Author : Tawilove (Julie)
E-mail : tawilove@yahoo.fr
Feedback : Yes please, i really want to know your opinion, though please be gentle it’s my first attempt at a fic.
Spoilers : This is totally AU but there will probably be some quotes or references from the show till end of season 6.
Rating : I don’t know really but let’s say PG-13 for a start (if my rating is incorect please feel free to let me know), change in the rating will be signaled when occur.
Disclaimer : All characters belong to Joss Whedon and ME .....except for the ones i created, i won’t be naming them all, it would be too long and i’m kinda lazy! But you’ll have no problem spotting them ‘cause they never were on the show.
Summary : In this story there’s no Magic, no Demons, no Slayer, just the plain old reality! But there’s also Love and Romance so don’t run away!
Willow is a computer specialist (i know, i know, how original!!!) and Tara is an english teacher. Willow has to go away from NY, where she has a great job as a computer consultant, because her life is in danger. Note 1 : The prologue is totally Willow centric (about that, for you not to be too surprised i want to confirm that this part is indeed about Willow, she’s not named Willow at the beginning though but through the reading you’ll quickly understand why), and don’t worry cause Tara is in part one !
This is a middle Angst story, there’ll be some cliffhangers but i’ll warn beforehand!
Note 2 : I am not a professional writer and English is not my mother language so pardon me for any misspelling or grammatical errors! I didn’t research thoroughly about every subject I broach in this story so if you want me to correct something that seems incoherent or misplaced to you, let me know!
Note 3 : I’ve been away from this board for quite a while, for personal reasons and majorly lack of time! I’m back here with a fic that is not yet complete but that I firmly intend to complete don’t worry, the thing is that I won’t be able to update as often as I would like (still a lot of work), so that you know.
And here goes the show!!
Prologue
New York, what a big change in her life! Well not only because it was such a huge city with people buzzing around like a frantic hive, but also because she was finally taking her life in her own hands. Yes she missed Sunnydale (as odd as it could seem), and of course she missed her family and friends, well more the poor excuse for family and friends she had there!
Her parents were never really home and of course she had grown use to it, but being thousands of miles away from them wasn't as easy as she had first thought. Anyway she was sure that she made a good choice coming here, she needed to find her way, to become truly independant.
Being independant was not like what she imagined when she was younger, she thought that living, well maybe more surviving on her own, as she did growing up, was showing a great sign of independance. But now she knew better, yes her parents where pratically never there, but they had a big influence on her life (too big for her taste), specially her mother, she had the incredible capacity of making her feel so miserable and useless, it was truly amazing! Her friends were no big help either on the "independance departement", she felt like she belonged to them and that they felt it was the most natural thing in the world. They needed her help all the time, but she was the one really dependant on them, she needed them or she'd be all alone, a social outcast, a highschool computer nerd only good to help you get a higher grade.
No really! this was the best idea she had in her lifetime, leaving home, leaving her past, beginning a new life.
She had no big problems to find a job, she had obtained a master in computer engineering at 24 with the highest grades and was even recomanded by some of her professors. So six months ago she arrived here the heart full of hopes and the head full of dreams, finally on her own, facing life and the noisey jungle of NY. Things were going great at her job, people were nice, most of them quite young and dynamic, she felt boosted, she felt free.
Well till last week anyway!
What happened last week, on Thursday, at 8:15 p.m. to be more precise, in this dark alley two blocks from her appartement, changed her life in an instant, in a flash, in the jolting light of a gun shot!
Why did she leave the office so late, she couldn't quite remember anymore, but now she regretted immensly her 'work-sucker' attitude. If she had just left 15 minutes earlier, everything would be ok by now, but no, no luck for her!
"Miss Newman, would you follow me please", a young man not much older than herself showed her the way through a long, grim corridor. They arrived in front of a quite imposant door labelled as room 314, he gently knocked and was answered by a rather loud "come in". The redhead felt a shiver down her spine, she dreaded not to be able to stay calm considering the circumstances, she didn't want to appear like a panicked little girl even though she felt like one in this right moment.
"Hello Miss Newman, how are you today" intoned Rowan O'Brian, with a deep, yet rather soothing voice. He was the chief of the Witness Protection Program from the FBI New York team. On his early forties, he was tall and very alluring, like James Bond she thought.
"Well i'm trying not to be utterly afraid and frankly, it's not working very well, i must be using the wrong mantra" wincing at her own attempt at a joke, the redhead sat down in front of him.
"Now, now, where's your positive side" he smiled softly at her, trying to lighten a bit the gravity of the situation.
"I think it flew away when a mafia gang decided i would be very well six feet under" she was sarcastic, she knew it, but she had the right to be after all, SHE was the one to be threaten of death by a group of sadistic killers.
When she heard a commotion at the corner of the street, that night, only 5 minutes away from her building, she thought about passing by without paying attention, but she couldn't, what if there was someone needing help, what if she was their only hope for a rescue. So she went a bit further down her path looking intendly in the imperfect halo of a flickering street light, and she saw them, in this alley, like a group of demons that had just risen from hell. Three men standing above the curled up figure of a forth one whining like a little boy, begin them to spare his life. She was frozen on the spot, she couldn't move or even say a word, she was petrified by fear.
Then she saw it, twinkling under the light, and she heard it, shooting a deadly thunder like a scream of hatred peircing the night They shot him, oh my God, they shot him, it was reasoning in her head like a never ending loop. She unconsciously started to back away from where she was standing, bumping in the process in a dustbin she didn't notice was there.
Then she saw him, he turned his face towards her and under the shivering light, he was handsom, maybe in his late twenties, he had the features of an angel, but his eyes betrayed the darkness of his soul, cruel and empty, he had the devil inside. She nearly laughed at this paradox, but she felt the panic rise in her like a geyser of emotions, here she was, unable to move, in front of a monster rising slowly his gun in her direction. What kind of strenght she found in her at that moment, she will always wonder, but it was enough for her to react, and start to run away.
She heard the bang of a gunshot and felt like a speeding wind passing her by as the bullet missed her for only a few inches. She didn't ponder much, she couldn't afford this luxury so she ran as fast as she could and as far away from this nightmare as her legs could bring her.
She could feel them running behind her and they were gaining on her, she thought she was done, noone would help, this was not a movie, there was no super hero coming at the last minute to save the poor innocent girl.
Lights…., red and blue, blinking at her furiously, in front of her a few hundreds feet away,…. policemen…., no it couldn't be true, she was dreaming, it was a mirage in the desert! Run faster Newman, run faster, you can make it, these words stammered in her head like the crazy rythme of her heart, they were there, her heros, standing in the middle of the pavement trying to contain what seemed like a fight, she was safe at last!
"Are you alright" the voice of Agent O'Brian woke her from her revery.
"I'm fine thanks, just……. thinking about that night"
"You were lucky" he said, and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, silently questioning his definition of luck. "You know what i meant" he answered apologetically, "if those cops wouldn't have been there, i fear that you….." he couldn't end his sentence.
"I would have been killed" he didn't know what to say, "I know it's true so spare me your 'it's- not-what-i-wanted-to-say'."
"Anyway, Sarah" it was the first time that he used her first name, she was surprised but please by this mark of sympathy, "I asked for you to come here today cause we should be discussing of a safer place for you to stay at".
"What's the problem with the one i'm actually staying at?"
"No direct problem with the place itself, but more of a internal problem" a tinge of worry filled his voice and that went not unnoticied to the young hacker.
"What do you mean by internal problem, there's a problem with the program, it's not safe anymore?" she was clever he thought with a sad smile.
"Well, i should be totally honest with you, we are fearing that one or maybe more members of this mafia gang could have infiltrate our NY team, spying as 'moles' in the system"
She was taken aback, she didn't expect that at all, "but how, how is this possible, i mean, you're the FBI, secret agents, super trained team of cloned american James Bond, how could a bad guy get into your team without you being able to know it, it's not possible….i don't….no… " her voice was getting lower, her babble lost in the silence of her confusion.
"The situation is indeed confusing but you know we're not perfect and this gang has some very high contacts through the politcal net here."
"Why am i not surprised by this last statement?" she muttered to herself.
"The good news is that we already have some suspects on tail, the bad news is as long as we don't find them all and put them in jail you're in danger" his angst for the redhead security was audible.
"So what do you suggest, if noone is to be trusted and nowhere is safe, what should i do?"
"Trust me!" was the only answer he could give her.
"And how do i know you're not one of these 'moles'" she asked looking straigt in his eyes seeking for the truth.
"Cause if i was, you would already be dead", she felt a shiver through her whole body, at the sound of these words. "Believe me, i'm here to protect you, and if i really was one of them, why would i bother telling you about them and the danger you're in, i should have better let you fall into their hands, i would have had not the slightest interest into warning you" he sounded truly honest and she saw in his eyes a real concern for her.
"Ok then, what do you want to do, where should i go?"
"I know a place, nobody knows about but me in the agency, i won't talk about it here, it's not safe, we better get going it's a long way from here."
"What?" Sarah was in panic mode "we can't go now, i mean i didn't pack my things and i need to tell my boss i'm going away, and, and…." he silenced her by raising his hand in front of her.
"Don't panic, we will buy you what you need on the road and i already informed your boss of your departure, you have to leave everything behind and no looking back, untill they are all arrested and the trial takes place, you will be someone else. Oh and you'll have to change your name, you can choose it by the way! So let's go, we need to hurry". She stood silent looking at him with an expression akin to the one of a KO boxer. He opened the door for her to go and they went away from this building, from this town, from this state, feeling the dread of danger and the excitement of adventure.
I hope you enjoyed, let me know if you want more
You can destroy whatever you want / All she needs is to open her arms / To rebuild everything, to rebuild everything
at: 11/30/03 10:10 am
and the ones who gave feedback
, i'm glad you liked the start, i 've always found that Willow was a beautifull name 
And well you won't have to wait too much cause i'm finishing the editing and i will post the next part soon 
so thank you very much and i think that your questions are answered for now 
and "bigotry" were a way to go, why then, shouldn't we have an oasis of tolerence, understanding and respect. So i picked a town, situated in a nice place, were nature was the master and i decided to make it a haven of love and tolerence!!!
. But i also want to thank the ones who read even if they don't give feedback, you're all great 
thank you sooooooo much 
will give a "short version" of the "conception story" in a few chapters, then she will open up more about it, later in the fic. That's all i can say right now 
.
and 
. She was raised being told that homosexuality was a terrible sin, so she pushed it down inside too. In fact they will be eachother catalyser!
. I hate it when people do that, should have not-so-nice discussion with that familly some day, heh. Good thing she with a real familly now, a place where she's appriciated.
on you and give only half of the chapter with a 
, so in this part you'll learn about what Willow will do in this town, some infos about the 'bad guys' plot and finally the