Fic: Thanks with Tears, Willow/Angel/Spike, 8a/50
Title: Thanks with Tears, Chapter Eight part a
Info and disclaimers found here.
Previous Parts.
Chapter Eight
After putting on some clean clothes, Angel went to go downstairs to try and get some work done. As he reached the foyer, he saw Willow and Cordy sitting at Cordelia’s desk working on the computer. Apparently, Cordelia had asked Willow for some help organizing the desktop, which Willow was more than happy to give.
The dark haired vampire slipped into his office without attracting the attention of the two girls at the computer. A few moments later, he emerged with a couple of pieces of paper. Walking over to where the two girls were sitting, Angel smiled down at his friends.
“Hey Angel,” Willow smiled up at him. “What’cha doing?”
“I have a favor to ask of you two,” he said.
“What?” Cordelia replied.
“I need you to go out and get me some things,” he said as he held out the lists he had made.
Cordelia quickly snatched the pieces of paper out of his hand and began to read through them. “This is a shopping list. You’re going to send us out shopping?”
“Yeah,” Angel said with a sigh. “Spike didn’t have anything with him and he is going to need some clothes and other things. Do you mind? I’m sure Willow wouldn’t mind getting out of here for a little while.” Angel was sure they could hear the desperation in his voice, but he didn’t care. He wanted to do everything he could to help Spike.
Willow smiled as she reached over and placed her hand lightly on his forearm. “No problem, Angel,” she said before turning her head to look at Cordelia. “You don’t mind taking me out for a little, do you?”
“Of course not,” Cordelia smiled an evil smile. “Especially not if the boss man is paying.” She raised an eyebrow at the vampire and smirked as he reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet.
Slowly he placed the company’s gold card in her waiting palm. He remembered the damage she had caused the last time she took off with his credit card, but this time it was definitely a necessity.
“If there is anything that you need, Willow, please be sure to get it now…while I’m feeling generous.” He smiled at the young witch, mirroring the one on her own face. He wanted her to stay and be happy.
“Hey, wait Angel,” Cordelia’s exclamation pulled Angel out of his examination of the redhead’s emerald eyes. “Who is this Chaka Khan guy?”
“His name is Charan and he is a blood supplier,” Angel said, smiling at the way Cordelia massacred the man’s name.
“But you already have a supplier, remember?” she replied looking at the vampire as though he had lost his mind. “Sam the butcher man sends over his finest twice a week.”
“Well,” Angel started. He knew this was going to come up, and he really didn’t want to upset the two women. “Charan kind of works in special orders.”
“Like human blood,” Willow supplied, already knowing the answer.
“Yeah,” Angel said with a sigh. “But it is acquired by legal means, so no need to worry. Most of it is stuff that the blood banks couldn’t use for whatever reason. You know, stuff that was meant for surgery and expired or was contaminated. Sometimes, he has special donors.”
“Special donors?” Cordelia asked.
“Yeah. He has a few people who come in and donate for cash.” He couldn’t believe he was telling them this. “Virgins can earn quite a bit of money just selling a pint at a time.”
“Oh,” Willow whispered, her cheeks flushing brilliantly at Angel mentioning knowing the difference in virgin's blood.
“Spike is going to need more than animal blood if he is going to heal properly,” Angel explained, hoping that the two women would understand and just get him what he needed. “Human blood will help him heal faster than animal blood, so he’s going to need a lot of it. I just hope he will take it.” He sighed as he trailed off, waiting for a response from the two friends in front of him.
“Ok, cool!” Cordelia exclaimed, fully accepting Angel reasoning. “We just give him this note?”
“Yeah,” Angel said shaking his head at the former cheerleader’s reaction. “He’ll know what to do. Thanks guys.”
“No prob, boss man,” Cordelia said as she quickly turned to go and grab her purse.
“Thanks Angel,” Willow whispered as she reached up on her toes to place a tiny kiss on his cool cheek. “I really appreciate this and I’m sure Spike will too.”
Angel simply smiled down at her. He couldn't help noticing how much she had changed.
“Come on Willow,” Cordelia called as she headed toward the door. “We have a beautiful sunny day ahead of us and a gold card to use, times a wasting!”
Willow just smiled up at the vampire before turning to join the waiting shopaholic.
“And Cordelia,” Angel called just before she walked outside. She turned, silently waiting for him to continue. “Just don’t make me cry when the statement comes in.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Six hours later, Willow sighed as she slumped down onto the couch in Cordelia’s living room. They'd decided to stop there after Cordelia found a gorgeous outfit and a pair of shoes she just couldn’t live without.
Willow smiled as a glass of iced tea floated towards her, seemingly of it’s own volition.
“Thanks Dennis,” she said smiling at where she thought the ghost might be. It was odd to think that Cordelia lived with a man who was currently dead, but who was she to judge. He seemed really nice.
The brunette girl walked into the living room after putting away her newest acquisitions. She smiled at Willow as she emerged from her room, delicately grabbing the glass of tea floating toward her. “Thanks Dennis,” she said as she made her way over to the couch. “Do you think Spike will be mad that we didn’t get everything in black?”
“I certainly hope not,” Willow replied with a smirk. "It’s Angel’s fault he sent us out to buy him clothes anyway. I think he’ll look good in a little color. The midnight blue shirt we bought should really bring out his eyes.”
“Yeah, well, I think we did a pretty good job under the circumstances,” the former cheerleader said as she rose to her feet having finished her iced tea. She grabbed the glass from the redhead and made her way to the kitchen to deposit the glasses in the sink. Willow smiled as the television’s remote control slowly made its way over to her.
“Thanks Dennis, but I have to get Willow back to hotel with all the stuff we bought,” Cordelia said to her invisible friend. “Now that it as almost dark, we can get Angel to come and empty out the car. Besides if we don’t get back soon, the blood will start to get warm and the last thing I want in my car right now is warm blood.”
Willow cringed at the thought and put the remote back on the coffee table in front of her.
“You’ll have to come back some time and do the girl’s night out thing with me, Willow.” Cordelia continued as they got ready to leave. “We can watch chick flicks and eat a bunch of junk food and Dennis can wait on us hand and foot. I don't get to do the girlie thing much anymore.”
“I’d like that,” Willow said sincerely. It was hard for her to believe that this was the same Cordelia Chase she knew in high school. The same Cordelia Chase who made it a point to make her life a living hell for more years than she was willing to remember. But Willow knew this wasn’t the same Cordelia Chase. She had changed. She had grown up and moved past all the pettiness of high school and discovered that the real world can be a very scary place. You needed all the friends you could get. Suddenly, Willow was glad that she could count Cordelia as one of them. She smiled at the brunette as they walked out to the car.
“What?” Cordelia asked, noting the look on the other girls face.
“Nothing,” Willow replied nonchalantly. “We better get going before Angel starts to wonder where we are.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Go to part b
Info and disclaimers found here.
Previous Parts.
Chapter Eight
After putting on some clean clothes, Angel went to go downstairs to try and get some work done. As he reached the foyer, he saw Willow and Cordy sitting at Cordelia’s desk working on the computer. Apparently, Cordelia had asked Willow for some help organizing the desktop, which Willow was more than happy to give.
The dark haired vampire slipped into his office without attracting the attention of the two girls at the computer. A few moments later, he emerged with a couple of pieces of paper. Walking over to where the two girls were sitting, Angel smiled down at his friends.
“Hey Angel,” Willow smiled up at him. “What’cha doing?”
“I have a favor to ask of you two,” he said.
“What?” Cordelia replied.
“I need you to go out and get me some things,” he said as he held out the lists he had made.
Cordelia quickly snatched the pieces of paper out of his hand and began to read through them. “This is a shopping list. You’re going to send us out shopping?”
“Yeah,” Angel said with a sigh. “Spike didn’t have anything with him and he is going to need some clothes and other things. Do you mind? I’m sure Willow wouldn’t mind getting out of here for a little while.” Angel was sure they could hear the desperation in his voice, but he didn’t care. He wanted to do everything he could to help Spike.
Willow smiled as she reached over and placed her hand lightly on his forearm. “No problem, Angel,” she said before turning her head to look at Cordelia. “You don’t mind taking me out for a little, do you?”
“Of course not,” Cordelia smiled an evil smile. “Especially not if the boss man is paying.” She raised an eyebrow at the vampire and smirked as he reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet.
Slowly he placed the company’s gold card in her waiting palm. He remembered the damage she had caused the last time she took off with his credit card, but this time it was definitely a necessity.
“If there is anything that you need, Willow, please be sure to get it now…while I’m feeling generous.” He smiled at the young witch, mirroring the one on her own face. He wanted her to stay and be happy.
“Hey, wait Angel,” Cordelia’s exclamation pulled Angel out of his examination of the redhead’s emerald eyes. “Who is this Chaka Khan guy?”
“His name is Charan and he is a blood supplier,” Angel said, smiling at the way Cordelia massacred the man’s name.
“But you already have a supplier, remember?” she replied looking at the vampire as though he had lost his mind. “Sam the butcher man sends over his finest twice a week.”
“Well,” Angel started. He knew this was going to come up, and he really didn’t want to upset the two women. “Charan kind of works in special orders.”
“Like human blood,” Willow supplied, already knowing the answer.
“Yeah,” Angel said with a sigh. “But it is acquired by legal means, so no need to worry. Most of it is stuff that the blood banks couldn’t use for whatever reason. You know, stuff that was meant for surgery and expired or was contaminated. Sometimes, he has special donors.”
“Special donors?” Cordelia asked.
“Yeah. He has a few people who come in and donate for cash.” He couldn’t believe he was telling them this. “Virgins can earn quite a bit of money just selling a pint at a time.”
“Oh,” Willow whispered, her cheeks flushing brilliantly at Angel mentioning knowing the difference in virgin's blood.
“Spike is going to need more than animal blood if he is going to heal properly,” Angel explained, hoping that the two women would understand and just get him what he needed. “Human blood will help him heal faster than animal blood, so he’s going to need a lot of it. I just hope he will take it.” He sighed as he trailed off, waiting for a response from the two friends in front of him.
“Ok, cool!” Cordelia exclaimed, fully accepting Angel reasoning. “We just give him this note?”
“Yeah,” Angel said shaking his head at the former cheerleader’s reaction. “He’ll know what to do. Thanks guys.”
“No prob, boss man,” Cordelia said as she quickly turned to go and grab her purse.
“Thanks Angel,” Willow whispered as she reached up on her toes to place a tiny kiss on his cool cheek. “I really appreciate this and I’m sure Spike will too.”
Angel simply smiled down at her. He couldn't help noticing how much she had changed.
“Come on Willow,” Cordelia called as she headed toward the door. “We have a beautiful sunny day ahead of us and a gold card to use, times a wasting!”
Willow just smiled up at the vampire before turning to join the waiting shopaholic.
“And Cordelia,” Angel called just before she walked outside. She turned, silently waiting for him to continue. “Just don’t make me cry when the statement comes in.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Six hours later, Willow sighed as she slumped down onto the couch in Cordelia’s living room. They'd decided to stop there after Cordelia found a gorgeous outfit and a pair of shoes she just couldn’t live without.
Willow smiled as a glass of iced tea floated towards her, seemingly of it’s own volition.
“Thanks Dennis,” she said smiling at where she thought the ghost might be. It was odd to think that Cordelia lived with a man who was currently dead, but who was she to judge. He seemed really nice.
The brunette girl walked into the living room after putting away her newest acquisitions. She smiled at Willow as she emerged from her room, delicately grabbing the glass of tea floating toward her. “Thanks Dennis,” she said as she made her way over to the couch. “Do you think Spike will be mad that we didn’t get everything in black?”
“I certainly hope not,” Willow replied with a smirk. "It’s Angel’s fault he sent us out to buy him clothes anyway. I think he’ll look good in a little color. The midnight blue shirt we bought should really bring out his eyes.”
“Yeah, well, I think we did a pretty good job under the circumstances,” the former cheerleader said as she rose to her feet having finished her iced tea. She grabbed the glass from the redhead and made her way to the kitchen to deposit the glasses in the sink. Willow smiled as the television’s remote control slowly made its way over to her.
“Thanks Dennis, but I have to get Willow back to hotel with all the stuff we bought,” Cordelia said to her invisible friend. “Now that it as almost dark, we can get Angel to come and empty out the car. Besides if we don’t get back soon, the blood will start to get warm and the last thing I want in my car right now is warm blood.”
Willow cringed at the thought and put the remote back on the coffee table in front of her.
“You’ll have to come back some time and do the girl’s night out thing with me, Willow.” Cordelia continued as they got ready to leave. “We can watch chick flicks and eat a bunch of junk food and Dennis can wait on us hand and foot. I don't get to do the girlie thing much anymore.”
“I’d like that,” Willow said sincerely. It was hard for her to believe that this was the same Cordelia Chase she knew in high school. The same Cordelia Chase who made it a point to make her life a living hell for more years than she was willing to remember. But Willow knew this wasn’t the same Cordelia Chase. She had changed. She had grown up and moved past all the pettiness of high school and discovered that the real world can be a very scary place. You needed all the friends you could get. Suddenly, Willow was glad that she could count Cordelia as one of them. She smiled at the brunette as they walked out to the car.
“What?” Cordelia asked, noting the look on the other girls face.
“Nothing,” Willow replied nonchalantly. “We better get going before Angel starts to wonder where we are.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Go to part b