Disclaimers:
I don’t own them. Wish I did have Angel. But I own this plot!
(Like would this ever happen on the shows?) Songs used within this
story don’t belong to me, either - They're "Curragh of Kildare" by Cherish
the Ladies and "Tip Toe" by Kila.
Rating: PG-13
for most of it, R in one part for um, torture I guess...
Content: B/A eventually.
Character death at the beginning, angst throughout, and violence at the
end. Ah, what fun. :)
Timeline: After
the Angel episode “Sanctuary” with a different ending. Anything after
that in BtVS will be altered. Anything after that in Angel will be
ignored. You’ll see…
Authors Note:
I’m an avid Buffy/Angel ‘shipper. So hang on through the angst and
woe and you just might find a surprise at the end.
“I’m worried about Buffy,” Willow said softly. She was sitting on Giles’ couch, her hands on her knees, looking at Giles intently. There was no one else there but the two of them at the moment – a fact that Willow was quite glad for.
Giles did not look up from what he was doing at first. Instead he continued to go through his books as he spoke. “Buffy is quite able to take care of herself, as she’s proven many times,” he said calmly. He glanced at Willow then and something in her face must have shown the depth of her concern. “What exactly has you worried?”
Willow sighed and sank back into the couch. “I don’t know…it’s hard to explain…”
Giles sat down across from her. “Try,” he said calmly.
“Well…today…you know we have final exams and all coming up,” she began to explain. “Some of the classes…have tests right before the final, too. You know, so you can sort of see how you’re doing? Especially the classes that have a test on every unit. Well, I saw the tests Buffy took recently. She bombed them, Giles.”
“Yes, well,” Giles said, not meeting her gaze for a moment. “Buffy has never been a great student.”
Willow shook her head. “She was doing better! And she actually liked some of these classes. I asked her about the tests and all and she just didn’t seem to care.”
“As troubling as that is, it’s hardly cause for concern,” Giles said.
“That’s not all, Giles. She’s just…weird lately. She smiles a lot, but…it feels false. I can’t explain it. It’s like nothing matters to her anymore. I don’t know if it’s effecting her slaying at all, but… It feels like she’s not showing any real emotion anymore. Except…”
“Except what, Willow?” Giles urged her to continue.
“I’ve heard her cry in her sleep.”
Giles looked at her sharply then, his attention finally caught. “How long has this been going on?”
Willow said nothing for a moment as she thought. “A week about, I guess. Ever since…since she came back from L.A.”
“You think something happened when she…saw Angel?”
“I don’t know!” Willow cried. “I mean, if something did…she’d tell us, right?”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Giles agreed readily. It didn’t sound very confident, though.
“But…if something…and she didn’t tell us…” Willow stuttered.
Giles nodded thoughtfully. “I hope your fears are ungrounded,” he said. “Still, I could call Angel and ask him if it would put your fears to rest.”
Willow smiled very slightly. “Yeah, I think it would. Could…could you do that?”
The only reply Giles gave was a slight smile, then he walked over to his phone. Flipping briefly through the small pad of phone numbers sitting next to it he dialed quickly. He only had to wait a moment before the line connected.
“Hello?” a tired sounding female voice answered half-heartedly.
“Cordelia?” Giles asked in surprise. It almost hadn’t sounded like her at all. It certainly wasn’t her usual phone receptionist voice. “It’s Giles.”
“Oh,” she said with no enthusiasm at all. Not that he was expecting much, but maybe some…life in her voice. “I…uh…wasn’t expecting you to call.”
Why in the world would she have been expecting him to call? “Yes, well…” He paused for a second. “Are you all right?” he asked gently.
There was a lengthy pause on the other end. “I’ve been better,” Cordelia eventually replied.
“I’m…sorry to hear that.” An awkward silence hung over the line. “Listen, I…uh…need to speak to Angel.”
This pause was even longer. For a moment Giles was afraid she wasn’t going to answer when she asked in a strange choked voice, “Did you…just say what I think you did?”
“Cordelia?” Giles said in confusion.
“Giles…Angel…Angel’s dead.”
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