2000 – Part One
Willow and Buffy strolled slowly down Sunnydale Main Street.
"But, you have whipped cream." Willow reasoned. "I saw it in Giles' fridge."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "That was the whipped cream in the canister. It's only right if you whip it yourself."
Willow smiled. Buffy is really getting into the whole Thanksgiving thing. "Yay." She monotoned. "And then we can churn our own butter and make sweaters out of sheep!"
Buffy smiled, recognising Willow's good-natured teasing for what it was.
"I swear, this'll be the last thing." She promised. "Anyway, I have an appointment to go see this priest Giles called me about. He thinks he might have some information…" Buffy broke off as she heard someone call her name and looked around to see who it could be. She smiled happily as she noticed Riley crossing the street towards her. "Hi." She said to him. "I didn't see you at all. Where'd you come from?"
Riley came to a halt in front of Buffy and Willow and grinned. Willow could tell how much he liked Buffy by the way that he obviously couldn't take his eyes off of her.
"Oh, just across the street and…" Riley glanced over his shoulder in the direction that he'd come from. "..And a couple of blocks down." He noticed Willow for the first time. "Hey Willow." He greeted her.
Willow waved at him. "Hi." She looked around for an excuse to leave Buffy and Riley alone. "You know, I think I'll just let you two…" The Espresso Pump! Perfect. "Hey look! They're selling coffee in the… coffee shop." Willow said with a wave in the direction of the café that neither Buffy nor Riley actually saw. "Yum!" She said as she quickly ducked into the shop and into the queue.
Clutching her mocha carefully, Willow made her way across the café, intending to see how Riley and Buffy were getting on. She was so intent on trying to be sneaky that she didn't notice the other 'sneaky' person in the shop… until she bumped into him.
Willow's scalding hot mocha went the way of gravity. Swiftly looking down, Willow had just enough time to picture in her minds eye, the dull silver of the hot liquid brightening before it hit both her and the person she'd bumped into. Willow stepped back to look at the person she'd bumped into as the ice that had been her mocha a split second ago fell to the floor.
"Angel!" Willow gasped as his hand covered her mouth. Her eyes widened. "Evil!" She exclaimed into his hand. "You're all evil again."
Angel looked deep into her eyes. "I'm not evil." He assured her before letting her go. "I'm here to help Buffy."
Willow was immediately concerned. "What's going on?" She asked.
"My friend had a vision." Angel said. "Buffy's in danger." He continued, not giving Willow time to process his first statement, never mind his second.
Angel has a friend. Angel's made friends! Willow thought. Wait... this friend has visions? Visions of...Buffy in danger. Alarmed, Willow glanced back at Buffy, who was happily chatting to Riley. Okay, no obvious danger there. She conceded, turning back to Angel.
"So tell her. Help her!" Willow told him, amazed that he was skulking in the shadows other than standing by Buffy's side.
Angel shook his head. "If she sees me, it'll be worse." He said with a glance at Buffy.
Willow frowned. "See, I don't get that. All this 'leaving for her own good' garbage. Because that's what it is! You can't just give up on something because there's obstacles. What kind of…"
"Willow?" Angel interrupted, amazed that Willow, Willow of all people, was saying this to him. Out of everyone here in Sunnydale, I thought Willow at least would try to understand. She's always accepted me before. He thought to himself.
Willow noticed the look of utter bewilderment on Angel's face. "Sorry." She apologised. "My stuff."
"You know how I feel about her." Angel tried to explain. To justify himself. "If there was any way…"
Willow cringed. "Yeah, I know."
"It's just… everything's different now." Angel said with a wistful sigh.
Gotta stop him brooding. Willow thought, as she mentally reviewed a list of subjects for her to bring up. "Hey, is Cordelia really working for you?" She asked with a grin. "That's gotta be... a special experience. Of all the people you could've hired…"
"Willow." Angel reproved. "I'm here to protect Buffy. I don't have a whole lotta time for personal stuff."
Willow nodded. I knew that. "Right. How can I help?" She asked.
Angel looked at where Buffy stood flirting with some guy. "Well… if you can just tell me... Who's that guy?" He asked jealously.
"Oh!" Willow exclaimed, understanding completely. "That's Riley. He's a TA in our Psyche class." She explained, taking advantage of Angel's distraction to warm up the mocha that she'd dropped.
Carefully, she mentally shone the light brighter and brighter until the ice had completely dissolved.
"Willow!" Angel exclaimed.
Willow flinched. The last thing I need is for someone to announce that I'm a mutant in the middle of Sunnydale. She thought. The anti-mutant frenzy is bigger than ever, thanks to that guy... Magneto... trying to assassinate everyone at the World Leaders Summit. "Yes?" she asked timidly.
"Willow, your eyes!" Angel said, looking shocked.
"What about them?" Willow was relieved. She knew her mutation hadn't had affected her appearance, unlike some other, high profile, mutants.
Angel cupped Willow's face turning into a slightly better light. "I'd swear they just flashed silver." He told her.
Willow laughed nervously. Okay, so maybe my mutation has affected my appearance, I just didn't know it. I mean, how can you check your own eyes for flashes of silver? It's impossible... right? "Why would my eyes flash silver?" She asked Angel. "My eyes wouldn't flash silver. People's eyes don't flash silver."
Angel looked at Willow suspiciously. Here it comes. Willow thought. This is the part where he announces that I'm a mutant. A freak.
"How much coffee have you had?" Angel asked her.
"Too much!" Willow told him. "Way too much coffee. I should probably go and be… someplace that is else." With that, Willow turned and left Angel standing alone in the middle of the coffee shop, looking after her with an extremely bewildered expression.