{bufyverse} ghost from the past
Title: A Ghost from the Past
Author: Aaronlisa
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing/Characters: Willow Rosenberg, Angel
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Prompts: Written for the 2017 whichwillow ficathon. My prompt was " What if Willow decides to leave the supernatural world behind after they defeat The First?"
Notes: This is set post series for both ATS & BtVS. It does not take into account the comics. I'd also intended to write something that was a more romantic but this can be viewed as pre-relationship.
Summary: Years after running away after the fall of Sunnydale, Willow bumps into Angel.
Word Count: 1724
Willow literally bumps into Angel one night five years after the fall of Sunnydale on a rainy day in an independent bookstore in the Pacific Northwest. She has an armful of books, which fall to the floor in her surprise and shock at seeing his familiar face. Before she can do anything, he's bending down to pick them up. When he hands them back to her, he looks as surprised as she is. Clearly, he's not in town to find her or anything of the like.
"Angel?" Willow finally asks.
She's nervous as she licks her suddenly dry lips. She's not sure if this is a pleasant surprise or not. After the fall of the First, she had stuck around for a few months, but she had been heartsick and beyond tired. Finally, she had told Giles that she couldn't do it anymore and she had left. She had turned her back on that life and never once looked back.
Angel looks at her before responding with a simple hello. For a moment, she feels tongue-tied with all of the explanations of why she left wanting to trip off her tongue. Until she realizes that she's not that girl anymore. She doesn't owe him or anyone else an explanation.
"Do you want to get a cup of coffee?" Angel asks.
"Sure, just let me pay for these books."
He follows her to the front of the store, where she sets her books on top of the counter. They're silent as the clerk rings up her purchases and she pays for them. When the clerk hands her the bag, Angel offers to carry it for her. Their hands brush as she passes him the bag and she pauses for a brief second. His hand had felt warm. Before she can comment on it, Angel is guiding her out the door and towards the coffee shop located beside the bookstore.
They order their beverages and wait in silence until they are seated in a quiet corner with their drinks steaming in front of them. She had ordered a hot chocolate and Angel had ordered a tea. The scent of the Earl Grey tea makes her nostalgic for days spent in the library reading some old dusty book with Xander arguing with Giles over the last jelly donut while Buffy rambled on about Angel. She hasn't really missed those days in years.
"How have you been?" Angel finally asks.
Willow looks away from Angel as she nervously swallows. She's not sure how she should answer the question and any way that she answers it makes her feel a horrible sense of guilt. She hasn't been in contact with any of the others. She's such a horrible friend. Here she is sitting across from Angel in a cafe in the middle of nowhere with a bag of books that she bought for pleasure and not some light reading to prepare for the next baddie to come Buffy's way.
Angel reaches out and places his hand on top of her own. He gently squeezes her hand.
"It's alright Willow," Angel quietly says. "You're a civilian, you were never supposed to live the life that was thrust on you when you befriended Buffy."
"But I shouldn't have run away," Willow spits out. "I should have stayed and helped like Xander did."
Angel chuckles at her comment, which forces her to look up at him. He squeezes her hand again.
"Xander left about a year after you did. He couldn't handle it anymore. He's settled down somewhere in Northern California. Last I heard, he was married with a toddler and a baby on the way."
She wants to rail at Xander for being a coward but she can't quite do that when she ran away first. It doesn't matter that she didn't grow up like Giles knowing about the supernatural or if it was thrust on her. Look at Buffy - she never had a choice and she still fought.
"Next you're going to tell me that Buffy's not a Slayer anymore."
"She's still a Slayer but she's not an active one," Angel tells her.
"But who's protecting the world from the demons and vampires and the dark?"
"Faith," Angel tells her. "Faith stepped up and took over when Buffy decided she wanted to retire."
"Oh," Willow replies feeling somewhat stupid for having forgotten about Faith.
She refuses to ask about Giles or Dawn. Knowing that the others have stepped away doesn't make what she did first any better.
"So I guess you and Buffy must be happy," Willow says.
Angel looks at her before he moves his hand back to his side of the table. He takes a big mouthful of the tea. And Willow realizes her mistake before he even says anything.
"Buffy has a new beau now. For someone who wanted to retire, she fell into the arms of the Immortal rather happily."
The tone of his voice is bitter and she'd rather not ask about Buffy's love life or who the Immortal is. Instead she mumbles out an apology and turns her attention back to the drink in front of her. The chocolate tastes unpleasantly bitter on her tongue. She feels awful because apparently they have all had a chance to escape the forces of darkness whilst Angel is still a foot soldier in the war that he has to fight in order to protect his soul.
"But enough about them," Angel finally says. "Tell me how you've been and what you've been doing."
She pastes a false smile on her face as she launches into her life for the last three years and how she's working for a small software firm as a programmer. She loves her life in her chosen city even though it feels like a billion miles away from California. Eventually the smile becomes a real one. Angel listens attentively to her and she feels almost like she used to until something she says causes his lips to twist into a moue of discontent.
"What is it Angel?" Willow asks.
"It's nothing, I am just glad that you made the right decision."
Again she feels like a jerk for not realizing that listening to her ramble about her normal life must be agony for him. She can love and live and do whatever she wants and he's stuck to the shadows. He has to fight the good fight whether he wants to or not. She tries to say something, to apologize for her inconsideration when he hushes her.
"Life has changed for us all," Angel finally says. "A long time ago to protect people that I loved, I thought I was signing away my prize for redemption. I was wrong,"
He doesn't explain what he means, instead he picks up her bag of books with one hand and gently grasps her hand with his other hand.
"Come on, I'll show you what I mean."
She lets him lead her to the front door of the cafe until she tires to stop him. Outside the sun is shining and bright, the earlier rain gone with the streets drying up.
"We can't," Willow says.
Angel just nods at her and tugs her into the bright sunshine. She warily watches him as nothing happens. They're standing in the brilliant sunshine and the only thing that happens is that she feels overly warm from her heavy rain coat.
"How?" Willow asks.
"You can't sign away your destiny," Angel tells her.
She's quiet as she tries to process what he means.
"Come on let's get some dinner and I'll explain it to you."
In the sunlight, she looks up at him and takes in how he's looking down at her. His offer of dinner isn't just one to fill the hours with explanation. He's looking at her like he used to look at Buffy in the early days. Like he's hungry for something only she can give him .She shivers despite the warmth. She's not sure if she wants this from him. Not yet at least. She'd be a liar to say she never had a bit of a crush on Angel when she was younger. But she's really not that girl anymore.
"Its just dinner, Willow," Angel tells her.
"Are you in town for long?" Willow asks.
"I moved here about two months ago."
His words make her shiver again. It's just the two of them. She doesn't have to pretend when she's with him and they have the time to take things slowly. Tonight can just be about dinner and about finding out what happened to him. She doesn't need to rush into anything. She nods in response and allows him to guide her down the street to a nice place where they can catch up and have dinner.
She still feels a bit guilty over being the first to turn her back on the supernatural but at the same time, as the pair of them walk down the street together, she can't help but wonder if she had made the best decision for herself at the best time. There's nothing to say that if she hadn't runaway when she had that she would still be alive or if she'd be the last one of their little group slogging away, endlessly fighting against the forces of darkness day after day, night after night.
As they enter the restaurant, Angel gives her a wolfish smile that almost reminds her of Angelus but his warm hand wrapped around her own reassures her that Angelus is a ghost of the past. She's reassured even more when she slides her hand up his wrist and feels the steady thump of his pulse. When they're seated, he takes her hand and places it on his chest. She can feel the rhythmic movements of his lungs and heart working in tandem.
He tells her about his life, from the point when she last saw him in LA when she had given him his soul back again and how he wound up in her town a human once more. And for the first time in a very long time, Willow feels like everything is perfect and right in her world. She hasn't felt like this since she was sixteen years old and had just bumped into Xander on the first day of classes.
((END))
Author: Aaronlisa
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing/Characters: Willow Rosenberg, Angel
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Prompts: Written for the 2017 whichwillow ficathon. My prompt was " What if Willow decides to leave the supernatural world behind after they defeat The First?"
Notes: This is set post series for both ATS & BtVS. It does not take into account the comics. I'd also intended to write something that was a more romantic but this can be viewed as pre-relationship.
Summary: Years after running away after the fall of Sunnydale, Willow bumps into Angel.
Word Count: 1724
Willow literally bumps into Angel one night five years after the fall of Sunnydale on a rainy day in an independent bookstore in the Pacific Northwest. She has an armful of books, which fall to the floor in her surprise and shock at seeing his familiar face. Before she can do anything, he's bending down to pick them up. When he hands them back to her, he looks as surprised as she is. Clearly, he's not in town to find her or anything of the like.
"Angel?" Willow finally asks.
She's nervous as she licks her suddenly dry lips. She's not sure if this is a pleasant surprise or not. After the fall of the First, she had stuck around for a few months, but she had been heartsick and beyond tired. Finally, she had told Giles that she couldn't do it anymore and she had left. She had turned her back on that life and never once looked back.
Angel looks at her before responding with a simple hello. For a moment, she feels tongue-tied with all of the explanations of why she left wanting to trip off her tongue. Until she realizes that she's not that girl anymore. She doesn't owe him or anyone else an explanation.
"Do you want to get a cup of coffee?" Angel asks.
"Sure, just let me pay for these books."
He follows her to the front of the store, where she sets her books on top of the counter. They're silent as the clerk rings up her purchases and she pays for them. When the clerk hands her the bag, Angel offers to carry it for her. Their hands brush as she passes him the bag and she pauses for a brief second. His hand had felt warm. Before she can comment on it, Angel is guiding her out the door and towards the coffee shop located beside the bookstore.
They order their beverages and wait in silence until they are seated in a quiet corner with their drinks steaming in front of them. She had ordered a hot chocolate and Angel had ordered a tea. The scent of the Earl Grey tea makes her nostalgic for days spent in the library reading some old dusty book with Xander arguing with Giles over the last jelly donut while Buffy rambled on about Angel. She hasn't really missed those days in years.
"How have you been?" Angel finally asks.
Willow looks away from Angel as she nervously swallows. She's not sure how she should answer the question and any way that she answers it makes her feel a horrible sense of guilt. She hasn't been in contact with any of the others. She's such a horrible friend. Here she is sitting across from Angel in a cafe in the middle of nowhere with a bag of books that she bought for pleasure and not some light reading to prepare for the next baddie to come Buffy's way.
Angel reaches out and places his hand on top of her own. He gently squeezes her hand.
"It's alright Willow," Angel quietly says. "You're a civilian, you were never supposed to live the life that was thrust on you when you befriended Buffy."
"But I shouldn't have run away," Willow spits out. "I should have stayed and helped like Xander did."
Angel chuckles at her comment, which forces her to look up at him. He squeezes her hand again.
"Xander left about a year after you did. He couldn't handle it anymore. He's settled down somewhere in Northern California. Last I heard, he was married with a toddler and a baby on the way."
She wants to rail at Xander for being a coward but she can't quite do that when she ran away first. It doesn't matter that she didn't grow up like Giles knowing about the supernatural or if it was thrust on her. Look at Buffy - she never had a choice and she still fought.
"Next you're going to tell me that Buffy's not a Slayer anymore."
"She's still a Slayer but she's not an active one," Angel tells her.
"But who's protecting the world from the demons and vampires and the dark?"
"Faith," Angel tells her. "Faith stepped up and took over when Buffy decided she wanted to retire."
"Oh," Willow replies feeling somewhat stupid for having forgotten about Faith.
She refuses to ask about Giles or Dawn. Knowing that the others have stepped away doesn't make what she did first any better.
"So I guess you and Buffy must be happy," Willow says.
Angel looks at her before he moves his hand back to his side of the table. He takes a big mouthful of the tea. And Willow realizes her mistake before he even says anything.
"Buffy has a new beau now. For someone who wanted to retire, she fell into the arms of the Immortal rather happily."
The tone of his voice is bitter and she'd rather not ask about Buffy's love life or who the Immortal is. Instead she mumbles out an apology and turns her attention back to the drink in front of her. The chocolate tastes unpleasantly bitter on her tongue. She feels awful because apparently they have all had a chance to escape the forces of darkness whilst Angel is still a foot soldier in the war that he has to fight in order to protect his soul.
"But enough about them," Angel finally says. "Tell me how you've been and what you've been doing."
She pastes a false smile on her face as she launches into her life for the last three years and how she's working for a small software firm as a programmer. She loves her life in her chosen city even though it feels like a billion miles away from California. Eventually the smile becomes a real one. Angel listens attentively to her and she feels almost like she used to until something she says causes his lips to twist into a moue of discontent.
"What is it Angel?" Willow asks.
"It's nothing, I am just glad that you made the right decision."
Again she feels like a jerk for not realizing that listening to her ramble about her normal life must be agony for him. She can love and live and do whatever she wants and he's stuck to the shadows. He has to fight the good fight whether he wants to or not. She tries to say something, to apologize for her inconsideration when he hushes her.
"Life has changed for us all," Angel finally says. "A long time ago to protect people that I loved, I thought I was signing away my prize for redemption. I was wrong,"
He doesn't explain what he means, instead he picks up her bag of books with one hand and gently grasps her hand with his other hand.
"Come on, I'll show you what I mean."
She lets him lead her to the front door of the cafe until she tires to stop him. Outside the sun is shining and bright, the earlier rain gone with the streets drying up.
"We can't," Willow says.
Angel just nods at her and tugs her into the bright sunshine. She warily watches him as nothing happens. They're standing in the brilliant sunshine and the only thing that happens is that she feels overly warm from her heavy rain coat.
"How?" Willow asks.
"You can't sign away your destiny," Angel tells her.
She's quiet as she tries to process what he means.
"Come on let's get some dinner and I'll explain it to you."
In the sunlight, she looks up at him and takes in how he's looking down at her. His offer of dinner isn't just one to fill the hours with explanation. He's looking at her like he used to look at Buffy in the early days. Like he's hungry for something only she can give him .She shivers despite the warmth. She's not sure if she wants this from him. Not yet at least. She'd be a liar to say she never had a bit of a crush on Angel when she was younger. But she's really not that girl anymore.
"Its just dinner, Willow," Angel tells her.
"Are you in town for long?" Willow asks.
"I moved here about two months ago."
His words make her shiver again. It's just the two of them. She doesn't have to pretend when she's with him and they have the time to take things slowly. Tonight can just be about dinner and about finding out what happened to him. She doesn't need to rush into anything. She nods in response and allows him to guide her down the street to a nice place where they can catch up and have dinner.
She still feels a bit guilty over being the first to turn her back on the supernatural but at the same time, as the pair of them walk down the street together, she can't help but wonder if she had made the best decision for herself at the best time. There's nothing to say that if she hadn't runaway when she had that she would still be alive or if she'd be the last one of their little group slogging away, endlessly fighting against the forces of darkness day after day, night after night.
As they enter the restaurant, Angel gives her a wolfish smile that almost reminds her of Angelus but his warm hand wrapped around her own reassures her that Angelus is a ghost of the past. She's reassured even more when she slides her hand up his wrist and feels the steady thump of his pulse. When they're seated, he takes her hand and places it on his chest. She can feel the rhythmic movements of his lungs and heart working in tandem.
He tells her about his life, from the point when she last saw him in LA when she had given him his soul back again and how he wound up in her town a human once more. And for the first time in a very long time, Willow feels like everything is perfect and right in her world. She hasn't felt like this since she was sixteen years old and had just bumped into Xander on the first day of classes.
((END))