Title: Deciphering His Behaviour
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing/Characters: Willow Rosenberg, Angelus, Giles, mentions of Buffy.
Rating: FR13/PG-13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Notes: Set during the Second Season.
Summary: The words written in faded ink on the heavy paper had stayed with Willow for a very long time.
Word Count: 1058
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There are times when Willow wonders if Buffy actually read what the Watchers' Diaries had said about Angelus or if Buffy had just read what she wanted to. The words written in faded ink on the heavy paper had stayed with Willow for a very long time and now that Angelus has shown an interest in her, they come back to haunt Willow. She desperately wishes that Angelus was like Angel and only saw her as Buffy's mousy, geeky friend. Yet she has felt the evidence of his desire when he first showed himself outside of the library when he held her tight against his body. And her dead fish say a lot to Willow, none of it pleasant.
She's in the library again, it's a late night and beside her on the floor is a bottle of holy water and a stake as she peruses the shelves in Giles' office. She needs to know for sure if Angelus is truly interested her or if he's just using her as a way to get at Buffy. Either way, Willow knows she won't be happy but if Angelus just sees her as a way to get to Buffy she'll feel safer.
It doesn't take her long to find the diary she's looking for and she's surprised that Giles would keep the valuable diaries in his office at the library where the locks are flimsy and easy to pick. Then again, perhaps they are safer here in the library than at his residence which is listed in the phone book and therefore a target to every demon and vampire who's bright enough to look there for him.
The words on the paper aren't reassuring as she skims through the scanty details about Drusilla's making. Angelus was cruel and found ways to torture the young Seer that make Willow terrified. She closes the diary unable to read anymore of what Angelus did to Drusilla before he turned her. Reading the account hasn't really clarified whether the vampire is interested in her as bait or something more and Willow decides that she'd rather not know. It's not really comforting either way.
As she's putting the diary back on the shelf, she hears a noise in the library. She quickly extinguishes her flashlight, not wanting to attract unwanted attention. The sound of movement in the library causes her to hold her breath as she tightly grips the stake in her hand. Willow's terrified that if she actually has to use it, she'll some how mess everything up and in the morning Giles will find her drained corpse in the library.
She curses her insatiable need for knowledge that had driven her to the library in the first place. Did she really need to know what Angelus has done in the past to girls that he has developed an interest in? Isn't it enough to know that the vampire that was once Angel is a cruel and sadistic monster who takes great delight in physical and mental torture? Why did she have to be so clever and come to the library in the middle of the night to re-read a diary that's only going to give her nightmares if she manages to make it home?
The door to Giles' office slowly creaks open and Willow's heart is in her mouth. She knows that this it, that Angelus is behind that door and he's going to destroy her. Yet the door is pushed open and the light is turned on, as she blinks in the suddenly blinding light, the thought that this isn't typical behaviour for a vampire comes to her.
When she looks up, it's not Angelus that is standing in front of her, instead it is Giles. He looks upset to find her in his office with a diary on her lap in the middle of the night, yet it doesn't stop her from jumping up and wrapping her arms around him as she rests her cheek against the familiar tweed that he wears.
"Oh Giles, I thought you were Angelus."
He sighs before he awkwardly pats her back.
"Willow," Giles begins, "What on earth are you doing in my office at two in the morning?"
"I couldn't sleep and I had…"
Willow's voice trails off as she starts to cry. Giles carefully moves her until she is sitting on the couch in his office and she tells him how she had come to the library because of her dead fish and the memory of what Angelus had done to some of his other victims. Throughout it all, Giles is patient and reassuring. He tells her that Angelus is a frightening opponent but that Buffy is stronger and that she will destroy Angelus before he can do anything else to her.
Afterwards, Giles drives her home in his ancient car and ensures that she is safely in her house before he drives off. She watches him drive off and she wonders why he had gone to the library in the first place. His words have comforted her but she still feels hollow on the inside, there is still a nagging doubt in the back of her mind. When she makes her way up to her bedroom, she finds a piece of paper sticking out from underneath the French doors.
When she pulls it out and opens it, she finds a drawing of herself on it. It sends chills up and down her spine as she drops it. If she had needed a clearer indication as to what game Angelus is playing, the drawing of her laying nude on her bed is very clear as to what Angelus' intentions are for her. She desperately wants to run to the phone and to tell Giles or even Buffy, but she knows that she can't.
Telling them won't accomplish anything more than creating more fear and worry for Giles and Buffy. It's bad enough that Buffy's already having a difficult time destroying Angelus because of her relationship with Angel. Willow doesn't need to add to that by telling them that Angelus is possibly interesting in making her into another Drusilla. She can only hope that Buffy can find the strength to stake Angelus before he kills her parents. Willow's certain that she can withstand him for a while longer, especially since she knows his game plan.
**END**