Title: A Night for Reflection
Author: Angelina
Email: angelina2006@hotmail.com
1st of '3 R's' Series

Willow looked at the Slayer’s form lying in the hospital bed. So still, so pale, so fragile. If it were not for the breath sounds coming through the oxygen mask Willow would have been unsure whether she was alive or dead. Her face was unmarked, belying the extent of her injuries which were severe to say the least. Willow reached out and took her friend’s hand. It was cold and unresponsive, the fingers did not tighten around Willow’s as they had done so many times in the past.

Sitting alone in the silent hospital room Willow allowed herself to cry. Giles and Buffy’s mom had gone for coffee. Xander, Cordelia and Oz had gone home a few hours ago when they’d learned that Buffy’s condition had stabilised. Oz had tried to convince Willow to go with them but she’d refused. Then he had offered to stay with her but she’d abruptly told him just to go. She hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings but she just wanted to be with Buffy right now.

A tear ran down her cheek as she wished it were her in the bed instead of Buffy. It should have been, would have been if Buffy had not come along when she did. The events of the previous night ran through her mind, every image, every sound, every smell imprinted on her memory.

Walking home alone from the library after dark was not something she normally did but she had stayed on a little later than the others to finish up. She had told them to go and that she would be perfectly fine. She had the usual equipment in her bag - stake, cross, holy water - so she wasn’t unduly worried. What she hadn’t counted on was a vampire lying in wait for her. One who had watched the others leave and knew she was alone. One who knew her. Angelus.

He stalked his prey for a while before swooping in for the catch. He moved stealthily and before Willow even knew he was there he had a hand covering her mouth and another pinning her arms to her sides. She tried to scream but only managed a muffled sound. Her attacker spoke.

"Hello Willow."

The voice was both familiar and not familiar to her. Then the penny dropped. The voice was Angel’s but with a harder, more guttural quality to it. A threatening, menacing cadence. It was Angelus. Willow’s heart pounded in her chest and her breathing quickened. Angelus brought his face down to hers and sniffed.

"You smell so good when you’re terrified.....good enough to eat."

A squeak came from under his hand. "Oh but don’t worry, I’m not gonna do that, that wouldn’t be as much fun as what I have planned for you."

"Mot oo oo av and?" Willow mumbled.

"What do I have planned?"

Angelus pulled Willow’s face around and made her look at him.

"I’m going to hurt you."

His demonic features broke into a twisted smile revealing his fangs.

"And then, when I’m done hurting you, I’m going to leave you for your pitiful bunch of friends to find."

"My mont oo ill me ow?"

Willow spoke as best she could, she was shaking uncontrollably now.

"If I kill you now that’d hurt Buffy, it’d hurt her a lot. But if I make you suffer, if I make you beg me to kill you and then send you back to her in that state, that will destroy her."

Tears ran over Angelus’ hand, he lowered his head and licked then off.

"Mmmm, your tears taste good, I bet your blood is as sweet as honey."

He licked her neck with his rough tongue and she squirmed away but he held her tight.

"Yeah, Buffy’ll be real cut up when she finds out what I’ve done to her little Willow."

A voice came from behind them.

"Not if I cut you up first."

Angelus whirled around still holding Willow. There stood Buffy, hands on hips, staring defiantly at Angelus.

"Well hello lover, this is a surprise. Shouldn’t you be patrolling across town?"

Buffy took a step towards them but Angelus moved his hand from Willow’s mouth onto her throat. She emitted a strangled gasp and Buffy stopped in her tracks.

"Let her go" she said quietly.

Angelus shook his head and clicked his tongue.

"Now Buffy, do you really think you’re in a position to be giving orders to me?"

He tightened his grip slightly and Willow whimpered.

"Come on Angel, it’s me you want."

"Ah, now that’s a very ego-centric view of things wouldn’t you say?"

Angelus loosened his hold on Willow’s neck but kept hold of her.

"You couldn’t be more wrong. Soul-Boy wanted you and look where that got him! No, I don’t want you, I couldn’t want you less. What I want is to see you suffer. And what better way to do that than to attack the chink in your armour?"

"Chink? What chink?"

Buffy wanted to keep him talking, if he was talking, he wasn’t hurting Willow.

"You see, my normal MO doesn’t usually work on Slayers. But then again you’re not like most Slayers."

"Oh yeah? And how’s that?"

Buffy was inching towards them imperceptibly.

"Slayers don’t usually have so many friends to play with." Angelus explained obligingly. "You my dear are a formidable opponent in combat but you have a huge weakness. You care too much about people."

Buffy had stopped moving. Angelus’ words frightened her more than she would have liked. Because they were true. He went on, liking the sound of his own voice.

"You know that if I was holding you right now you’d know exactly what to do. You’d be fighting me for all you were worth. But here we are instead, I have your bestest buddy and you can’t do a thing in case I hurt her."

Angelus’ yellow eyes glinted in the moonlight. Buffy stood, helpless. Angelus continued.

"Actually, this might be better than what I had planned. This way I get to see your reactions first hand."

Buffy realised the meaning of this statement a second too late and Angelus’ head whipped down and his teeth pierced the smooth skin of Willow’s neck. Buffy lunged forward and grabbed Angelus’ hair yanking his head upwards as Willow’s scream split the night.

Angelus let go of Willow and, not expecting to be released, she fell to the ground and scrambled away from him holding her neck. Buffy took a stake from her back pocket and raised it. Angelus brought his knee up and it connected with her stomach. She stumbled backwards, momentarily winded. Angelus advanced on her in her vulnerable state. He grabbed the hand that held the stake attempting to wrench it away from her. She held on tight and their struggle brought them face to face, almost touching.

"I’m not gonna kill you now." Angelus snarled. "That’s be the easy way out for you."

"Oh yeah? Well, you’ll forgive me if I skip straight to the killing you part, I can’t be bothered with all the other stuff." Buffy replied breathlessly.

She suddenly got the upper hand and pushed Angel off balance. He fell backwards but pulled her with him. The stake fell out of Buffy’s hand and rolled out of reach. As she stretched towards it Angelus punched her squarely in the face. Blood ran from her nose and landed on Angelus’ face. The smell seemed to give him a boost of energy and he threw Buffy off of him and he reached out and grabbed the stake.

Willow was watching the fight from a distance. She winced with every blow Angelus landed on Buffy. She saw his hand close around the stake and knew she had to do something. She saw her bag in the road and went to retrieve her vampire fighting supplies.

While Willow’s back was turned Buffy regained her composure and hurled herself at Angelus just as he turned around with the stake in his hand, pointing upwards. Buffy did not make a sound as she felt the wood break through her skin and continue deeper into her abdomen as her weight carried her forward. For a split second there was no pain. Her eyes locked with Angelus’ and his face registered shock as he felt blood on his hands, then a smile crept over his lips. That was when the pain hit. Searing agony ripped through her entire body like nothing she had ever experienced. She opened her mouth but the sound which came out seemed detached and very far away.

The scream was the most awful sound Willow had ever heard. Her heart seemed to turn to ice. For the next few moments everything happened in slow-motion. She spun around to see Buffy rolling off Angelus, her hands were clutching her stomach and something seemed to be protruding from between her fingers. The stake.

Angelus was moving towards Buffy but Willow, spurred on by a hatred she could never have imagined feeling, was quicker. She threw her whole bottle of Holy Water directly onto Angelus’ face. He uttered a low growl followed by a howl of pain. He had been blinded by the water and had no intention of sticking around to see what Willow would do next. He clambered to his feet and ran off into the dark.

Time resumed its normal speed as Willow ran to Buffy’s side. Her breathing was quick and her eyes were staring into the night sky. Her hands were covered in blood which continued to flow.

"Oh my God, oh my God, Buffy!"

Willow put her hands over Buffy’s in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. The warm sticky liquid repulsed her and fascinated her. It signified the life slowly ebbing out of her best friend.

"Help!" Willow screamed the word at the top of her voice. "Somebody please help us!"

She looked at Buffy’s face, her eyes were closed.

"No Buffy, come on, wake up. Don’t leave me. I need you." Willow pleaded, her throat raw from shouting and crying.

"Will..." Buffy’s voice was no more than a whisper but the sound of it made Willow’s heart start beating again.

"I’m here Buffy, what is it?"

But she didn’t speak again.

After that things were a bit of a blur. Someone from a nearby house called an ambulance which whisked the two of them to the hospital where Willow was left alone as Buffy was rushed to the emergency room. Willow had called Buffy’s mom and Giles. Giles had called the others and everyone had arrived at the hospital frantic.

The police wanted to speak to Willow. She told them the usual story - mugging, didn’t see the guy who did it, blah, blah, blah. Only when Buffy was brought down from the OR and her mother was allowed to see her did Willow get the chance to tell the real story to the others. There were a range of emotions from anger to sadness to sympathy but none of it made Willow feel better. Or less guilty.

Now sitting in the dimly lit room, Willow began to speak.

"Buffy, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. It was really stupid of me to walk home alone in the dark. It should be me lying in that bed. I’m not as important as you, it wouldn’t matter if I died but you’re the Slayer, the world needs you. And because of me you could have died. You were hurt so bad and I walked away with a couple of scratches."

Tears were flowing freely now.

"I’d give anything to trade places with you right now."

Willow bowed her head and sobbed quietly. She felt a movement from the hand she was holding. She looked up quickly and watched as Buffy’s hand curled around her own. She glanced at Buffy’s face, a pair of hazel eyes were watching her.

"Buffy! You’re awake! Oh my God, I’d better get your mom!"

Willow half stood up but Buffy’s voice stopped her.

"Wait"

Willow sat down again.

"What is it?" she asked softly, leaning closer to hear Buffy better.

"I don’t....ever want to...to hear you talk....like that again."

"You heard me?"

Buffy nodded.

"All of it?"

She nodded again.

"And when I’ve...had a little rest we...we’re gonna have....a long talk...OK?"

"OK."

Willow smiled and sighed with relief. She knew Buffy would be OK if she was worrying about her already and that was all that mattered for the moment. The only other thing which was of concern to her could wait for a while. And that was killing Angelus.

Willow stood up and gently kissed Buffy’s forehead.

"I’ll go get your mom."

"OK...Will, was I...mugged again?"

"‘Fraid so."

"OK...as long as I know."

Willow smiled and squeezed Buffy’s hand once more before leaving to find Joyce and Giles. Outside Buffy’s window a dark figure stood. His hand traced the shiny burn marks spoiling his handsome features.

"You’ll pay for this you little witch."