Part 8

Lilah entered her office and hid her surprise when she saw Angel sitting there.

"Oh it's you, what do you want?"

"Now, Lilah. Is that any way to greet a guest that has come to visit?"

Lilah just rolled her eyes. "Just get on with it, Angel. You know I'm not going to tell you whatever it is you want me to."

Angel stood up and walked closer to Lilah.  Lifting a hand to caress her cheek Angel said, "I'm counting on it." Angel smiled inwardly when he felt her heart begin to race. Sometimes he missed this.

Angel sat on the corner of Lilah's desk. "I've heard that Wolfram and Hart made a deal with the devil so to speak."

Lilah just raised an eyebrow at him and continued looking through a file on her desk.

Angel leaned in closer to Lilah and put his hand on top of the file, "I know you're working with Doc and Astrote in conjunction with the prophecy in the Urok scrolls. I also know that you didn't want the psychic's vision to come true about a powerful witch joining forces with me. Too late, Lilah. She's already with me and if anything happens to her, anything at all from a paper cut to something more I'll hunt you down and you'll beg for your death. You think what I did when I locked everyone in the room with Darla and Dru was the worst I could do?" Angel leaned even closer and looked in to Lilah's eyes, "it will be nothing compared to what I will do if anything happens to her."

Lilah tried to remain unaffected but it was hard when visions of the massacre were floating in front of her eyes. God, she was damned if she did and damned if she didn't. W&H would kill her if she told Angel what he wanted or Angel would kill her if anything happened to the witch.

She thought back over her meeting with Astrote that afternoon and what he wanted. They were going to use Angel as the bait to get the witch to come and battle Astrote. Might as well tell Angel where they were staying maybe she would get points for delivering Angel.

Pulling another folder out of a pile she laid it next to Angel, "I have a meeting I have to go to. I trust you can find your way out." She got up from behind her desk and walked out without looking back. Dumb vampire probably won't know to look through the file she thought.

Angel looked down at the file that Lilah obviously wanted him to see. That was way too easy he thought. Probably setting me up to be a sacrificial lamb. Wesley had told him about his role in the prophecy and that he would be the one to bring Willow and the dark lord together. He had argued about bringing her to LA. He hadn't wanted to be the one to cause her pain and maybe her death.

Wesley had told him that Willow played a pivotal role in the prophecy and that she wouldn't die but she would have to make a choice between fighting for the Powers or giving in to the temptation of the dark. According to the Urok prophecy Willow had a major role to play in an apocalypse they just didn't know if she was to stop it or begin it.

Angel flipped through the file and saw the address of where Doc and Astrote were staying. With a quirk of his lips he thought it was fitting that they were staying in Holland's house. Not that he was going to use this information just yet. He had just wanted to even the playing field since he had no doubt that Doc and Astrote knew where he and Willow were.

Angel had a feeling that the final battle wouldn't be for a while yet. The demonic activity in LA wasn't as bad as it could be and he had no doubt it would get worse. He had heard from Giles earlier and the action around Sunnydale had intensified. Angel thought that was probably Doc's doing as well. Trying to keep Willow's friends from coming to help her. It was something Angelus would do. It was an old ploy but very effective . . . divide and conquer. Doc would probably try to weaken her support here as well.

~~~~

Earlier that day Willow had decided to spend some time with Fred. Willow had only been in LA a few days but most of that time was spent either with Angel or with the entire gang. Willow had wanted to get to know Fred, Gunn and the new Wesley better. If they were to fight this evil together it would be better if they were a cohesive group and since she was the outsider of an already cohesive group it was up to her to make the first move with the others.

Talking with Fred, Willow realized how much they had in common. It was kind of nice to have another nerd around. She didn't feel as much as a square peg in a round hole. Of course Oxford helped her with that feeling as well. It was nice to be surrounded by others that had the thirst for knowledge that she had.

Willow and Fred were deep in discussions about different dimensions, black holes and Quantum Physics when Cordelia came outside to join them. Standing just outside the door Cordelia watched Willow and Fred talking animatedly about some new theory of Steven Hawking's. Cordelia smiled at how much Fred was opening up to Willow. Even though she wasn't the timid girl they had found in Pylea anymore she still wasn't too comfortable around strangers. It seems Willow hasn't lost her touch on how to make people comfortable in her presence Cordelia thought.

Cordelia made her way over to her two friends, "Okay enough bonding over science. Let's go do something fun."

"What did you have in mind, Delia?"

"Well, I just had a vision that a woman was going to get attacked outside of Casey's bar by a demon. I say we go, kick some demon ass and then party in the bar."

"So . . . mix a little business in with the pleasure. Sounds like a plan to me. You coming, Fred?"

"Sure."

They went back inside so Cordelia and Fred could grab a few weapons. Wesley turned when he saw them go to the weapons cabinet.

"A vision, Cordelia?"

"Yep, but this calls for girl power sorry boys."

Gunn asked, "What do you mean sorry boys?"

Willow and Fred smiled with Willow answering, "She means we're going to kick some demon ass and then bond."

~~~~

Angel returned to the Hyperion where he learned that Willow had gone demon hunting with Cordelia and Fred.

Gunn scowled, "Yeah, said they were going demon hunting then bonding. You know they are probably partying at a bar someplace. Leaving me and Wes to take up the slack while they're out having a good time. Probably picking up guys."

Angel narrowed his eyes at that. He really didn't like the idea of guys hanging all over Willow. His relationship with Willow was too new for him to feel confident in Willow's feelings for him.

Angel could hear the giggling before the doors opened. On the one hand he was happy that Cordelia and Fred were bonding with Willow but on the other he wasn't sure how much time he would have with Willow and he wanted to spend as much of it as possible with her.

As they entered Willow saw Angel, "Hi Angel."

Angel frowned. Willow's voice sounded odd and high.

Fred went over to Gunn to give him a hug, "Next time you guys can come too and we can all bond."

Gunn and Angel just looked at Fred and Willow. Fred's voice had the same odd quality.

"What happened? Did the demon do something to your voices?"

This caused the girls to giggle harder. It was Cordelia that finally got herself under control to answer, "Nope. Can you believe it? Fred had never sucked helium before. It's sort of a right of passage when you're younger. Grab a balloon and suck the helium out so your voice is really weird. So . . . we got a balloon and sucked the helium. Can't have Fred missing out on something like that."

Angel and Gunn just rolled their eyes, "Are you drunk?"

With a smile Willow jumped into Angel's arms, "Nope just tipsy. What did you find out from Lilah?"

Angel smiled and leaned down for a kiss. "Nothing that can't wait 'til later."

Angel drew Willow closer and their welcoming kiss turned more passionate. Cordelia cleared her throat and mumbled, "Get a room."

Angel's vampirc hearing heard her mumblings and with a smile he broke off his kiss with Willow. Grabbing her hand and walking towards the stairs he whispered to Cordelia, "Good idea."