{btvs} illusions
Title: Illusions
Author: Aaronlisa
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing/Characters: Willow Rosenberg/Angelus, mentions of Xander Harris/Cordelia Chase, Rupert Giles and Buffy Summers.
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Notes: This loosely follows my earlier story: Nocturnal Visits.
Summary: Willow's alone in the library and very tired.
Word Count: 1085
She's in the library, attempting to research something, to be honest Willow's not even sure what it is that she's trying to find out anymore. She's alone at night in the high school library since Giles and Buffy are off patrolling and Xander and Cordelia are supposedly off to get coffee and donuts. (Although Willow suspects that Xander and Cordelia are probably off somewhere making out.) There is a part of her that knows that she should have said something, that she should have insisted that either Xander or Cordelia stay with her, especially after what had happened to Oz but she kept quiet when they told her of their plans.
Willow buries her head in her folded arms on the table as she tries not to think about Oz. They hadn't even really gotten beyond the whole smiling and flirting stage when Angelus had torn him apart. No one but Willow knows the truth about Angelus' actions nor about the fact that he had given her Oz's heart in an ornate box on one of his nightly visits. Willow knows that she should probably tell the others but she doesn't really want to tell them about Angelus' nightly visits because she knows how it'll look at this point.
Angelus has warned her enough times of how it will look if Willow suddenly tells the others of his visits to her. Especially now that Buffy's far more worried about how distant Angelus has been with her as of late than the Slayer is about killing the leather clad vampire. Angelus has warned her that Buffy will take it as a betrayal, that Willow has somehow lured Angelus away from Buffy and then Willow will be all alone since everyone else will side with the Slayer. There's something that Willow's not quite catching onto, something that doesn't make sense in his words to her, but she's so tired so she doesn't try to pick it apart.
All that matters is that Angelus has killed Oz and its' too late for her to say something. She needs Buffy focused on the task in front of her, not worrying if her undead ex-boyfriend is getting bored with her.
* * *
As she shuts her eyes and sighs into her folded arms, Willow knows that her being alone is nothing more than an illusion. No doubt, Xander and Cordelia haven't even made it to Cordelia's car. And there's also a janitor or two who stay late, cleaning up the school. So she knows that she's not really alone but still the illusion of being alone lulls her into a sense of security and before she knows it she's falling asleep.
The library is a safe haven, free of Angelus taunting her when she's desperate for sleep and peace.
* * *
A voice sing-songs her name: "Willow, wake up."
However she's reluctant to respond to it, she doesn't want to wake up. She tries to bury her head deeper into her arms as she does her best to ignore that voice that just won't shut up. It's when a heavy hand lands on her shoulder that she knows she can't pretend anymore. The illusion has been shattered.
Willow shakes off the hand as she shifts in her chair to face him.
"Angelus," Willow flatly intones.
There's no surprise on her part since a part of her knew that this would happen when Xander and Cordelia gleefully left to get provisions (despite Giles insisting on the fact that no one should be left alone.)
"Willow," Angelus drawls. "All by yourself, isn't that a little foolish?"
"Can we just stop with the taunting and the games and skip ahead to the next step?" Willow tiredly asks. "I mean this is what you wanted and we both know that it's only a matter of time before someone comes back."
Angelus snarls as he grabs the redhead by her shoulders, his fingers painfully biting into her skin, proving to her that this isn't just a simple nightmare.
"Don't be flippant with me little girl," Angelus growls at her.
"I'm not, I am just tired," Willow explains.
She hates herself when tears of exhaustion start to fall from her eyes. Angelus lets her go and she collapses into the hard and uncomfortable chair. She's tired of playing his sick little games. And she just wishes that he'd either tear her apart or make her into a monster like him, not because she wants that to actually happen, but because she knows that he won't just simply move on and torment someone else in Buffy's little group. (And Willow doesn't even want to think about what type of horrible person it makes her that she'd rather he just move on and torment someone else, especially with what happened to Oz because of her.)
Willow keeps her head down as she tries not to cry, instead she focuses on his boots as he paces back and forth in front of her. A part of her is rather perplexed because this should be easy for him, he's finally broken her and she's given up. Isn't this what he wanted? She's too tired to figure out why he isn't taking what she's freely offered him.
"Angelus?" Willow whispers.
He stops pacing and stands in front of her. His fingers are strangely gentle as he grips her chin and forces her to look up at him. When she looks into his eyes, they're a strange mixture of gold and brown: demon and soul. It should be impossible from what Jenny Calendar had told them before Angelus had ripped her to pieces but Willow can see Angel in his eyes.
He doesn't say anything instead, he brushes her tears away and kisses her forehead. And then Angelus is gone, in a swirl of leather, and Willow can hear Xander and Cordelia laughing as they push open the library doors. For a moment she sits there, in her chair, dumb and mute, confused if it was all just a dream or if it was real. And then Xander says something and Willow just shakes her head. Clearly she's far more fatigued than she thought she was.
She tells the couple that she's going to lay down on the couch in Giles' office and she decides that she'll ask Buffy if she can sleep over tonight. Willow desperately needs sleep, especially if she thought that she could see Angel in Angelus' eyes. Clearly it was just a dream, just an illusion.
((END))
Author: Aaronlisa
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing/Characters: Willow Rosenberg/Angelus, mentions of Xander Harris/Cordelia Chase, Rupert Giles and Buffy Summers.
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Notes: This loosely follows my earlier story: Nocturnal Visits.
Summary: Willow's alone in the library and very tired.
Word Count: 1085
She's in the library, attempting to research something, to be honest Willow's not even sure what it is that she's trying to find out anymore. She's alone at night in the high school library since Giles and Buffy are off patrolling and Xander and Cordelia are supposedly off to get coffee and donuts. (Although Willow suspects that Xander and Cordelia are probably off somewhere making out.) There is a part of her that knows that she should have said something, that she should have insisted that either Xander or Cordelia stay with her, especially after what had happened to Oz but she kept quiet when they told her of their plans.
Willow buries her head in her folded arms on the table as she tries not to think about Oz. They hadn't even really gotten beyond the whole smiling and flirting stage when Angelus had torn him apart. No one but Willow knows the truth about Angelus' actions nor about the fact that he had given her Oz's heart in an ornate box on one of his nightly visits. Willow knows that she should probably tell the others but she doesn't really want to tell them about Angelus' nightly visits because she knows how it'll look at this point.
Angelus has warned her enough times of how it will look if Willow suddenly tells the others of his visits to her. Especially now that Buffy's far more worried about how distant Angelus has been with her as of late than the Slayer is about killing the leather clad vampire. Angelus has warned her that Buffy will take it as a betrayal, that Willow has somehow lured Angelus away from Buffy and then Willow will be all alone since everyone else will side with the Slayer. There's something that Willow's not quite catching onto, something that doesn't make sense in his words to her, but she's so tired so she doesn't try to pick it apart.
All that matters is that Angelus has killed Oz and its' too late for her to say something. She needs Buffy focused on the task in front of her, not worrying if her undead ex-boyfriend is getting bored with her.
* * *
As she shuts her eyes and sighs into her folded arms, Willow knows that her being alone is nothing more than an illusion. No doubt, Xander and Cordelia haven't even made it to Cordelia's car. And there's also a janitor or two who stay late, cleaning up the school. So she knows that she's not really alone but still the illusion of being alone lulls her into a sense of security and before she knows it she's falling asleep.
The library is a safe haven, free of Angelus taunting her when she's desperate for sleep and peace.
* * *
A voice sing-songs her name: "Willow, wake up."
However she's reluctant to respond to it, she doesn't want to wake up. She tries to bury her head deeper into her arms as she does her best to ignore that voice that just won't shut up. It's when a heavy hand lands on her shoulder that she knows she can't pretend anymore. The illusion has been shattered.
Willow shakes off the hand as she shifts in her chair to face him.
"Angelus," Willow flatly intones.
There's no surprise on her part since a part of her knew that this would happen when Xander and Cordelia gleefully left to get provisions (despite Giles insisting on the fact that no one should be left alone.)
"Willow," Angelus drawls. "All by yourself, isn't that a little foolish?"
"Can we just stop with the taunting and the games and skip ahead to the next step?" Willow tiredly asks. "I mean this is what you wanted and we both know that it's only a matter of time before someone comes back."
Angelus snarls as he grabs the redhead by her shoulders, his fingers painfully biting into her skin, proving to her that this isn't just a simple nightmare.
"Don't be flippant with me little girl," Angelus growls at her.
"I'm not, I am just tired," Willow explains.
She hates herself when tears of exhaustion start to fall from her eyes. Angelus lets her go and she collapses into the hard and uncomfortable chair. She's tired of playing his sick little games. And she just wishes that he'd either tear her apart or make her into a monster like him, not because she wants that to actually happen, but because she knows that he won't just simply move on and torment someone else in Buffy's little group. (And Willow doesn't even want to think about what type of horrible person it makes her that she'd rather he just move on and torment someone else, especially with what happened to Oz because of her.)
Willow keeps her head down as she tries not to cry, instead she focuses on his boots as he paces back and forth in front of her. A part of her is rather perplexed because this should be easy for him, he's finally broken her and she's given up. Isn't this what he wanted? She's too tired to figure out why he isn't taking what she's freely offered him.
"Angelus?" Willow whispers.
He stops pacing and stands in front of her. His fingers are strangely gentle as he grips her chin and forces her to look up at him. When she looks into his eyes, they're a strange mixture of gold and brown: demon and soul. It should be impossible from what Jenny Calendar had told them before Angelus had ripped her to pieces but Willow can see Angel in his eyes.
He doesn't say anything instead, he brushes her tears away and kisses her forehead. And then Angelus is gone, in a swirl of leather, and Willow can hear Xander and Cordelia laughing as they push open the library doors. For a moment she sits there, in her chair, dumb and mute, confused if it was all just a dream or if it was real. And then Xander says something and Willow just shakes her head. Clearly she's far more fatigued than she thought she was.
She tells the couple that she's going to lay down on the couch in Giles' office and she decides that she'll ask Buffy if she can sleep over tonight. Willow desperately needs sleep, especially if she thought that she could see Angel in Angelus' eyes. Clearly it was just a dream, just an illusion.
((END))