disclaimer: all characters you recognize were created by Joss Whedon for the series BtVS, and do not belong to me.
distribution: if you have permission for the first series or either of the previous Dark Coffee's, then yes. Otherwise please ask first.
notes: AU season 2. Soul is gone, the Scoobies don't know this. Once again, thanks to Gabrielle for beta-reading this for me.
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Willow closed the door to her room, sighing at the soft click. Things had seemed slightly off ever since the night that she’d gone patrolling with Buffy and Angel had ended up saving her from a drunken jock. He’d taken her home with him, and she’d ended up meeting Drusilla and having tea with her before Angel had walked her home. Things had been strange. Except for school. That had been, well, pretty much the same as always, except that they’d started reading Wuthering Heights for English class.
Leaning against the door, Willow focused on the one thing that had been nagging at her all day. Why had Angel taken her to his place instead of here, to her parent’s house? When had Angel’s place become the same place that Spike and Dru were staying? And if that had been their place instead of Angel’s place, when had he gotten on good enough terms with them to just drop in on them with an unconscious guest?
She didn’t have answers to those questions.
Maybe their place was just closer than wherever it was that Angel had been staying? It had certainly been close to the alley where she’d fainted. Maybe it was just that Dru seemed to think her ‘Angel-daddy’ was wonderful. But still, why not just bring her home? There was something there…
She wondered what had happened to the jock. The guy who had been intending to… Shivering, Willow pushed the thought away, deciding that she really didn’t want to think about it. Not about what he’d been intending to do. Thank God that Angel had stopped him. Angel had…
Willow froze as she realized just how Angel had stopped him. He’d bitten the jock. Bitten him and just let him fall to the ground in a limp heap. Angel had bitten someone, maybe killed him, and all to save her.
“Something is seriously wrong with that. I was saved from the human when the vampire… He didn’t mean to, he told me that he just lost his temper. It was an accident,” Willow whispered out loud, her voice wavering on the last word. Accident.
“He must feel terrible, all broody and upset. That’s too much like the sort of thing evil vampires do for him to be comfortable,” Willow murmured. A part of her wondered if it made her a bad person that she didn’t feel bad for the guy who was probably dead from being dropped in a Sunnydale alley at night. Pushing that thought away, she sighed, “Angel must feel so guilty.”
Buffy and Xander hadn’t even noticed that she was distracted and quiet today. Oz might have, except that he’d been so busy with band-practice. Giles hadn’t noticed either. Maybe she was just easily overlooked.
Walking over to her desk, she gave her fish some food and pulled out one of her old jewelry boxes. Drusilla had talked about ‘nasty spells’, and while she was very glad that it had been in the context of ‘Angel-daddy said not to use them’, she wondered just who that had been directed at. Not that she’d done anything difficult. A little help with a few charms, that witch-finding potion, and she’d managed to float a few pencils. She was going to try floating a ring, something that she wouldn’t miss horribly if things went wonky.
Slowly, the first ring lifted into the air. A second floated up. The third was almost level with them when a tap at the outside door made Willow squeak and all three rings fell to the desktop.
“Willow?” Angel’s voice sounded guilty, even through the door.
"Angel," Willow looked at the door, ignoring the tiny pings as the rings fell back to the desk. She walked over, opening the door to reveal Angel. "Hey. Umm, is there some sort of strange thing you need me to look up on the computer again?"
Angel was smiling. Maybe more of a smirk, but the corners of his lips were definitely higher than the middle. "Am I interrupting?"
"Not really, I was only trying..." Willow faltered, her cheeks growing hot as Angel looked at her with that smirky grin. "Nothing that can't wait until later. How are you? I mean, after what happened with that guy."
Angel stood there, not really looking at her fish tank, and sighed, “I think I’ll manage to live with myself. I don’t know if I could say the same if I hadn’t stopped him.”
Willow told herself that Angel’s eyes hadn’t just flickered to gold when she’d asked about the guy. “That’s good to hear. I mean, I wouldn’t want you to feel bad for trying to protect me… or someone. I’d been worrying about that, not that you need someone to worry about you, but I was worried. That’s what friends do, they worry about each other.”
“I know. Thanks,” Angel leaned against the wall, and pulled a small book out of his jacket. “I brought this over for you.”
Willow took the book, her hand shaking as she felt the dark leather. Her mind turned to the memory of Buffy talking about how Angel had given her a volume of poetry once. She wasn’t sure how she’d react to something like that. “You brought me a book?”
“Dru wanted you to have it.”
Willow swallowed, pulling the book closer and feeling much more nervous. A book of poetry would have been easier to deal with. “She did? Why? Um, I mean…”
Something about Angel’s smile seemed indescribably wrong as he replied, “She likes you. She always wanted a younger sister, and she’s decided that now she has one. You.”
Willow found herself sitting on the bed, staring at the book as if it might sprout fangs and bite her. Over the years, she’d wondered about having a family, a brother or sister to talk to, share secrets with, even argue and fight with. Not once, however, had she imagined a sister like Drusilla. An image formed of herself and Dru, sprawled on a large bed with a ruffled comforter, dressed in fuzzy flannel pajamas, painting each other’s fingernails as her blinded and bound dolls watched from the dresser. “Oh. Oh boy…”
Angel’s hand settled on her shoulder, “Don’t worry so much, Willow. I’ll take care of you.”
Willow nodded, fingers sliding over the book. She believed that Angel would keep being there for her. Just like he had been last night. “I know you will.”