Chapter 4 – Something is Brewing

Note:

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Or whatever you might be celebrating!

Thanks for the encouraging reviews. This might be the least read of my stories, but the reader / review ratio for this story rocks!

I think there was a question, if Buffy had died her hair yet. Yes, she has. I only indicated that Willow had gotten the peroxide for her, but they would obviously use it, if it stood around. And of course, the curse will play a role and will be addressed, but it's a bit early for that yet.

The pub was rather crowded. Some people were having dinner, others were just there for the beer or something stronger.

Angel simply observed the customers for a while. But there was no sign of the girl. After a while, another pretty girl, dressed similarly, came downstairs and went over to the bar. She ordered something and waited. Maybe she was her travel companion. Even if not, they were the same age and might have gotten to know each other while staying at the same inn.

Angel went over to her. "Excuse me, Miss, you don't know me, but I am looking for someone."

Willow was shocked to see who was standing behind her. But she was in a public place with lots of people around. And he didn't seem that threatening to her.

"Oh, I am not from here. I won't be able to help you," she said quickly.

"Well, actually, I am looking for another guest staying here. But sadly I don't know her name. She is your age, so I thought you might have seen her or talked to her. She is about this tall," Angel indicated Buffy's height with his hand, "has blond hair and a beautiful smile."

"Um… and if I had seen her?" Willow asked, trying to hide how uneasy she was about being so close to him.

"I would really like to speak to her."

"I… I…"

"I tell you what. I'll be here for a while. If you happen to see her, just let her know I asked about her and where she can find me, if she wants to. Okay? That's all I ask."

"Okay, if I happen to see her, I will tell her."

"Thank you."

Willow's order, two bowls of soup came, and she quickly took the tray and went upstairs again.

Angel sat down at the bar and ordered a beer to avoid suspicion.

Only a short while later, Willow came downstairs again, heading straight for Angel. "I happened to see her. And she would like to come and see you, but she can't."

"She can't?" Angel asked doubtfully.

"She is ill."

"Ill? She was alright last night."

"I think she caught a cold last night."

It had been a rather cold and windy night. "Will she be okay?" Angel asked concerned.

"She is just very tired and has a slight fever."

"A fever?" Angel asked, getting a worried look on his face.

Willow nodded.

"Will you give her this from me?" Angel showed her the flower. "Maybe it cheers her up a bit."

"I will."

Willow went upstairs again. Buffy was lying in bed, the covers up to her nose.

"What did you do to him?" Willow asked.

"What do you mean?"

"He seems to be quite smitten with you. And he asked me to give you this." Willow showed her the flower.

Buffy smiled. She was exhausted and very tired. The flower was the highlight of her day.

"What did happen last night?" Willow asked.

"Nothing I haven't told you already. But at least he did as I asked and did not kill himself."

"Why do you care? He killed Dawn."

"He acts nothing like the monster the elders make him out to be. I still don't quite understand it, but it's like he is another person. And their arguments for punishing him were not really convincing. I want to know what and who exactly we are dealing with. And if it is just to spite the elders." Buffy started coughing.

"How about you try to get better before you try to go up against the elders?"

Buffy gave her a weak smile. She was simply too tired to answer.

"You haven't even touched your soup yet."

"Later."

Willow gave her a disapproving look. "Well, at least get some sleep then."

The next night, when Willow went downstairs, she saw Angel sitting at the bar again. She shortly considered if she should try avoiding him, but she was too curious to know why exactly he was here again.

Angel blamed himself that Buffy had gotten sick. They'd just stood around in the cold for so long because she had tried to talk him out of killing himself, because he had been so stubborn. He should have taken her home right away. He should have offered her his coat. He didn't even need one anyway, he was just wearing it to blend in better.

When Angel noticed Willow, he got up immediately and went over to her. "Is she better?"

"No, she's been getting worse actually."

At first, Angel had thought it might have been an excuse for Buffy to not see him. But Willow's worried face told him otherwise. "Has a doctor been here to see her?"

Willow was genuinely surprised by his concern for Buffy. "Yes, he gave her something, but so far nothing has changed. Besides, the guy was a complete jerk. Even I can do better than that." Willow could stop herself just in time from saying that the doctor had not half as much knowledge about herbs and healing than any gypsy in her clan. The guy really had been a joke of a doctor.

"Anything I can do?"

"No, but thanks for asking. Well, I gotta go."

A few hours later, Willow was just about to change the cool cloth on Buffy's forehead again, there was a knock at their door. Willow opened the door as quietly as she could as not to wake Buffy. To her surprise, the vampire was standing in the hallway.

"I… I got something for you, well, for…" he still didn't know her name, "for your friend." Angel held out a bowl filled with a steaming liquid. "It's a brew supposed to help with colds and fever."

Willow was reluctant to accept anything from him or invite him into their room. She knew very well that the room gave them protection from him. If she invited him in, he would not only know where they were staying but could come and go as he liked.

Angel noticed her reluctance. "It's just some herbs. My mother taught me how to do it. Well, actually, she taught my sister, but…. It's safe, really." Angel took a sip from the bowl. "I made it downstairs in the kitchen." Again, he held the bowl out to Willow.

Finally, she took it. "Thanks."

Willow was about to close the door when Angel said, "The kitchen is keeping the rest of the brew on their stove, so you can get more if you think it is helping her. I will be downstairs. If I can do anything, just let me know."

Willow considered if she should really give this to Buffy. She breathed in the steam from the hot liquid. She could detect nothing suspicious, and she was familiar with most poisonous substances. Some of the smells were familiar to her. And her gut told her to trust him. Why would he go to all this trouble to harm Buffy, if he had had the perfect chance to do so when he had brought her home? Willow decided she would try. Her remedies hadn't been effective so far and Buffy's fever was dangerously high.

Later that night, Willow went downstairs to get some more of the brew. The pub was quiet. One candle was still burning and Angel was sitting at that table. He looked expectantly at Willow.

"How is she?" he asked worriedly.

"It seems your brew helped. The fever is breaking. I am getting some more. What are you still doing here?"

"I told you I would be here in case you needed me."

"And the landlord let you stay?"

"I told him I was at your beck and call to get a doctor in case she would get worse. He seems to be quite fond of her, so he let me stay."

"Yeah, she tends to have that effect on people."

Angel smiled absentmindedly. "Yeah."

"Well, I'll get some more of the brew. And you can go home. I think she will be okay now."

"You sure?"

"Quite sure."

"Okay."

The next night, Angel was sitting at his usual spot at the bar, when Buffy made her way downstairs. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and still looked a bit pale and shaky.

"Hey."

"Hey, how are you?" Angel asked concerned. He was surprised that she was up at all so soon.

"Better."

"Come on, let's sit down." Angel led her to a table.

Buffy sat down. "Willow told me that you probably saved my life. Thank you."

"I'm not so sure about that. And maybe it wasn't even the brew that made you better. We don't know for sure. I'm just glad you are feeling better."

"Don't be so modest. Willow says my fever was dangerously high and your brew brought it down. I don't remember much of it. But she would never praise somebody else's mixture, if it wasn't deserved."

Angel grinned. "Yeah, she had no good word for that doctor. She was really angry. And she was very suspicious of my brew at first. She seems to know a great deal about herbs herself. Where did she learn so much about them?"

"Um… her grandmother taught her." As not to give him a chance to question her further about Willow's skills, she asked, "Where did you get your knowledge?"

"Well… the recipe is originally from my mother. She never really taught me though. She taught my little sister." Angel got a really sad expression on his face.

"And your sister taught you?"

"In a way, I guess. I was never a good son or a good brother. But when I had to watch her, the few times I actually did and didn't leave her on her own, she used to play with her dolls. She would pretend to mix all those brews our mother had taught her, all the time talking to herself or her dolls. Some things must have stuck."

"What was your sister's name?"

"Was?" Angel asked confused. "How would you know…?"

"Oh… um…" Buffy had assumed that since he was a vampire he had probably outlived his family. "You were getting so sad when you talked about her. I just assumed that she… I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, you are right. She is dead."

"I'm sorry."

Angel didn't say anything for quite a while, before he finally said, "Her name was Kathy."

"That's a nice name."

"I still don't know your name."

"Buffy."

"Nice to meet you, Buffy."

"You too."

Angel noticed that Buffy looked quite tired. "I think you should get back to bed."

"That actually sounds like a good idea," Buffy admitted. "I just wanted to say thank you."

"You are welcome."

Buffy got up but she got dizzy. Everything went black before her eyes and she started to sway. But before she could tumble to the floor, Angel caught her and swept her up in his arms. Buffy hadn't lost consciousness completely but her eyes were tightly closed and she was clutching Angel's shirt. She still had the feeling that everything was spinning.

"I got you," Angel whispered reassuringly into her ear and carried her upstairs.

Buffy felt safe enough in his arms to let the blackness finally claim her.

Angel knocked on the door with his foot. Willow opened it. When she saw Angel carrying Buffy, she realized she was in a dilemma. He couldn't come in without an invitation and she was reluctant to give it to him. But if he asked and she refused, he would get suspicious. "Come on in," Willow said and opened the door wide. Somehow they had to get Buffy back into bed and Willow couldn't carry her. "Is her fever back?"

Angel put her down on the bed and felt her forehead. "No, her temperature is fine."

Buffy opened her eyes. "I'm fine. I just got dizzy. Probably got up too quickly. Sorry to have given you a fright."

"I told you to stay in bed," Willow admonished while she was covering Buffy in blankets.

The landlord knocked on the still open door. "Is everything okay? Some of the guests said Buffy had a relapse."

"She just got out of bed too early," Willow said.

Buffy waved from the bed. "I'm fine. Don't worry. I got a bit dizzy, that's all."

"Can I get you anything? Some more soup maybe?" the landlord offered.

"No, thanks, I'm fine, really."

"Okay, well, if you two need anything, let me know. I'll be downstairs."

"Thanks."

When the landlord had left, Angel said, "Well, I'll let you get some rest then." He turned and headed for the door.

"Angel?"

He stopped and turned back around to look at Buffy. "Yeah?"

"Will you… um…"

"What is it?"

"Will you be… around?" Buffy told herself that if he decided to move on now Willow and her wouldn't be able to follow him and might loose him forever. So she should try to keep him close while she was recovering. But if she was completely honest with herself, there was more to her question than that.

"Don't have any other plans."

"Is that a yes?" Buffy asked unsure.

Angel nodded and smiled at her. "Yes."

TBC