Willow walked through the halls of Sunnydale high. It was quiet, eerily quiet, but that was to be expected. It was, after all, 10 o'clock on a Friday night. Why would it be noisy?
She slowly made her way to the library, carefully balancing several cans of soda, a few bags of potato chips, and a package of ho-hos (Xander's junk food addiction had to be taken care of, after all. And everyone could use more sugary caffeine). "Hey everyone," she said, pushing open the door with her shoulder. "I'm back!"
Dead silence. Willow looked up over the stack of soda cans. No one in the main room. Odd, but it had happened before. She put the junk food on the table and looked around. "Hello?" she said, frowning slightly. No one in the stacks....no one over by the computer...
She heard a soft sound from the library storage closet. She panicked for a second (Oh my god, something got them and threw them in the closet!), but then got a hold of herself. She quietly made her way, eased her hand onto the doorknob and silently turned it.
After taking a deep breath, she flung the door open.
Giles and Ms. Calendar stood there, blinking dazedly, their eyes adjusting to the bright sudden light. "What the — ?" muttered Calendar, trying to adjust.
Giles finally focused on Willow, who was standing there in shock. "Oh...Willow....I see you brought the snacks..." He looked down at himself dazedly, and then realized that his tie was unloosened. "Right, then..." he said, straightening his tie. "Ms. Calendar was just...helping me..."
"Find an old book," Ms. Calendar finished for him, re-adjusting her top. "Yeah."
Willow smiled lightly. "It's okay, you don't have to explain," she said. "I was just looking for Buffy....or Angel....or Xander...or even Cordelia..."
Giles frowned. "They were in the main room the last time I saw them. How odd..."
Willow shrugged. "Maybe they thought I would need some help," she said. "I'll go look for them. You two can get back to....hunting for that book."
"Hmmm?" Giles said, looking at her quizzically. "Oh, right!" he blushed slightly.
Willow just smiled again and went back out to the main room. "Buffy?" she said. There was no reply. "Xander?" The same response. "Hmmm..." she said to herself. "Maybe they went to help me and we ended up missing each other!" She started walking back to the vending machines.
Halfway back to the vending machines, Willow heard another noise coming from the utility closet nearby. She instinctively went into battle readiness, but forced herself to not fling the door wide open. She did the smart thing. She knocked first.
The door opened a crack and she saw an eye peek through the crack. "Oh....Hi Willow," Buffy's voice said, a bit on the breathless side.
Willow waved at the door. "I was just wondering where everyone was."
"Oh...uh....give us a second...."
Willow shook her head. "No, that's okay. I've already found Giles and Ms. Calendar. And I'm assuming Angel's in there with you....I hope he is...He is, right?"
"I'm here," Angel's voice muttered.
Willow nodded. "Okay...I'll just go looking for Xander now..."
She walked away from the closet, just shaking her head in disbelief.
After a slow walk through the halls of Sunnydale High, Willow was about to declare Xander MIA when she heard even more noises coming from the last closet in all of the school. She leaned up to it, and put her ear on the door. "I hate you, Cordelia!" she heard softly through the door. "Likewise, Xander Harris! I don't know why I ever...." The sounds of kissing managed to make their way through the door. Willow frowned, then moved away, a faintly disgusted look on her face. I think I'll just let that one be, she thought to herself. She walked back over to the outside vending machines and sat down on the steps.
A small cookie appeared in front of her eyes. She followed the hand holding it. Oz stood there, smiling slightly. "Monkey?" he asked, holding the cookie out to her.
Willow smiled. "Thank you," she said, accepting the small, pants-wearing animal cracker.
Oz sat down next to her. "Slow night?" he asked.
Willow grinned. "Only for me," she said quietly. "But it's beginning to pick up."
This Angel/Buffy the Vampire Slayer story was written by Kate Bolin. If you liked it, there's plenty more at http://www.dymphna.net/fanfic/. And you can feedback her at dymphna@dymphna.net.