Summary: Between Spike, Oz and Angel's demon buddy Christopher Willow's up to her neck in jealous men but she's stuck in the center of them because Oz needs her help to "calm the wolf inside" which, recently, has begun to grow more fierce. Unable to control it any longer Oz ran to Angel who, in turn, ran to Willow who is fed up with all the men in her life. Can the feisty redhead help her old boyfriend and hold back her own urges to kick some male ass?
Disclaimer: Most the characters belong to Joss but some are my own creation.
Pairings: W/S, C/A, Anya/X, B/R.
Rating: Um, probably PG for a little language.
Author's Note: Oz split (for the same reason and in the same way as in season four), Spike was chipped by the Initiative, Riley never left but Tara did, Buffy never died and Dawn doesn't exist. Oh, and absolutely no Buffy-fawning by Spike!!!
Willow was mumbling under her breath, walking towards the Magic Box, not paying the least bit of attention to her surroundings. Not surprising, then, when she was sideswiped: gripped around the waist from behind and thrown to the ground. The redhead bounced once atop the sidewalk and sighed agitatedly. She was so not in the mood for this tonight. Supporting herself on her arms Willow glued the vampire, for it was a vampire, in a thoroughly pissed off stare and, nudging her fingers against the twig lying beside her, watched the piece of wood fly into the air and stake the vampire where he stood.
Huffing, Willow pushed herself to her feet, dusting the dirt from her sweater. "Teach you to piss off a witch," she said as she stepped over the pile of ash and continued her trek – still mumbling under her breath.
Turning the corner onto Gale Drive, and stopping just outside the Magic Box, Willow let out a squeal and did a little giddy-dance before catching herself – looking around quickly to make sure no one had seen that. Clearing her throat she started to wave her index finger in the air before her, making little circles, until silver threads began to appear at her fingertip. Whispering the incantation she had spent all night trying to remember the silver threads hooked together and spread larger and larger until a spiraling portal, pulsing and humming, sat only feet in front of Willow. Picking up a small pebble from beside her foot Willow tossed it into the portal and heard a plop sound before it whizzed away.
Smiling her satisfaction Willow spoke another series of words and the portal faded away. "Oh, I'm so good."
The gang looked up as Willow entered the Magic Box, that annoying little bell ringing as the door opened and closed. Xander and Anya were pretending to research though Willow knew they were really playing footsy under the table. Giles was counting the money in the cash register. Buffy and Riley were walking out of the training room. Spike was leaning against the wall smoking. Willow paused and did a head count. There were two other people sitting on the couch, only the top of their heads peeping out. She was about to ask who the newbie's were until one of them stood and faced her. Angel.
"Not that I'm not ecstatic to see you or anything, Angel" Willow spoke, "because I'm totally stoked but, what are you doing here?"
Angel flashed that lopsided grin of his. "Can't I just visit some old friends?"
"Of course you can," Willow responded. "But you don't. You drop in when something's run-a-muck and you need a little help from the Scooby's."
"She's got a point, Dead Boy," Xander added.
Willow dropped her bag onto the floor and plopped down beside Xander at the table. "And who's that?"
Angel glanced behind him as the stranger stepped to his side. Willow eyed the man from head to toe: sandy blonde hair poking out beneath a tattered fedora hat and odd violet eyes, jeans and a navy blue tee-shirt underneath a shabby brown coat. There was nothing outwardly remarkable about the man but Willow sensed a power lying within. "A demon," she stated flatly. "Interesting. Now, what can we do for you?"
Buffy laughed, tossing her towel at the redhead. "Such a drama queen, Wills."
"I am not," Willow defended.
Everyone in the store, including Giles, - excluding Angel's demon friend, of course – scoffed and rolled their eyes. Willow narrowed her eyes at Giles, shocked by his inclusion in such a reaction. "Sorry, Willow," the ex-Watcher shrugged. "But you are quite the over dramatist."
"Anarchy," Willow huffed. "Total anarchy. I'm deeply ashamed of every one of you."
Buffy raised a questioning eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest, and asked, "Are you through?"
Willow thought for a moment then answered, "Yeah, I think that about does it."
"Good, because – "
Buffy was never able to finish sentence seeing as a large, roaring demon slammed through the Magic Box door, throwing the little bell from its holder, and knocked the Slayer halfway across the store. Groaning, Buffy got to her feet and retaliated. It didn't take the Scooby's long to dispose of the demon, using the portal Willow had perfected just that night, but in the course of the fight much of the Magic Box's tables had been destroyed and the gang ended up dripping in purple ooze.
"Tastes like chicken."
"Xander," the other's chided, moving automatically to clean up the mess. Sorting through the pieces of wood the Scooby's attempted to clutter each table separately from the others so Willow could "work her mojo" and reassemble them.
Angel's demon friend, whose name, as it turned out, was Christopher sidled up beside Anya and asked, "Things always this interesting around here?"
"What this?" Anya laughed. "Oh, this is nothing the buildings still intact."