the group of friends hugged each other.
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Willow had only 2 days left before she left for
England. She wandered out on the night of the full moon alone, knowing
that one demon or
another would most definitely attack her. She
did a short protection spell and walked into the deserted commons, having
faith in her Masked
Savior. It was the only way that she could think
of to say goodbye to him. She walked over to the bench and sat down lost
in thought. She
knew she was making the right decision, moving
away, but she was still sad. She supposed she was grieving for the life
she was about to
leave behind. It's not like she could never come
back again, and after all, if she could survive all these years on the
hellmouth then she could
survive a trial year away from home. She listened
to the sudden silence around her and turned to face her impending attacker.
"You." She
breathed as she stood to face the masked man that
had found his way into her heart.
"You shouldn't be out here alone tonight." He whispered softly.
"I needed to see you." She began, "I needed to tell you thank you… for everything you've done… and… that I'm leaving."
His face tightened visibly and his icy eyes burned into her soul. "When?"
"In 2 days. I'm going to school in Oxford. My parents
are actually helping out and paying for extra housing so I can go early
and y'know, settle
in." She shifted her weight upon her shuffling
feet. "I just wanted to say goodbye." She whispered nearly inaudibly.
A brief silence fell between them, before he finally
spoke up, "Go back inside where it is safe." He said before turning from
her and walking
back into the surrounding foliage.
Willow sobbed deeply once as tears flowed from
her eyes. He hadn't even cared. Didn't even bat an eye at the news. She
turned slowly and
drifted back to her dorm, all the while wiping
the tears that insisted on falling despite her efforts. She stared up at
the building and took a
deep breath, trying to get herself under control.
She had her foot on the first step when she heard his voice.
"Don't go."
Spike? Willow thought it was his voice. She turned
and walked over to him, looking deeply into his hidden eyes. It was the
first time she had
ever heard him speak above a whisper. Slowly she
stepped until she was inches from him. She lifted a hand to his mask and
caressed it.
"Spike?" she whispered. "Is it really you?"
He lifted the mask off and looked at her. "Willow, don't go."
Ignoring his plea she touched his face. He had
kissed her that night. Spike had kissed her with a passion she knew could
only be true.
"Why?" She asked him.
"I left because I was angry. But I couldn't stop
thinking about you. I couldn't come back but I needed to be sure you were
safe. I knew you had
feelings for me and I wanted you to forget them.
But now that you're leaving… I can't let you go." He cupped
her cheek, moist from her
tears, and ran a callused thumb across it. "Don't
go Willow."
She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.
"I have to go. I want to go. Why did you wait so long?" Fresh tears fell
from her eyes as she
looked up at him.
"I didn't realize how much I wanted you until you
were leaving." He bent down and captured her lips in a needing kiss. Their
tongues dueled
as their passion ignited and they wrapped their
arms around each other. Spike pulled back from her and smiled cockily,
"Then I'm coming
with you." He vowed.
Willow smiled in agreement and Spike took her by
the hand, leading her away from the campus to his own place not far away.
They had a lot
of lost time to make up for.
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THE END