| Title: The Adventures of Willow 'Danger' Rosenberg and Angel the Souled Vampire (Chapter Two) Previous Chapters Can Be Found Here Author: Gabrielle Pairing: Willow/Angel Rating: FRT/PG (at least for now) Summary: *Set during the summer between Seasons One and Two of BTVS* While Buffy's in Los Angeles, summer in Sunnydale looks to be nothing but boring for Willow and Angel. But on the Hellmouth, you can never take anything for granted. Warning: NONE Word Count: 2262 The Blue Pencil Crew: The absolutely stupendous Lilbreck and the super awesome Purplefeen. Thanks for helping me get fluffy. And extra special thanks to the incredible Kitty Poker who shepherded me through the beginnings of this last year. Words cannot express... Feedback: Please. Distribution: My LJ, my IJ, and my site only. Disclaimer: I own nothing. It all belongs to Joss and a bunch of other people who are not now and have never been me. Author's Notes: This is my first non-angst fic in quite awhile. I hope no one minds this departure from my norm. The Adventures of Willow ‘Danger’ Rosenberg and Angel the Souled Vampire (Chapter Two) Willow hadn’t seen Angel for almost a week. It wasn’t that she’d expected him to hang out with her or anything, but Willow couldn’t help but feel slighted. No, she guessed she and Angel weren’t exactly friends, but she’d sort of thought they’d bonded a little when he’d saved her life. Boy did it seem she was wrong about that. Looked like he only talked to her because she was Buffy’s friend. He probably figured it would help convince her to put in a good word with Buffy when (or if) she spoke to her this summer. Being used by someone who had a thing for Buffy. Gosh. That was new. Sighing, she punched her pillow, feeling sullen and angry and full of self-pity. She regretted her outburst immediately and patted the poor, down-filled cushion afterwards, smoothing its pillow sham for good measure. It wasn’t the pillow’s fault that her life sucked. How sad was it that she was ready to apologize to her pillow? It was barely past noon and she was already so bored that she was considering going back to bed. There weren’t even any interesting people to talk to in her favorite chat rooms. Even the biggest geeks she knew had better things to do on a summer day than go online. If only she didn’t have enough restless energy to power a generator (a thought which gave her an idea for next year’s science fair project). The only thing worse than being bored to tears was being bored to tears and so restless that she could feel her limbs twitch with the need to do something and she could almost feel the wheels spinning uselessly in her mind – just wanting to go somewhere. So she gave in – getting up from her bed, grabbing her purse, and heading out the door and off to the high school. With any luck, Giles would be in the library and would need her help with something. Even if he wasn’t, a futile walk was better than futile moping in her bedroom. Angel had been avoiding Willow for a week. Not that it should have been an effort, seeing as how they barely ever ran into each other even before the other night, but now he was almost paranoid about it. He went nowhere near her neighborhood, or the Bronze, or downtown Sunnydale, or Xander’s house – he barely patrolled at all, in fact. Guilt was starting to get the better of him. Sure, there was barely any evil afoot right now, but last week’s events proved that there was a big difference between ‘barely any’ and ‘none at all’. What if someone had been maimed, or turned, or killed because he was too busy hiding from developing a friendship with a teenage girl to pay his debt to humanity by keeping them safe from his kind? Guilt, oh thou faithful (and annoying) friend. Sighing, he got up from his bed and began pacing the room, stopping to punch his wall once in frustration. A small crack appeared where his fist had hit. Great. He’d never get his security deposit back when he moved. And now he felt guilty again for thinking of asking for money back from the landlord. He needed a hobby or something. It was barely past noon on a summer day – hours upon hours would pass before he could safely leave his tomb of an apartment to protect the unwary populace, and – his guilt-fueled musings earlier notwithstanding – even when he did, there was little likelihood of his finding anything more fearsome than those two idiot fledglings he’d stopped from draining Willow. Every other demon had better things to do than hang around this burg. What were those things? And where did they do them? It was as if someone was throwing a big demon party and Angel wasn’t invited. Not that he’d accept if he were, but still… He stomped over to his closet and grabbed his leather jacket. He figured he might as well head for the high school library and see about researching or something. The tunnels were a guaranteed safe way there and in without any danger from sunlight or locked doors. With any luck, he’d find out there was a vampire convention scheduled or something – creatures worth fighting. It would sure beat the heck out of brooding. Willow walked along, enjoying the daytime luxury of not paying attention to her surroundings, when she ran into Xander. Literally. “Hey there, watch where you’re…Willow?” Embarrassing, but this was still better than sitting at home having a self-pity party…at least as long as Xander didn’t start talking about Buffy. “Sorry,” she offered as she straightened her shirt. “I was on my way to the library to see if Giles needed any help or anything.” “Cyberspace that empty?” Thanks, Xander. “Well, I was on my way to see you.” He was? “So why don’t I just follow you to the library?” Willow almost beamed as she and Xander started down the sidewalk towards the school. He hadn’t even mentioned… “Have you heard from Buffy?” She sighed. Maybe she should have just stayed home. Angel came out of the tunnels quietly, navigating the basement and finding the entrance to the library with practiced ease. The smell of books was oddly soothing. Of course, that effect was lost the moment it occurred to him that he’d once overheard Willow express a similar sentiment. And of course, it was banished for all time – or at least the rest of the day – when the sound of a heartbeat only he could hear – accompanied by a cough any human could have – told him he did not have the library to himself. “Rupert,” he said gravely. Somehow it seemed less familiar to address him by his first name. Buffy and the others, after all, always called him ‘Giles.’ “Angel.” The voice that addressed him was stiff and formal, not that Angel was surprised. He couldn’t blame the man, either. No Watcher could be expected to accept the idea of a vampire befriending, let alone becoming involved with, his Slayer. “What brings you here?” Clearly Rupert Giles was displeased by his presence, despite Buffy’s absence. That made sense, too. “The town’s too quiet. I thought something might be brewing. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to look through some of the books, see if there were any prophecies or anything.” His explanation was perfectly accurate…well, mostly accurate. All he did was leave out the part where he was actually hoping there was trouble on the way because he was bored and desperate for something to do. Rupert still wore an expression of distrust (or it might have been constipation, Angel thought uncharitably), but he answered with, “Well, in fact I heard from an old friend and he told me something slightly alarming.” Angel fought to keep from rubbing his hands together in what was as close as he could get to glee. But before Rupert could say anything more, they were interrupted by… “Hi, Giles!” The very person he’d been avoiding for the past week. He should have stayed home and brooded. What had seemed like luck didn’t look anything like it upon closer examination. Not only was Giles in the library, but so was Angel. Just who she least wanted to see, since, after all, he didn’t want to see her. Stupid, rude, unfriendly vampire. Okay, yeah, he had kind of saved her life and all, but would it kill him (he was already dead, of course, but she meant more dead) to be nice? To stop by and say hi some night? To come to the Bronze and play pool with them? He was dating – at least he used to be dating – her best friend. Didn’t that count for anything? “Hi, Angel,” she offered. She’d greeted Giles and it would be rude not to include Angel, even if he was an annoying poophead. Xander, naturally, did nothing but glare at Angel and forgot to say hello to Giles. Angel nodded in her direction. Nodded – that’s all she got? Boy, when (if) Buffy called, she was so going to tell her that Angel was not a guy she should be dating. Of course, she immediately felt guilty – and selfish – for thinking that way. After all, it was how Angel treated Buffy that mattered, not whether or not he wanted to be pals with Willow. So she’d stay on board the Angel and Buffy train until Buffy herself gave her a reason to disembark. The fact that if Buffy broke up with Angel she’d be technically free and might even consider dating Xander never occurred to Willow – not even once. Okay, maybe once. “Any bad guys wreaking havoc? Present company excluded?” Xander asked, still glaring at Angel while ostensibly addressing Giles. “Actually,” Giles said, looking only slightly askance at Xander. “There might be.” “Might?” Angel and Xander asked in unison. Willow giggled behind her hand at the horror on each of their faces at having shared a thought. She couldn’t help it. “Yes, well, I received a call from an old friend and he told me that a creature known as Porthus might be headed here and…” “Porthos?” Willow interrupted. “The Three Musketeers are demons?” Xander looked appalled as well and Willow cheered inwardly. He knew who the Three Musketeers were; it was the nickname she'd given to the little group of which Jesse had once been the third part. Maybe Xander had even read Dumas! She couldn’t help rooting for him to prove to Angel and Giles that he was smarter than they thought. After all, she loved him. Go on, Xander. Show them. “There’s evil chocolate now?” Angel was caught between shock and nausea. Could anyone actually be so unrelentingly ignorant? Even Xander Harris? Willow looked stricken, extremely so, and it gave Angel pause. Sure, having your best friend say something so stupid had to be embarrassing, but her feelings seemed a bit excessive…unless… Oh no. She couldn’t possibly…there was no chance that…it couldn’t be true that… Willow was in love with Xander. Angel was now queasier than before. It was true that he didn’t know Willow terribly well, but she seemed extremely bright – a genius, really. What on Earth could she see in that boy? Oh well, it was none of his business. But this did put him in a bit of an awkward place since it forced him to bite his tongue and not come back with the smart retort he was itching to sail over Xander’s head. He owed Willow. Angel had seen the expression on her face when she’d walked in and realized he was there, heard the sharp dip in perky enthusiasm. He’d hurt her with his avoidance. He rubbed his temples. Was she some sort of Guilt Demon? Because it seemed like every time he was around her, he felt more and more ashamed of himself. Best to just get back to the subject at hand. Rupert beat him to the punch. “The creature is known as Porthus, with a ‘u’,” Rupert said gently, seeming to be trying to spare Willow’s feelings on all levels. Good. It wasn’t just Angel on whom she had this effect. “Oh,” Willow said, reddening. Angel could scarcely believe it. Xander thought the Three Musketeers were only a chocolate bar and Willow was embarrassed because she’d misunderstood Rupert’s pronunciation of the demon’s name? “The names are quite easily confused,” Rupert said, pre-empting Angel, who was growing annoyed at being continually upstaged by the Watcher. “And, of course, there’s every possibility that Dumas was inspired by tales of this demon. There have been quite a number of instances where…” “I’m sure that the tangent you’re about to go off on is very interesting in a stuffy, British kind of way, but can we get back to who this demon is? And are we sure that chocolate is safe?” And now Xander was getting in ahead of him. Angel was past annoyed and straight into irritated. “Quite,” Rupert replied, the rise of his eyebrow signaling that he and Angel had a bit of a fellow feeling at the moment. “I don’t have much information on him. All my informant knew was that he has a rather distinctive appearance and that he’s seeking some sort of power source. Anything more than that, I’m afraid, we must find out for ourselves.” Willow wanted to jump for joy. Research! A bad guy who needed defeating! It was like the answer to… A really selfish and thoughtless prayer. How could she be so happy about a potential killer? A creature that might be here to take innocent lives or even end the world. Was the alleviation of her own boredom so important that she was willing to sacrifice public safety? She caught herself skipping as she headed for the stacks. Apparently the answer to that last question was a big fat yes. Angel fought back the grin that was seeking by main force to conquer his face. Evil! At last! It was the best news he’d had since before Buffy left town. It was… A good reason to hate himself. How could he be so delighted at the prospect of innocent people in terrible danger? Lives in peril, lives he might not even be able to save. Who knew what this creature might be after. Was Angel so selfish and so obsessed with his own redemption – and with relieving his crushing boredom – that he was willing to court the deaths of innocent people? He found himself taking the stairs three at a time. Apparently the answer to that last question was resoundingly in the affirmative. Maybe he’d eaten too many rats. Tbc… Gabrielle The Velvet Vampire-The Writings of Gabrielle: James' Lollipop Association Member #27-Cherry Vanilla Lollipop Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops. - Kurt Vonnegut
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