Monday night, near the park
[Continued from here. WARNING! VIOLENT STUFF AHEAD!]
Willow was enjoying a walk back to the dorms - one greatly enhanced by how the walk from the dorms had ended in the acquiring, then eating of ice cream - and was thinking happy thoughts about finals. Said happy thoughts were interrupted by a shadow stepping in front of her.
Then she realized the shadow had a name. "Oh! Angel! What are you doing here? Are you supposed to be here? Not that it isn't nice to see you but with cross-dimensional wackiness I find it never hurts to check to make sure you're talking to whoever you think you're talking to because there's so many different versions of you and me and everyone else the potential for farce does rise exponentially, moreso if you happen to know someone who's really into opera, or books about English country manors that may or may not have farm animals. Though would they be called farm animals then or would they be manor animals? And do you think manor animals get snooty around farm animals or do geese just not understand capitalism in the way that we do?"
"Gosh I've missed you, Will," he said. He took a step forward, something like a smile touching his lips. "I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that I ran into you."
"...good?" Willow replied. "I mean - not good with the missing since missing generally indicates a state of unhappiness and unhappiness is a load of no fun which is why we call it that and not zippedy doo dah joy time, but I guess one could express appreciation for the gesture of being missed, and for being seen again and finding out that said seeing equals smiling and yay for making people happy only - no offense - you're not people and happy's not the word I'd generally use to describe you and the memory's drawing some blanks on the last time you smiled and, you know? I have homework that I need to be doing and I'm just going to do that elsewhere. Alone. Bye!"
Willow went to bolt, cursing the fact that living in Fandom had made her get out of the habit of carrying crosses or holy water wherever she went. And while part of her was really hoping that her instincts were wrong, the other part was far too reminded of a time in a dark hallway in her old high school and how much she did not want to repeat it.
Unfortunately it was the second part of her that was correct. Also unfortunately, she was still not as fast as a vampire.
"Aw, Will," Angelus said as he grabbed her by the arm. He jerked her around to face him. "I'm touched. You remember me."
"Off!" she said, trying to jerk her way out of his grasp. "You're not Angel! You're not even Seely! Let me go! I am going to curse you so hard - "
"Kinky," Angelus said. He clamped his free hand over her mouth. "But that's not the kind of play I was thinking of for us tonight. The curse is such a drag. Besides, I never did get a chance to thank you for your help in ramming that soul into me the last time. Now I get to do it personally."
Willow struggled to get out of his grasp and did her best to let out a scream, however muffled it might have been.
Peter had stopped by Willow's dorm room and after finding her not there, made his way down to town, hoping to find her down that way. He wasn't really paying attention as he made his way down the road, but for anyone who'd spent time fighting, a scream - even muffled - was unmistakable.
He looked around quickly, trying to trace where it came from and to fight down the wash of cold fear that it was a scream he recognised.
Having preternatural hearing meant you could pick up when you were about to have company. Angelus leaned in to whisper into Willow's ear. "Hear that? Could be a rescuer. Could be another victim. You should probably choose wisely before making another sound."
Willow was shaking with fear. She looked as though she didn't know what to believe, but couldn't stop herself from letting out a sound that wasn't a scream, but was too loud to be a whimper.
He turned in the direction of the noise and moved quietly toward it. Then stopped. Because he'd been at Fandom for almost two years, and there were some things you didn't want to walk in on. "Hullo?" he called carefully. "Is there anything wrong?"
Willow's eyes widened when she heard Peter's voice. Now that she knew who it was, she struggled even harder. She screamed again, trying to give a warning in spite of the cold hand clamped over her mouth
"Willow?" he called, moving more quickly towards the sound, the first fear rushing back as he cursed the stupid rules that prevented him from carrying his sword on school grounds.
"Awww, is that the boyfriend?" Angelus asked. "You want me to kill him first, is that how it goes? Though wait a sec - aren't you gay?"
Willow shook her head, giving Angelus pleading eyes. Well - eyes that first said 'huh?' then went on to pleading.
"Lemme guess, Lassie," Angelus said. "You want me not to hurt loverboy, is that it?"
Willow nodded as best as she could.
"Then you'd better not give him any reason to get into a fight now, should you?" Angelus gave Willow a sharp shake to drive his point home. "Make him go away or it'll be your hands cutting his tongue out. And if you're really nice to me maybe I'll cut them off your body first."
Angelus waited for Willow to give him another nod. Then he let go of the hand covering her mouth. His other hand he kept wrapped tightly around her wrist, which he twisted just as tightly around her back, holding her in such a way that the threatening position wasn't easy to see.
Willow swallowed, then called out, "Peter?"
Frowning, Peter hurried up again, ready to beat whatever made her make that noise into the ground. "Are you well?"
"Sure?" Willow said, her voice going up a note when Angelus gripped her wrist tighter. "Hunky-dory, a-okay... so I'll see you back in the dorms?"
It was hard to say if Willow was very crafty at obeying the letter of Angelus's law if not the spirit, or if she just really sucked at lying.
"I really don't believe you," he said flatly. "What's wrong?"
"Honey, you remember Angel, right?" Willow said. Behind her, Angelus put on his best we're-all-pals face. "You met him a while back and it's entirely possible that this is not the exact him that you met thanks to Fandom doing the wacky."
Peter nodded, bowing slightly. "Yes, I remember. It's good to see you again, Angel." He glared. "Better if you'd let go of Willow."
"Now, Petey," Angelus said, mildly scolding. "You wouldn't begrudge Willow spending time with a friend, would you? You're not that kind of guy."
"If she wishes it," Peter said, raising an eyebrow at his tone. "But she hardly sounded pleased to be near you."
"What? Who? Me?" Willow asked. "Heck no. I'm perfectly happy."
Willow really hoped Peter would get that.
He didn't.
Well, it did make him pause and look for leather pants.
Right. That was bad.
"Let's go into town then," he said, watching Angel carefully. "And talk in the Perk or some such."
"She'll catch up," Angelus told him.
"No," Peter said, lifting his chin. "She can come now."
"Pretty sure that's not what you want happening right now," Angelus replied.
"Let. Willow. Go," Peter said slowly like he hadn't been heard the first time.
"Aw, but she's so cute when she's squirming," Angelus said. He leaned in as though to press a kiss behind Willow's ear. Willow jerked and tried to get away. "I bet you love that, right Petey?"
His hand moved instantly to the sword he wasn't wearing at his hip then flexed into a tight fist.
He took several steps to the side, looking for a way to attack Angel without hitting Willow in the process. If he could only throw fire about like Zuko had used so effectively against the vampires in Haddyn. "You're not worthy to touch her."
"Tell me," Angelus said, turning to make sure he kept Willow between the both of them. "Is it genetic that all you British guys talk in bad poetry or do they teach you that in public school along with the circle jerks?"
"Your name is Angel, and you're asking me about bad poetry?" Peter asked disdainfully. "You can hardly talk."
"If we're being technical, it's Angelus," Angelus replied. "But I don't expect you cake or death types to understand the beauty of that."
"Yes, the fact that it's bad Latin makes it so much better," he snorted. "One last time, let her go."
"I really don't think you want me to do that," Angelus told him. He was grinning now.
"No, I really do want you to take your hands off her," Peter growled, taking three quick steps towards them.
Angelus took one step back, then flung Willow towards the nearest tree using a hefty amount of vamp strength. She hit with a sickening crunch, then collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
"Told you so," Angelus said to Peter.
The instant Willow left Angelus' hands, Peter launched himself for the vampire, only realising after he'd already thrown himself forward, fists poised to strike as soon as Angelus was within reach, that Willow had been more tossed aside than let go.
"Sorry, kid, not up for a threesome," Angelus said, going to block Peter's attack. "But hey, up to you: go after the vamp, or keep little miss firecrotch from dying. Then again, if you knew what I knew about Willow, you might not mind that second option."
He threw a hard punch at Angelus' jaw. "Keep your mouth shut about her. You don't know anything."
Angelus let the punch hit, focusing more on the verbal response. "Sure about that? I'll give you a hint: carpet. And not how it relates to the curtains because I'm guessing you know that already. Which I'll admit is one advantage of having a Jewish girl."
The words were nearly meaningless, but the tone was unmistakably insulting. Peter threw a desperate glance back at Willow, realising she hadn't moved then turned back to Angelus, maneuvering to put himself between them. "Stay away from her, don't even mention her name," he snapped. "Or I will make sure you're ended."
"Shaking in my boots," Angelus said. He tilted his head thoughtfully. "No, wait, I think that's the pig's blood from this morning repeating on me. It's disgusting what soul boy does to this body. You have no idea."
"I don't find myself much caring," Peter told him harshly. He wanted to check on Willow, make sure she was alright, but he didn't want to put her at more risk by drawing Angelus' attention back.
"And here your opinion meant so much to me." Angelus waved him off. "Run along, Petey. Count yourself lucky that Spike tapped me out on being interested in your type."
"Your interests don't affect me at all," Peter told him sternly, backing up slowly to check on Willow, his eyes staying on Angelus the entire time.
"Not what your girlfriend said," Angelus told him. He then stuck his hands into his pockets and walked off into the darkness, whistling a jaunty tune.
Peter clenched his fists again, telling himself he couldn't tackle him, not with Willow hurt behind him. Angelus could be dealt with later, Willow was the first priority.
He knelt down beside her, still keeping a watch out around them and gently tried to shake her awake. "Willow, please, wake up," he murmured, fingers sliding back into her hair as he cradled her to him for a long moment before slipping his hand under her knees and stood up to carry her to the clinic. "I'm going to get you safe," Peter promised, setting out at a quick pace. "And then you'll get checked out by a doctor and be perfectly fine. I promise."
And she would be. There was no way he would allow her not to be. If he needed to, he would just get Lucy out of Narnia to bring her potion. Perfectly feasible. Really.
The squirrel up in the tree taking careful notes on the proceedings was trying not to shake like the leaves that were not longer there to hide him.
Being a squirrel and not a ninja, this wasn't entirely successful.
Angelus heard the rustle. He paused, looking to see where it was coming from. "Don't tell me there's another one. Blood blood everywhere and only Brits to drink."
There probably couldn't have been a worse time for that acorn to fall from the tree, huh?
Angelus's eyes narrowed. He moved towards the tree. "You know, the problem with being infamous like me is that everyone wants a piece of you. Including - " he went to try to grab at the spot the acorn had come from " - the paparazzi."
The squirrel hissed and flattened his ears back, then threw the pencil--hard--at the tempting target of this guy's forehead.
Probably not the smartest move.
"Ow!" Angelus said, rubbing his head where the tiny pencil bounced off his head. He glared. "That'd better not have left a mark."
The squirrel laughed meanly and looked around for more things to throw.
Angelus would've questioned the idea of a squirrel laughing, but he was more interested in grabbing hold of the bushy-tailed annoyance.
The squirrel yelped and scrabbled frantically for a better hold on his branch as he felt the hand grab him.
The notes he'd carefully taken fluttered uselessly to the ground.
"Now you weren't going to report on the fun I was just having, were you?" Angelus asked, bringing the squirrel up to eye level. "Because I have to say that puts a crimp in my plans."
The squirrel narrowed his little beady eyes. Of course! That's how things worked around here.
Then he tried to bite down on the hand that was holding him.
"Ow! Son of a - " Angelus nearly dropped the squirrel, but at the last minute grabbed it from behind with his other hand. "Oh you are going to regret that. I still remember how we handled all those pets of Dru's that we swore were living on a farm."
The squirrel's feet flailed in the air as he searched in vain for something to something to scratch up.
"Sorry, kid," Angelus said. He held the squirrel up at eye level. "I'm the one who gets to torture around here."
With that he began to slowly squeeze.
The squirrel's bravado quickly turned into anguished squeals.
"Love that sound," Angelus said. He kept the pressure on, waiting for the squirrel to quiet.
Which didn't take long.
Poor squirrel.
"There we go." Angelus dropped the squirrel down to the ground. "I'd say tell your friends about it but I figure your dead body is message enough."
With that he walked off.
You'd think he'd be smart enough to at least listen for a pulse but, well...
The squirrel stayed where he was for a very long time before finally pulling himself to a nearby bush.
Someone else would have to do the news for a while.
[Angelus continued here. Willow here. Where Willow ends up is okay for broadcast. Details of this specific post obviously not gonna happen ;) NFI, OOC-AOK.]
[Preplayed with once_a_king, likeguidelines, and, er, willbedone. Erm. Obviously. Ahem.]