“He saved you?”  Buffy blurted out.  It had been half an hour since Willow had called the others, and, while everyone was thrilled that Willow was indeed alive and well, they were now trying to figure out exactly what was going on.  The Slayer turned to Giles, utter disbelief on her face.  “Just what the hell kind of plan is that?  Wasn’t the attack meant to kill us?”

“He said he didn’t have anything to do with that attack.”

“And you believed him?  Please, Willow.  Get a clue.  Of course this was his doing.”  Buffy looked to Xander for support, but the young man was too busy staring at Willow to even notice the Slayer.  He still couldn’t believe she was alive, and, quite honestly, Angelus could invade Poland and start World War III for all he cared.   All that mattered to him was that the vampire
had saved Willow.  She was alive.

“Actually,” Giles said to Buffy, “if Angel says he had nothing to do with it, I tend to believe him.  He’s not the type to let others take credit for his work.  If he had done it, he would let us know it was him; he wouldn’t deny it.”

“So now he’s running around saving the innocent?  I don’t buy it,” Cordelia said skeptically.  She sent a glare in Xander’s direction.  She was happy that Willow wasn’t dead or anything, but if Xander didn’t stop staring at the redhead soon, she’d have to kill him.

“Not the innocent,” Jenny Calendar countered.  Despite the bad feelings that had erupted since Angel’s change for the worse, Willow’s disappearance and subsequent reappearance had led to a tentative truce among the group.  “Just Willow.”

“Excuse me?” Buffy virtually snarled at the teacher.

“He saved Willow, which means he saw the attack.  She’s the only one he helped.”

Giles took his glasses off and cleaned them before putting them back on.  “I see your point.  Whatever it is, he’s fixated on Willow.”

“Willow?  Why Willow?  I’m the one he loves, not her.”

“You’re the one Angel loves.”

Buffy turned to Oz; she had forgotten that the guitar player was there.  ”And just what is that supposed to mean?” she demanded.

“This isn’t Angel we’re talking about here.  It’s Angelus.  Now, I never really knew Angel, but it’s pretty obvious that losing his soul changed him completely.”

“Oz is right,” Giles stated.  “Whatever is going on now, it is Angelus that we’re dealing with.  We must remember that.  For some reason, he saved Willow, and for that, I’m grateful.  However, this fixation he seems to have on her... we must be very careful.  We must be prepared for whatever it is he has planned.”

Sullenly, Buffy nodded.  She didn’t understand why Angel had a thing for Willow all of a sudden, but it was still her job to protect her friend.  Even though the Slayer was jealous, she didn’t want Willow to get hurt.  She had thought that she’d lost Willow the night before, but she’d been given another chance.

And she didn’t intend to screw it up.
 

Drusilla danced through the room as the stars sang to her.  She smiled as she neared Angelus.

“Daddy has a new friend.  The little tree that weeps.”

Angelus smiled.  How perceptive his childe was.  Even if she was completely nuts.  “That’s right, Dru.  And what do you intend to do about it?”

The female vampire danced away, laughing.  “Why, I shall play with her.  Dress her up, Daddy.  Then she can have tea.  Miss Edith likes her.  I want a new friend.”  She stopped in her dancing and turned to face her sire.  “You will bring her back, won’t you, my Angel?”

Angelus smiled.  If Drusilla liked Willow, then Spike wouldn’t touch her.  Things were definitely looking up.  “Perhaps, Dru.  Perhaps.”
 

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