Author's Notes: Here ya go, part 3.you finally get to find out what's up
with Buffy! Well at least some of it. A couple people have asked about
the original version, wanting to read it.I will post the old parts (but
only the ones I have revised versions completed for) if people really want
them.but they are not all that different than the revised parts. The
storyline is exactly the same, I just reworded things, expanded more than a
little, and fixed mistakes. If enough people are interested, though, I'll
put up the old version. Just let me know.
AN2: My thanks and appreciation go out to my feedbackers (TK, Kendra, Kaye, Court, ally, Kitkat, Lauren, Lisa Anne, clules4eva, V, Tariq, Rain, and Christine).
AN3: Not beta'd.blame any mistakes on me!
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^ Part 3 ^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
After leaving the Bronze, Willow had asked Angel if he would drive her somewhere, purposely leaving out where exactly she wanted to go. Angel, still confused by the situation, could do nothing but say yes. It was obvious in his mind that there was something Willow wasn't telling him, or hadn't yet been able to tell him. He wasn't sure which. The sinking feeling in his gut, however, told him that whatever it was, it was something very very bad.
The car ride was silent except for Willow's scant directions. Angel was tempted to pull the car over and demand that she tell him what was going on. Instead, he wordlessly complied with her directives. Part of him just didn't want to know what had Willow acting so strangely.
When they finally reached their destination, Angel stared curiously at the house. It was rather large, well kept, and was part of the so-called 'wealthy district'. He recognized it from his years living in Sunnydale, but had no idea who lived there. Why had Willow asked him to bring her here?
"Where are we Willow? Whose house this?" questioned Angel. The situation was getting odder by the second which only served to make him more nervous.
"This is Joyce's and Giles' house," she answered, glad that the dark of night didn't allow Angel to see her face. When she realized her statement probably didn't make sense to him, she explained further. "They got married about 2 years ago and moved here."
"Oh.that's.well, unexpected, but what are we doing here?" he asked even more confused and a bit shocked. Buffy's mom and Mr. Giles. Another unexpected turn of events. He wondered what Buffy thought of her Mom's marriage to their high school class advisor.
"I, uh, stay here sometimes. Well...I guess I practically live here, especially when they are out of town. They're on a retreat for a week so Oz and I are staying here to...take care of things," she stated, knowing full well that her vagueness was obvious.
Angel's brow furrowed. It was more than a little weird to him that a young woman like Willow was living with another person's family most of the time, and with her boyfriend. Couldn't they have hired someone to take care of the house, or couldn't Buffy do it? And what 'things' exactly did she have to take care of? Something was very wrong, he was sure of that.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Angel followed as Willow entered house. He glanced around at the interior, taking note of the expensive pieces of art. The house was beautiful filled with exquisite furniture and such. No doubt the result of two mildly wealthy people marrying each other. It was still strange to Angel that Buffy's Mom had married Giles.
Without saying anything, Willow started walking up the large oak staircase leading up to the second floor. Angel followed, hoping that sooner, rather than later, he'd get some answers as to what was going on. They made their way down a long hall to an open sitting area where Willow told him to wait for a minute.
He watched impatiently as she went over and talked to a young woman in her mid-twenties who was seated on a couch reading a book. They spoke quietly so he couldn't hear what they were saying, but he saw the young woman glance over to him. Who was she? A servant? The woman then stood and walked past him down the hall. Willow walked back over to Angel with an obvious look of sadness and fear in her eyes.
"Willow, could you please tell me what's going on?" he said slightly angered.
Instead Willow lightly took his hand and led him over to a door to the right of the couch the young woman had recently been sitting on. She couldn't think of the right way to tell him, so she decided it would be best to let him see for himself. It was the cowards way out, she knew that, and probably wasn't the best way to handle things, but it was the only thing that she could think of.
"What's in there? Why won't you tell me anything?" Angel demanded, his mind was searching for answers. What was behind that door that Willow was intent on showing him rather than telling him?
"Just go in," she said softly, her eyes unable to look into his.
"Aren't you coming with me?" he asked when he saw Willow walk toward one of the chairs in the sitting area.
"No," she answered with a slight shake of her head. Taking a seat, she finally looked at Angel, her eyes telling him without words that whatever was behind that door was not something he wanted to see.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
For a moment, Angel could only stare at Willow. The red head's actions had him truly frightened. And part of him was about two seconds away from throttling her for being so cryptic. The knot in his stomach tightened even more, if that was humanly possible, as he fought with the dueling desires of forcing Willow to explain what was going on or to just go into the room before him.
Realizing he wasn't going to get any more information out of Willow, he turned toward to door that he supposed held the key to the ever confusing situation he found himself in. Slowly, he grasped the handle and turned it. Pushing open the door, he swiveled his head to take one last glance at Willow in hopes that she would reveal something, anything, to him. But her face adeptly masked her emotions. Taking a deep breath he wasn't sure if he needed, Angel walked into the room.
The first thing he noticed in the room, other than the lack of significant light, were all the machines scattered around. His eyes narrowed as he strained to see them in the dim light. They were the kind of machines seen in hospitals that measured various vital statistics. What were they doing in the room? His questioning gaze turned to look out the door to Willow, but abruptly came to a stop on a sight he almost wished he hadn't seen.
There, lying on a bed in the corner of the room was Buffy. Angel's mouth dropped open as if to speak, but no words came out. He took a cautious step toward the bed. His eyes ran over her form. She looked incredibly pale and fragile, a few wires here and there trailed from her body and appeared as if they connected her to the machines he'd first noticed. He took another hesitant step toward the bed.
"Buffy," he said in a choked whisper.
His hand reached out to touch her, but dropped quickly. He almost didn't want to touch her, didn't want to make the sight in front of him any more real. But it was real. His beautiful Buffy was lying lifeless a mere foot away from him. What had happened to her? His eyes roamed over what he could see of her body, searching for something to tell him what was wrong with her. But there was nothing.
Angel stood there for what seemed like hours staring at his love. He didn't even notice when the tears began falling down his cheeks, the only thing he could think about was Buffy. She looked so small in the bed, like a child's baby doll, neatly tucked in for bedtime.
He took the last few steps until he was standing beside her. His left hand reached out and touched the side of her face while his right hand found its way into hers. She felt not quite warm but not quite cold and didn't stir at his touch. The tears that had started earlier continued to fall as he stood and stared at what seemed like her lifeless body. The only sign of life being the blips on the machine that he assumed measured her heart rate.
Seeing the chair beside the bed, Angel sat down and tried to absorb the picture that lay before him, all the while never letting go of her hand.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
A half hour went by as Willow waited in the sitting room next to where her best friend resided. She could almost feel the pain radiating out of the room from Angel. Tears began to well in her eyes as she thought about her friend lying unmoving on the bed. She still had hope that Buffy would wake up, that things would go back to the way they used to be. Go back to when she had a best friend who hadn't pushed her away, who wasn't now in a coma.
Finally, she heard Angel's footsteps and saw him emerge from the room. He was puffy and red eyed Angel, as she assumed she was as well. He closed the door, staring at it for a moment before walking over to Willow and sitting in the chair next to her.
"I'm sorry Angel, we thought that you knew," Willow said breaking the deafening silence surrounding them.
"H-How long has she been like that?" he asked in a barely audible voice.
"Seven and a half months," she answered softly, pulling a tissue out of her pocket to dab at her tears.
"What happened?" Angel questioned tersely, fresh tears beginning to fall at the thought of his Buffy being like that for so long. She'd always been so full of life.to see her like he just had was so foreign.
"She was attacked. Someone found her in an alley badly beaten and stabbed. The doctors didn't think she would survive the night. The stab wounds had penetrated her liver and lungs, and there was serious head trauma. She made it through all the surgeries, but hasn't regained consciousness since then," explained Willow as she reached to close one her hands around Angel's.
Angel's eyes closed and his head dropped slightly as the things Willow told him penetrated his mind. His heart ached for Buffy. He couldn't imagine what she must have gone through. And he hadn't been there. Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice spoke out saying that it wouldn't have happened if he had been there, that his beloved wouldn't be lying in that bed if he hadn't left.
When he didn't speak, Willow continued, "they kept her in the hospital for two months. But her condition didn't change, that was when Joyce and Giles decided it was best to move her back home and hire a private care. So she's been here since then. That's why I often stay here, to help out with whatever they need and to be here for Buffy."
Willow's words again received no response. Angel just continued to sit there, but his eyes had raised and were now staring at the door through which he'd just walked through. His mind couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence. There were only singular thoughts mostly focusing on the words Buffy and coma.
The utterly lost look in Angel's eyes was not lost on Willow. She knew that look well, she still saw it often in Joyce's eyes. She wished that there was something she could do for him, but experience had shown her that there was nothing that would ease them pain. They had all had a while to come to terms with the situation, but it was all very fresh for Angel. She couldn't help but be worried about him. Seeing someone you love in the condition like he had just seen Buffy was always hard.
"Angel, there's a lot of stuff that you don't know.things that have gone on since you left, but now's not the time to talk about them. I think we both need some sleep. Why don't you stay the night in one of the extra rooms. I don't think you should be driving right now," Willow offered, trying to be as comforting as she could. The last thing Angel should be doing at the moment was driving in the condition he was in.
"Ok," answered Angel when he snapped out of his daze enough to realize what Willow had said. His mind was still too much in shock to absorb anything she'd said or to say that he'd be fine to go home. So he just followed her down the hall and into one of the guest rooms.
"There are some spare clothes in the dresser. You should be able to find something you can change into," Willow told him and gestured to the dresser. She watched him for a minute as he just stood in the room. She again wished there was something she could do for him, but only time would ease the hurt. Sighing slightly, she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Willow was lying in bed thinking about all the things that had gone on during the evening when Oz finally entered their bedroom. She was grateful that Joyce and Giles didn't mind him staying with her when she slept at the house. Oz was her rock, he comforted her when she was sad, laughed with her when she was happy, he was everything she could want in a boyfriend.
"How did it go?" he asked as changed into his sleeping clothes.
"About as I expected. He was really upset," she began and then told him about all that had transpired with Angel earlier.
"You think he still loves her don't you?" he asked already knowing the answer.
"It was pretty obvious," she replied.
"Yeah, I think Xander was the only one in denial land about that," Oz answered back.
"We better get some sleep. I'm gonna need it for the conversation I have to have with Angel tomorrow. He doesn't know yet about everything else that's gone on while he was away," she said sleepily.
"Mmm, yeah, he's not going to take that well," Oz said with a yawn and then pulled the covers over Willow and himself. She snuggled closer to him and drifted off to sleep.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
TBC.feedback is much appreciated, keeps my fickle muse happy!
AN2: My thanks and appreciation go out to my feedbackers (TK, Kendra, Kaye, Court, ally, Kitkat, Lauren, Lisa Anne, clules4eva, V, Tariq, Rain, and Christine).
AN3: Not beta'd.blame any mistakes on me!
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^ Part 3 ^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
After leaving the Bronze, Willow had asked Angel if he would drive her somewhere, purposely leaving out where exactly she wanted to go. Angel, still confused by the situation, could do nothing but say yes. It was obvious in his mind that there was something Willow wasn't telling him, or hadn't yet been able to tell him. He wasn't sure which. The sinking feeling in his gut, however, told him that whatever it was, it was something very very bad.
The car ride was silent except for Willow's scant directions. Angel was tempted to pull the car over and demand that she tell him what was going on. Instead, he wordlessly complied with her directives. Part of him just didn't want to know what had Willow acting so strangely.
When they finally reached their destination, Angel stared curiously at the house. It was rather large, well kept, and was part of the so-called 'wealthy district'. He recognized it from his years living in Sunnydale, but had no idea who lived there. Why had Willow asked him to bring her here?
"Where are we Willow? Whose house this?" questioned Angel. The situation was getting odder by the second which only served to make him more nervous.
"This is Joyce's and Giles' house," she answered, glad that the dark of night didn't allow Angel to see her face. When she realized her statement probably didn't make sense to him, she explained further. "They got married about 2 years ago and moved here."
"Oh.that's.well, unexpected, but what are we doing here?" he asked even more confused and a bit shocked. Buffy's mom and Mr. Giles. Another unexpected turn of events. He wondered what Buffy thought of her Mom's marriage to their high school class advisor.
"I, uh, stay here sometimes. Well...I guess I practically live here, especially when they are out of town. They're on a retreat for a week so Oz and I are staying here to...take care of things," she stated, knowing full well that her vagueness was obvious.
Angel's brow furrowed. It was more than a little weird to him that a young woman like Willow was living with another person's family most of the time, and with her boyfriend. Couldn't they have hired someone to take care of the house, or couldn't Buffy do it? And what 'things' exactly did she have to take care of? Something was very wrong, he was sure of that.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Angel followed as Willow entered house. He glanced around at the interior, taking note of the expensive pieces of art. The house was beautiful filled with exquisite furniture and such. No doubt the result of two mildly wealthy people marrying each other. It was still strange to Angel that Buffy's Mom had married Giles.
Without saying anything, Willow started walking up the large oak staircase leading up to the second floor. Angel followed, hoping that sooner, rather than later, he'd get some answers as to what was going on. They made their way down a long hall to an open sitting area where Willow told him to wait for a minute.
He watched impatiently as she went over and talked to a young woman in her mid-twenties who was seated on a couch reading a book. They spoke quietly so he couldn't hear what they were saying, but he saw the young woman glance over to him. Who was she? A servant? The woman then stood and walked past him down the hall. Willow walked back over to Angel with an obvious look of sadness and fear in her eyes.
"Willow, could you please tell me what's going on?" he said slightly angered.
Instead Willow lightly took his hand and led him over to a door to the right of the couch the young woman had recently been sitting on. She couldn't think of the right way to tell him, so she decided it would be best to let him see for himself. It was the cowards way out, she knew that, and probably wasn't the best way to handle things, but it was the only thing that she could think of.
"What's in there? Why won't you tell me anything?" Angel demanded, his mind was searching for answers. What was behind that door that Willow was intent on showing him rather than telling him?
"Just go in," she said softly, her eyes unable to look into his.
"Aren't you coming with me?" he asked when he saw Willow walk toward one of the chairs in the sitting area.
"No," she answered with a slight shake of her head. Taking a seat, she finally looked at Angel, her eyes telling him without words that whatever was behind that door was not something he wanted to see.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
For a moment, Angel could only stare at Willow. The red head's actions had him truly frightened. And part of him was about two seconds away from throttling her for being so cryptic. The knot in his stomach tightened even more, if that was humanly possible, as he fought with the dueling desires of forcing Willow to explain what was going on or to just go into the room before him.
Realizing he wasn't going to get any more information out of Willow, he turned toward to door that he supposed held the key to the ever confusing situation he found himself in. Slowly, he grasped the handle and turned it. Pushing open the door, he swiveled his head to take one last glance at Willow in hopes that she would reveal something, anything, to him. But her face adeptly masked her emotions. Taking a deep breath he wasn't sure if he needed, Angel walked into the room.
The first thing he noticed in the room, other than the lack of significant light, were all the machines scattered around. His eyes narrowed as he strained to see them in the dim light. They were the kind of machines seen in hospitals that measured various vital statistics. What were they doing in the room? His questioning gaze turned to look out the door to Willow, but abruptly came to a stop on a sight he almost wished he hadn't seen.
There, lying on a bed in the corner of the room was Buffy. Angel's mouth dropped open as if to speak, but no words came out. He took a cautious step toward the bed. His eyes ran over her form. She looked incredibly pale and fragile, a few wires here and there trailed from her body and appeared as if they connected her to the machines he'd first noticed. He took another hesitant step toward the bed.
"Buffy," he said in a choked whisper.
His hand reached out to touch her, but dropped quickly. He almost didn't want to touch her, didn't want to make the sight in front of him any more real. But it was real. His beautiful Buffy was lying lifeless a mere foot away from him. What had happened to her? His eyes roamed over what he could see of her body, searching for something to tell him what was wrong with her. But there was nothing.
Angel stood there for what seemed like hours staring at his love. He didn't even notice when the tears began falling down his cheeks, the only thing he could think about was Buffy. She looked so small in the bed, like a child's baby doll, neatly tucked in for bedtime.
He took the last few steps until he was standing beside her. His left hand reached out and touched the side of her face while his right hand found its way into hers. She felt not quite warm but not quite cold and didn't stir at his touch. The tears that had started earlier continued to fall as he stood and stared at what seemed like her lifeless body. The only sign of life being the blips on the machine that he assumed measured her heart rate.
Seeing the chair beside the bed, Angel sat down and tried to absorb the picture that lay before him, all the while never letting go of her hand.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
A half hour went by as Willow waited in the sitting room next to where her best friend resided. She could almost feel the pain radiating out of the room from Angel. Tears began to well in her eyes as she thought about her friend lying unmoving on the bed. She still had hope that Buffy would wake up, that things would go back to the way they used to be. Go back to when she had a best friend who hadn't pushed her away, who wasn't now in a coma.
Finally, she heard Angel's footsteps and saw him emerge from the room. He was puffy and red eyed Angel, as she assumed she was as well. He closed the door, staring at it for a moment before walking over to Willow and sitting in the chair next to her.
"I'm sorry Angel, we thought that you knew," Willow said breaking the deafening silence surrounding them.
"H-How long has she been like that?" he asked in a barely audible voice.
"Seven and a half months," she answered softly, pulling a tissue out of her pocket to dab at her tears.
"What happened?" Angel questioned tersely, fresh tears beginning to fall at the thought of his Buffy being like that for so long. She'd always been so full of life.to see her like he just had was so foreign.
"She was attacked. Someone found her in an alley badly beaten and stabbed. The doctors didn't think she would survive the night. The stab wounds had penetrated her liver and lungs, and there was serious head trauma. She made it through all the surgeries, but hasn't regained consciousness since then," explained Willow as she reached to close one her hands around Angel's.
Angel's eyes closed and his head dropped slightly as the things Willow told him penetrated his mind. His heart ached for Buffy. He couldn't imagine what she must have gone through. And he hadn't been there. Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice spoke out saying that it wouldn't have happened if he had been there, that his beloved wouldn't be lying in that bed if he hadn't left.
When he didn't speak, Willow continued, "they kept her in the hospital for two months. But her condition didn't change, that was when Joyce and Giles decided it was best to move her back home and hire a private care. So she's been here since then. That's why I often stay here, to help out with whatever they need and to be here for Buffy."
Willow's words again received no response. Angel just continued to sit there, but his eyes had raised and were now staring at the door through which he'd just walked through. His mind couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence. There were only singular thoughts mostly focusing on the words Buffy and coma.
The utterly lost look in Angel's eyes was not lost on Willow. She knew that look well, she still saw it often in Joyce's eyes. She wished that there was something she could do for him, but experience had shown her that there was nothing that would ease them pain. They had all had a while to come to terms with the situation, but it was all very fresh for Angel. She couldn't help but be worried about him. Seeing someone you love in the condition like he had just seen Buffy was always hard.
"Angel, there's a lot of stuff that you don't know.things that have gone on since you left, but now's not the time to talk about them. I think we both need some sleep. Why don't you stay the night in one of the extra rooms. I don't think you should be driving right now," Willow offered, trying to be as comforting as she could. The last thing Angel should be doing at the moment was driving in the condition he was in.
"Ok," answered Angel when he snapped out of his daze enough to realize what Willow had said. His mind was still too much in shock to absorb anything she'd said or to say that he'd be fine to go home. So he just followed her down the hall and into one of the guest rooms.
"There are some spare clothes in the dresser. You should be able to find something you can change into," Willow told him and gestured to the dresser. She watched him for a minute as he just stood in the room. She again wished there was something she could do for him, but only time would ease the hurt. Sighing slightly, she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Willow was lying in bed thinking about all the things that had gone on during the evening when Oz finally entered their bedroom. She was grateful that Joyce and Giles didn't mind him staying with her when she slept at the house. Oz was her rock, he comforted her when she was sad, laughed with her when she was happy, he was everything she could want in a boyfriend.
"How did it go?" he asked as changed into his sleeping clothes.
"About as I expected. He was really upset," she began and then told him about all that had transpired with Angel earlier.
"You think he still loves her don't you?" he asked already knowing the answer.
"It was pretty obvious," she replied.
"Yeah, I think Xander was the only one in denial land about that," Oz answered back.
"We better get some sleep. I'm gonna need it for the conversation I have to have with Angel tomorrow. He doesn't know yet about everything else that's gone on while he was away," she said sleepily.
"Mmm, yeah, he's not going to take that well," Oz said with a yawn and then pulled the covers over Willow and himself. She snuggled closer to him and drifted off to sleep.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
TBC.feedback is much appreciated, keeps my fickle muse happy!
