Title: I Finally Remembered You. Part 26 – Co-Conspirators
Rating: R/NC-17 for other chapters
Pairing: Xander/Angel
Summary: AU futurefic. Slash. Xander, not Buffy, had gone to see Angel in "I Will Remember You" Years later, he finally keeps his promise.
Spoilers: All of BtVS & Ats
Warnings: M/M, mild language, more in future chapters
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Words in Italics indicate thoughts.
Willow stayed up that night, talking with Xander and sharing a tub of cookie-dough ice cream. Angel had excused himself from the festivities, leaving the two old friends to catch up.
Willow was so glad that she and Xander had taken the time to reaffirm their friendship, after Sunnydale. It had surprised her to realize how much she had let is slide over the years. No more. She and Xander were friends forever; she wasn't going to take that for granted, again.
They had both fallen asleep, mid-sentence, during the wee hours of the morning, on Xander's bed. And they had stayed asleep, most of the day. In fact, it was late afternoon when she had woken up and, then woken Xander. They had teased each other about bed-head and morning breath. She had kissed him on the cheek and left to go to her own room and freshen up, not long after.
She had run into Angel in the hallway outside of Xander's room. She was pretty sure he had growled at her after taking in her appearance, aforementioned bed-head and same clothes from the night before. Then he had smiled stiffly at her and greeted her, as if he hadn't just growled at her. They exchanged niceties for a few moments before she left him to go change clothes. When she looked back from her door, at the other end of the hall from Xander's, Angel was still standing there, and it looked like he was just staring at Xander's door.
Okay, something is definitely going on.
Willow took a quick shower and put on a fresh set of clothing. She quickly blow dried her hair and put on the minimum-required-for-public-viewing amount of make-up.
Then she plotted. First, she needed to figure out what she knew. Second, she needed to go find Spike and find out what he knew. Thirdly, she needed to enlist Spike's help in finding out what the hell was really going on with Xander and Angel.
Willow smiled to herself, this was going to be fun.
Hallway outside of Spike's room.
Willow glanced in either direction down the hallway, to make sure no one saw her, before she knocked on Spike's door.
The door immediately swung open, and Spike grabbed Willow's arm and hauled her into the room.
"Bout bloody time you got here. Thought you were never goin' ta show."
"What?"
"You came in last night, right?"
"Well, yeah." Willow replied, in confusion.
"You musta' noticed something off about the whelp and Peaches. So, I been waitin' all day for you to come find me so we could figure this thing out." Spike said, smugly.
"Okay, yeah, that's pretty much why I'm here."
"So, watcha got?" Spike replied, as he pushed her towards the chair and he sat down on the end of his bed.
"What do you mean?" Willow asked, still reeling from the whole situation.
"Well, sumptin' caught your notice, right? Well, what is it, what'd you see?"
"Well, Angel drove, which was cool, because Xander's night driving is not so good, since his eye."
"Yeah, well. What about it?" Spike asked, not wanting to dwell on the sad issue of Xander's eye.
"Well, they didn't even say anything, Angel offered to drive and they did this whole silent communication thing and Xander just handed him the keys. Since when do Angel and Xander silently communicate?"
"Okay, what else?"
"Well, Angel kept glancing back at Xander in the rearview mirror, and Xander would pretend not to notice, but, I could totally tell that he did notice. Then, when Angel wasn't looking, Xander would peek at him through his eyelashes." Willow said, in a rush.
Spike leaned back, realizing that he had missed the babblespeak that had always been prominent in the Scoobies conversations.
"Well, it's not much, is it?" Spike commented, after Willow caught her breath again.
"Yeah, well, then Xander and I stayed up talking all night. He didn't mention Angel in a snarky way once, not once. And when I left his room this morning….."
"Hold up. You stayed the night with the whelp?"
"Uh-huh, we fell asleep talking. Anyway, I ran into Angel outside of Xander's room, and, uhm, I think, maybe it was just my imagination, but, I think Angel growled at me. Then he pretended that he didn't and made small talk with me for a few minutes. When I went to my room, I turned back and Angel was just staring at Xander's door." Willow finished, taking a deep breath.
Spike stared at the young witch. Angel had growled at her?
"He really growled at you?" Spike asked.
"I think so. That's weird, right? Anyway, that's all I have, what do you have?"
Spike looked at Red. His inner "big bad" was rubbing it's hands together in glee. He had found someone to plot with. Unlife was good.
"Well, first all, Angel didn't know about the boy's eye until we got here. I had to tell him what 'appened later and the big pouf was devastated, then angry, I think, when I told him about Buffy not visitin' the poor kid in hospital."
"Oh God. She didn't tell him when she saw him in Sunnydale? Or after?" Willow said, in disbelief.
"Nope. Then he and the whelp took off for a walk together the next evening. Were gone for hours, didn't make it back for dinner, even."
"Xander missed dinner?" Willow said, in shock.
"And, yesterday afternoon, Xander showed Angel his workshop, then they went back to Angel's room for awhile. I couldn't very well stand outside the door listening, Angel woulda known I was there, but there was high emotions comin' from that room. And to top it all, Peaches and the whelp went out to dinner and then to pick you up from the airport." Spike didn't mention that everyone had assumed Snotty Slayer was coming back with them and had been surprised that Willow had come without her girlfriend. Spike was damn curious, but, he didn't want to change the subject.
"Really!" Willow took a moment to absorb all that Spike had said. "Oh, I forgot something!"
Willow reached into the large bag she had set at her feet earlier. She pulled out an object wrapped in a piece of soft cloth. "Xander gave me this last night. He made the frame himself, but, I know he didn't draw the picture. And we didn't have any pictures left after Sunnydale."
Spike took the frame from Willow. The workmanship was beautiful; all the little carvings were perfect for the witch. He examined the picture inside and recognized his sire's work right away.
"That's Angel's work, the drawing. This adds a whole new dimension, doesn't it?" Spike said.
"What do you mean? I know the picture means something, and it being Angel's means something. I just don't know what." Willow admitted.
"Angel has a pretty good memory, but this, this wasn't done from an old memory, this was done soon after the event. Look how precise it is, clothing and everything. You haven't worn your hair like this or worn overalls in years. At least, not in public."
Willow didn't quite know what to think of Spike's knowledge of her wardrobe, so she ignored it and moved on. "So, he drew this back then? I thought Angelus did the drawing thing? Did Angelus draw this?"
"No, luv, both demon and soul have a skill with the arts. Angel probably was afraid you would associate the drawing with Angelus, so he didn't flaunt it in front of you. I don't know where he got that idea, do you." Spike teased gently.
"Sorry, its just, my fish and the other stuff…." Willow blushed.
"S'all right, pet. I get it. Anyway, he must have done the drawing and kept it all this time."
"Xander had to have been working on this frame for awhile, the work is so intricate."
"So, the boy was comfortable enough with the pouf to show him the gift he had made for you…."
"And Angel felt comfortable enough with Xander to show him drawings he had done and kept all these years." Willow concluded.
Spike and Willow looked at each other. They both grinned slyly.
Then they both said at the same time, "They like each other."