Title: Protector
Author: Serendipity
Email: trekchic@usa.net
Distribution: Y'all know me. I say yes. Just ask beforehand so I know.
Disclaimer: the characters belong to Joss Whedon
Rating: PG-13 (language, violence and content)
Author's Notes: Oz doesn't exist...again (I'm SORRY!!!) and uhm..Oh, this is my take on what fourth season would be like for 'Buffy' and for the new series 'Angel'. (meaning, all of the previous seasons are fair game. I haven't seen Grad2 yet, though, so don't worry about that type of spoilage. Angel is in L.A.) Only difference: (big one) the Scooby Gang is still in high school. So, the events of season 3 took place their junior year. Oh, and lastly, for those who have read it and are wondering, this is totally unrelated to one of my other stories, When Stars Collide. :) Feedback is, as always, adored, highly appreciated, very motivational and always responded to.
Dedication: to everyone who's ever wanted to have something dedicated to them but never has, this story is wholeheartedly for you.

Part 6


Exhausted, Willow collapsed on her bed.

“Five minutes, Red. Then I want to see your butt back in here.” A voice called from the other room.

Shaking her head from her prone position, Willow was almost positive that Whistler had somehow found out about Cordelia’s plan and was now secretly taking his aggression out on her. She had been up for the past two hours, since six in the morning.

It hadn’t been pretty.

Even after two years of watching and training with Buffy, Whistler had proven the hacker to be out of shape in a matter of minutes. After several grueling repetitions of kicks, punches and spins, she had been on the verge of tears while her mentor was barely breaking a sweat. For such a small guy, Whistler certainly was unusually strong.

“You want some water?”

Weakly lifting her head up, she gratefully took the proffered bottle.

“Don’t worry, Red, it gets easier. Trust me. You should be proud of yourself. Angel didn’t handle this half as well as you are. He’s much too whiny.”

“You trained Angel?” Her voice came like a soft croak.

“Well, yeah,” the demon stared down at her matter-of-factly, “What? Did you really believe his ‘I learned it during my many experiences over the years’ bullshit?” He made a face, “When I found him, he couldn’t defend himself against the cold let alone another person. Now just look at him, all dressed in leather like a proper badass vampire. And then what does he do? Goes and forgets the little people.” Reaching down, he unceremoniously hauled Willow to her feet.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

“Huh?” he mumbled, distractedly, “That can’t possibly be…she’s an hour early.”

Willow, for her part, couldn’t care less who the visitor was. Closing her eyes, she fell blissfully backwards onto her bed.

“Cordelia?” the redhead heard his frustrated howl from the living room. Quietly, she smiled at the ceiling. She would have laughed had her ribcage not been in utter agony.

“Good morning. I brought bagels. Aren’t you up kinda early? Where’s Willow? What’s with the sweatpants?” The stream of questions shot out of the brunette’s mouth as she was walking into the bedroom, “Willow, hi! You look like crap.”

Snorting, the hacker couldn’t find the energy to respond.

“If you break her before I get a chance to haul her to the mall with me, I’m going to be very unhappy,” Cordelia warned the demon.

“Speaking of which, why are YOU up this early? And so bright eyed and bushy tailed too. You haven’t been shooting up again, have you?”

“You know I only save that for extended visits at your place.”

“Okay, enough fun, get outta here, May Queen. Go grab a manicure or something. You can even take my car, but I need another half an hour with Willow.”

“Excuse me if I pass on the snot-mobile.” She pursed her lips at him, “At this rate, she’ll be dead in another half an hour.”

“Cordelia…” Whistler began, a faint warning in his voice.

“Whatever. I actually need to use your computer. Check mail and stuff. Mine is on the fritz.”

“Self-serving as always,” the demon ribbed her good-naturedly.

“Hey!” She held up her brown paper bag, “Excuse you, but don’t forget that I brought BAGELS with me.”

“Which makes using people okay.”

“Exactly!” She flung the bag on a nearby chair, smiled brightly and stalked back into the living room. “Oh, and for some reason, that reminds me,” she yelled, “I have your cell phone. Patrick something or another called from the Watcher’s Council to say that they were going to kick your ass for stealing Willow.”

Closing his eyes, Whistler sighed, “Lovely.”

“In those words too. Like, direct quote and everything. Only, I think he said ‘arse’ cause he’s Briti-,”

“Okay, Cordelia,” Annoyed, Whistler followed her into the living room leaving Willow to drift off into a light slumber, “I need to get in touch with some people. Can you make yourself useful and stay here until the next tutor shows up?”

“Well, duh.” She responded, not looking up from the screen.

He rolled his eyes, “Thanks.”

Waiting a few seconds to make sure that the demon had truly gone, Cordelia quickly leapt up from her seat and ran into the bedroom, hauling a sleepy and stumbling Willow back to the computer with her. “Okay, I plugged Angel in yesterday night and the doofus should have emailed you back provided he figured out how. He was way excited.” She chattered happily.

Waking up at the mention of the vampire, Willow smiled shyly, “Oh, okay, well let’s see.” After a few moments, she accessed her account, “Oh wow, here it is…” licking her lips in anticipation, she opened up the email, “and it’s so….short.”

“’Dear Protector’,” Cordelia read in a monotone voice over her shoulder, “’I want to meet you. Angel’.” Snorting in disgust she shook her head, “And yet again, the man manages to suck more than I ever thought possible. Just wait until I get home…”

“Oh, but Cordelia, it’s okay,” the redhead shook her head, “I mean, at least he wrote back. An-and besides. It’s just so Angel. All cryptic and quiet and stuff.”

“You know, Willow, you’re a really sweet and forgiving person.” The brunette responded thoughtfully, “It’s one of the things that I admire about you. But that doesn’t change the fact that Angel’s a big fat dork.”

“Well, I just mean…isn’t this really the first time he’s ever written email bef-,”

“Okay, enough. This whole entire ‘understanding’ thing you’ve got going? I’m going to have to fix. Remind me. We’ll work on it together.”

"O-okay..." Willow looked somewhat confused.

"So, what do you plan on telling the moron?"

“Well, I don’t have a clue what Whistler has planned for tonight so I guess I'll just have to tell him that I’ll see what I can do.” The redhead shrugged helplessly.

“Am I interrupting?”

Startled at the new voice behind her, Willow spun around…and squealed for joy.

“Amy!”

Rolling her eyes, Cordelia gave the witch a deadly glare, “Hel-lo, way to scare someone to death. The little round button by the door? It’s called a bell. Ever consider using it?”

Trying to look casual, even Giles had to admit that 12 men dressed in tweed were somewhat conspicuous.

“Good work on the cell phone number. How are we doing on an address?” Patrick asked gruffly.

“Ah..ah..close, sir. Very close.” A young man with blonde hair spoke up. Glancing nervously at his watch he nodded, “Micah should be back any minute. I expect that she’ll have something to report.”

< Willow would have been able to single handedly hack an address hours ago. > Giles thought wistfully of his young protégé. Amidst all of the ruckus and squabbling over the past few sleepless days, Willow was his only real anchor to sanity. He didn’t hold the redhead’s decision to leave against her by any means. In fact, it showed a kindness and strength of character that would serve her well in her duties as Immortal Watcher. < As long as that bloody little thieving imbecile doesn’t get her killed first. >

“Mr. Giles, how is your team?”

Snapping to attention, he coughed, “Yes, all in place as planned.”

The news of the missing young woman had sent the entire organization into an uproar. The headquarters in London were currently operating on a skeleton staff. Just about every Watcher who was physically able made his or her way to California. Several brought young girls with them. They were proxy Slayers who may or may not be activated but were consummately thrilled to get a short ‘vacation’ in the sunny weather. The Council had to spare five Watchers alone just to escort the troupe on a diversionary excursion to Disney World.

“Good. We get the address, and then we move.” Patrick observed the men assembled in front of him, “Any questions?”

“Martin, did you eat the last Jellie?” A short, portly man complained.

“For the love of God, you idiot, the Immortal Watcher is missing and all you can think of is food?” retorted his companion, who looked appropriately outraged. Unfortunately, he said this with a smear of purple jam on his upper lip, giving him away as the perpetrator.

Quickly, the table dissolved into a collection of small arguments, as they did almost every single time they convened.

Giles sighed. < At this rate, it’ll be a miracle if we can find her at all… >

“I kinda have a plan of how I want to do this, but since we haven’t practiced extensively together, except for that one time with the protection spell for Buffy, I’m not really sure where you are on terms of experience.” Amy explained.

“W-well, I’ve done some stuff. You know, nothing really specific. Just a little bit here and there…the soul restoration was the biggest. Since then I’ve done a few informal things. I’ve dabbled.” Willow responded helpfully. “Yes, I guess you could call me a dabbler.” Although she wasn’t sure how Amy and Whistler knew each other, the hacker was thrilled to see yet another familiar face. The fact that the blonde girl also happened to be a fairly powerful witch was just an added bonus.

“Okay, have you done much levitation or projection on objects?”

“Well, I’ve practiced a little. Like on pencils.”

“Oh, okay good,” Amy smiled, “So you understand the concept at least, right? That’s usually the hardest.”

“You’re pretty much projecting your own strength to move things.”

“Exactly,” the witch nodded in agreement, “That’s on a basic level. As you move on to bigger things, I’ll teach you how to draw strength from your surroundings, including from your opponents, in order to move things.”

“Cool…”

“Let’s start with that candlestick holder on the table. Concentrate like you normally do with the pencil, Willow. Try to move it. Don’t overexert yourself, just slide it a few inches towards me.”

Staring determinedly, the hacker narrowed her eyes and focused her gaze on the object. Gritting her teeth, she felt the tell-tale tingle of power working its way to her fingertips when suddenly she sneezed. In a flash, the door slammed shut and the redhead found herself flat on her rear.

“Wh-what..?” She shook her head, slightly disoriented.

Concealing her nervous glance at the door, the witch helped Willow to her feet, “It’s no big deal, Willow. Your concentration just broke for a second and you closed the door instead of moving the candle. There was a bit of…backlash too…” Furrowing her brow, she looked thoughtful, “It might be better to try this a little later under more..controlled circumstances. Hey, why don’t we try something a little different? I know a pretty good ‘smokescreen’ type spell that can help you to cover your tracks and escape from a fight if you ever need to. Can you run downstairs and grab my bag while I set up?”

“Sure thing.” Looking slightly dejected, the hacker left to comply.

Standing with her back to the wall, Amy silently contemplated what had just happened.

“Problems?” Whistler asked, seemingly melting out of the surroundings to stand behind her.

Unfazed by his surprise entrance, the witch shrugged without turning around, “She’s strong, Whistler. Pencils and candles are one thing. Doors are another. I didn’t think she would be able to move the candle at all this time around. “ Sighing, Amy retrieved the object in question and examined it thoughtfully before continuing.

“She’s like this constant source of energy. It’s really incredible, but the thing that’s scaring me is that it’s so uncontrolled. I don’t know if you should patrol with her this soon. I don’t want her to have to resort to magic without at least a few more weeks of lessons. She’s so powerful that she might hurt herself.”

“We don’t have a few weeks,” the demon reminded her gently, “Don’t worry, though. I’ll look after her, Amy. As long as she sticks with me, she’ll be fine.”

“You ready?” The redhead returned, black bag in hand.

“Absolutely,” Amy sent her a warm smile before turning around to grab the package of basil that had been left on the bed. She didn’t need to look to know that the demon who had brought it had already disappeared.

“Okay, Red, stay with me and stay down.” Whistler spoke softly over his shoulder to the young woman crouched next to him.

“I’ll try.” Willow responded, her voice muffled slightly by the black hood she wore. Try as she might, Cordelia hadn’t been able to convince the demon to alter the headgear. He’d agreed to the new skin-tight black pants and even to the black body suit underneath, but nothing was changing his mind on the hood. (“For pete’s sakes, Cordelia, the girl’s got red hair!”)

Watching silently from above, the pair kept a careful eye on Angel as he slowly walked along his patrol route, stake in hand.

As the vampire passed underneath, he hazarded a glance upwards, almost as if by instinct, but was too slow for Whistler who quickly pushed the hacker farther back into the foliage, effectively obscuring her from Angel’s view.

“Remember what I told you. No magic this time around. Stay out of things unless absolutely necessary and never ever get so far away from me that we can’t see each other. The subliminal pre-conditioning that allowed you to fight over the past few weeks might begin to kick in now. If it does, just relax and follow your instincts, they’ll guide you better than anything else in this case.”

“Incoming.” Willow responded shortly, while nodding at the ground.

Sure enough, Whistler spotted the three vampires rapidly closing in. Casting his charge a worried glance, he sighed. Even underneath the thin black veil, he could see the intensity of her green eyes as they focused completely on Angel and his impending battle. He felt her tense beside him and slowly began to doubt his own decision to bring her along so soon, “Careful, Willow, there are only three of them. Angel’s handled more than that before.”

Snarling, the vampire in question quickly took the offensive and kicked his nearest opponent aside while bringing his stake into the heart of the other. Preoccupied, he couldn’t prevent the remaining one from getting in a good punch to his stomach. Crying out hoarsely, Angel briefly doubled over.

Sensing Willow’s self control stretching thin, Whistler quickly placed a restraining hand on her arm, “Easy, Red. He can handle it.”

As if on cue, Angel quickly spun around, swept the legs out from under his attacker and staked him neatly.

“See? What did I tell you?” the demon turned to give her a self-satisfied grin only to notice that she hadn’t even heard him.

Slowly, he followed her gaze back down to the ground where Angel, slightly rumpled from his encounter, was staring up at them. More specifically, he was staring at Willow.

The demon’s smile slowly faded as he saw Angel first touch his hand to his head and then outstretch it to the young girl above in silent greeting. Carefully, she inclined her head at him, returning his gesture appreciatively.

< What the…? > Whistler felt his frustration well up inside. It was irritating times like this that the demon couldn’t help but remember certain things that Cordelia had warned him about. Things such as trying to “prevent the inevitable.” Shaking his head, he threw off her cautionary words < I’ll be eternally damned if I’m going to let everything we’ve worked for go to shit on Day 1. > “Let’s go.” He whispered softly, “Our cover’s blown, we need to retreat and regroup.”

The words were no sooner out of his mouth when a group of approximately 10 enormous vampires ambushed the very distracted Angel.

“Oh Fu…” the rest of the curse was lost as Willow suddenly disappeared from beside him, leaping into the fray headfirst.

For a horrible second, Whistler could do little more than sit in the tree, frozen in complete surrealistic horror over his sudden loss of control. Swiftly though, he regained his senses and jumped down to aid in the fight. It rapidly became clear, however, that his help wasn’t really needed.

Within seconds, Willow and Angel managed to dispatch more than half of their opponents. Like two parts of a mighty whole, the pair fought as if they had been trained together since childhood. Staring dumbfounded, Whistler wasn’t sure if he should be thrilled over their incredible effectiveness or devastated over the rapid unraveling of his carefully made plans. Thus, his reaction fell somewhere in the middle. Somewhere along the lines of anxious nausea.

“Left!” Angel shouted from behind and, without thinking, Willow complied in perfect synch as she ducked and rolled to switch sides with him, bringing her arm up with lightning efficiency and impaling her stake into her new opponent.

Jumping up, she returned to her neutral fighting position, back to back with Angel.

“Three remaining. Two right. One above. Start on go.” He whispered to her through clenched teeth. Waiting until he felt the movement of air directly overhead, Angel yelled.

“Go!”

In a flash, they both shot away from each other, Angel continuing forward to fight the vampire in front, while Willow spun around to challenge the one that had fallen in the space between them.

Whistler was in such deep thought taking mental notes on the couple’s every move that he barely managed to deflect a blow from behind him. Aggravated over the events of the night as a whole, he made quick work of dusting the vampire who had dared to attack him.

Turning around, he moaned in agony.

< When it sucks, it really really sucks a lot, doesn’t it? > He cast an exasperated look heavenward before cursing under his breath.

Within the two minutes since the fight had begun, 10 vampires had disappeared.

Within the two seconds it had taken Whistler to dispatch his opponent…

So had Willow and Angel.




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