TITLE: Angel's Girl part two
AUTHOR: Claudine
EMAIL: claudine423@yahoo.com
PAIRING: W/G
RATING: R-ish for violence, sexual situations
FEEDBACK: Sure! - Constructive, but kind. It'll help get the story written faster and better :-)
NOTES: Spoilers galore. Probably a little from each season of Buffy and one or two of Angel.
Permission to use these characters relating to BtVS & AtS has not been given. Joss, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB & Mutant Enemy own TM and copyrighted them. This is purely for fun, and no copyright infringement is intended. You know the drill...
The last vestiges of the night were burned off of the horizon by the rising sun. It had been three days and she still wasn't awake.
Giles tended to her constantly. He kept a cool washcloth on her forehead and if he managed to get any sleep it was spent holding her cold, battered hands in his. She would live, he was certain. But what about Angelus? What would be his punishment? Giles said it would be quick and easy if Willow lived, but Ripper lurked dangerously close to the surface when it came to his love for the girl. And he'd had enough of Angel.
Willows eyelids fluttered and her breath quickened in her sleep. It startled Giles and he stirred a moment before he cleared his head. He immediately bent down beside her and kissed her hand repeatedly, the crest of her knuckles cold to the touch of his warm lips. "I'm here, love." The words caught in his throat and mixed with the regret that gathered there. He should have known. He should have gotten to her sooner. This was all his fault. He cast a glance down to the floor to compose himself.
By the time he looked up, Willow's eyes had opened and she was staring at him. "You should see the other guy," she joked. It came out weak and scratchy, but at least it was something. She managed a smile, but she was groggy and pale.
"Thank God," he said and kissed her softly on the lips. "You're awake."
"Goddess," she corrected thinly.
He smiled and tried to hold back the tears, but it was no use. One little drop escaped his eye and broke Willow's heart. She smiled and interlaced her fingers with his. "I'll be ok," she whispered.
Willow had been awake for a few hours, but she was unable to get out of bed. She was weak and her legs wouldn't carry her very far. And Giles wouldn't let her do too much too fast, he wanted her comfortable so she would recover properly.
He fed her and bathed her while the knot inside of him tugged at the dark side of Ripper's soul. Soon he would go to the vampire and do what he promised. Giles wasn't proud of his past, but his alter ego came in handy every once in a while when he needed to accomplish certain tasks.
She grew tired and her body ached. Even the faintest light hurt her eyes. Angelus had beaten her pretty badly before he tried to drain her and change her. It wasn't his most torturous offense, but he still managed to do quite a number on her with his fists - a good old-fashioned beating. Giles kissed her softly on the forehead and left the room swiftly. When he returned he handed her a few pills and a glass of water and watched as she swallowed them. "Turning me into a junkie," she stated.
"Hardly," he said and smiled. He took the glass from her hand and turned to put it on the nightstand beside the bed as he sank into a chair beside her.
"Did you kill him," she asked.
Giles was silent. His eyes looked anywhere but into hers. He knew she had gone to Angel to punish him for the things he'd done. She had finally worked out all of the kinks in her "ball of sunshine" spell. The idea of returning Angel's soul to him was an afterthought that she tried to manage when she found him in the alley. It would have been no fun killing Angelus, since the demon had no regrets. It would have been too easy for her. The revenge would have been sweeter if Angel was actually remorseful for any of it. Jenny. Buffy. Willow had really gone to kill him in a most horrible way, to torture him, in fact. But Angel was stronger than she'd imagined and when she tried the spell to restore his soul, it drained her and he took advantage of the moment.
Giles waited until she drifted off to sleep before he crept out of the room and closed the door softly behind him. She would sleep until morning. It was time.
His bag had been packed and ready. It was ready the night he brought Willow back from the assault. He was restless that night and the wheels in his mind turned over and over and over until he just couldn’t take it anymore – he had to at least prepare for the killing.
He came across an old stake of Buffy's. Shiny and new, it had never been used to kill anything. Angel himself had made it and sent it to her after the First had destroyed Sunnydale. He sent it to her with a note stating that he hoped she'd never need it. How ironic.
Giles dropped the stake into his bag, along with a few crystals and some herbs and the little leather-bound book Willow had begun writing her spells in. He reached for the door knob and whispered a protection spell to keep her safe. The Watcher had mastered many things since he'd been with Willow. More than he ever imagined.
The midnight hour had come and gone. It was raining fiercely as he stepped outside into the darkness. He ran to the car and threw his bag into the back and flopped into the driver's seat. He had a mission, and that mission was to kill Angelus once and for all. The vampire had done enough damage, and no matter how much good he did as Angel, it would never outweigh the bad of Angelus. If he succeeded and killed Angel, Willow would be upset with him for not letting her finish what she started. But Giles knew that it would send her over the edge again, and he didn't have the strength to bring her back a second time. She was too good, her spirit too pure to kill again. It was up to him to save her, in more ways than one.
Giles drove cautiously, his headlights cutting out a narrow path ahead of him in the rain, the roads hazy and slick as he made his way. He pulled into Restfield
cemetery - he had one stop to make before tending to Angel.
Row 27, plot 22. Buffy Anne Summers.