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"Willow," Buffy shouted as she saw the red head hacker standing in the library doorway. She quickly ran over, grabbing the girl and hugging her. She was joined by Cordelia, Xander and Oz, all trying to get a hold of their missing friend.
"Umm, guys, still need to breathe here," Willow gasped as she felt herself being crushed by her friends. The four slayerettes moved back, allowing her to get some needed air. It also allowed them to get their first good look at her and what they saw surprised them. She wasn’t the same little hacker that had disappeared a little girl who loved to wear fluffy sweaters and jumpers. In her place, was a woman. Willow was wearing a green spaghetti strap tank top and black leather mini skirt. She had a pair of black go go boots on, along with her trademark leather coat. All but one was unhappy with the change.
"Willow, what happened to you? I mean, you’re not…" Cordelia actually found herself at a loss for words. "You look good. I like it."
"I stopped shopping at Sears, Cordy. Nikita hates it there," Willow grinned at the ex cheerleader. She saw Giles standing a little distance from her and walked over to her former mentor.. He enveloped her in a bear hug. "It’s good to see you, Giles."
"I’m so glad that you’re back," he told the girl, his voice breaking from the tears that threatened to fall.. He hadn’t realized how much she had meant to him until she was gone and he was relieved to see her safe. He remembered what Angelus had told them about the group that had taken Willow, and he had been afraid of what they might do to the girl. How they might change her. But, despite the outward changes, her eyes still held the innocence that was pure Willow.
"So am I, Giles. I’ve missed you all so much." Willow turned to face everyone in the library, her eyes catching sight of the only person, other than Section, who knew about her new life. "Angel," she cried running over to the vampire, who smiled as he picked her up, swinging her around, again surprising the slayerettes by his open display of affection.
"About time, I actually got to hold you, little one," he teased.
"How many times have I told you not to call me little one?" she grinned at him as he finally set her back down on the ground. She held onto him to steady herself. "Whoa, head rush." She saw Nikita, Michael and Birkhoff smile at her and Angel, glad to see her so happy. "Have a good reunion with your friends, Liam?"
"Yes,’ he said, looking at the three operatives. "However did you convince Madeline and Ops that they should send you? I didn’t think they would actually go for it."
"Just told them the truth, and they actually believed me," Willow shrugged. "Helped that Nikita and Michael had been there when I dusted Spike and Drusilla."
"I still can’t believe you bested my child," Angel told her. "I don’t know if I should be upset or proud."
"No you don’t," Willow laughed. "Besides you know that I didn’t have a choice. It was either them or Kita and Michael. I just made my choice the way I saw I needed to. Besides, if I didn’t I wouldn’t have found out about Red Cell and their deal with the mayor."
"Good point."
"Ummm, Willow, did I hear you right. You dusted Spike and Drusilla?" Buffy asked in disbelief. She couldn’t have heard her friend right. And Buffy was still trying to figure out how Angel knew the people that had taken Willow in the first place, not to mention why he suddenly seemed to change from the brooding, guilt ridden man she had fallen in love with, to someone who was smiling and laughing with the new arrivals.
"Yes Buffy. You heard right. I dusted Spike and Drusilla. Well, really just Spike, since Dru bit it when the sun hit her," she replied casually. Willow walked over to the center of the library, seeing out of the corner of her eye that her friends were joining her. She went over to Faith and Anya, who were trying to understand what was going on and who the people were that had just caused such an uproar. They had heard about Willow, but they couldn’t place the stories they heard about the shy hacker with the grown woman in front of them. "Hi, I’m Willow. You must be Faith and Anya."
"Hi," Anya said. Faith just nodded her head. "I’ve heard a lot about you from Xander."
"Yeah, well, don’t believe everything he says," Willow grinned. "He has this nasty tendency to exaggerate things."
"How did you know who they were?" Buffy asked, pointing to Faith and Anya. "They weren’t here when you were."
"Oh Angel told me," Willow replied, off-handedly. She saw the confusion on the group from Sunnydale’s faces. "Angel and I have a link that was formed when I gave him back his soul. It got stronger when I got him out of hell. He told me about everyone." Willow really didn’t want to go into all the details, so she just tried to play the spells off as no big deal. Unfortunately it didn’t work.
"Wait a minute, you gave Angel back his soul and got him out of hell. How?" Giles questioned. He had known that Willow was dabbling in witchcraft before she was taken, but he had no idea she was as strong as she was.
"Yeah. Took a lot out of me. Scared the daylights out of Michael, Kita and Birky when they found me passed out after the restoration ritual. Talk about doing a quick step around the truth. I have some major apologizing to do for lying to them." Willow felt someone come over and take her hand. She turned, expecting it to be Birkhoff. It was Oz. "Oz."
"Hey Willow, I’ve missed you. I was afraid that I wasn’t going to see you again." He leaned over to give her a kiss and was surprised when she pulled back, taking her hand out of his. "Willow?"
"I’m sorry," she whispered softly. Willow walked over to Birkhoff, who had a worried look on his face. He knew about Oz and how much Willow was beginning to care for the young man before she was taken and was afraid that she may still care for him. His fears disappeared when he saw the look on her face. Willow gave the young man a gentle kiss, reassuring him of who her feelings belonged to. She turned back and saw the hurt on Oz’s face and felt bad for hurting him, but unable to do anything about it.
"What is going on here?" Buffy asked once again, anger entering her voice due to the fact that no one had bothered to answer her questions. Willow turned to the slayer and realized that the reunion would have to wait. There was business to attend to. She signaled for everyone to take a seat.
"Well, I guess introductions should be made. This is Nikita, Michael and Birkhoff. I work with them." The three operatives nodded their heads at the teenagers.
"Are you the people that took Willow?" Xander asked, as he sat at the table facing the operatives.
"Yes, we were there," Michael said in a clipped tone, quickly letting the joy of seeing his old friend again disappear. "We brought her in and Birkhoff trained her."
"Like she really needed a lot of training," Birkhoff smiled at the girl beside him, who returned it with one of her own. "I think she taught me a few things."
"And that is saying a lot," added Angel. Buffy turned to him, watching as he stood close to Nikita and Michael.
"And you know them how?" She asked her semi-boyfriend.
"I used to work with them," Angel explained, realizing the time had finally come to tell everyone about his past. "I was recruited by Section when I was accused of murder." Angel rose his hands, silencing the questions that he knew would be coming. "I didn’t do it. Let’s just say it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyway, I was recruited and that’s where I met Michael and Birkhoff, who were both already there. Nikita came along about two years before I left to come to Sunnydale. I was with them for ten years altogether."
"And you never bothered telling us you were alive," Nikita admonished the vampire. "If you weren’t already dead, I would kill you myself." Angel and the people from Section all laughed at Nikita’s off hand comment.
"Sorry, Kita. Didn’t know how to tell you all the truth about me without ending up on one of Madeline’s tables."
"Understood."
Angel continued his story, "Anyway, when Spike told me about what he saw happen to Willow, I knew instantly that Section had taken her. I recognized the description of Nikita and Michael. And I also knew that there was nothing that you would be able to do about helping her."
"Angel, we are so not going to get into the whole ‘that wasn’t you, that was Angelus’ thing again are we," Willow asked rolling her eyes at him.
"Not with you present. Don’t want you to kick my ass like you do Michael’s," Angel grinned at the red head, who laughed at him.
"Willow kick your ass, yeah right," Buffy commented, not even noticing the daggers that were being shot at her from the girl in question.
"She took down Spike," Angel informed her.
"Pure luck."
"Ahem," Giles coughed, trying to get their attention back to the problem at hand, before anything was said that would be regretted. He hadn’t missed the anger and hurt in Willow’s eyes at his slayer’s comment. "You were saying something about terrorists."
"Yes," Willow began after a nod from Michael. "Apparently the group known as Red Cell is planning on attacking you to make sure that you don’t interfere in whatever fun the mayor has planned for graduation. If you let us, we can help protect you from them and take them out. We are looking for places that they might be using for headquarters right now. Birkhoff and I have found a few possibilities and are currently trying to pinpoint the exact location."
"We don’t need their help to protect us," Buffy said snidely. She didn’t even bother to hide the contempt in her voice at the people who had taken her best friend and changed her. "We’ve battled the hellmouth more times than I can count, I think we can handle some terrorists."
"Buffy, you’ve handled demons and vampires. They are a bit different from terrorists," Willow explained. "For one, Red Cell has absolutely no morals. They will kill anyone and everyone that is in their way, including your family. They are ruthless. And, unlike vampires and other creatures, they are not limited to the night. Not to mention that they don’t need to wait for an invitation to get into your house. Trust me, I’ve seen what these people are capable of."
"So what do you want us to do?" Cordelia asked.
"Right now, let us do our jobs. That’s what we’re here for," Willow told the cheerleader. "I know that’s not saying much, but until we have a better idea of what is going on, that’s all I can say. We will be there to protect you. Especially Buffy, Giles and Faith because Red Cell will consider them the biggest threat. I would suggest the three of you stick together for now, as much as possible. That way, if something happens, you will all be able to handle it much better."
"And that’s your idea of a plan?" Buffy asked.
"That’s the best that I have been able to come up with, so far, considering the limited amount of knowledge that we have. Trust me, we aren’t happy about this either," Willow stated. "But, we will take care of the situation and then be on our way."
"Wait a minute," Xander exploded as he took in Willow’s words. "What do you mean, you’ll be on your way? You aren’t staying."
Willow shook her head as she looked at her childhood friend. "Sorry, no. I’ll be returning with the others when the mission is done."
"And you’re okay with that," Buffy asked, her voice sounding soft at the thought of Willow leaving so soon after her return. "You don’t mind having to leave Sunnydale again? To leave your friends?"
Willow’s eyes looked at the blonde slayer, sadness in them. "I’m not saying that I don’t want to stay, it’s just that Sunnydale isn’t my life anymore. I’ve missed you all so much, you have no idea. I think I bored Birky and Nikita with stories about you all. It’s just that I have a new life. One that includes friends and more." Willow looked over at Birkhoff again. Cordelia was the only one that understood the look that was in her eyes.
"You’re in love with him aren’t you?"
Willow smiled at the brunette, "Yes. Have been since I first arrived at Section."
"Serious?"
"You can say that. We’re living together." Cordelia smiled and went over to give the surprised hacker a hug.
"I am so happy for you. You deserve it."
"Thanks, Cordy." Buffy and the others looked at the two girls, trying to figure out what had just happened. Willow had come back but wasn’t staying. Was working for a group of killers and apparently enjoyed her job. And, on top of that, was living with some guy that none of them knew. And Cordelia was hugging her.
"Okay, this is way too much. I think I need to get out of here and think a bit," Buffy told everyone.
"I’m with you there," Xander said. Oz just nodded his head.
"Guys, I’m sorry if this upsets you all, but it’s my life now. I hope you can accept that. Accept me," Willow said, hoping that her two friends would be able to look past their hatred of Section, but doubting it.
"I know, Wills. It’s just tough," Buffy said. "Xander, patrol?"
"Yeah," Xander turned to look at Willow again, taking in the changes that had taken place in his friend. "Later guys." Willow watched in silence as Xander, Oz and Buffy all left the library. Faith and Anya left shortly after, having almost been completely forgotten by everyone else. Giles walked over to Willow, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"It is good to have you back, Willow, even if it is only for a short time." Willow smiled at the older man as she watched him go back to his office.
"Well, that went surprisingly well," Willow quipped to the remaining people in the library. She turned to Cordelia. "I would have assumed that you would have been one of the first people to leave."
"Yeah, well, things change. And so do people," Cordelia told her. "Besides, unlike them, I am way curious about your new life. Not to mention, your new man," Cordelia smiled as she looked over at Birkhoff. "So what say we Bronze it?"
"Are you sure?"
"Sure. I mean, if you’re here to protect us, I guess I better get used to having you all around. And I want to hear all about Angel’s past. Get me one up on little miss cryBuffy. So what’s up with the whole Liam thing, anyway?" The five people in the room laughed at Cordelia’s question. The laughter continued into the night as memories were relived and friendships formed by the six people, never knowing how much the lives of the others would depend on it.