Title: A Chance Encounter (1/1)
Series Wesley's Wild and Wacky Demon Hunting Adventures (Part 3)
Author: Kylia
Email: kylia_bug@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Nobody belongs to me, unfortunately. They belong to Joss & Mutant Enemy, and a few other people I don't know.
Rating: R
Spoilers: General S1 AtS - references to S3 BtVS
Category: W/W
Summary: Wes makes a mistake and sets about trying to avoid it.
Distribution: Fire & Ice Fic, Wesleyan Aria, List archives, anyone else, ask, and you shall receive
Feedback: Please… I need it to breathe
Author's Note: Something new. I've never written a fic with Wes as the primary, so bear with me :)
Author's Note 2: This takes places several weeks after the events in "The Mistake"
Dedication: Inell, who seems to like this.

"Willow? Miss Rosenberg?" Wesley asked, hardly believe it was her, in Williams Arizona no less.

Willow smiled bright, oddly pleased to see a friendly face. "Wesley, it is you. What are you doing here? I thought you were working with Angel, in LA? Oh, are you here on a case?" She bent forward so she could whisper in his ear. "Is there evil afoot?"

Wesley couldn't help the smile that was forming as she babbled. "No, no evil."

He didn't really want to elaborate further. He hadn't gotten to know her very well during his time on the Hellmouth, but he was most certain the redhead shared Miss Summers view of him, and as such, wasn't necessarily looking forward to spending any length of time with her.

"So… " She motioned to the spot across the booth from him, "mind if I join you?"

He was about ready to tell her he was just leaving. However when he opened his mouth, different words entirely seemed to spill forth.

"Please, would you like something to eat?"

Willow smiled at his offer. "Thank you. I've already eaten, but I wouldn't mind some friendly company."

Wesley was surprised by her statement, but didn't comment. They sat in silence for a moment, before curiosity got the better of the former watcher.

"Are you here alone, Miss Rosenberg?"

Willow smiled. "Willow. And yes." She sighed. "I was supposed to come with my parents, but they… had other plans."

Wesley frowned at the dejected sound in her voice. "I see. How long are you here for?"

"My room is paid for another six days." She smiled brightly at him, suddenly really glad she ran into him. "How long are you staying?"

"In Williams? A week, I think." He smiled at her, feeling more at ease with her than he ever had in the past.

Willow nodded, pleased that maybe her week wouldn't be as boring as her time in Arizona so far. "Is this a vacation?"

Wesley laughed slightly at her curiosity. He began to fill her in on some of the things that had happened since they had seen each other again. As he spoke about his time abroad since leaving the council, and then of his months with Angel and Cordelia, Wesley found himself growing more relaxed with this girl, whom he hadn't really had the opportunity to know back in Sunnydale.

For Willow's part, she was truly enjoying herself for the first time, in what seemed like an eternity. Her life had gotten so out of control recently. What with the mess with Adam and the Initiative, her growing apart from her old friends, and this recent disappointment with her parents, she was seriously considering not going back.

She knew that she couldn't stay in Williams forever. Money wasn't really the issue. Her parents had taken care of that. She could stay in Williams, or another town just like it for another decade, and still have money left over. That wasn't the problem. The problem was boredom. Plain and simple. Her life in Sunnydale for the past several years had spoiled her. Maybe spoiled wasn't the right word. She wasn't sure what the correct word was. She only knew that after spending so much of her life helping the Slayer, she could no longer sit back and go about her life as if evil didn't exist. It did. And she knew it did. She knew what lurked in the dark. She knew what the world would have been like if people like her didn't fight back, and she just couldn't forget that.

So, as much as she didn't want to return to Sunnydale and the what her life had recently turned into, she knew she could do nothing less than go back and help, just as she had been. She had resigned herself to the fact that only in Sunnydale could she accomplish this task. However, sitting here, listening to Wesley speak about his adventures, this small journey he had undertaken, made Willow realize that a lot of people needed help, not just those who lived on the Hellmouth… or in Los Angeles.

Three days later, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce found himself reluctant to leave his hotel room. Not that it was the hotel itself he was reluctant to leave, but the town itself. No, that wasn't entirely accurate either. It wasn't Williams he was reluctant to leave behind, but the company he had kept for the last few days. Willow. He had come to realize that there was more to that girl than anyone really knew. Probably more than anyone would ever know. He hadn't known her very well in Sunnydale, and quite honestly he couldn't say with any amount of truth that he *really* knew her now. There was so much to know. She had more facets than he could have ever imagined. More wisdom and curiosity, for someone so young, than he would have thought possible. And of course there was her beauty. She had that too. But all of that was merely incidental. He enjoyed her company. He hadn't realized, until he had run into her, how much he had missed Angel and Cordelia. He missed their friendship, and the companionship that came from working so closely with someone else in his line of work. But it wasn't so much of a case of him using Willow as a way to fill that empty void as it was rediscovering a kind of common bond he seemed to have lost somewhere along the way.

But, it was time for him to leave. His short little vacation in this mountain town was over, and it was time he returned to the task he had set before him. It was this realization that kept him in motel room that morning. He was supposed to meet Willow for a late breakfast, and he was reluctant to leave.

He was tempted to ask her to come with him. He knew there was nothing keeping her in Williams, and she herself had mention once or twice that she wasn't entirely certain that she would return to Sunnydale.

The former watcher was afraid that after today he might not ever see her again. That idea bothered him more than he was willing admit to. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much, aside from the obvious. It was the not so obvious reason which he pushed to the back of him mind. He had time enough to deal with that.

So, instead of leaving his room, and meeting the subject of his numerous thoughts, Wesley sat at the desk in his room and began to read the newspaper, hoping to stave of a decision, if only for a few more minutes.

Willow sat at their usual booth for nearly twenty minutes before she decided to leave. If the town hadn't been so incredibly boring, she would have been concerned. But Williams had proved to not only not have any supernatural life to speak of, but also it didn't seem to have much of a life at all. At least not one that people as used to danger as her and Wesley were could enjoy with anything other than mild boredom.

Although, if asked, the redhead would have to admit to enjoying her stay immeasurably. But that had less to do with the town and more to do with the company she kept. She had to admit, if only to herself, that Wesley was nothing like what she had believed him to be.

He wasn't an imbecile, or second rate, or even the failure some had said him to be when he had left Sunnydale. He was highly intelligent, surprisingly witty, when given the chance, and if she stories he had told her held even a sliver of truth, he had more bravery in him than anyone had given him credit for. And, as a bonus, he looked remarkably good in leather. Willow giggled at the thought. She had never pictured Wesley in leather before, but it suited him, oddly enough.

He seemed much more relaxed than she had ever remembered him being, although in all fairness, no one had ever really given him a chance in Sunnydale. She, least of all. She had been so loyal to Giles, and so willing to follow Buffy in whatever she believed, she hadn't given the younger watcher a chance. So caught up in her own life, and what she had thought was her being slighted for the other Slayer, Willow had scarcely done more than scorn Wesley.

Now, she realized the error she had made. However, in realizing this, she also realized that it was not entirely her error. Wesley himself wasn't all he could be in Sunnydale. He had made an erroneous impression on all concerned and allowed himself to slip into the mold that impression had created.

Molds. They were something Willow knew a lot about. Didn't everyone, everywhere fit into some sort of mold? Didn't some people create the mold themselves, while others aloud themselves to be shaped into someone else's mold? Some, could break loose, and create their own. While others, lived out their days, trapped in another's.

Now, Willow realized was her time to break free. Now was her time to create her own mold. She wondered if creating her own required her to do it alone? She didn't think so. At least she hoped not.

Leaving the diner, Willow realized she had made some sort of decision, although she wasn't entirely sure what that decision was. She walked the short distance to Wesley's room. As she knocked on the door she noticed the almost deadly silence on the other side of the door. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if perhaps she was too late. Maybe he had already left town, and that was why he hadn't shown up. But then the rational side of her brain realized Wesley wouldn't have left her sitting alone in the diner if he had left town. Even if it had been an emergency, he would have left a message. That was just his way.

So, confident that he was still in town, Willow knocked again. It was nearly a full minute later when the door opened. Wesley stared at her for a second before stepping to the side and inviting her in.

Willow noticed the luggage sitting in his bed and smiled slightly.

"You're leaving?" She asked, with only a hint of disappointment.

Wesley nodded. "Yes. I need to… I have to be in New Mexico early next week."

Willow nodded her understanding. "I…

"I was wondering…" Wesley started before he realized that Willow had spoken. He wasn't even sure what it was he was going to ask. He wanted to invite her to come with him, but at the same time he didn't want her to get the wrong impression. He didn't even know what the wrong impression was.

"Yes?" Willow asked hopefully.

Wesley looked at her carefully, unsure if he was about to make a mistake. He took a deep breath, finally deciding that if it was, it might be one worth making. But just as he was about to utter the words, Willow interrupted.

"Would you like some company?" She asked cautiously, not wanting him to feel obligated to say yes.

Wesley wasn't sure if he had heard her correctly at first. "What?" He asked dumbly.

"I asked if you wanted some company." Willow repeated. "But it's okay, if you don't, I understand. People to help, demons to slay…" She trailed off.

"No, I… I'd love some company, actually." Wesley smiled.

"Great!" Willow smiled brightly. She turned towards the door. "I'll go pack."

She was out the door before Wesley could stop her, not that he really wanted to. All of a sudden he wasn't so reluctant to leave Williams, Arizona.

As two separate people, in two separate rooms finished their last minute preparations in their effort to continue on this journey that had unwittingly embarked on, they both found themselves musing about how funny life was. How things can change in the blink of an eye.

And all because of a chance encounter.