see chapter one for disclaimer
She had been on the phone with Buffy, trying to avoid mentioning Riley. Buffy was going on and on about Giles. Willow was feeling half thankful, half guilty about the whole conversation.
“Will, why won’t you call him?” Buffy wheedled for the third time. “He’s really hurt.”
“He can’t call me? Didn’t you give him the number?” Willow said. “I work odd hours, and it’s dangerous. I don’t want him worrying about me.”
“So, here’s an idea, call him and tell him you’re okay. Tell him something, at least, his moping is driving me nuts!”
Glass shattered everywhere, breaking the silence of the warm Los Angeles midnight. Two blue female demons flew through the windows of Willow’s brand-spanking-new apartment and landed, standing, on the floor.
Willow threw her telephone at one of the demons. Green eyes widened in surprise as it hit her square in her warty blue face, knocking her out cold. Willow screamed for Angel and sprinted towards the fire escape...
...only to find herself facing four more of them. She yelped and turned around to run the other way, barely ducking away from a wide punch. The demon instead connected with the wall, knocking a hole all the way through the brick facade of the building. Willow leapt over the unconscious demon’s body and barreled into Angel as he walked in, knocking them both down the stairwell behind him.
Angel did his best to cushion her, but it still hurt -- a lot -- when she landed on top of him. He got out from under her and quickly checked over her wounds as she said, “Demons. Sisterhood of Jhe. Dangerous. Six of them.”
“I can handle it.” He started to stand, but Willow still held his arm.
“No.” She shook her head. “It took two slayers and a smoke spell to take out four of them last time I saw them. They’re tougher now.”
“So what do you propose we do about it?” A deep voice echoed in the stairwell. Gunn had his battle axe in one hand, and Cordelia held a long-bladed knife tightly as she followed him up the stairs.
“Kick their ass?” Angel grinned.
Willow sighed. “I’ll go get the bat.”
The bat, as she called it, was a three inch thick wooden paddle with two nails driven through the top. It was a smash-rip-destroy kind of weapon, and Gunn had put it together for her the week before. He brought it out from behind his back now and held it out to Willow. “Stay towards the back.”
“Don’t worry.” She said, taking the weapon. “You were a Boy Scout, eh?”
“No.” He said as he moved up the stairs. “Why do you ask?”
“Never mind.”
Angel held up a hand. “Shhh.”
They heard nothing.
“They’re gone.” He said, and walked slowly back into the apartment.
The place had been left untouched except for the stained glass doors of the cabinet, which had been ripped from the hinges and taken away. The only broken glass on the floor was clear, from the windows.
Willow looked around a bit more. She was confused. “What would demons want with stained glass doors?”
“Maybe their lair lacks in the style department. They’re demon chicks?” Cordelia quipped.
“Actually, they were.” Willow said. “But I don’t know very much about them.”
“I don’t remember very much either,” Angel said. “But I know someone who does.”
Buffy was frantic. She’d heard the glass breaking, and a scream, which had been cut off when the phone line went dead. She had just locked the front door of the shop and was racing to the back exit when Giles came out of the office. She ran smack into him and they fell.
“Whoa!” He caught her and grunted as he felt the cold hard floor beneath him. “What’s wrong, Buffy?”
“Willow’s in trouble! I’m going to her house right --” Her face fell. “She’s in LA I couldn’t save her if I wanted to.”
He felt his heart skip a beat. “She’s with Angel. Chances are he’s on his way there right now.” He did his best to maintain his calm, but failed. “If he lets anything happen to her, I’ll stake him myself.”
“You and me both.”
They sat on the floor for a moment and looked at each other worriedly.
The phone rang, and Buffy raced to answer it. “Willow?”
“Buffy?” Angel’s voice came through, slightly broken from the long distance line.
“Angel? Listen, Willow’s in trouble --”
“She’s fine. She’s just fine. Don’t worry.” He said quietly. “She’s right here. Do you want to talk to her?”
“Yes. Thanks.” She put a hand over the receiver. “She’s fine, Giles. Angel was already there.”
“Buffy?”
“Willow! What happened?”
“Do you remember the Sisterhood of Jhe?”
“Uh...what color were they?” Buffy’s eyes widened. “Sisterhood of Jhe. We were reading about them a few nights ago, right Giles?”
Giles nodded. “Blue-skinned female demons. They are very....rambunctious, as I recall.”
Buffy relayed the information, and Willow said, “Well, they just broke into my apartment and stole my curio cabinet doors. Are they some kind of interior decorator demons?”
Angel snorted.
Buffy said, “No. Well, if you remember, they were the ones who wanted to reopen the Hellmouth.”
“I remember. That’s why it makes no sense.” Willow sighed.
“I agree.”Buffy said, puzzled. “Maybe you should talk to him.” She handed the phone to her Watcher, ignoring the protests she knew Willow was making.
“No, Buffy, that’s not necessary.” Willow was saying as he put the phone to his ear. “Really --”
“Willow.”
The warm rumbling voice sent a shiver up her arms, and she felt her face heat all the way to the hairline. He was still talking. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Giles. We’re all fine here. How are you?”
“Just fine, thank you.” His voice was a bit more brisk than usual -- Willow could tell he was hurt that she hadn’t called. But what was she supposed to say to him?
“You say the Jhe broke into your apartment. Did they take anything?” He asked.
“Two stained glass doors. It’s so weird that I’m sure it has some significance. I remember that there were files on them that I scanned into your computer a few years ago. Would you mind emailing them down here?”
“No, I don’t mind.” He paused. “Will you have a few minutes to speak with me on this tomorrow? By then I’ll have the research rounded up and on its way to you.”
“I...um..yeah, sure.” Willow said. “What time?”
“Three in the afternoon, or thereabouts. Why don’t you call me when you receive the message?”
“Sure.”
“Talk to you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Giles.”
“Good-bye, Willow.”
Well, that went very well, didn’t it?” Buffy said dryly. “You’re talking to her now, at least.”
“I don’t want to talk to her in front of an audience, all right?” Giles answered in the form of a question. “And I wish that you wouldn’t discuss it with her until she and I have an understanding of some sort.”
“Do you love her?” Buffy asked.
He sighed and pulled his glasses off his face to clean them. “I don’t know.”
“But you care about her.”
“Of course.”
“And you’re attracted to her.”
Giles glared at her.
“So you two are my closest friends on the whole planet. Why wouldn’t I talk about your relationship with each other with both of you?” Buffy crossed her arms over her chest, stern, then tilted her head quizzically. “Did that make sense?”
“I can’t believe that it did.” He smiled. “But yes, it made sense.”
“You going to talk to her tomorrow?”
“Of course,” He answered, and thought to himself, *But not about that.*
“Well, that went very well, didn’t it?” Angel said dryly. “You’re talking to him now, at least.”
“I don’t want to talk to him in front of an audience, all right?” Willow sighed. “I’m not even sure if there’s anything to say.”
“Now do you want to tell me what happened?” Angel sat down behind the desk in his office, where Willow was perched, legs crossed and dabbed with iodine.
“We had big honkin’ camel sex* all over his apartment. On the sofa, on the stairs, in the bathroom, his bed, the floor...” She blushed slightly. “And then I left to come to LA”
“Oh.” Angel stared at her. “You left without saying good-bye.”
“Yeah. He’s hurt, and I don’t blame him.”
“But you knew that if you stopped to say good-bye, you wouldn’t have been able to leave, right?” Angel said.
“How did you know?” Willow asked.
Angel looked her in the eyes. “I left my heart in Sunnydale, too.”
Willow sighed and swung her legs. “Angel?”
“Yes, Willow.”
“Do you think we’ll ever be happy?”
“Happy? I’m never happy.”
“Isn’t that a funny word?” Willow smiled. “Happy. Happy happy happy happy. Sounds silly.”
“It’s supposed to. It’s happy.” Angel stood up and began to leave the room.
“Funny, real funny Angel.”
He turned around and looked at her, deadpan, and said. “I’m a funny guy.”
*Author’s note: I wrote this chapter on a Saturday afternoon before I went in to work. At work, there were about 15 drunken Irishmen trying to say the phrase “camel sex is dangerous sex.” Imagine how funny that was to me while I was trying to carry a tray full of empty glasses and Guiness bottles. They call me Crash for a reason.
Incidentally, I never did find out exactly *why* they were saying “camel sex is dangerous sex.”
Chapter Six
Chapter Eight