TITLE: Walking the Line
AUTHOR: Winter
EMAIL ADDRESS: winteryuu@hotmail.com
DISTRIBUTION: My site (The Course of True Love), FanFiction.net, and anyone who already has any of my fics archived. Anybody else, just let me know where it's going.
SPOILERS: Everything up through "Wrecked" on Buffy and "Billy" on Angel is fair game, but the Darla/baby/Holtz storyline doesn't exist and Angel is not developing feelings for Cordelia.
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: In the aftermath of "Wrecked", Willow learns of her destiny - one that seemingly pits her against Angel. (Willow/Angel friendship)
DISCLAIMER: "Buffy" and "Angel" are owned by Joss Whedon, etc, etc. I make no claims.
FEEDBACK: Please?
PART ONE
"Wesley!" Fred smiled as she saw the man enter the lobby of the hotel. "Good morning! It's good to see you, well, not that I normally don't, but..." Fred smiled at him sheepishly and exhaled, "how are you feeling?"
Wesley cleared his throat and smiled at Fred before hastily looking away, "I'm fine, Fred, thank you for asking. And you?" He couldn't help feeling a bit awkward around the girl, even after their many conversations about...the events with Billy. He knew that she'd forgiven him, and that she was constantly trying her best to make him feel at ease, but he couldn't forgive himself for the way that he'd lost control.
"Oh, well I'm doing just great," Fred declared, taking Wesley by the hand and leading him to sit next to her at the receptionist's desk where Cordelia and Gunn were already seated reading the morning paper. "I had the most interesting dream last night. Most of it is fading, really, but I remember having a fascinating discussion with my physics professor from college--which is odd that I would dream of her, 'cause I haven't really thought much about her in the last, oh, seven years or so, but she was a real fine lady--and anyhow, we were talking about this research that she was doing in quantum mechanics regarding the theories that time isn't really a flowing entity but rather a sequence of discontinuous moments, and she had set up this..." Fred trailed off as she noticed the wide-eyed stares she was getting from her companions. "And I don't really remember the rest," she finished quietly, looking down at her hands.
"The rest of what?" Angel asked, coming into the room.
"Of one highly technical dream--and please don't ask about the details," Gunn pleaded, "I really don't like having that many words fly over my head at one time."
"Well, as long as it didn't involve demons or prophecies or an upcoming apocalypse, we're good," Angel shrugged and moved to stand next to Gunn.
"What did you have to say that for?" Cordelia groaned.
"What?" Angel asked, perplexed.
"Now we're just going to end up finding some new prophecy about demons bringing about the end of the world and--"
"--and that's new how?" Gunn cut her off, "'Cause the way I see it, that's pretty much become our daily routine."
"Well, on the bright side, it does provide us with a never-ending array of..." Wesley feigned coughing after catching Cordelia's disbelieving glare, "I wasn't saying anything."
Cordelia sighed and rolled her eyes, "Well, at least the past couple of days have been fairly... ah!" she cried out as a new blinding vision struck her, and she brought her hand up to cradle her throbbing head.
"Cordy?" Angel asked worriedly, coming to stand next to her. He placed his hand on her shoulder as he waited for her to look up at him. After a few moments, Cordelia drew in a shaky breath and turned to look at the concerned faces of her friends. She knew that they were all gaining an increasingly apprehensive attitude about her visions and the pain that it was causing her, so she did her best to relieve some of their worry. "Spoke too soon," she smiled warily. "Uh, it wasn't as bad this time, really, but..." she trailed off, turning to look up at Angel.
"What?" Angel asked, growing more nervous at the look in her eyes.
"It was about Willow."
"What?!" Angel exclaimed, "is she in trouble? Is something happening in Sunnydale?"
"I don't know," Cordelia shrugged helplessly. "This vision was...different. I didn't get a sense of danger...it was more...I don't know...just *urgent.*"
"Urgent how?" Wesley inquired, his curiosity peaked. "What did you see?"
"Willow, just lying there. Shaking, sweating, crying. I don't know. I got this feeling of...emptiness. Desperation? It's hard to place."
"And you can't tell anything more?" Angel asked. Cordelia shook her head apologetically, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Angel reassured her. "Maybe I'll just give Willow a call and see what's up."
"That sounds like a good idea," Cordelia stood, shaking slightly. Angel reached out his arm to steady her, and she sent him a grateful smile. "I'll be fine. Just gonna get some water. Willow's number is on the rolodex in Wesley's office. You should probably call right away."
"Yeah," Angel nodded, sending Cordelia once last worried glance before heading into the office. He was really starting to get concerned over Cordelia's increasing trouble with the visions. He knew she was playing it low-key for their benefit, and he made a silent vow to try and figure out some way to help her.
Angel quickly found the card with Willow's information and noted that she was staying at Buffy's house. After dialing the familiar number, he leaned back into the chair and waited for an answer.
***
Willow groaned as she opened her eyes, the harsh sunlight burning into them. She had barely slept at all, what with the memories of the previous night playing themselves over and over in her head. Willow shuddered involuntarily and pulled the covers tightly around her. Not wanting to get out of bed, Willow closed her eyes again and tried to will away the unwanted thoughts, but she knew she had to face them. She had to face Buffy, Tara...Dawn.
Taking a deep breath, Willow sat up and turned her head to the side to stare at the empty space next to her. Her heart ached at the thought of Tara hearing all about her behavior last night, and she imagined the look of betrayal that would mar her pretty features, the pain that would flash in her eyes.
Willow placed her head in her hands as she fought back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her. Now was not the time to break down, she told herself. Now was the time to be strong, resolute. She had to be, or she would lose the only people in this world that she cared about, assuming she hadn't lost them already.
After spending a few minutes calming herself down, Willow lifted her head up and moved off the bed to get ready. As she set about her daily morning routine, Willow found that she had to forcefully keep herself from using her magick. She hadn't realized how dependent she'd become on it, using it for everything from floating her hairbrush to her to automatically clothing herself. When had it gotten to the point that the magick had ingrained itself into every minute action of her life?
Just as Willow was about to head out of the room and face whatever the day decided to throw at her, the phone rang, shrilly cutting into the silence. Willow waited for a couple of rings to pass, hoping someone else would answer it. She really wasn't in the mood to speak with anyone right now. After the fourth ring, Willow sighed and reached for the phone.
"Hello?"
"Willow?"
"Angel?" Willow's mind immediately went into panic mode. She hadn't spoken with anyone in L.A. in weeks, and even then, it was normally Cordelia that she spoke with. Angel's calling set off all sorts of alarm bells. "Is everything alright?"
"Funny, that's what I was going to ask you," Angel replied, "is anything particularly odd happening there?"
Willow paused for a moment at his question. Odd? Well, nothing was odd, but there were a few things that were horribly, terribly wrong. "Not that I'm aware of," Willow began, choosing her words carefully. For the first time, she wondered if Buffy had told Angel about having been pulled out of Heaven during their rendezvous. A part of her hoped that she hadn't; she couldn't take it if Angel hated her, too. "Unless you're referring to a diamond-stealing ice demon."
"What?"
"Uh, nothing. Angel, is there something in particular that we should be looking out for?"
Angel had caught Willow's momentary silence, and he considered the tone of her voice for a moment. Something was different. It was almost as if she was tired, defeated. Her normally melodious voice was instead dull, hollow.
"I'm not really sure," Angel began. For some reason, he didn't think he should tell Willow of Cordelia's vision. On impulse, he asked her, "Do you think you could swing by L.A. for a day or so?"
"Okay, you lost me. Is this oddness happening here or in L.A?"
"Well, I'm not sure."
Willow groaned inwardly at his vagueness. "You're going to have to be a bit more forthcoming than that, Angel. You're starting to scare me."
Angel sighed as he considered what to say. If he was intended to protect Willow from something, it would probably be easier for him to do it in L.A. rather than traveling to Sunnydale. He just had to think of a way to get her here without scaring her. "Well, you see, we need some help with this spell..."
Willow froze at Angel's words. Her mind blocked out the rest of what he was saying, instead focusing on the word 'spell.' She could feel her palms begin to sweat and her heart hammering away in her chest. She struggled to control her suddenly ragged breathing as she fought the impulse to yell into the phone that she would be there right away. The thought of going to L.A. to help Angel with this spell was tantalizing...she could return to using magick for good...she could help people. Isn't that why she had started in the first place? Yes, she would go to L.A. and help Angel by performing this spell...by using her magick...she would use her magick...
The vision of Dawn's terrified eyes suddenly flashed in Willow's mind as a fresh wave of memories hit her: Dawn's disappointment, fear, screams, the look of revolt in Dawn's eyes, the sting of the slap across her cheek, Buffy's cold eyes staring at her, the steely voice telling her to stay away...
"Willow? Willow, what's wrong? What's happening?" Angel's worried questions bombarded against deaf ears. It had been several minutes since he'd stopped speaking, and Willow had yet to answer him. He knew she was still there, he could hear her labored breathing. "Willow!"
The sound of Angel's forceful voice brought her mind back into focus, and Willow shook her head emphatically as she spoke, "No! I...I can't help you, Angel. I'm sorry. I just can't." And with that, she slammed the phone down into the receiver and sank to the floor, shaking violently, sobs wracking her body.
***
Angel sat in shock for several moments, listening to the sound of the dial tone buzzing in his ears. What had just happened? Something was terribly wrong with Willow, he was certain of it. But what? And what in the world was he supposed to do?
After gently hanging up the phone, Angel stood up and made his way back into the lobby. The others looked up at him expectantly, but he had no idea what to say.
"Angel?" Fred inquired softly.
"She... I don't know," Angel shrugged.
Cordelia stood up walked over to Angel. "What do you mean? What happened?"
"I tried to think of some way to get her to L.A, I figured she would be safer here. So I made some story about needing help with a spell and--"
"--that's good!" Cordelia broke in, "I mean, Willow's getting really good with magick, and I think she really enjoys it, and--"
"--she freaked," Angel finished.
"What?" Cordelia looked at him in confusion.
"Something came over her and she hung up on me."
"And she gave no indication of demon trouble?" Wesley asked.
"No," Angel shook his head, "I think it's something else altogether."
"And I didn't see any big uglies in my vision," Cordelia offered.
"But the Powers sent you that vision for a reason," Angel began a bit absent-mindedly. "I know that something is wrong, and I intend to find out what it is."
END PART ONE
AUTHOR: Winter
EMAIL ADDRESS: winteryuu@hotmail.com
DISTRIBUTION: My site (The Course of True Love), FanFiction.net, and anyone who already has any of my fics archived. Anybody else, just let me know where it's going.
SPOILERS: Everything up through "Wrecked" on Buffy and "Billy" on Angel is fair game, but the Darla/baby/Holtz storyline doesn't exist and Angel is not developing feelings for Cordelia.
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: In the aftermath of "Wrecked", Willow learns of her destiny - one that seemingly pits her against Angel. (Willow/Angel friendship)
DISCLAIMER: "Buffy" and "Angel" are owned by Joss Whedon, etc, etc. I make no claims.
FEEDBACK: Please?
PART ONE
"Wesley!" Fred smiled as she saw the man enter the lobby of the hotel. "Good morning! It's good to see you, well, not that I normally don't, but..." Fred smiled at him sheepishly and exhaled, "how are you feeling?"
Wesley cleared his throat and smiled at Fred before hastily looking away, "I'm fine, Fred, thank you for asking. And you?" He couldn't help feeling a bit awkward around the girl, even after their many conversations about...the events with Billy. He knew that she'd forgiven him, and that she was constantly trying her best to make him feel at ease, but he couldn't forgive himself for the way that he'd lost control.
"Oh, well I'm doing just great," Fred declared, taking Wesley by the hand and leading him to sit next to her at the receptionist's desk where Cordelia and Gunn were already seated reading the morning paper. "I had the most interesting dream last night. Most of it is fading, really, but I remember having a fascinating discussion with my physics professor from college--which is odd that I would dream of her, 'cause I haven't really thought much about her in the last, oh, seven years or so, but she was a real fine lady--and anyhow, we were talking about this research that she was doing in quantum mechanics regarding the theories that time isn't really a flowing entity but rather a sequence of discontinuous moments, and she had set up this..." Fred trailed off as she noticed the wide-eyed stares she was getting from her companions. "And I don't really remember the rest," she finished quietly, looking down at her hands.
"The rest of what?" Angel asked, coming into the room.
"Of one highly technical dream--and please don't ask about the details," Gunn pleaded, "I really don't like having that many words fly over my head at one time."
"Well, as long as it didn't involve demons or prophecies or an upcoming apocalypse, we're good," Angel shrugged and moved to stand next to Gunn.
"What did you have to say that for?" Cordelia groaned.
"What?" Angel asked, perplexed.
"Now we're just going to end up finding some new prophecy about demons bringing about the end of the world and--"
"--and that's new how?" Gunn cut her off, "'Cause the way I see it, that's pretty much become our daily routine."
"Well, on the bright side, it does provide us with a never-ending array of..." Wesley feigned coughing after catching Cordelia's disbelieving glare, "I wasn't saying anything."
Cordelia sighed and rolled her eyes, "Well, at least the past couple of days have been fairly... ah!" she cried out as a new blinding vision struck her, and she brought her hand up to cradle her throbbing head.
"Cordy?" Angel asked worriedly, coming to stand next to her. He placed his hand on her shoulder as he waited for her to look up at him. After a few moments, Cordelia drew in a shaky breath and turned to look at the concerned faces of her friends. She knew that they were all gaining an increasingly apprehensive attitude about her visions and the pain that it was causing her, so she did her best to relieve some of their worry. "Spoke too soon," she smiled warily. "Uh, it wasn't as bad this time, really, but..." she trailed off, turning to look up at Angel.
"What?" Angel asked, growing more nervous at the look in her eyes.
"It was about Willow."
"What?!" Angel exclaimed, "is she in trouble? Is something happening in Sunnydale?"
"I don't know," Cordelia shrugged helplessly. "This vision was...different. I didn't get a sense of danger...it was more...I don't know...just *urgent.*"
"Urgent how?" Wesley inquired, his curiosity peaked. "What did you see?"
"Willow, just lying there. Shaking, sweating, crying. I don't know. I got this feeling of...emptiness. Desperation? It's hard to place."
"And you can't tell anything more?" Angel asked. Cordelia shook her head apologetically, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Angel reassured her. "Maybe I'll just give Willow a call and see what's up."
"That sounds like a good idea," Cordelia stood, shaking slightly. Angel reached out his arm to steady her, and she sent him a grateful smile. "I'll be fine. Just gonna get some water. Willow's number is on the rolodex in Wesley's office. You should probably call right away."
"Yeah," Angel nodded, sending Cordelia once last worried glance before heading into the office. He was really starting to get concerned over Cordelia's increasing trouble with the visions. He knew she was playing it low-key for their benefit, and he made a silent vow to try and figure out some way to help her.
Angel quickly found the card with Willow's information and noted that she was staying at Buffy's house. After dialing the familiar number, he leaned back into the chair and waited for an answer.
***
Willow groaned as she opened her eyes, the harsh sunlight burning into them. She had barely slept at all, what with the memories of the previous night playing themselves over and over in her head. Willow shuddered involuntarily and pulled the covers tightly around her. Not wanting to get out of bed, Willow closed her eyes again and tried to will away the unwanted thoughts, but she knew she had to face them. She had to face Buffy, Tara...Dawn.
Taking a deep breath, Willow sat up and turned her head to the side to stare at the empty space next to her. Her heart ached at the thought of Tara hearing all about her behavior last night, and she imagined the look of betrayal that would mar her pretty features, the pain that would flash in her eyes.
Willow placed her head in her hands as she fought back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her. Now was not the time to break down, she told herself. Now was the time to be strong, resolute. She had to be, or she would lose the only people in this world that she cared about, assuming she hadn't lost them already.
After spending a few minutes calming herself down, Willow lifted her head up and moved off the bed to get ready. As she set about her daily morning routine, Willow found that she had to forcefully keep herself from using her magick. She hadn't realized how dependent she'd become on it, using it for everything from floating her hairbrush to her to automatically clothing herself. When had it gotten to the point that the magick had ingrained itself into every minute action of her life?
Just as Willow was about to head out of the room and face whatever the day decided to throw at her, the phone rang, shrilly cutting into the silence. Willow waited for a couple of rings to pass, hoping someone else would answer it. She really wasn't in the mood to speak with anyone right now. After the fourth ring, Willow sighed and reached for the phone.
"Hello?"
"Willow?"
"Angel?" Willow's mind immediately went into panic mode. She hadn't spoken with anyone in L.A. in weeks, and even then, it was normally Cordelia that she spoke with. Angel's calling set off all sorts of alarm bells. "Is everything alright?"
"Funny, that's what I was going to ask you," Angel replied, "is anything particularly odd happening there?"
Willow paused for a moment at his question. Odd? Well, nothing was odd, but there were a few things that were horribly, terribly wrong. "Not that I'm aware of," Willow began, choosing her words carefully. For the first time, she wondered if Buffy had told Angel about having been pulled out of Heaven during their rendezvous. A part of her hoped that she hadn't; she couldn't take it if Angel hated her, too. "Unless you're referring to a diamond-stealing ice demon."
"What?"
"Uh, nothing. Angel, is there something in particular that we should be looking out for?"
Angel had caught Willow's momentary silence, and he considered the tone of her voice for a moment. Something was different. It was almost as if she was tired, defeated. Her normally melodious voice was instead dull, hollow.
"I'm not really sure," Angel began. For some reason, he didn't think he should tell Willow of Cordelia's vision. On impulse, he asked her, "Do you think you could swing by L.A. for a day or so?"
"Okay, you lost me. Is this oddness happening here or in L.A?"
"Well, I'm not sure."
Willow groaned inwardly at his vagueness. "You're going to have to be a bit more forthcoming than that, Angel. You're starting to scare me."
Angel sighed as he considered what to say. If he was intended to protect Willow from something, it would probably be easier for him to do it in L.A. rather than traveling to Sunnydale. He just had to think of a way to get her here without scaring her. "Well, you see, we need some help with this spell..."
Willow froze at Angel's words. Her mind blocked out the rest of what he was saying, instead focusing on the word 'spell.' She could feel her palms begin to sweat and her heart hammering away in her chest. She struggled to control her suddenly ragged breathing as she fought the impulse to yell into the phone that she would be there right away. The thought of going to L.A. to help Angel with this spell was tantalizing...she could return to using magick for good...she could help people. Isn't that why she had started in the first place? Yes, she would go to L.A. and help Angel by performing this spell...by using her magick...she would use her magick...
The vision of Dawn's terrified eyes suddenly flashed in Willow's mind as a fresh wave of memories hit her: Dawn's disappointment, fear, screams, the look of revolt in Dawn's eyes, the sting of the slap across her cheek, Buffy's cold eyes staring at her, the steely voice telling her to stay away...
"Willow? Willow, what's wrong? What's happening?" Angel's worried questions bombarded against deaf ears. It had been several minutes since he'd stopped speaking, and Willow had yet to answer him. He knew she was still there, he could hear her labored breathing. "Willow!"
The sound of Angel's forceful voice brought her mind back into focus, and Willow shook her head emphatically as she spoke, "No! I...I can't help you, Angel. I'm sorry. I just can't." And with that, she slammed the phone down into the receiver and sank to the floor, shaking violently, sobs wracking her body.
***
Angel sat in shock for several moments, listening to the sound of the dial tone buzzing in his ears. What had just happened? Something was terribly wrong with Willow, he was certain of it. But what? And what in the world was he supposed to do?
After gently hanging up the phone, Angel stood up and made his way back into the lobby. The others looked up at him expectantly, but he had no idea what to say.
"Angel?" Fred inquired softly.
"She... I don't know," Angel shrugged.
Cordelia stood up walked over to Angel. "What do you mean? What happened?"
"I tried to think of some way to get her to L.A, I figured she would be safer here. So I made some story about needing help with a spell and--"
"--that's good!" Cordelia broke in, "I mean, Willow's getting really good with magick, and I think she really enjoys it, and--"
"--she freaked," Angel finished.
"What?" Cordelia looked at him in confusion.
"Something came over her and she hung up on me."
"And she gave no indication of demon trouble?" Wesley asked.
"No," Angel shook his head, "I think it's something else altogether."
"And I didn't see any big uglies in my vision," Cordelia offered.
"But the Powers sent you that vision for a reason," Angel began a bit absent-mindedly. "I know that something is wrong, and I intend to find out what it is."
END PART ONE