FIC: In Another Life (5/22) - BtVS/Numb3rs
Title: In Another Life (5/22+Epilogue)
Author: lyl_devil
Rating: PG-15
Fandom: BtVS, Numb3rs
Pairing: Willow/Don
Beta: strangevisitor7 & kallie_kat
Words: ~36,000 (as of Dec 4, 2008)
Disclaimer: I don’t own either show. I just like to play in their sandboxes.
Summary: Every action has a consequence and every deal comes with a price. Willow’s life is wiped clean, so she makes a new one for herself in LA.
Master Post
Note: I don’t claim to know anything about magic, medicine or the FBI - what I didn’t pick up from tv and books, I made up.
~!~
Part 5
Willow woke to a pounding head and no memory of how it had happened. She was tired, sore and achy, not to mention hot and sweaty. She moved around experimentally before realizing that she was naked, and the reason for the hot and sweaty was the arm holding her tight against someone else. Another hot body. Another hot - male - body, to be exact.
Opening one dry eye, she saw shapes and colours too blurry to distinguish. She blinked several times to try and clear her vision, hoping it would ease some of the pounding in her head. It was a slim hope, but at the moment it was all she had.
She didn't know where she was, who she was with, or even how she had gotten here. It was too much to deal with this soon into what felt like a hangover. Well, what her limited experience told her was a hangover.
Willow closed her eyes against the bright sunlight and tried desperately to remember what had happened the night before. Pushing the panic down, she tried to determine where the previous day fell into blank darkness.
She'd left Arctic Morgan after meeting with a few of the VP's of something to talk about a new contract, that part was clear and present. It had been nearing the end of rush hour and she'd called....Oh God - she'd called Don! Her heart started to speed up as she remembered calling him because she knew he had a rare night off, and he'd been acting weird ever since breaking up with Liz.
She'd picked up some Chinese...gone over to Don's apartment - which is where she was now. A quick look provided her with a clearer view of what she now identified as the curtain hanging from his bedroom window.
Bedroom. Window.
This was not good. She remembered Don answering the door already halfway through a twelve-pack, which Willow had decided to help him finish. It was when they broke out the tequila that the night started to go fuzzy. She didn't like not remembering, it felt too much like the first days - weeks - after waking up in the hospital. It was why she was careful to not get drunk since that one time with Milo.
Yet, it looked like that was exactly what she had done.
Turning her head slowly, she followed the arm encircling her waist back up to the shoulder. The very naked shoulder.
Through sheer force of will, Willow shuffled and twisted the last bit needed to see the face attached to the very naked shoulder, and felt her heart start to beat double. It was Don. A very rough and sleep-mussed Don, but Don nonetheless.
Oh God! Ohgodohgodohgodohgod.
This was bad. This was super bad. This was bad on a level that bad hadn't been on before. This was super-duper ultra bad.
Her heart felt like it was about to explode out of her chest with each thundering beat, echoing the pounding in her head. Her throat started to spasm, causing choking, hiccuping breaths. This, Willow knew well; she was starting to hyperventilate - another experience she'd come to loathe in the hospital.
Don started to shift and twitch, a sure sign he was starting to wake up - he'd fallen asleep during enough movie nights that Willow was familiar with the signs. This time, however, she desperately didn't want to poke him awake and make fun of him. In fact, she wanted him to stay asleep, at least long enough for her to leave.
Yes. Leave. She needed to get away from the apartment and Don and the bedroom and the things she was sure had happened but didn't want to admit.
Carefully wiggling out from under his arm, Willow sat up slowly and thanked whoever was listening that the room was barely spinning. Swinging her legs around, she was careful to not jostle the bed too much. Any thoughts - or desire - for modesty were put to the side when she realized that covering herself with the sheet would only wake Don. Getting gingerly to her feet, Willow scanned the room for her clothes, not sure whether to be relieved or slightly horrified that the only item she could find was the boring pair of white underwear she'd put on the morning before. Quickly putting them on, she caught sight of her pants trailing around the corner from the living room. Once last glance at the still-sleeping Don, and Willow followed the trail of clothing through the rest of the apartment. With every item came a few more flashes, usually involving skin and lips and embarrassing noises.
And with every flash of memory, the tears came closer to the surface.
She'd ruined her friendship with Don. They couldn't go back to being friends after this. Willow had never been in this situation before - that she knew of, anyway - but she knew enough to know that one stupid night had changed everything. And even if she couldn't regret what had been the one fantasy she hadn't dared admit, she did regret the loss of her Don-shaped friend.
There would be no more movie nights where they heckled the police, the bad guys or the so-called hackers. There wouldn't be any more three hour coffee breaks. No more chopstick wars while eating take-out, and no more making fun of his dorky high school pictures. And she was angry, Willow finally admitted to herself. She'd forced herself to keep any possible romantic or crush-like feelings from invading her thoughts, because she hadn't wanted to lose a friend. She didn't have many, even fewer close friends, and the loss of one - especially Don - would hurt.
Don was special in a way he probably didn't realize; he was the first friend she made all by herself. Everyone else she'd met either through Milo or work, and while technically both she and Don worked for the FBI, they were in completely different departments, let alone floors. They didn't come into contact with each other very often, doing most of their socializing outside of work.
Now she was grateful for that distance, because she could easily avoid him in the Federal building. Not that she thought he'd really want to see her. She'd just become another in a long line of women to pass through Don Eppes' life and bed. It was a category she was proud to have avoided, no matter what thoughts may pop up in the middle of the night.
The unmistakable sounds of someone moving around the bedroom drew Willow's attention, freezing her in place for an instant. Then her survival instincts kicked in and she gave up the search for her missing bra, grabbed her purse and shoes and bolted for the door. She was aware of a dazed male voice calling her name as the door closed behind her, but with the tears running down her face, her only thought was to escape.
She needed to hole up somewhere and mend her tattered heart. Because until this very moment, Willow hadn't realized how much she had been fooling herself.
End Part 5
Part 6
Author: lyl_devil
Rating: PG-15
Fandom: BtVS, Numb3rs
Pairing: Willow/Don
Beta: strangevisitor7 & kallie_kat
Words: ~36,000 (as of Dec 4, 2008)
Disclaimer: I don’t own either show. I just like to play in their sandboxes.
Summary: Every action has a consequence and every deal comes with a price. Willow’s life is wiped clean, so she makes a new one for herself in LA.
Master Post
Note: I don’t claim to know anything about magic, medicine or the FBI - what I didn’t pick up from tv and books, I made up.
~!~
Part 5
Willow woke to a pounding head and no memory of how it had happened. She was tired, sore and achy, not to mention hot and sweaty. She moved around experimentally before realizing that she was naked, and the reason for the hot and sweaty was the arm holding her tight against someone else. Another hot body. Another hot - male - body, to be exact.
Opening one dry eye, she saw shapes and colours too blurry to distinguish. She blinked several times to try and clear her vision, hoping it would ease some of the pounding in her head. It was a slim hope, but at the moment it was all she had.
She didn't know where she was, who she was with, or even how she had gotten here. It was too much to deal with this soon into what felt like a hangover. Well, what her limited experience told her was a hangover.
Willow closed her eyes against the bright sunlight and tried desperately to remember what had happened the night before. Pushing the panic down, she tried to determine where the previous day fell into blank darkness.
She'd left Arctic Morgan after meeting with a few of the VP's of something to talk about a new contract, that part was clear and present. It had been nearing the end of rush hour and she'd called....Oh God - she'd called Don! Her heart started to speed up as she remembered calling him because she knew he had a rare night off, and he'd been acting weird ever since breaking up with Liz.
She'd picked up some Chinese...gone over to Don's apartment - which is where she was now. A quick look provided her with a clearer view of what she now identified as the curtain hanging from his bedroom window.
Bedroom. Window.
This was not good. She remembered Don answering the door already halfway through a twelve-pack, which Willow had decided to help him finish. It was when they broke out the tequila that the night started to go fuzzy. She didn't like not remembering, it felt too much like the first days - weeks - after waking up in the hospital. It was why she was careful to not get drunk since that one time with Milo.
Yet, it looked like that was exactly what she had done.
Turning her head slowly, she followed the arm encircling her waist back up to the shoulder. The very naked shoulder.
Through sheer force of will, Willow shuffled and twisted the last bit needed to see the face attached to the very naked shoulder, and felt her heart start to beat double. It was Don. A very rough and sleep-mussed Don, but Don nonetheless.
Oh God! Ohgodohgodohgodohgod.
This was bad. This was super bad. This was bad on a level that bad hadn't been on before. This was super-duper ultra bad.
Her heart felt like it was about to explode out of her chest with each thundering beat, echoing the pounding in her head. Her throat started to spasm, causing choking, hiccuping breaths. This, Willow knew well; she was starting to hyperventilate - another experience she'd come to loathe in the hospital.
Don started to shift and twitch, a sure sign he was starting to wake up - he'd fallen asleep during enough movie nights that Willow was familiar with the signs. This time, however, she desperately didn't want to poke him awake and make fun of him. In fact, she wanted him to stay asleep, at least long enough for her to leave.
Yes. Leave. She needed to get away from the apartment and Don and the bedroom and the things she was sure had happened but didn't want to admit.
Carefully wiggling out from under his arm, Willow sat up slowly and thanked whoever was listening that the room was barely spinning. Swinging her legs around, she was careful to not jostle the bed too much. Any thoughts - or desire - for modesty were put to the side when she realized that covering herself with the sheet would only wake Don. Getting gingerly to her feet, Willow scanned the room for her clothes, not sure whether to be relieved or slightly horrified that the only item she could find was the boring pair of white underwear she'd put on the morning before. Quickly putting them on, she caught sight of her pants trailing around the corner from the living room. Once last glance at the still-sleeping Don, and Willow followed the trail of clothing through the rest of the apartment. With every item came a few more flashes, usually involving skin and lips and embarrassing noises.
And with every flash of memory, the tears came closer to the surface.
She'd ruined her friendship with Don. They couldn't go back to being friends after this. Willow had never been in this situation before - that she knew of, anyway - but she knew enough to know that one stupid night had changed everything. And even if she couldn't regret what had been the one fantasy she hadn't dared admit, she did regret the loss of her Don-shaped friend.
There would be no more movie nights where they heckled the police, the bad guys or the so-called hackers. There wouldn't be any more three hour coffee breaks. No more chopstick wars while eating take-out, and no more making fun of his dorky high school pictures. And she was angry, Willow finally admitted to herself. She'd forced herself to keep any possible romantic or crush-like feelings from invading her thoughts, because she hadn't wanted to lose a friend. She didn't have many, even fewer close friends, and the loss of one - especially Don - would hurt.
Don was special in a way he probably didn't realize; he was the first friend she made all by herself. Everyone else she'd met either through Milo or work, and while technically both she and Don worked for the FBI, they were in completely different departments, let alone floors. They didn't come into contact with each other very often, doing most of their socializing outside of work.
Now she was grateful for that distance, because she could easily avoid him in the Federal building. Not that she thought he'd really want to see her. She'd just become another in a long line of women to pass through Don Eppes' life and bed. It was a category she was proud to have avoided, no matter what thoughts may pop up in the middle of the night.
The unmistakable sounds of someone moving around the bedroom drew Willow's attention, freezing her in place for an instant. Then her survival instincts kicked in and she gave up the search for her missing bra, grabbed her purse and shoes and bolted for the door. She was aware of a dazed male voice calling her name as the door closed behind her, but with the tears running down her face, her only thought was to escape.
She needed to hole up somewhere and mend her tattered heart. Because until this very moment, Willow hadn't realized how much she had been fooling herself.
End Part 5
Part 6