THE CHALLENGE:::

Willow has to fall in love with someone over the internet. Or at
least start a relationship with someone over the internet. It can be
a cyber-sex thing, a kinky cyber-sex thing, a romance, whatever. Your
choice. The pairing is up to you, but don't overlook the more un-
written about potential pairings.

Must haves ...

- Chatting between Willow and the "someone" in an IRC chat or
something similar
- Willow's friend(s) being concerned about the "someone" and not
trusting the relationship
- Some IRC or chat-ese. (IE- Spike looked at Willow, "Slash me will
spank your butt if you aren't careful girl!" /me is the way in IRC
that you indicate an action)
- Willow not knowing the real identity of the "someone" until later
in the fic -- and s/he not knowing who Willow is either.
- The characters meeting real life at some point

:)

Bonus points for ...

- making it any Willow/pairing that I don't have a separate page for
at NHA
- having someone catch Willow having cybersex or phone sex (if you
don't want to write an NC-17 then show what happens AFTER the
fact ...)
- the phrase "Is that anatomically possible? I wouldn't have thought
so but just look at them."

END CHALLENGE

~*~Part One~*~

Buffy followed Willow with her eyes, watching as the red head fled up the
stairs and to her bedroom, not even stopping long enough to say ‘Hello’. She
was worried about her friend. This was the second week straight that the young
witch had come home only to go directly to her room. They wouldn’t see her
again until dinner time when she would show up long enough to eat and then
retreat back to her rooms.

What she did in there for so long was anyone’s guess, though Buffy had a sneaky
suspicion it had something to do with the new laptop her parents had paid for –
complete with internet access. It was just the thing a computer freak like
Willow would enjoy. Perhaps too much, even. Buffy had heard all the horror
stories about people who spent too much time on the internet – or those that
had ‘relationships’ online. This is what she feared had happened to Willow.

Hadn’t she just heard on Sally Jesse the other day about the woman who had left
her husband and children to be with the man she met online, only to find out
that that man was really a hermaphrodite parolee. It had been awful for the
woman. Now she had no family and all of her friends were upset with her because
of the neglect she had inflicted on them during the period she had been online
with her would-be lover.

Buffy didn’t want to see that happen to Willow. She treasured the little red
head too much as a friend to let her ruin her life in an online relationship
with some guy, or girl, she had never met before.

But how to say that to Willow without upsetting her? After all, she had no
proof that Willow had been doing anything online –at all- during those times
that she was up in her room. For all Buffy knew the red head could be studying
– finals were coming up in less than two weeks. Maybe she was just on a study
kick.

‘I’ll just have to wait until I know for sure.’ Buffy sighed, looking upwards
in the direction of her friend’s room. She shook her head, returning her
attention back to the magazine in her hands.

~*~*~

Willow flipped open her laptop, hitting the power button and letting it power
up while she began to get ‘comfortable’ for the evening. Her jeans and t-shirt
were replaced with an oversized nightshirt. Fluffy socks and no, yes, -no-,
underwear. This was about as comfortable as she could get and still be wearing
clothes. Going completely nude just wasn’t an option, not with Buffy and Dawn
in the house. The lock on the bedroom door didn’t always work the best and the
last thing she needed was for one of them to walk in on her at a delicate
moment.

She picked up a scrunchie for her hair, pulling it into a loose ponytail. By
now the laptop was ready and waiting for her password. She typed it in quickly,
the startup chime of the machine music to her ears. She sat down on the edge of
her bed, pulling the laptop into her lap and settling back onto the pillows
piled high behind her. She double clicked on the icon on her desktop – the
bright red ‘Y’ for Yahoo Messenger. Again a place to put in her password and
then she was in.

Her list of friends was short, just as she preferred it to be. She found the
name she was looking for quickly, smiling to herself when she saw that he was
online.

~*~*~

WckdWtch80: Hey! Long time, no IM !

GrnMan73: Hey, yourself, little witch. What do you mean long time? Weren’t we
on here until three in the morning? *grin*

WckdWtch80: Yeah, yeah. I know, that. Was playing, silly. *smilie* Anyway –
how was your day?

GrnMan73: Dull. The boss man got a new case and left us lowly minions to do all
the work today.

WckdWtch80: Bummer, sweetie. I’m sorry?

GrnMan73: *chuckle* Nothin’ for you to be sorry about darlin’. Still need to
break you of that habit, I see.

WckWtch73: I don’t apologize that much! Would you rather I was rude?

GrnMan73: Well there is something about a saucy woman …

WckMan73: Kinky little thing, aren’t ya?

GrnMan73: Darlin’ – kinky yes, little – no. *wink*

WckdWtch80: So --- you alone?

GrnMan73: Sweetheart, you read my mind. What are you wearing?

WckWtch80: T-shirt big enough for me –and- you, and no under thingies. *purr*

~*~*~

Willow leaned back on her bed, settling the laptop beside her, still easily
within reach. She watched as the words of her lover scrolled across the screen,
occaisionally typing a response to him. Her ears were ever alert for the sound
of someone in the hallway. The last thing she needed was for Buffy or Dawn to
come in while she was –

What?

Teasing herself to a pleasurable buildup and then release?

She smiled, picturing her mystery man. He had dark hair, she knew at least that
much since had he spoken once about one of his co-workers suggesting he dye it
blonde. The rest was a mystery, though that didn’t matter to her.

She had a very hyper imagination, after all.

~*~Part Two~*~

"I'm worried about her, Xander." Buffy whispered, glancing upwards as though
Willow could possibly hear her at any time. "She comes home, she goes to her
room. And then we don't see her anymore. Every single day."

Xander sighed. This was becoming a regular theme when he visited Buffy and
Dawn. He came in, sat down, and within moments of being in the house he was
being assaulted with pleas for him to 'do something' about Willow's behaviour
as of late. He didn't see anything wrong with what she was doing. It was quite
possible that she was going through some stage in her life where she just
needed time alone. Hadn't they all been there at one point? "Buff. I know your
mean well, but shouldn't we just let her be? I mean - she's an adult. Can't she
do what she wants?"

"Not if its harming her." Buffy stated firmly. She laid a gentle hand on
Xander's arm, her eyes pleading. "I'm begging you, Xander. As her best friend -
go talk to her. See what's going on with her."

He looked into her eyes, saw the tears glistening in their corners, and, after
a week straight of saying no, he said the one thing he had sworn not to say.
"Fine, Buff. I'll go up and talk to her."

"Really?" She leapt up, hugging him tightly. "Oh - thank you, Xander. You're
the best, promise."

"Yeah, yeah." He muttered, giving her a smile nonetheless. "I'm guessing you
want me to go up there and do this right now?" She nodded and he groaned
silently. Just what he needed - a heart to heart with someone he was pretty
sure didn't want it. "Okay. If I'm not back in twenty minutes - assume she
turned me into a rat."

Buffy nodded, watching Xander slowly climb the stairs to the second floor. She
settled herself on the couch and flipped on the television, prepared to wait
however long it took for Xander to get through to the red haired witch.

"YEEIIIIAAAG."

The Slayer jumped up, rushing towards the stairs - only to be practically
bowled over as Xander came rushing down. His face was red as a beet and he was
shuddering. She glanced upwards, wondering what had happened. "Xan?" She
reached out, surprised when he jerked back, nearly falling on his butt in his
haste to avoid her touch.

"Please - just stay there. Don't want to be touched. Oh God.. Nasty..
Disgusting. Wills." He moaned, scrunching his eyes shut tightly, as though he
could escape the images that were now forever burned on the canvas of his mind.
He had gone up to her room and knocked on the door. Maybe it had been too
lightly and she hadn't heard it. He would never know why she hadn't answered on
that first knock or why he had tried the doorknob. It certainly hadn't been his
brightest idea ever, that was for sure.

But the door had swung open readily and he had poked his head in. And that's
when he had seen her, sitting on her bed, laptop next to her, her fingers.

"Oh God." He groaned again, shaking his head no. He had -not- just walked in on
one of his oldest and best friends touching herself while she was on the
computer. Cyber sex was the name for that, his brain whispered to him. But he
didn't want to know that either. Didn't want to think of anything having to do
with Willow and sex. "Bad, bad, bad."

"Xander. C'mon. You need to tell me what's wrong. Do I need to go up there?"
Buffy was worried, but not so much as to rush upstairs when she had no clue
what was going on. Xander seemed to be more embarrassed than anything.

"No. You don't need to 'go up there'." Willow sighed, making her way slowly
down the stairs. She was filled with equal parts dread and anger. Dread because
now she was going to have to tell her friends about her online relationship and
anger because Xander never should have walked into her room without her
permission in the first place. It was his own fault that he was now hopping
around like he had been scarred for life.

"What's going on, Wills? I send Xander up there to talk to you and he comes
down like this." She gestured at the still shaking young man with her hand,
giving Willow a hard look.

Willow wished the earth would just open up and swallow her whole. Then she
realized that that probably wasn't a good thing to wish in Sunnydale and
quickly made an apology to the gods of the perverse, hoping they wouldn't take
her up on it. "He walked in on me. HavingCyberSex.."

"Cyber Sex?" Buffy asked, her forehead wrinkled in confusion. "But you were
alone in your room."

"Riiight." Willow frowned. "Cyber sex is where you talk dirty in a chat room
and then."

"ENOUGH!" Xander cried out, covering his ears. He hummed softly to himself,
attempting to block out anything further Willow might have to say on the
subject.

"You. you know.?" Buffy asked, eyebrows raised.

Willow nodded. "Yep." She sighed. "So - now that you know my big dark secret
and I am effectively emberassed for the rest of my natural life, I think I'll
go back to my room and never come out again."

Buffy watched the witch go, her mouth hanging open in something akin to
complete and utter shock. Willow was having sex with someone over the internet?
This was even worse than she had first thought. "But, Wills.." She called out,
her voice hesitant and filled with concern. The red head turned from the top of
the steps to look down at her. "You don't even know him, her, whatever."

"Oh - don't worry, Buff. We're going to meet this weekend at the ice cream shop
on Main." Willow grinned. "I'll even let you lurk in the shadows so you can
make sure he isn't a demon or anything. Now can I go back to my room and be
thoroughly embarrassed now?"

The blonde nodded, giving Willow a sheepish smile. She would definitely be
taking Willow up on the offer of lurking in the shadows. And if this guy hurt
one little hair on her friend's head, he'd be a dead cyber-whatever. A groan
from the floor brought her attention back to Xander. She sighed and gave him a
mock glare.

"Oh, stop being such a sissy. Get up! I've got Twinkies in the kitchen."

"Twinkies?"

~*~Part Three~*~

"Is that anatomically possible? I wouldn't have thought so but just look at
them."

Spike looked away from the television and to the image on Willow's laptop. His
eyes widened. "RED! What in the bloody hell? Where did you get -that-?"

The red head shrugged, shutting the image before it could do seemingly further
irreparable damage to the vampire. She honestly didn't know when her friends
had turned into prudes. But there it was, not even Spike wanted to see a
picture of people having sex. Okay - so it had been three people - with only
one of them being a woman, and yes, both of the men were currently inside of
her as far as Willow could tell. "It was in some junk email I got."

"Well, don't open those things anymore." Spike huffed, giving her a glare. "You
don't need to be looking at that stuff."

Willow arched an eyebrow. "And why is that? I'm an adult. I can look at people
having sex if I want. Hell, I can also -have- sex if I want, whether its with a
man, a woman or even by myself. Just ask Xander - he walked in on me the other
night." She was furious. Spike always treated her like a child. Who was he to
tell her that she couldn't look at a little naked action if she wanted to?
Wasn't that a right that had been granted to her when she turned eighteen?
Hadn't she traipsed to the 7-Eleven up the street and purchased a Playboy and a
pack of cigarettes at midnight on her eighteenth birthday just because she
-could-?

Yet now they all acted like she was a child, someone who needed to be protected
from things like sex and nudity. When had they become her parents? For that
matter, her own parents didn't care this much about what she did. That made
them worse than her parents.

"S'not that, Red." Spike chuckled. "You're the innocent of the group. The baby.
We can't have you running around staring at bloody nudie pics." He paused,
thinking over the rest of what she had just admitted to him. "The moron walked
in on you - "

"Touching myself." She finished for him, unblinking. So she was the baby of the
group? The innocent? She snorted. If they only knew how un-innocent she was!
Tomorrow was the day she would meet her mystery man. The one that she had been
having an online love affair with for the past few weeks. -He- didn't think she
was innocent. -He- knew that she had a wild side, a passionate side. A side
that she only let out when she was away from her friends, from the very people
that were content to see her be nothing more than a sugary sweet, absolute
innocent for the rest of her life.

But -she- wasn't about to stand by and watch her life pass her by like that.
She stood up, leaving Spike speechless on the couch, and flounced up to her
room. Her laptop was open and waiting, though she knew her lover wouldn't be on
yet. It was too early in the day. She got the impression from him that he was
more of a night owl. He worked at an investigative agency, after all, most of
his work was done at night. In the morning he would be leaving LA to come down
to Sunnydale, to meet with her. It was both thrilling and scary at the same
time. What if he was hideous? What if he thought -she- wasn't pretty? He had
said numerous times that he liked red heads. Well - would he like her?

She opened the doors of her closet, eyes glancing over the clothes contained
therein. None of these things fitted the image she had portrayed online. In the
security of the chat rooms she could be a sexual goddess, not a fuzzy sweater
wearing computer nerd. A sigh escaped her mouth and she bit her lower lip in
worry. Already her plan was starting to unravel. She was quite ready to be his
every sexual fantasy, but she didn't have the wardrobe for it.

"Well, there's always shopping." She sighed. But who to go with? Buffy was out,
presumably at classes, and Xander really wasn't into shopping in the first
place. She needed someone she could trust to give her good advice on clothes
and not try to keep her in any preset mold. "Cordy!" The brunette was only an
hour away and usually pretty bored at this time of day. The red head picked up
the phone, dialing the number to Angel's offices.

"''Ello?"

Willow started at the pleasantly accented voice of the man answering the phone.
She had known that Angel and Cordelia had a co-worker, but had never spoken
with him before. "Hi, is Cordelia there?"

"Sure thing, sweets."

The red head shivered, the sound of his voice rolling over her like a warm
wave. It was the type of voice she could imagine whispering sweet nothings, or
naughty somethings, in her ear at night in bed. She waited patiently for
Cordelia to get the phone, drumming her fingertips on her dresser. Finally she
heard the receiver on the other end slide across the desk, and her friend was
on the line.

"Cordy. I need some help. Big time."

Willow glanced around the outdoor café, located conveniently on Main Street.
She was wearing a dark green halter top and tight, bell-bottomed jeans that
hugged her hips, showing off her stomach. A pasted on jewel at her bellybutton
completed the look. Her stomach was fluttering uncomfortably. He would be there
at any time. Any minute now and the man she had been participating in illicit
acts with online would be meeting her in real life. Would she be everything he
had dreamed? Would he be all that she had fantasized about?

She took a sip of the water the waiter had placed before her, sucking an ice
cube into her mouth and rolling it around on her tongue. There was a slight
breeze in the air, alleviating a little of the heat coming down from the
noonday sun. She glanced around the café, other than herself there were only a
few other people, one of which was Buffy. The blonde had taken her offer of
being there for the meeting quite seriously. If Willow hadn't felt as though
her friend was genuinely only trying to look out for her welfare she would have
been quite annoyed by the entire thing. As it was, she knew Buffy only meant
the best.

And she could be right, after all.

This guy could turn out to be a total creep - someone that lures young women
into meeting in real life only to hack and slash them into oblivion. He could
be psychotic or a freak. Her magic made her far from defenseless, but it was
still nice to have Buffy there for backup, just in case anything went wrong.
There were stories on the news all the time about pretty young girls that were
tricked into meeting with the men that would end up killing them. In no way did
she want to become a statistic. She shuddered at the thought.

'Hope he gets here soon.' She thought, her eyes watching the street for any
newcomers.

They had spent hours chatting online the night before, planning their meeting.
She had told him what she would be wearing, an outfit she had purchased only
earlier that day with Cordelia's expert guidance. Names, real ones that is, had
been left as a surprise for the next day. All she knew is that she was looking
for a brown haired man, a little shorter than herself, and he would be wearing
a pair of jeans, cream button up shirt, and carrying a daisy, her favorite
flower. He had said that he had an Irish accent. That had led to her saying
accented men turned her on.

Which had led to another round of mind-blowing cyber sex. She could only hope
that the real thing was as good as the virtual. 'If he still wants to get you
in bed after he meets you.' She smirked. 'Or vice versa. If he's a total ick
you may not want to jump him, either.'

A car drove up across the street, pulling into one of the narrow parking spots
that were reserved for the café. Willow felt her chest tighten and she held her
breath automatically, waiting to see who would emerge. He hadn't told her what
he was driving, for all she knew it was some old lady taking her
great-grandkids out for lunch.

But, no - there was the daisy. She craned her head, trying to see more of the
man than just the arm that was currently outside of the door. A small smile
crept across her lips as he slowly emerged. Yeah - he was cute. Definitely
do-able. She wiped her palms on her jeans, trying to calm down her racing
heart. It wouldn't do to pass out just before he got to the table. Another sip
of water and then he was there, standing in front of her.

"Green Man?" She asked hesitantly. There was a smile on his face as he looked
over her, much as she had just done to him; hopefully it meant he found her
just as pleasing as she did him.

"Wicked Witch?" He purred, settling into the chair across from her and placing
the daisy in her hands. "Or should I say, Willow?"

The red head blinked at him, shock warring with fear warring with desire at the
way he had said her name. How did he know her name, though? "How -- ?"

"I didn't know until I saw you sitting here." He smirked. "And then I
recognized you immediately from the picture on my ever-so-annoying co-worker's
desk." His fingers trailed lightly along the outside of her hand, tracing the
fine lines with his fingertips. "My name is Doyle. I work with Cordelia and
Angel."

"You. Oh. My. Goddess." Willow blushed, causing Doyle to chuckle.

"You're mighty cute when you do that, Red."

Which, of course, only made Willow blush even more. "Do Angel and Cordelia know
about this?"

"Nope. I don't kiss and tell, sweets." He glanced around the café, noticing for
the first time that there was someone watching them. "I'm guessin' that's the
infamous Slayer over there lookin' like she would like to stake me for touchin'
you?"

That made Willow turn and she flashed Buffy a smile and motioned her over. She
nearly laughed out loud at the look of confusion on the blonde's face.

"This whole undercover bodyguard thing goes a lot better if you don't give it
away, Wills." Buffy muttered, coming to stand next to her friend.

"Buff, this is Doyle, one of Angel's employees." Willow introduced.

"Oh." Buffy frowned. Then it hit her. "OH! So I don't need to sit here and
guard you anymore?"

"Don't think so."

"Good. It's hot and I'm bored. See you later, then. Stay safe."

Doyle watched the Slayer go, feeling a sense of relief that he wasn't going to
be under her scrutiny any longer. "So, now that we have determined that I'm not
some psycho freak - what would you like to do for the rest of the day?"

Willow felt like the temperature in the air went up by nearly twenty degrees at
his simple, seemingly innocent question. What -wouldn't- she like to be doing
with him right now? Most of the things that burst to the front of her mind
involved a bed and some nakedness, however. She blushed, licking her lips
hesitantly. "We could.talk? Get to know each other?"

"Talk?" He asked, just a touch incredulous. He had thought for sure, from the
way she had blushed, that she was going to say something much more interesting
than that. No matter. He was enjoying just sitting here, looking into her eyes.
"What do you want to talk about?"

"Just get to know each other type things." She smiled. "We never really talked
that much about ourselves online."

He nodded. "Fair enough. I'll start. Why 'Wicked Witch 80'?"

She laughed. "Well, I'll assume since you work for Angel not much is going to
come as a shock to you. I'm a witch and 80 is the year I was born. You? Why
Green Man 73?"

Doyle looked away then, unsure of whether or not to answer her question. Would
she take it amiss if he just changed the subject? But then where would he be?
He could tell already that he wanted to get to know her better. It was bound to
come up eventually that he was - "Half demon." He muttered, giving her an
apologetic look. "I'm half demon. The other half being green. And 73 is the
year I was born."

"Other half?" Willow asked, a smirk to her lips. Once upon a time ago it would
have at least phased her that the man she was sitting across from was
half-demon. Now it was passé. Besides, he worked with Angel - she even
recognized his voice from the day before now that she thought about it. She
gave him a slow wink, and looked downwards, below the table. "Which half would
that be, Doyle?"

Now Doyle was the one that blushed. He coughed, smiling outright. This little
slip of a girl sure was a firecracker. And, like most red heads, he was
assuming she was a wild cat in bed. "It's not like that, darlin'. I can change
back and forth between the two forms. There's nothin' green waitin' for you
down there."

"Really?" She purred, leaning across the table. "Care to prove it?"

"Are we done getting' to know each other then?" He smirked.

"Who says we can't talk during sex? LoL. I'm the queen of multi-tasking. And
right now I want to multi-task with -you-."

~*~The End~*~

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