“It’s not what you think,” the vampire hurried to explain.

The pretty brunette looked at Willow’s tearstained face and gave her boss a slight smile. “How do you even know what I’m thinking, Angel? She looks like she broke, and you tried to fix her. Did she say anything?”

Angel winced as he shifted. For the first time in a century, he’d woken up with a crick in his neck. “Does screaming count?”

“Was it actual words?” When Angel shook his head, a look of disappointment crossed Cordelia’s face. “It doesn’t count then. Oh, well, at least she let you touch her. That’s a good sign, I guess.”

“She looked at me, Cordelia.”

“So?”

“As in at me, not through me. She was crying, and she looked at me, then... well, this happened,” he finished, gesturing to the exhausted redhead in his arms.

“You mean you think she actually recognized you? Are you sure it wasn’t just wishful thinking?”

Angel sat up, gently disentangling himself from Willow. He gestured toward the next room, and Cordelia followed him out, a rather confused expression on her face. “I didn’t want to wake her,” the vampire explained. “She really wore herself out last night; I want her to sleep as long as possible. And no, I don’t think her recognizing me was wishful thinking. When she looked at me, it was like she was shocked to see me. She knew exactly who I was, Cordelia.”

“So what now? We wait until she wakes up, ask her what the hell happened, then get the bad guy?”

Angel shook his head sadly. “I’m not so sure it’ll be that easy. She was pretty much gone for two days; she wasn’t even aware she was here, with us. And we have no idea how long she was like that before we found her. Who knows how much she’ll even remember? Besides, she still hasn’t spoken yet. She still may not be ready to.”

Willow stood silently, watching the coffee as it percolated. The redhead had woken up an hour earlier, and she was now standing in Angel's office. She was aware of Angel’s eyes on her, but it didn’t bother her. She was grateful to the vampire for... whatever it was that he had done for her. She couldn’t really remember what had happened recently; she remembered being grabbed, then... no, she didn’t want to remember that just yet. And what happened after that was a blur. Things had faded in and out until... Angel. She’d been having a nightmare, running from the faceless men, when someone had grabbed her. Angel. Angel had grabbed her, and he had somehow managed to pull her back from wherever she had been. Thank God for the brooding vampire. She wanted to know how long she’d been here among friends, but she was afraid to ask. She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know how long she’d been in that haze. Had it been a day? a week? a month? Dear God, she hoped it hadn't been a month. Besides, she knew that if she asked, Angel and Cordelia would start asking questions about what had happened, and she wasn’t ready for that. With a sigh, Willow pushed at the sleeves of the shirt she wore, but they just slid right back down. Her clothes were currently being washed, so she was wearing one of Angel’s shirts with a pair of jeans from the stash of clothes that Cordy kept at the office in case of an emergency. Because she was so much shorter than the brunette, the jeans, like the shirt, were rather large on her. Of course, Willow reasoned, they were better than nothing.

Angel looked over at the door as Cordelia entered. The brunette sat down next to him and spoke quietly. “Apparently, Buffy and Giles were out of town killing some demon; they should be back in Sunnydale by this afternoon.”

“You got in touch with them?” Angel asked, shocked. He’d just about given up on them.

Cordy shook her head. “Xander, actually. I’d left a couple messages with his mom earlier, but he never got them.” She shrugged at Angel’s skeptical expression. “I think he was telling the truth. His mom always sucked at relaying messages. That’s why I only called him a few times. The only reason I actually got to talk to him was because he was the one that answered this time. Apparently, Willow’s been missing for about four days. He’s been searching everywhere... Anya’s been helping him. He would have called here, but he didn’t have the number, and he didn’t know how to reach Giles to ask for it.” Cordelia paused, then decided to go ahead and tell the vampire everything she’d found out. “Something really weird’s going on in Sunnydale, Angel.”

“What do you mean?”

“Xander said that Spike was helping him search for Willow. He also said something about Spike not being able to feed off people; it hurts him to even try... I didn’t really understand it.”

Angel opened his mouth to respond to that revelation, but was interrupted when Doyle burst in.

“Hello, hello! So, how’s the girl?” The half demon stopped short when he saw the wide-eyed redhead. Willow was holding a cup of coffee, and her hand had begun to shake the moment Doyle had come in. Angel jumped up from his spot on the couch and reached for the coffee cup, taking it from her before she could drop it. He put his hands on her shoulders, then ran them down her arms soothingly.

“It’s okay, Willow. This is Doyle. He works with me and Cordelia. He won’t hurt you, I promise.”

Willow nodded, then looked at the other man. Doyle offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to scare you. I had no idea you’d be up here. If I’d known, I would have... made a less noisy entrance, or something.”

Willow offered the man a tentative smile, then took her coffee back from Angel.

“Still not talking, huh?” Doyle asked.

The redhead shrugged. She knew she couldn’t feign muteness forever; eventually she would have to talk. She just hoped she could figure out the answers to their question before that time came.