Author-Kaitelynn
Email[email protected]
Disclaimer-Not mine. BtVS belongs to Joss. Highlander belongs to Panzer.
Distribution-Willow's World, BBA
Rating-PG-13
Category-semi-crossover
Key Couple-C/F/W
Summary-While Angel is away, the employees will play.
Dedicated to Kylia, who is my muse and inspiration. Miss ya.
Feedback is loved and appreciated and needed to survive.
Author's Note-Okay, this goes with my story Price of Immortality.
Part 1
Three dejected employees entered the dark and empty offices of Angel Investigations. It had been three weeks since Cordelia had driven Angel and Wesley to Sunnydale upon hearing the news that Willow had been killed in a fight with a vampire. Three weeks since their boss began grieving for his mate. Three weeks since it had been discovered that Willow's body had disappeared from the morgue. Three weeks since they had seen Angel or Spike. No one had heard from the two vampires since Angel had gone in search of his childe, all assuming that the two of them had done one of two things. Either go far away, where the memories of their time with Willow wouldn't haunt them, or find a way to somehow end their unlives, possibly by staking themselves or meeting the next sunrise. When they had been told that Willow's body had also disappeared, the second scenario seemed more likely. Wesley had called Faith, who had been in San Francisco picking something up from a trio of sisters, and informed her of what had happened and she had quickly returned to Sunnydale to be there for her friends. They had stayed in Sunnydale for those three weeks, trying to locate both Willow's body and the missing vampires. Cordelia hit the light switch, illuminating the office, but the three of them just continued to stand in the doorway.
"I still can't believe their gone," Cordelia muttered. "I mean, this wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to all live here and be happy." Wesley put his arm around the former cheerleader.
"I know, but we have to accept that they won't be coming back," he told her. "As much as we wish it otherwise, Willow is dead and there is every possibility that Spike and Angel are gone also."
"No way," Cordelia shook her head. "I won't believe that. The two of them are just off somewhere together grieving. Probably having a brooding contest with each other. They aren't the types to just kill themselves. They wouldn't do that to us. They wouldn't make us grieve for them too." Cordelia's whole body shook with the sobs that began to escape from her eyes. She had been crying none stop since they had arrived in Sunnydale, and after Angel had left. She hadn't wanted to break down in front of her boss, knowing that he would need all of their strength to get him through Willow's death, but now that it appeared that Angel wasn't going to be coming back, her emotions were breaking through at a record rate. "They're alive," she whispered as Faith and Wesley both wrapped their arms around the crying girl. "I know they are."
"Shhhhh, Delia," Faith cooed. "It'll be all right. You'll see. Things will work out."
"Faith's right," Wesley agreed. "Just give it time and it will get better." Cordelia broke free of her lovers.
"Give it time," she shouted. "Things will work out. For who? Willow. She's dead. Not as in the rise from the grave and bite people dead, but from the broken neck never to breathe kind of dead. And we have no idea where Angel and Spike have disappeared too. How are things going to get better?"
"I don't know," the rogue demon hunter admitted. "But they will. Eventually."
"And what do we do until then," the brunette said.
"We live," Faith answered, leading Cordelia over to her desk. "We do what we were meant to do. What Willow and Angel and Spike would want us to do. We fight demons and vampires and make sure that people are safe."
"We help the hopeless," Wesley added, using Cordelia's often-coined phrase. The former Sunnydale resident rewarded him with a small smile, causing him to breathe a sigh of relief. The death of Willow, along with the disappearance of her mates, had saddened them all, but none more so than Cordelia. She had known all three of them the longest. It had been she that had gotten the three people together, recognizing that they had belonged together even when they had denied it for so long. She playfully smacked the ex-Watcher on the arm.
"No fair using my own words against me," she teased him. "But you're right. We have a job to do, whether Angel is here or not." Cordelia's face brightened slightly as she thought of something. "At least, one good thing came out of this."
"What?"
"If Angel isn't here, then that means the Powers That Be don't need a seer anymore for their warrior. No more mind numbing visions." Despite everything that had happened in the past three weeks, all three people couldn't help but chuckle at Cordelia's observation.
"Well, then I guess we can finally stop buying so much damn aspirin," Faith joked. "The stocks in Tylenol will never recover."
"Guess this means we'll have to fight out battles the old fashion way," Wesley stated. "Patrols and?"
"Research," joined in the two women, again causing some much-needed laughter.
"Hello, Angel?" Came a questioning female voice from the hallway. "Are you in here?"
"Kate," Cordelia whispered as the blonde detective stuck her head in the doorway. She saw Cordelia, Wesley and Faith sitting together at Cordelia's desk and entered the office.
"Hey," she said tentatively, not quite comfortable with the three people, especially Faith whom she had arrested once. "Is Angel around?" The three people looked at each other, a forlorn expression on their faces. It didn't take her being a detective to realize that something major had occurred. "What?"
"Detective, something's happened that I feel you have the right to know about," Wesley started saying.
"Is this something to do with Angel?" She asked. "Where is he?"
"We don't know," Cordelia admitted.
"What do you mean you don't know?" The blonde detective questioned. "He is your boss, isn't he?"
"We don't know, means exactly that, Kate," Faith emphasized the detective's first name, showing that there was no love lost between the two women. "Just because he's our boss, doesn't mean the he tells us everything." Wesley put himself between the two women, hoping to prevent a fight between them.
"A lots happened in the past few days, detective," he informed her. "Willow Rosenberg was killed three weeks ago." A look of shock came over Kate's face as she remembered the petite red head that she had met a few weeks previously.
"She was Angel's wife, correct." Wesley, Cordelia and Faith all nodded their heads. Kate felt herself getting dizzy and grabbed a chair that was by her to steady herself. "My god. I'm so sorry. I had no idea. How's he handling it?" There was genuine concern in her voice as she inquired into the well being of the vampire and it caused the three other people in the room to soften towards her.
"We aren't sure," Wesley answered. When he saw Kate's confused look, he continued. "We haven't seen or heard from Angel since we drove him to Sunnydale when we found out. Both he and Spike have disappeared, seemingly off of the face of the Earth. And to make matters even more bizarre, it appears as if Willow's body has also disappeared."
"Is it possible that they took her?"
"It's possible, although for what reason, we don't know. She died of a broken neck, so there wasn't a possibility of her rising again." A thought suddenly occurred to him of something he had been told once before when he was still a member of the Watcher's Council. He didn't think that it was probable, but if it were true, then it would explain what had happened in Sunnydale. He tried to think of someone that he could contact to see if he could find out any information. He remembered a man that he had met right before he had been fired from the council. He was in trouble with his branch of the Watcher's because of his closeness to his charge. Maybe he would be able to tell him if what he was hoping was true, although Wesley had a feeling that he was only grasping at straws. He was so lost in thought that he never heard the question that he was being asked. "Oh, I'm sorry. What were you saying?"
"I was asking you what you were going to do since Angel was gone?" Kate repeated, feeling sorry for the trio that had lost so much.
"We're going to continue doing what we are meant to do. Fight the," Wesley stumbled a moment, remembering how hard it was for Kate accept that demons and vampires were real, no matter what she had seen, "evil things that are around." Kate nodded her head, accepting the answer.
"Well, let me know if you hear anything or if you need anything. You have my number." With that said, the blonde left the office. Faith and Cordelia both turned to Wesley.
"Okay, Wes, out with it. What had you so preoccupied that you completely ignored the blonde one," Faith asked.
"It was an idea that came to me suddenly. Excuse me a moment, I have to make a phone call." Wesley went into Angel's office and closed the door, leaving the confused women behind. He quickly dialed 411. "Seacouver Washington."
"Yes, I'd like the number for a Joe Dawson." He quickly wrote down the number that he had been given and, after disconnecting his first call, placed the second.
"Yes, may I speak to a Joe Dawson?"
"Hello. You don't know me but my name is Wesley Wyndham Price." There was something about the way the man on the other end of the line reacted to his name that told Wesley that he might actually be on the right track.
"Well, you see I was wondering if you could help me. I am searching for information on a girl that I believe may be an Immortal."
"Her name is Willow Anne Rosenberg."
"I understand that you normally don't give out any information to someone no longer with the Watcher's but, you see, the young lady in question was a good friend of mine and I am worried about her."
"Please, any information that you could possibly give me would be most appreciated." A huge grin grew across Wesley's face as Joe informed him of what he knew.
"Thank you so much."
"Yes, yes, please do that. Tell them to contact me as soon as they can. Thank you again." Wesley hung up the phone and let out a triumphant yell, quickly bringing Cordelia and Faith into the office. He picked up Cordelia and swung her around and then grabbed Faith and placed a huge kiss on her mouth, leading both girls to believe that he had truly lost his mind.
"Wes, what is it?" Cordelia asked.
"It's about Willow. She's not dead."
Part 2
"What do you mean, Willow's alive," Cordelia asked, stunned by Wesley's announcement. "Hello, we just came from Sunnydale, where we had to listen to Buffy and Xander describe exactly how she died, remember?" "Yes, they did see her die, but she is alive," Wesley stated, causing both women to look at him as if he should be institutionalized. Faith led Wesley over to the couch in Angel's office, forcing him to sit. She began to talk to him in, what she hoped, would be a soothing voice.
"Wes, honey, I know how difficult it must be for you to accept that Willow's gone," the rogue Slayer said. "She was your research partner and all, but you have to face the facts. Willow's dead."
"No, no, no, you don't understand," Wesley looked at both of his lovers. "I know that Willow died, but she didn't stay that way. She's immortal."
"What do you mean, immortal?" Cordelia asked, wondering if her boyfriend had finally lost it. "Like Angel and Spike kind of immortal?"
"No, she isn't one of the undead. She's just like any other human except for that fact that she can not die unless someone takes her head." Cordelia and Faith both made a face at this bit of information as the ex-cheerleader came and joined her two lovers on the couch.
"Oh-kay, all those confused please raise your hands." Both Cordelia and Faith put their hands in the air. "That's what I though. You better explain just what they hell you're talking about."
"Okay, what I am about to tell you is highly secretive. Most Watchers don't even know about it. The only reason I do is because I was the Watcher of an active Slayer," he began.
"Wes," Faith said, her patient running thin, "get on with it."
"Here it goes. There is a race of, well, not exactly humans that are called Immortals. They are like anyone else that you may come across on the street, except for the fact that they cannot die, at least permanently, unless someone takes their head. In fact, you have probably come across a few of them and never even realized it."
"Takes off their heads? Can we say gross?" Cordelia groaned.
"Why would someone take their heads?" Faith asked.
"Well, from what I have been told, it is all a part of what they call a game." At the two girls' confused looks, Wes continued. "You see, there is a legend that the Immortals must fight each other to gain the ultimate prize, and that there can be only one. Unfortunately, the battle must be to the death."
"And what exactly is this prize anyway?' Faith questioned; concerned for the red head that had taken a chance on the brunette Slayer, despite everything that Faith had done to her. She didn't like the idea of her having to fight to stay alive. She knew that Angel and Spike would do anything that they could to protect Willow, but she also knew that they couldn't be with their mate twenty four hours a day.
"Unfortunately, no one is sure what the prize is," Wesley stated. "Some say that it is the power to rule over mankind. Others believe that it will be that the winner will become mortal, thus enabling them to grow older, have children and eventually, die."
"There's a prize worth having," Cordelia muttered. "So where is Willow now?"
"She, Angel and Spike are all in Seacouver, Washington," Wes explained. "Apparently, according to the man that I had spoken too, they have been there since the night that Willow had been killed. Joe Dawson, he is the person who confirmed my suspicion, said that he had been told that Willow would become Immortal the night she had died and had sent the man he was in charge of watching to pick her up so that she could be trained."
"Why didn't any of them call us?" Delia asked, glad that her friend was still alive, but upset and hurt over the fact that the three mates had felt the need to keep her status among the living a secret from those that cared about her. "I mean, that's not exactly fair is it." Wesley cupped Cordelia's cheek with his hand.
"I'm sure they would have contacted us if they could have," he assured her. "From what I remember, though, once an Immortal dies, they are forbidden to have any contact with the people from their past. I'm sure that whoever Mr. Dawson had sent to pick up Willow was quite surprised to find that he also had to deal with Angel and Spike." Suddenly a chuckle erupted from Faith.
"Oh man, can you imagine what that poor guy must have had to put up with if he even suggested that Willow leave without Deadboy and Fang?" The Slayer commented. "I mean, that is something I wish I could have seen." The humor in what Faith was talking about was not lost on Wes and Cordelia, who also erupted into giggles, happy for the first time since that fateful call telling Angel to come to Sunnydale.
"Not something I would ever attempt that's for sure," Cordelia added. "So, do you think the others know about Willow? I mean, if you knew about Immortals, wouldn't Giles have had that same information?"
"Yes, I imagine he would have, especially since the man I had called was a friend of his." Wesley thought about it.
"Well, why don't you call him and find out," Faith suggested. "And give him a good talking to if it turns out he did know."
"What an excellent suggestion," Wesley said as he went to pick up the phone. He quickly dialed Giles phone number and waited for the other Watcher to pick up.
"Yes, Giles, Wesley here."
"Yes, we made it fine. All in one piece."
'Actually, I had something I needed to talk to you about."
"Well, I had an interesting talk earlier with an old friend of yours."
"Joe Dawson."
"Really, you talked to him just last week. Then you must have been so relieved when he told you the news, although I do think it was rather selfish and uncaring of you to not tell the rest of us."
"Why, that Willow was alive of course."
"What do you mean, you didn't know? Surely if you had just spoken to him then he must have told you."
"Yes, he confirmed it. She's in Seacouver right now being trained by someone by the name of Duncan MacLeod."
"Certainly. Let me know what you find out."
"Good day." Wesley hung up the phone and looked at Cordelia and Faith. "He didn't know."
"We figured," Faith stated dryly. "So I take it he was rather stunned by the news."
"Most definitely. Apparently Joe had just called him last week, supposedly just trying to catch up with an old friend, but neglected to mention the fact that Willow was alive. Giles is going to contact him to try and confirm it." Faith stood up and stretched. She looked around the office and smiled as an idea came to her head.
"Well, I don't know about the two of you, but I'm thinking that a nice shower would be good right about now." Cordelia and Wesley smiled at the brunette, the Watcher coming over and taking her in his arms.
"Would you like some company?" Faith smiled seductively.
"Oh, I would most definitely love some company."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Cordelia stated as she, Wesley and Faith all left the office behind them and looked forward to some much-needed relaxation at the hands of their lovers. End Part Two