This is the sequel to "A Brother's Love." It focuses almost exclusively on Buffy/Clint/Dawn and what's happening with her since she left Sunnydale. I did recently add a 4th chapter that brings in Sunnydale and Pepper.

The companion pieces are "An Asgardian Makeover" and "An Act of Faith." It doesn't matter what order you read the companion pieces is as long as you read "A Brother's Love First." This story begins in Iowa on Clint's farm where "A Brother's Love" left off a few weeks later. I hope you like it. This first chapter is dedicated to Angel fans. I had to put the Buffy/Angel saga to bed. It's, as always with them, bitter sweet.

Disclaimer: I do not own BTVS or any of the characters. Nor do I own any Avenger or Marvel characters.

Chapter 1: Angel

Buffy woke up as the sunshine poured into the attic loft that was her room. Clint said that his partner Nat stayed there when she visited, so it was already set up with a small twin and dresser. The sparseness didn't bother her since there was room to add her own things. Dawn got the guest room downstairs. It had been surprisingly easy acclimating to her new area. The peace of Clint's small farm was just the balm she needed for her fractured psyche. It was so tranquil and quiet there that she felt sometimes like she was back in heaven. It made the healing so much easier.

Of course, Clint and his wife Laura made everything better. Laura was warm and maternal and filled the hole both the girls had inside since their mom's death. At times, though, they missed Joyce fiercely. Yet it was comforting to be surrounded by a family again. Buffy didn't have to be the slayer or in charge. In fact, Clint was so clearly the leader that Buffy released her mantle of leadership much easier than anyone would've guessed. However, Clint was laid back and easy going at the same time. It was an impressive balance that she decided she wanted to emulate as much as she could.

Three weeks after being there, Angel came to see her one night at sunset. Clint didn't know anything about her past with Angel—not even Xander had wanted to share their tragic history. However, Clint had his own built in radar for danger, and it went into overdrive when Angel drove up.

Clint was chopping wood in the front yard. His axe stopped moving when the car appeared. A tall man dressed in a leather jacket got out. He carried himself like Fury, and Clint went on guard.

"Can I help you?" Clint asked, holding the axe in his hand in a clear message.

The man, however, was not intimidated and gave Clint an easy smile. "Hello. I was hoping I might visit a friend of mine. Buffy?" he asked.

"And you are?"

"I'm Angel," he replied.

The front door opened. "Angel?" A softly spoken voice asked.

Clint looked and saw his sister, looking at Angel like he was heaven and hell all at once. The look between the two told him everything. This was an ex.

"Buffy," Angel said, giving her a rare brilliant smile.

"Angel!" Dawn said, running out the door to greet him.

Angel never knew how the teen would react to his presence. Sometimes she was angry and hostile, and other times warm and friendly. He was glad it was the latter now. She hugged him.

"It's so cool of you to visit! Can you believe it? Willow brought Buffy back, and we have a brother. This is Clint," Dawn said, pointing at Clint.

Angel held out his hand. Clint put the axe down and stepped forward to shake it. "Clint Barton."

The coldness of Angel's hand struck Clint, but he said nothing.

"Come inside and meet our family," Dawn said, obviously happy. It was good to see her smiling again. Angel hadn't see her smile like this in a long time—before Joyce's death.

"Dawn, give us a minute," Buffy said, her eyes locked on Angel.

Clint, much better at reading body language, grabbed his youngest sister's hand. "Come on, squirt. Let's go tell Laura to add another plate for supper," he said.

Dawn went along but said as the screen door shut behind them, "Oh, Angel doesn't eat. He's a vampire."

Buffy winced as her brother's loud reply. "Sometimes, his spyness shows through," Buffy said, smiling at Angel as Clint let a few profane words slip out.

"Should I leave?" Angel asked worriedly. He could hear Clint yelling and Dawn explaining—in her rambling fashion.

"Nah. He's a pussy cat. Dawn will set him straight," Buffy said. She walked up to Angel and leaned onto his chest.

Angel couldn't believe it. She was here. She was whole. He closed his eyes and hugged her, pretending for one long moment that she could be his always.

Clint stood in the doorway, trying to control his impulse to rip the blood sucker away from his sister, who he had come to love deeply in such a short time.

"Clint, Angel is a good vampire. He has a soul," Dawn kept assuring him. "See, he was cursed by Gypsies like a hundred years or so ago. As long as Buffy doesn't make him too happy, Angelus won't come out and kill us all."

Clint stopped spying on Buffy and Angel and turned to face her. "What the hell are you talking about? Who's Angelus?"

"He's the demon that lives inside Angel. As long as Angel has a soul, though, Angelus isn't in control," Dawn explained. "Angel is nice but broody. Riley was more fun. But Angel loves Buffy more."

Laura had come into the living room from the kitchen as soon as Clint had yelled at Dawn's revelation about the visitor. She stood next to her husband to look out at the visitor and saw the couple hugging.

"They seem glad to see each other. Buffy can take care of herself, Clint," Laura said. In the past few weeks, she had seen her husband and Buffy spar more than once. The slip of a girl was impressive.

"I don't understand how I don't know about this ex," Clint grumbled.

"Because they're like real star-crossed lovers," Dawn said with a bit too much enthusiasm.

"What's that supposed to mean? Because she's a vampire slayer and he's a vampire?" Clint said. "You'd think that'd be a given or even taboo!"

"Well, normally. I mean, Spike's in love with Buffy, but he doesn't have a soul, so Buffy would never go there. But Angel's different," Dawn explained. "It's painful to talk about him. He was her great first love. She met him when she first moved to Sunnydale when she was sixteen her sophomore year. She knew him over a year before they did the deed. But she didn't know—no one did except Ms. Calendar—about his curse. Angel didn't even know."

"What curse?" Laura asked.

"Are you saying she was underage when that blood sucker had sex with her?" Clint asked, outraged. "I'm going to kill him!"

"No, you're not," Dawn said, grinning at him. He was so overprotective. Buffy was too, but with Clint, Dawn didn't get annoyed. She liked it. Maybe it was the absence of a father in their lives. Neither of the Summer girls, though, minded that Clint was a tad bit protective. "Didn't Xander tell you about Faith trying to poison him?"

"That's the guy?" Clint asked in realization.

Dawn nodded. "Buffy put her in a coma for it," Dawn said. "Of course, Buffy killed him once herself. He got sent to hell and everything. But the Powers brought him back somehow. He's their Champion. He works as a private detective in Los Angeles helping people. He's the one who got through to Faith."

"What do you mean Buffy killed him? Why would she kill him?" Laura asked.

"Well, the curse is one moment of perfect happiness, and he loses his soul. It seems sex with Buffy makes him happy. He lost his soul then and spent months tormenting Buffy and her friends. He killed Willow's fish and Giles's girlfriend, Ms. Calendar. Then he got with Dru, this crazy vamp he'd sired as Angelus, Spike's ex, and they tried to use some ancient statue to destroy the world. Dru killed Kendra, the slayer before Faith and put Willow in the hospital. Xander's arm got broken. Buffy had to kill him to stop the portal from opening. Angel's blood opened it."

"It's always about the blood," Clint said, shaking his head, deeply disturbed by this revelation.

Dawn nodded. "But Buffy didn't know that Willow was working her mojo from the hospital and restored Angel's soul while Buffy was fighting him. But it was too late. Angelus had already started the destruction. Buffy still had to kill Angel to save everyone else," Dawn explained. "Buffy said that she kissed him, told him she loved him, and then stabbed him with the sword."

"I thought it had to a wooden stake?" Laura asked.

"This time it needed Angel's blood to close the portal. The sword did it, sucking Angel into the hell dimension it would've opened," Dawn explained. "Angel was gone for about eight months in hell. For him, though, it was like hundreds of years of torment."

"And he was sane when he came back?" Clint asked, eyeing the still embracing couple. As least there was no kissing—not yet.

"No. He was like a wild animal. Buffy tamed him," Dawn said with a smirk.

Laura wiped a tear from her eye. "That girl has suffered too much. It has to stop," she said. She looked at her husband, who nodded.

Clint had never met anyone like his sister. Called to do a job that no one should do, especially not a fourteen-year-old, yet she'd done it. She'd given up so much, sacrificed more than anyone ever had. He was so proud to know they were related. To be willing to kill a lover in order to save the world was not a choice many could make—Clint didn't think he could. If Laura's life was on the line, Clint would let the world end to save her. Yet Buffy had enough sense of duty to make the right choice at seventeen. What strength and courage that must have taken! When it came to Dawn, though, she didn't choose to kill Dawn—she couldn't. It would've been an understandable choice. Dawn's death would've saved the world. However, it wasn't something Buffy could do. She was hardwired to protect, to sacrifice. Instead, Buffy sacrificed herself.

She deserved to be happy. He looked out the window. They were now sitting on the porch swing. At least there wasn't any kissing going on. He relaxed slightly and looked again at Dawn. "So they broke up, right?"

Dawn nodded. "Yea. Angel left after helping defeat the Mayor at Buffy's graduation. It was too hard for them to be together. The risk of him losing his soul is too great. Buffy was pissed about it, but she was dating Riley six months later. She moved on—they both did," Dawn said.

"That doesn't look like they moved on," Clint said, indicating the couple.

"Moving on doesn't mean you don't still love each other. Angel will always love Buffy. But the poor guy can't ever move on the way Buffy can," Dawn said, feeling sorry for Angel. When Angel had left, she'd been angry at him for hurting her sister. After a time, though, she understood. Willow had explained it to her. "Angel loved Buffy enough to let her go, so she could be happy with a human that could give her all the things he never could."

Clint didn't say anything else, and Laura dragged him from his spying to help the kids wash up. She also shooed Dawn away from the spying. "Give the girl some privacy!" Laura said.

Angel sat on the swing next to the woman who, in some ways, would always be his girl. They never got much of a chance to do this in Sunnydale. They had normally gone from one crisis to the next.

"This is nice," he said after she finished telling him about Clint and what happened to bring her to Ohio.

"It really is. How did you find me?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Faith. She called me before leaving prison and told me you were back. Told me she was going back to Sunnydale to be the slayer with oversight by SHIELD. I waited a couple weeks and then called the Magic Box and asked Xander for an address," Angel said. "I didn't want to just call. I had to see you for myself. I hope it's okay."

"It's more than okay," she told him, leaning her head. "I'm glad you came. Giles came to see me when I first got here. He's back in Sunnydale now being Watcher to Faith."

"How's that going?" Angel asked. "Faith hasn't called since the first time."

"It's going very well. Xander calls almost nightly to tell me and Dawn about his exciting new life fighting alongside Captain America," Buffy said, smiling. "My leaving town is probably the best thing that's ever happened to him."

"I doubt he'd agree to that," Angel said knowingly. "I'm glad he's well."

"He's engaged to Anya. I don't think he's in a hurry, though, to get married," Buffy said. "I've told him not to rush. They're young, and she's not pregnant."

"They're all getting along?" Angel asked.

"You mean with Faith? Yes. Captain Rogers won't let them rehash the past. He's pretty strict about it," Buffy shared. "Xander admires him so much that he doesn't argue. Sometimes they have a dust up, but Rogers ends it quickly. I'm sure Faith likes the clean slate."

"I might stop in and see her before heading back to Los Angeles," Angel said.

"Did you know that my brother is one of the Avengers?" Buffy asked, proud. "He's called Hawkeye because he's incredible with a bow. His reflexes are almost equal to mine. I think he might have some supernatural abilities even though he says it's just practice."

"Maybe it is. Skill comes with practice," Angel said. "I'm a better fighter now than I was in Sunnydale. I've had to step up my game."

"Do you want to spar before you go?" Buffy asked eagerly.

"I don't think your brother would like that," Angel said, smiling at her. It was so good to see her so happy. "You're happy. I like seeing you like this."

"This place has been exactly what I needed. Clint is amazing, Angel," Buffy said. "He was so angry at my friends for bringing me back—for assuming I was in hell. Did Xander tell you what he did to Willow?"

Angel shook his head.

"He threatened to have her contained by SHIELD. He also threatened to have his female partner beat Willow—he doesn't know that I know that," Buffy said. "Of course, I wouldn't have let either of those happen. Willow loves me. She couldn't have known I was in heaven. He called his friend Thor, the Asgardian, to take Willow to his parents to get help with her magic."

"Faith mentioned the heaven part," Angel said. "What was that like?"

"It was like you'd picture heaven to be—a place of peace and joy. I felt complete—at rest," she said, a look of sadness coming over her.

Angel didn't like that he'd brought the sadness to her eyes. "I'm glad to know that you have waiting for you again one day," he said.

As he hoped, she smiled brightly. "It is great to know—without a doubt. I picture my mom there, and it makes me so happy. Before I died, I didn't have quite that comfort," she admitted. "Now, though, I know. Someday, you will, too."

"You think so? After all I've done?" Angel asked in surprise.

"I think that your heart and soul is good and that's what matters. You can't help that you were made a vampire," Buffy said.

"That's a nice thought," Angel said.

Dawn came out. "Buffy, dinner's ready," she said.

"I think I'll go," Angel said, standing.

"Do you have to?" Buffy asked in disappointment. "I'd like you to meet my family. Spend some time. You can leave in a few hours. You drove all this way."

Angel thought about and then nodded. "Okay," he said.

Buffy gave him one of her bone-crunching hugs. He was the only one that could handle them without protest.

Spending time with Buffy was bittersweet most of the time. Seeing her alive and so well after her death, well, that was just about the sweetest thing he'd ever seen.

He could face the suspicious and mistrustful brother if it kept that smile on her face.

She was alive and in the world again. For Angel, that was more than enough.

*****Chapter End*****

For Angel fans, I hope you enjoyed seeing him. For Angel haters, this is the only chapter he will appear in. It's about closure. More soon. Please take a minute and review!