author: Lucinda

content may be similar to the series, with violence involving humans and nonhumans, moderate sexuality, and alcohol, though it probably won't be as serious.

Primary pairing: Willow/Doyle

Sixth in 'Lucky Charm' series

Disclaimer: I own nobody from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel the Series.

Distribution: WLS, NHA, Bite Me please, Wic, anyone else just ask.

Notes: AU. Hero never happened. Cordelia hooked up with Wesley, and Doyle's crush on her faded.

Doyle tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in time with the song playing on the radio. He was visiting Willow this weekend, something which made him feel all hopeful and fluttery. She was charming, and while they weren't there yet, he could see himself falling in love with her.

Willow wasn't very much like Harriet, but sometimes he wasn't certain if the man he was today was very much like the man that had fallen for Harry. He'd changed, and not all of it in ways that he was quite proud of. He was trying to be a better man for Willow while desperately hoping that she didn't decide that someone else was the better man or woman that she was looking for. If things went well, Willow would be moving to LA next month, and they could spend a great deal more time together.

He parked in the small lot near a group of stores, and started towards them, stretching his legs. Glancing at the sign that proclaimed the store was called 'the Magic Box', he shook his head and stepped inside.

Incense, scented oils and herbs combined to make a powerful scent inside, and he sneezed twice, ducking his head in the hopes that nobody would see anything unusual. After all, not only was there a Slayer in the area, most people would panic at a green face with blue spikes.

"You must be Doyle," a man's voice, from among the rows and shelves of merchandise.

Looking up, he saw a young man about Willow's age, with dark hair. The man was just looking at him, with this odd expression of curiosity and suspicion. He looked a bit familiar, and Doyle thought about the few pictures from Sunnydale that he'd seen from Cordelia and a few sketches that Angel had made. "Are you Xander?"

"Yeah. Which I'm going to take as you're Doyle, the guy Willow's talking about. She's pretty sure that you're a good guy," Xander's frown hinted that he wasn't certain that he agreed.

"Have I done something to be making you doubt me? I only just got into town," Doyle protested.

"She's been my best friend since kindergarten, so I have seniority and I get to deliver the talk," Xander had a little grin that somehow was entirely lacking in amusement. "Buffy wanted to, but I convinced her this was my job."

"What talk would that be?" He glanced around the shop, moving away from the door with the full certainty that Xander would follow.

"Willow can make up her own mind who she chooses to date, and that's none of my business. But know this, Doyle who works with Angel in LA," Xander leaned closer, staring into Doyle's eyes. "If you hurt Willow, I will make the rest of your life very short, very painful, and nobody will find your body. Ever."

Doyle could feel the sincerity rolling from Xander. Despite the fact that the young man was entirely human, allegedly normal, and two hours away from where he generally lived, Doyle held no doubts about Xander's ability to carry out his threat. Sometimes, pure determination could make up for quite a lot. "I'll be keeping that in mind, but I've no intentions of hurting her."

"Good. Willow is very important to us, and we do our best to take care of our own," Xander explained, the words half warning.

"Xander, are you… Did you just give Doyle some variation of the shovel talk?" Willow sounded less than happy.

"Your friend was just having a few words with me," Doyle smiled at her, delighted to see her for far more than the hope that her presence would change the topic. He stepped to her, wrapping his arms around her with a smile. "It's good to see you again."

Willow sighed and snuggled into his arms, murmuring, "I missed you."

Pulling back a little, she waved a finger at Xander. "Shovel talk delivered, the threats are over. That also goes for Anya and Buffy. Giles gets one because he's Dad, but you don't get another one until the next visit."

"Okay, but An's going to be a little disappointed. He's a new audience, and he's already in the know, so… I think she was looking forward a little." Xander shrugged trying to look as if he hadn't just threatened painful death.

"I said she couldn't threaten him, not that she couldn't talk," Willow giggled before looking up at him. "Anya can be a bit much, but most of the time she means well, and she's had a lot to adjust to."

"Wait, is this the same Anya who brought a strange vampire into Sunnydale? Cordelia didn't say too much, but something about that one really got to her. If this is the same woman, how did she end up working here?" Doyle blinked in confusion, remembering Cordelia going on about a vengeance demon, a wish, an ugly necklace with a gaudy pendant, and a scary vampire in leather. In his experience, leather wasn't exactly uncommon for vampires, so he didn't understand the confusion.

"Yeah, but she's settled down a lot now that she doesn't have her powers anymore. She's been dating Xander." Willow shrugged, and tugged him towards the back. "I would have thought that she'd forgotten all about the vampire though, there's been so much time since that happened."

"Hey, nobody's going to forget VampWillow," Xander retorted. "The only thing she had in common with you was the hair."

Willow blushed, mumbling something about shoes and cages. Doyle was rather curios what sort of connection there could have been, or maybe he'd just heard her wrong. "I take it you'd rather not talk about her just now?"

"I can think of a lot of things that I'd rather talk about instead of her," Willow glared at Xander, and then sighed. "Come on back, I might as well start the introductions. Don't take the impending threats personally, we're just a bit overprotective at times."

"Considering what sort of things you do here, what you fight and what the stakes are, I can understand a bit of over-protectiveness." Doyle commented, following her to the back room.

Gesturing towards a woman cheerfully ringing up someone's purchases, Willow commented, "That's Anya. She's dating Xander, and normally runs the register here."

"She seems a bit more ordinary than I would have expected, considering what Cordelia said about her." Doyle glanced at the cheerful woman, wincing as the order came to well over two hundred dollars, closer to three. She certainly didn't look like a thousand year old vengeance demons.

"She's human now, it makes her look a bit more blendy," Willow offered, and then frowned. "She's still getting used to human limits, and human discussion topics. You can expect at least four gory reminincings about her old job and two discussions of her sex life before the weekend's over, and probably two or three ideas about how the shop could make more money."

"Ahh," Doyle didn't really have any idea what to say in response to that. "I guess this trip will be a bit more interesting than I'd expected."

Willow leaned forward, kissing him. "I hope the trip isn't all bad."

"I wouldn't say that at all," he breathed. Kissing her, Doyle smiled, "Parts of it are quite enjoyable."

"Good." Willow smiled, and leaned into him. "I just hope Sunnydale doesn't scare you away from me like it did with Tara."

"That's part of why I'm luring you away, isn't it?" Doyle murmured.

"Yeah," Willow admitted. "Sunnydale doesn't just kill people, it kills hopes and dreams and relationships."

"I'm her for you," Doyle whispered. "I promise."

End Lucky Charm 6: the Luck of Home.