Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. They belong to Joss and ME
Chapter 11
Three days later
The office of Xander Harris
There was a knocking on his door. Xander got up from his desk and walked to the door.
"Mr. Harris." Angelus smiled and tipped his hat. Xander had expected a visit from Angelus, yet he was surprised it had taken him this long to show up.
"Good morning, Mr. McKenna." Xander couldn't bring himself to call him Lord Angelus. For one thing he doubted his claim of lordship was real, and then of course there was the fact that he despised the man to no end. "Please come in."
Angelus was not bothered by the lack of respect Xander showed him. He merely imagined the day he could finally torture him endlessly with hot pokers. He walked into the office and accepted the chair offered to him. He removed his coat and hat and sat down as Xander also seated himself.
"And to what do I owe this visit?" He tried to smile as best he could without making it look as though he was straining every last muscle in his face to do so.
"Mr. Harris, I am sure you may have heard that my fiancé is traveling in France. She may be spending a bit of time there and I want to make sure she has peace of mind regarding her estate. Basically, I will be taking over the business of running it in her absence." Xander nodded, yet said nothing. "We had a long conversation before she left and it was decided that the Summers Manor would be sold upon our return from our honeymoon. Even though our marriage has been postponed, we still want to have the Manor sold as planned."
Angelus started to grow a bit uncomfortable. Xander had not said a word. All he did was sit there and nod and smile. He figured Xander for an idiot, but why the hell did he just sit there and smile? Angelus thought that due to his title and wealth, he could talk his way into having people give him anything he wanted. He was wrong.
"So, as you can see your services will no longer be needed. Now, if you will just give me the deed to the Manor and any other titles I may need for the rest of the properties, I will be on my way." Now Xander spoke.
"Well, I think it's a wonderful gesture for you to want to make sure Miss Summers can enjoy herself while she is on holiday in France is it? However, I am afraid this matter has already been taken care of." Xander no longer needed to pretend to smile. He saw perspiration on Angelus' forehead as well as a distinctive vein. God he was loving this. "When I spoke to Miss Summers after her parents were killed, said that she wanted to keep me on as the family attorney. She also had me draw up a power of attorney giving Miss Willow Rosenberg full authority to run her estate upon her absence. Do you know Miss Rosenberg Mr. McKenna?" Angelus was by now grinding his teeth, and wiping small beads of sweat from his brow.
"Yes," he struggled to smile and appear calm, "although, not very well."
"I'm quite surprised Miss Summers made no mention of this before she left." Xander leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "Perhaps it just slipped her mind, with all that has been happening in her life as of late." There was an uneasy silence in the room. Xander felt sure Angelus would leap across the desk and try to strangle him. He struggled to remember if he had put his letter opener in his desktop drawer or if he had left it in the front room. His heart almost came out through his throat when Angelus rose from his chair.
"Perhaps I should pay Miss Rosenberg a visit then. Thank you Mr. Harris. Good day." Xander started to get up, and Angelus held up his hand, "Please, I can find my way out."
Panic struck him. He had to get to Giles' house before Angelus did. While he was sure that Elizabeth would be in her room and not walking about this early in the day, he needed to make sure Giles and Willow were not caught by surprise. Angelus came by carriage. This would give Xander the advantage of having only to run to the town stables and retrieve his horse. He could be up and riding in a matter of moments. He guessed he would reach the house at least 10 minutes before Angelus. He would also be taking the woods, which would perhaps cut another few minutes off of the time. This was going to be close, too close.
He rode as fast as he could. He was not an expert rider. He only rode infrequently, and as needed. Most of his clients were in the village, and he had a few on the outskirts. The bit of riding he did in no way required any skill other than knowing how to get on the horse and not fall off.
Giles' Home
Xander reached the house with time to spare. He could see Angelus' carriage in the far distance. He quickly put his horse out of site in the stables behind the house and then went into the house through the kitchen. He ran out to the hall and started calling out.
"GILES! WILLOW! WHERE ARE YOU?" They both came rushing out of the library.
"Xander what's wrong?" asked Willow as she got to him first. He was trying to catch his breath as he talked.
"Angelus.. he's.. coming." he had bent over and held his hands to his knees. After a few seconds he was finally breathing normally. "He came to see me a little while ago. Buffy was right.", he straightened up, "The son of a bitch wants to get his hands on everything. I did just as we planned, I told him you have control of the estate Willow. And he wasn't too happy about it." Giles turned his head towards the door as he heard the horses approach.
"Well we expected this sooner or later. Xander go hide in the library. Willow I want you to try to pick up anything you can. See if you can ascertain what his plans are."
"You, you want me to get into his mind?" She started to worry. Willow had tried this before yet up until now all she could get was unintelligible words.
"Yes, please Willow. You must try. This may be the only opportunity to find out what this man is planning." He walked to the library and made sure the tapestry covering the lab was placed properly. As he walked out to the front hall back to Willow, there was a knock at the door. They looked at each other and Giles motioned to her to go into the parlor. She went in and picked up a book and pretended to read. As soon as she was out of his site Giles then turned and opened the door.
"Sir Giles, good morning." Angelus tipped his hat. "Please excuse my impromptu visit." Giles stepped aside and opened the door further and motioned for Angelus to enter.
"Quite all right, it is a pleasure to have you here." Angelus walked inside and removed his hat and coat. Giles took them and placed them on top of a chair near the door.
"I realize my visit may seem rather odd, since we have never really been properly introduced. I understand that Miss Rosenberg is your ward and I would very much like to speak with her." He said smiling.
Willow sat staring at the book. She concentrated on clearing her mind of any thoughts.
"I believe she is in the parlor. Please come this way." Giles walked toward the parlor with Angelus following closely behind him.
As they approached Willow began to hear words in her head *Longinus - Spear* Angelus came to stand in front of her and as she noticed him she felt a cold draft and heard a whisper in her ear, as though some invisible presence was standing near her, "Death follows this one" said the voice. She looked at him.
"Willow, Lord McKenna," Angelus interrupted Giles.
"Please, Lord Angelus. I am afraid the pain of the violence incurred by my family still haunts me. I prefer not to use my family name." He looked at Willow. "Miss Rosenberg, I am afraid we have never had the opportunity to properly get to know one another." He smiled and took her hand as she offered it to him. She saw another word in his mind *Constantine* .
"Elizabeth was quite busy keeping you all to herself." she heard another whisper "the witch is in route with the relic. He must not possess the relic"
"Please sit." She motioned for him to sit, "Giles would you please excuse us?" Giles excused himself and walked into the library, and made sure he left the doors wide open.
"I paid a visit to Mr. Harris this morning and he informed me that Elizabeth has left you with power of attorney in the matter of the estate in her absence."
"Yes. She did so after the death of her parents. The papers state that I am to run the estate whenever she is out of the country." Willow felt the cold chill return. It felt as if the souls of all of his dead were in the room with them.
"We plan to be married upon her arrival from France." He could never let anyone know he had been stood up at the alter. Luckily all of his guests were from out of England, and he had made sure that they were taken out of the village before anyone could speak a word about what happened to the locals. He needed to put up a front and make the public believe she had left with his blessings. But, Willow knew the truth, and so did the others. She could also feel that he truly believed Elizabeth was in France
"I would like to surprise her by having the manor sold, as we had discussed before she left." He said as Willow stood and walked to a table that had a pitcher of water and glasses.
"Would you like some water?" she poured herself a glass.
"No thank you." He stood and started to take slow steps toward her. "Miss Rosenberg, I would like for you to relinquish your power of attorney to me. I am sure you will agree that I have Elizabeth's best interest at heart, and there is really no need for you to bother yourself with the burden of dealing with such a complicated matter." His words were cold and calculated, and in his mind she heard something all together different than what was coming out of his mouth
She turned to face him now. He was smiling at her. Her mind was still open to his.
I would rather take it from you unwillingly. I want to hear you begging me to stop.
To her great surprise he was no longer afraid of her. Elizabeth had told her once that he feared her interest in magic. What had changed? There was a power that he anticipated. She felt that inside of him. She could no longer hear his thoughts. She looked him in the eyes, and stood her ground. She knew he would do nothing to her there, and she would not give him the pleasure of seeing her discomfort with the situation.
"I am afraid that won't be possible. I was left with the guardianship of the entire estate, and the entire estate is what will be waiting for Elizabeth when she returns." He blinked. She had shown him that she would not cower to him. And for a moment he shook. He did not expect this little nothing of a woman to challenge him.
As sure of himself as he was in her presence, there was still a part of him that feared her. He had his own witch, and he knew the extent of her power. However, he knew nothing of Willow's. From what Amy had told him of Witchcraft and Sorcery, one need not have knowledge of spells or roots or even know the words used in incantations. Simply being born with the gift of power was enough, and he had no idea what kind of power lay in Willow. He would soon find out, and so would Willow.
Chapter 11
Three days later
The office of Xander Harris
There was a knocking on his door. Xander got up from his desk and walked to the door.
"Mr. Harris." Angelus smiled and tipped his hat. Xander had expected a visit from Angelus, yet he was surprised it had taken him this long to show up.
"Good morning, Mr. McKenna." Xander couldn't bring himself to call him Lord Angelus. For one thing he doubted his claim of lordship was real, and then of course there was the fact that he despised the man to no end. "Please come in."
Angelus was not bothered by the lack of respect Xander showed him. He merely imagined the day he could finally torture him endlessly with hot pokers. He walked into the office and accepted the chair offered to him. He removed his coat and hat and sat down as Xander also seated himself.
"And to what do I owe this visit?" He tried to smile as best he could without making it look as though he was straining every last muscle in his face to do so.
"Mr. Harris, I am sure you may have heard that my fiancé is traveling in France. She may be spending a bit of time there and I want to make sure she has peace of mind regarding her estate. Basically, I will be taking over the business of running it in her absence." Xander nodded, yet said nothing. "We had a long conversation before she left and it was decided that the Summers Manor would be sold upon our return from our honeymoon. Even though our marriage has been postponed, we still want to have the Manor sold as planned."
Angelus started to grow a bit uncomfortable. Xander had not said a word. All he did was sit there and nod and smile. He figured Xander for an idiot, but why the hell did he just sit there and smile? Angelus thought that due to his title and wealth, he could talk his way into having people give him anything he wanted. He was wrong.
"So, as you can see your services will no longer be needed. Now, if you will just give me the deed to the Manor and any other titles I may need for the rest of the properties, I will be on my way." Now Xander spoke.
"Well, I think it's a wonderful gesture for you to want to make sure Miss Summers can enjoy herself while she is on holiday in France is it? However, I am afraid this matter has already been taken care of." Xander no longer needed to pretend to smile. He saw perspiration on Angelus' forehead as well as a distinctive vein. God he was loving this. "When I spoke to Miss Summers after her parents were killed, said that she wanted to keep me on as the family attorney. She also had me draw up a power of attorney giving Miss Willow Rosenberg full authority to run her estate upon her absence. Do you know Miss Rosenberg Mr. McKenna?" Angelus was by now grinding his teeth, and wiping small beads of sweat from his brow.
"Yes," he struggled to smile and appear calm, "although, not very well."
"I'm quite surprised Miss Summers made no mention of this before she left." Xander leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "Perhaps it just slipped her mind, with all that has been happening in her life as of late." There was an uneasy silence in the room. Xander felt sure Angelus would leap across the desk and try to strangle him. He struggled to remember if he had put his letter opener in his desktop drawer or if he had left it in the front room. His heart almost came out through his throat when Angelus rose from his chair.
"Perhaps I should pay Miss Rosenberg a visit then. Thank you Mr. Harris. Good day." Xander started to get up, and Angelus held up his hand, "Please, I can find my way out."
Panic struck him. He had to get to Giles' house before Angelus did. While he was sure that Elizabeth would be in her room and not walking about this early in the day, he needed to make sure Giles and Willow were not caught by surprise. Angelus came by carriage. This would give Xander the advantage of having only to run to the town stables and retrieve his horse. He could be up and riding in a matter of moments. He guessed he would reach the house at least 10 minutes before Angelus. He would also be taking the woods, which would perhaps cut another few minutes off of the time. This was going to be close, too close.
He rode as fast as he could. He was not an expert rider. He only rode infrequently, and as needed. Most of his clients were in the village, and he had a few on the outskirts. The bit of riding he did in no way required any skill other than knowing how to get on the horse and not fall off.
Giles' Home
Xander reached the house with time to spare. He could see Angelus' carriage in the far distance. He quickly put his horse out of site in the stables behind the house and then went into the house through the kitchen. He ran out to the hall and started calling out.
"GILES! WILLOW! WHERE ARE YOU?" They both came rushing out of the library.
"Xander what's wrong?" asked Willow as she got to him first. He was trying to catch his breath as he talked.
"Angelus.. he's.. coming." he had bent over and held his hands to his knees. After a few seconds he was finally breathing normally. "He came to see me a little while ago. Buffy was right.", he straightened up, "The son of a bitch wants to get his hands on everything. I did just as we planned, I told him you have control of the estate Willow. And he wasn't too happy about it." Giles turned his head towards the door as he heard the horses approach.
"Well we expected this sooner or later. Xander go hide in the library. Willow I want you to try to pick up anything you can. See if you can ascertain what his plans are."
"You, you want me to get into his mind?" She started to worry. Willow had tried this before yet up until now all she could get was unintelligible words.
"Yes, please Willow. You must try. This may be the only opportunity to find out what this man is planning." He walked to the library and made sure the tapestry covering the lab was placed properly. As he walked out to the front hall back to Willow, there was a knock at the door. They looked at each other and Giles motioned to her to go into the parlor. She went in and picked up a book and pretended to read. As soon as she was out of his site Giles then turned and opened the door.
"Sir Giles, good morning." Angelus tipped his hat. "Please excuse my impromptu visit." Giles stepped aside and opened the door further and motioned for Angelus to enter.
"Quite all right, it is a pleasure to have you here." Angelus walked inside and removed his hat and coat. Giles took them and placed them on top of a chair near the door.
"I realize my visit may seem rather odd, since we have never really been properly introduced. I understand that Miss Rosenberg is your ward and I would very much like to speak with her." He said smiling.
Willow sat staring at the book. She concentrated on clearing her mind of any thoughts.
"I believe she is in the parlor. Please come this way." Giles walked toward the parlor with Angelus following closely behind him.
As they approached Willow began to hear words in her head *Longinus - Spear* Angelus came to stand in front of her and as she noticed him she felt a cold draft and heard a whisper in her ear, as though some invisible presence was standing near her, "Death follows this one" said the voice. She looked at him.
"Willow, Lord McKenna," Angelus interrupted Giles.
"Please, Lord Angelus. I am afraid the pain of the violence incurred by my family still haunts me. I prefer not to use my family name." He looked at Willow. "Miss Rosenberg, I am afraid we have never had the opportunity to properly get to know one another." He smiled and took her hand as she offered it to him. She saw another word in his mind *Constantine* .
"Elizabeth was quite busy keeping you all to herself." she heard another whisper "the witch is in route with the relic. He must not possess the relic"
"Please sit." She motioned for him to sit, "Giles would you please excuse us?" Giles excused himself and walked into the library, and made sure he left the doors wide open.
"I paid a visit to Mr. Harris this morning and he informed me that Elizabeth has left you with power of attorney in the matter of the estate in her absence."
"Yes. She did so after the death of her parents. The papers state that I am to run the estate whenever she is out of the country." Willow felt the cold chill return. It felt as if the souls of all of his dead were in the room with them.
"We plan to be married upon her arrival from France." He could never let anyone know he had been stood up at the alter. Luckily all of his guests were from out of England, and he had made sure that they were taken out of the village before anyone could speak a word about what happened to the locals. He needed to put up a front and make the public believe she had left with his blessings. But, Willow knew the truth, and so did the others. She could also feel that he truly believed Elizabeth was in France
"I would like to surprise her by having the manor sold, as we had discussed before she left." He said as Willow stood and walked to a table that had a pitcher of water and glasses.
"Would you like some water?" she poured herself a glass.
"No thank you." He stood and started to take slow steps toward her. "Miss Rosenberg, I would like for you to relinquish your power of attorney to me. I am sure you will agree that I have Elizabeth's best interest at heart, and there is really no need for you to bother yourself with the burden of dealing with such a complicated matter." His words were cold and calculated, and in his mind she heard something all together different than what was coming out of his mouth
She turned to face him now. He was smiling at her. Her mind was still open to his.
I would rather take it from you unwillingly. I want to hear you begging me to stop.
To her great surprise he was no longer afraid of her. Elizabeth had told her once that he feared her interest in magic. What had changed? There was a power that he anticipated. She felt that inside of him. She could no longer hear his thoughts. She looked him in the eyes, and stood her ground. She knew he would do nothing to her there, and she would not give him the pleasure of seeing her discomfort with the situation.
"I am afraid that won't be possible. I was left with the guardianship of the entire estate, and the entire estate is what will be waiting for Elizabeth when she returns." He blinked. She had shown him that she would not cower to him. And for a moment he shook. He did not expect this little nothing of a woman to challenge him.
As sure of himself as he was in her presence, there was still a part of him that feared her. He had his own witch, and he knew the extent of her power. However, he knew nothing of Willow's. From what Amy had told him of Witchcraft and Sorcery, one need not have knowledge of spells or roots or even know the words used in incantations. Simply being born with the gift of power was enough, and he had no idea what kind of power lay in Willow. He would soon find out, and so would Willow.