Title: Replacement 1/?
Author: Brekkia
Contact:
Date: 3/13/02
Spoilers: Through The Gift then goes AU
Summary: Willow takes up Slaying after The Gift.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: None
Category: General
Distribution: I guess if you want it that badly... Just send 19.95 to... I kid. Ask and ye shall receive.
Feedback: Constructive criticism always welcome. Praise abjectly sought.
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc., etc., etc. I just let them have all the fun Joss won't. I own nothing except my twisted mind, which you really don't want. Please don't sue.

Replacement

Two figures stood in front of the Summers' residence. They could have been shadows these two, dressed so deeply in black as they were. Willow Rosenberg was one of those figures.

The vampire known as Angel, was the other.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into," he said as he handed her the scroll.

Of all the things he might have said to her he couldn't think of anything more supportive?

Willow shrugged in response and took the parchment from him and unrolled it.

"Willow--"

"You know it really doesn't matter what you say, I'm going to do this," Willow said studying the rough, yellowed paper in her hands. "Unless you want to pull up shop in LA and move back to Sunnydale?"

She was only half-serious.

"What about the robot? You said it was taking care of the slaying."

"It's no Buffy."

"Neither are you."

Willow looked up at Angel. "No, I'm not. I'm going to be better."

Angel eyes darkened.

"Thank Wesley for this," Willow went on to say, raising the parchment. "With Giles gone, it's hard getting information like this lately."

Angel nodded.

Willow smiled. "And thank you for bringing it," she said.

"You're welcome, I enjoy lending a hand whenever possible, especially if it means it might get a friend killed."

"Oh stop it, Angel! I'm not going to get killed."

"Right. And since you bring up Giles, what does he think about you doing this?"

"Look, Angel, with Buffy--gone--Sunnydale is more vulnerable than ever. Someone has to protect this town."

"Uh-huh. I notice you didn't answer the question."

"Angel--"

"And why you—just you? Can't Spike--I can't believe I'm saying this--do it?"

Willow shook her head. "Spike has been helping out, but in the end he's still a vampire, and a chipped one at that. And you know as well as I do despite having super powers, vampires have a lot of weaknesses without adding one more."

"And you as a human, well, you don't have any weaknesses, do you?" Angel asked, his face shifting.

Willow backed away from him.

"You can really take care of yourself out there in the dark, alone, against creatures a hundred times more dangerous than I am," Angel said silkily, looming over Willow.

"You'd be amazed to learn, Angel, that I'm one of those things a hundred times more dangerous than you."

Angel stopped dead in his tracks when Willow's eyes went from bright green to solid black. Angel felt an explosive power from her and he stumbled backwards.

"Let's get this straight, Angel. You and Spike, you're firecrackers," Willow raised her hand and Angel was thrown back and collided with the Oak tree, "I'm a neutron bomb."

Willow's eyes returned to their natural color and she tilted her face up to the moonlit sky and took a deep breath, then looked down at Angel slumped against the tree.

"I know you care about my safety, but what I need right now are people who're going to back me up, not drag me down with doubts. I already have too many of those."

Willow re-rolled the parchment then placed it in the inside pocket of her leather coat. Angel rose off the ground pressing his hand against his chest, staring at Willow with unabashed disbelief. Willow pulled the lapels of her coat together against the cold.

"There's no one else," she said. "I'm sorry."

Angel watched her turn away from him and walked back into the house.

The hardest thing was cutting back on her classes at UC Sunnydale. Buffy didn't have to, of course. She could get by on five hours of sleep and wake up feeling fresh as a daisy. Willow couldn't. Patrolling until two, three o'clock in the morning, plus using magic was draining even after a full eight hours rest. So she dropped a few classes and threw herself completely into the slaying. It was the way Willow dealt with everything she applied herself to. Give a hundred and fifty percent and then fifty more. She had been taught by experience and by the urging of the adults in her life that if you worked hard and committed to achieving your goals, the more likely you were of doing so. And how exactly does someone feel as fresh as a daisy, anyway?

Willow shifted her weight onto her right leg when her left started to tingle. Then she wrapped her black cape more tightly around her body. The heavy shawl weighed on her in more ways than one, but at least it kept her warm up here on the rooftops. Not that the clothes she wore underneath the cloak didn't provide some warmth, but after all these weeks she was still gun shy about the outfit.

She was perched on the roof of a discount clothes outlet. She was waiting for her quarry to emerge, a demon that'd hit Sunnydale a few days ago. The outlet was a front for a black market operation that dealt in selling human organs for demon consumption. Or at least that's what Willie told her the night before.

The streets were deserted, and Willow was glad. If her information was accurate, the demon inside was one of the more lethal demons to pass through Sunnydale since the Omari breached this dimension. Which meant Willow was going to need the room.

"Well, hello, big boy," Willow whispered when the large demon lurched out of the store's front door carrying a dripping bag over his right shoulder.

Score one for Xander and Dawn. They called it. The demon was definitely a Holderack.

The Holderack below her was typical of its breed: Eight feet tall from head to clawed toe. Green skinned with black spots mottling its muscular chest and shoulders. Tucked in tightly over its broad back, were its wings. They weren't there just for show. Holderacks could fly quite well, and judging from this one's height and weight, its wing span was probably over fifteen feet.

The Holderack was keeping a low profile, which is why it was buying its food instead of killing to feed, like it had when it came to town two days ago. Leaving a trail of six gutted bodies in its wake. Then it went to ground.

Willow stood up and stepped off the roof. She floated down to the sidewalk her cape trailing her fall. Her boots made no sound when she landed and neither did her cloak.

Willow turned to face the Holderack's back and pointed her right middle finger and index finger at the bag the demon held. "Res inflammo."

The Holderack howled in pain when the bag exploded into flames against its back.

The bag fell to the sidewalk, its glowing embers scattering in the wind. The Holerack turned and roared again when it saw Willow standing behind it, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Virago!" It rumbled.

Willow blinked. At least now she knew why the Holderack had gone to ground after coming to Sunnydale. In a way it was flattering…

The demon charged her. Unshaken, Willow studied the demon's face. Bald, purples eyes, no nose, and beak-like mouth. Or maybe its nose was a part of its mouth.

Willow stood her ground, whispering a spell under her breath. The Holderack lifted its clawed hands over its head when it came within a few feet of Willow, then brought them down at her skull. Intent on slashing off her face.

The Holderack passed right through Willow, losing its balance. Willow took advantage of the demon's tilted equilibrium and delivered a spinning back kick into the demon's lower back knocking it to the ground. The Holderack fell face forward but caught itself with his arms and quickly pushed its bulky body up into the air.

Willow cautiously jumped backwards away from the Holderack as it landed on its feet in a crouch, its wings stretching out from its back.

"Virago," the demon growled again, its wings flapping with a hummingbird rhythm then it flew at Willow with such speed it astounded her.

Willow jumped back again boosting the power in her leap with a levitation spell. The bound took her thirty feet and set her down in the middle of the deserted street. The Holderack caught up with her quickly and Willow was on the move again.