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"Angel."
Angel heard it again. The voice that haunted his dreams. The voice that came to him when his tormentors had finally left him alone. The voice that helped ease his pain. He knew that if he opened his eyes, he would see her there, in front of him. Her red hair, longer than he remembered it, falling over her shoulders. Her green eyes looking at him with all the compassion of the world.
"Angel, open your eyes," the voice begged. He could deny her nothing. He cared too much for her. Not in the romantic sense, but the way that someone cares for a person whom you want to protect. And he wanted to do nothing but protect her. Protect her from the evils of hell and earth. Both in the daylight and in the night. She was his friend and he had very few of them. He didn’t want anything to happen to her.
"Willow?" he croaked, his voice harsh from the screams that had been coming from him earlier.
"Yes, Angel, it’s me," she said as she came closer to him, reaching out to touch his face. He instinctively moved away from the touch, although he knew that she wouldn’t hurt him. She gently cupped his cheek, tears rolling down her cheek.
"Oh, Angel, I am so sorry," she cried. He looked at her, amazed at her apology. She had nothing to be sorry about. She had done nothing to him but be friendly to him and look what he did when he had lost his soul. Terrorized her and all that she loved. Even killed her fish.
"You have nothing to be sorry about, Willow," he told her as blood tears streaked down his face. She wiped them away with her hand.
"Yes I do Angel. If only I had found the spell earlier, than you wouldn’t be here," she told him. Angel knew that she was the one that had restored his soul but he couldn’t hate her for it. He cared too much and was touched that she had still wanted to give him that gift when he had done so much harm to her.
"Not your fault," he replied. "You’ve done more for me than I would ever have had the right to ask you for. You gave me my soul back. You give me the strength to deal with what has happened to me. You’re the reason that I can handle the torture that I go through."
"Oh, Angel," Willow cried, "you shouldn’t be here at all. You don’t deserve this."
"Yes I do, Willow," Angel stated. "I’m a monster that deserves this and more."
"No, Angel," Willow shook her head. "You’re not a monster. Angelus was the monster."
"But Angelus is me. We are the same," The vampire insisted.
"No, they aren’t," Willow said angrily. "You’re my friend, Angel. You are the same person that saved my life more times than I can count. Without you I would have been vamp food a long time ago. You do not deserve to be here and I will find a way to get you out. I promise."
"No, Willow. I don’t want you to risk your life anymore. Just you coming to see me here in your dreams is dangerous. If something happened to you here, there is no guarantee that you would be able to get out." Angel was afraid for the teenager that stood in front of her. He knew she was no longer the shy, awkward girl that he had first met two years ago. She was stronger and more in control. He didn’t want her to do anything to harm herself and he had a feeling that if she attempted to get him out of hell, it would cause irreparable damage to her and he didn’t think he would be able to handle that.
"Angel, but I want to help you," Willow told him. She helped him to sit on the floor, wincing as she saw the marks on his back from the times he was whipped. "I need to help you. That’s who I am."
"But, Willow, you shouldn’t have to put yourself through it. Not for me. Especially considering what you are going through." Willow looked at the vampire in front of her.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, with Section." Willow looked at Angel, shock apparent on her face. "I know all about them, Willow. Spike saw Michael and Nikita come for you that night. He told me all about it."
"But how did you know that it was Section? I mean, it’s not like they advertised or anything," Willow inquired.
Angel was silent for a minute. "Well, let’s just say that when Whistler first found me, I wasn’t exactly homeless at the time." Willow’s eyes went wide.
"You worked for Section didn’t you," she exclaimed as she suddenly realized what Angel was telling her.
"For ten years. I was undercover when Whistler found me, so I just disappeared," Angel explained, hoping that he had gotten Willow away from any thoughts of getting him out of hell.
"I didn’t think anyone could get out of Section. That’s what I was told."
Angel actually managed to chuckle a bit before having to draw in an unnecessary breathe. "Yeah, well, they never knew that they had a master vampire in their midst." Willow smiled at the fact that despite everything, Angel still had the strength to laugh.
"So you faked your death," Willow stated. Angel nodded his head.
"Yeah, it was relatively easy. I mean, technically I am dead.?
"True. And then you came to Sunnydale."
"And you know the rest," Angel finished. "You’re the first person who has known so much about me in a long time. No one in Section knew about my being a vampire, for obvious reasons. Would rather not have ended up in the lab." Willow understood that feeling. "And no one in Sunnydale ever knew about Section. Didn’t think you guys could handle it."
"Yeah I can see your point. I mean, I’m in Section and there are times when I don’t think I can deal with everything." Willow told him. "I mean, staking a vamp or two is one thing, but to kill a human being. Definitely not something I planned on doing with my life. But, surprisingly it hasn’t been all bad."
Angel was surprised by Willow’s comments. He knew that she had the strength needed to survive in Section, but he didn’t expect her to actually like any part of it. Then he remembered some of the people that he had left behind, a certain blonde in particular, and he knew exactly what Willow had found to like.
"Nikita" he said simply.
Willow smiled. "Yeah, Nikita’s great. Me and her go shopping all the time and we talk about everything. I even told her about you. Not the vampire part, but how I missed my friend and how I wanted to help you and all."
"Yeah, Nikita was always like that. She can be pretty easy to talk to. I’m glad that she is still there for you." Angel had always liked the blonde operative and was pleased that she hadn’t been canceled yet. He was also surprised at that fact. Nikita hadn’t been there all that long before Angel left Section, but he could remember how much trouble she liked to cause. It was one of the things that he liked about her. That and the fact that she could get under Michael’s skin like nobody’s business.
"Yup, especially since she and Michael have finally been allowed to be together openly."
"Wait a minute. Michael and Nikita? Together? Wow, things have changed."
"Yeah. Apparently they have been sneaking around for awhile now, but Ops finally told them that they didn’t have to anymore." Willow was glad for her two friends in Section. They deserved the happiness that they had discovered in each other.
"What else had changed in Section that I might want to know about?" Angel was curious. It seemed that what he remembered from his time in Section were no longer true. He wondered if any of that had anything to do with the red head in front of him. She had a way to make even the most stubborn people bend to her will. Madeline probably hated her for it.
"Well, I’m guessing that Walter has always been a horny ole bastard." Angel laughed his affirmative at Willow’s description of the weapon’s expert. "Madeline is pretty tough to figure out. I mean, she may smile but it never reaches her eyes. Freaks me out sometimes."
"Yeah, she can be that way." Madeline had a way of seeing into someone that made even Angel want to avoid her.
"Ops is pretty cool. He lets me get away with a lot of stuff, including my witchcraft. They even brought in someone to teach me stuff," Willow told Angel.
"What about Birkhoff?" Angel had been found of the then teenage boy who had grown up knowing nothing but Section. Angel noticed the wistful look on Willow’s face as she thought of the child prodigy. "Willow?"
"Birky’s good." Willow blushed as she saw Angel’s brow raise. "He and I, ummmm, kinda got together. He’s so sweet and caring and there’s just something about him that makes me want to take care of him."
"Yeah, that sounds like the Birkhoff I remember. So you are happy then?"
"Well, as happy as I can be. I mean, I wish I had more freedom than Section allows, but they are more willing to accept the changes that I’m going through. Buffy and the others never would have been able to do that."
"No, maybe they wouldn’t," Angel admitted, a haunted look entering his eyes at the thought of the girl that he had loved and who had sent him to his tormented existence in hell.
"The only thing that would make my life perfect is if I can find a way of getting you out of her," Willow said.
"Willow, I told you I don’t want you to do anything that may endanger your life. You are too important to me," Angel nearly begged.
"Sorry, Angel, you’re my friend and I will get you out of here and back where you belong. Look," Willow pointed at her face, "resolve face is on." That was when Angel knew he might as well give up. Willow would do whatever was necessary to help him, so the only thing he could do was to help her.
"Okay, Willow. You win." Angel’s tilted his head as he heard a noise coming from outside the door. "You have to go. They’re coming back."
Willow stood up, helping Angel to his feet. She placed a light kiss on his cheek. "I will be back, Angel. Count on that. Please."
"I will, Willow. I promise." Angel watched as Willow slowly faded from his view, glad that she was willing to do everything in her power to help him. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve to have a person such as her care for him, but he was glad that she did. He would do everything in his power to survive what he knew was about to come, buoyed by the knowledge that someone cared for him.