FanFiction Archive

Understanding

Part 11

Angel groaned loudly and said goodbye. Hanging up the phone, he immediately grabbed his keys.

"Where're you going?" Cordelia asked from her desk.

"Willow's going to try to bring Buffy back," he said through clenched teeth.

"They found her then?" Wesley asked, surprised when Angel shook his head. "She's going to attempt it without knowing where to pull Miss Summers from?"

Angel nodded grimly.

"Sounds like you'll need a hand then, Angelcakes," a new voice said from the doorway. The group looked up and saw Lorne, looking dashing as always in one of his revamped Zoot suits. This one was blue and had crisp pale blue button down to compliment the color.

Angel raised an eyebrow. "You want to come with me?" He asked, stopped in his tracks by Lorne's offer.

"Sure do," he said, gesturing for Angel to precede him to the car.

Angel didn't move. "Why?"

Lorne rolled his eyes and grabbed Angel's arm, pulling him toward the entrance. "Aren't you on a schedule? Don't you have places to be and a beautiful girl to save from herself? See you later, folks! Don't wait up," he said with a smile as they exited the hotel.

*****

Willow stumbled down the road, furious with Giles for forbidding her to bring Buffy back. 'How dare he?' She asked. 'I'm a grown woman! And he's not my father!' It took a few more minutes of mentally railing at Giles for Willow to get her temper under control.

When she was sufficiently calmed down, she started to mentally list the things she would need in order to complete her task. 'Candles, candle-holders, incense sticks, matches, salt, an offering dish, my athame. I'm never gonna remember all this!' She realized to her annoyance. She stopped briefly to take a pen and paper out of her bag so she could write the growing list down.

She continued down the street, mumbling the ingredients and items she would need while writing quickly on the paper.

*****

"Can't you hurry?" Angel asked impatiently from the passenger seat after glancing down at his watch.

Lorne looked over briefly before returning his eyes to the road. "If I go any faster, I'll get pulled over or get into an accident," he informed the vampire. "I know you're worried about Willow but getting into a car wreck won't save your lady love any faster."

"I knew I should've driven," Angel muttered before fully processing Lorne's comment. "And what do you mean by lady love?"

Lorne fixed Angel with a quick look. "You know exactly what I mean, dumpling."

Angel grimaced. "Okay, so maybe I do care about Willow more than I should..." he began.

"Who said that? I certainly didn't. In fact, I think you should tell her!"

"Is that why you wanted to come? So you could give me advice about my love life?" Angel asked incredulously.

"Well don't we have quite the ego today?" Lorne mused. "No, as a matter of fact, I came over to talk to you about paying for the renovations to Caritas, since you did drive through it with your car."

"Fine, fine. I'll help pay," Angel conceded. "But why are you going to Sunnydale?"

"Because I read you. You groaned when I walked in and I saw a smidge of your future. You're gonna need me," Lorne informed him.

"Great," Angel muttered before frowning. "And I can't tell her. She thinks of me as just a friend."

"Well, why don't we take it one step at a time and stop her from bringing back her friend, hmmm? Then we can worry about how she really feels about you," Lorne suggested, pressing on the gas pedal a little more.

"What do you mean really feels about me?" Angel asked.

Lorne just smiled and kept driving.

*****

Willow sat next to Buffy's grave. She was surrounded by a circle of salt. Candles lit each of the cardinal points and an altar cloth was set up in front of her. She looked around and reached for her bag. Laying out the incense and incense holder, she grabbed the matches. She smiled slightly as the scent of sandalwood wafted toward her.

She looked around. 'Everything seems to be in place,' she said to herself. She reached for her athame, which was to her left and the offering plate. She set both in front of her, along with the herbs she would need. Taking a deep breath, she muttered `here goes
nothing.'

Willow closed her eyes, centering herself and forcing her muscles to relax completely. Taking deep breaths, she gradually tuned herself in to the world around her. She could hear the crickets chirping and cars in the distance. Opening her eyes, she knew she was ready to begin.

Grasping the athame in her right hand, she quickly made a small cut on the palm of her left hand, letting the blood drip into the offering plate. After a small amount had been collected, she quickly wrapped her hand in a bandage and began to slowly add the herbs the spell called for, chanting in a soft voice.

*****

Angel swore as Lorne finally pulled up to the correct cemetery. This was the third one they'd been to, and Angel's face had grown sterner and more foreboding as each minute passed.

"Don't get your underwear in a twist because you couldn't give directions," Lorne retorted, glaring at the vampire. "Well? Is this the right one?"

Angel nodded. "I think so," he said, getting out of the car.

Lorne rolled his eyes. "Like I haven't heard that before," he muttered as he got out and locked the car. He looked around and shuddered. He could almost feel the pure evil of the Hellmouth washing over him.

Angel turned his head swiftly as a familiar scent overwhelmed his senses. "I smell her. She's bleeding! Come on!" He said, taking off in the direction of Buffy's grave.

Lorne turned to speak with him and swore as he saw the back of Angel's back quickly disappearing into the cemetery. "Hey, it's okay. You go ahead. I mean, it's not like I know the area or where I'm going, but why worry? I'm sure there are some nice vampires who are willing to give me the directions to the slayer's grave," he called after Angel as he trotted off in the same direction.

PREVIOUS TBC...

Back to archive