Title: LifePoint

By Angelfan15

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Their relationship would have turned out so different if they were mine.

Pairing: Buffy/Angel, Jenny/Giles

Distribution: Let me know where it's going!

Spoilers: This is completely AU

Rating: PG

Summary: Angelus goes to visit his sister for Christmas. He thinks it's just a normal visit but his sister has other plans.

A/N: I started writing a Christmas fic called My Santa last Christmas and as sad as it sounds, I still only have 3 chapters written. So, I decided to write this short ficlet. I'm not sure how long it will end up being but I'm going to try to get it done quickly so that I can work on at least one of my other stories before I go back to school January 9th.

Chapter 1

Angelus McCallum checked the mirror as he made a few adjustments to his spiked hair. He couldn't believe he was doing this but it was for his sister, Jenny. He couldn't tell her no. Ever since their parents passed away they were all each other had, which was why every year during the holidays he made the trip from Boston to Sunnydale. He still didn't know why his sister had decided to move to the small California town, he used to nag her about moving back to Boston, until he saw how happy she was. Jenny had made a home in Sunnydale, she was working at the High School as a computer science teacher, she had found a church that she went to weekly and volunteered at, and she had met a guy at the church. It shocked him that his sister went to church, it was something that they had never done before unless they were forced into it. On the rare occasion, they did go to church it was a Catholic church, now his sister attended a place called LifePoint, he was pretty sure that didn't sound Catholic. He looked down at his white shirt and jacket to his black suit, Angelus wasn't the type of person to dress up. He owned his own Photography company and was so happy that he could wear jeans every day to work!

Jenny smiled as she watched her younger brother fix his hair, her boyfriend, Rupert leaned closer to her. "Did you tell him that he didn't have to dress up? It's not that kind of church."

Jenny shook her head. "I want him to dress up."

Rupert sighed. "What you want is something that neither one of them want."

"You don't know that." Jenny turned to her boyfriend of a year.

"Your brother told you he was done with girls after what happened with Darla." Rupert gave her a pointed look. "…not to mention, she said she is happy being single."

"How is Angel supposed to start a family if he is done with women? He has always wanted kids!" She exclaimed softly so that her younger brother couldn't hear them talking about him. "And she is just happy being single because she hasn't met the right guy."

Rupert gave Jenny a teasing smile. "You think your brother is the right guy?"

"Of course!" She smiled back.

Angelus turned away from the mirror, making his way over to the couple. "Of course, what?"

"Nothing." She smiled up at her brother, she adjusted his collar before picking a tie up from the counter. She heard her brother let out a sigh, she knew her brother would hate it.

"You really are going too far." Rupert smiled and shook his head as he walked away.

"If he means the tie, then I agree." Angelus frowned. "Isn't it enough that I'm even going to church?"

Jenny gave her brother a small smile as she tied his tie. "You are going to love this church."

"Why did you start going to church?" He watched her.

Jenny shrugged. "I didn't plan on it, I was on my way to go shopping and I drove past a sign for the church and I just pulled in. The first person I met there was so sweet, she welcomed me and we talked, she asked me to sit with her, her friends and family. She even showed me around town when I first got here and introduced me to Rupert. I have been friends with her since. She really helped me."

Angelus smiled at his sister. "I hope I get to meet her then."

"Oh, you will." Jenny dropped her hands to his jacket when she finished his tie. "She will be there tonight."

0o0o0

Angelus got out of the back seat of Rupert's car, he raised his eyebrow when he looked towards the building. It didn't look like an average church, at least not like the churches he had ever seen. The building was a plain gray color and there was no steeple in sight. Looking around, Angelus realized that there weren't very many other people dressed up. Clearly this wasn't a Catholic church! Angelus paused when he saw a blonde standing in front of the building, wearing a knee length light purple dress with light purple lace sleeves, talking to a group of people. She was beautiful!

Rupert helped Jenny out of the car and took her by the hand. "There's Buffy!" Jenny exclaimed, putting her hand on Angelus' arm before pointing to the blonde. "She's the one I was telling you about."

The blonde glanced in their direction and smiled brightly at them before excusing herself from the group and making her way over to the three walking across the parking lot. "Hey guys!" She exclaimed happily, giving Jenny a hug and looked down at Jenny's blue empire waist, knee length dress, "You look beautiful!" She smiled then turned to Rupert. As she hugged Rupert she whispered playfully "You should really upgrade your car, it's like you are stuck in the stone age."

Buffy turned to Angelus with a smiled as Jenny introduced them. "Buffy, this is my brother…"

"Of course! Angel!" Buffy smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him. "I have heard so much about you!"

Angelus smiled, only his sister called him Angel but for some reason, he was okay with the blonde using the nickname. He wrapped his arms around her to hug her back. "It's nice to meet you."

"I feel like I know you already." Buffy laughed. "Jenny talks about you all the time, I was so excited when I heard that I would finally get to meet you!"

Jenny smiled at Rupert and lightly nudged him with her elbow. "So, Buffy, are you attending service or are you teaching?"

"Both." The blonde smiled. "This service I am going to attend and then next service I am going to be teaching those adorable four year olds! Did you decide if you were going to teach tonight, Jenny?"

Jenny shook her head, about a year ago, Buffy had gotten Jenny to sign up to teach the kindergarten thru fifth grade kids their Bible lessons. "I figured with Angel being in town we would only stay one service."

"That makes sense." Buffy agreed as the four made their way towards the sidewalk in front of the building that housed their church. It wasn't an official church building, but who ever said that church was a building? "I'm sure someone else is teaching."

Jenny nodded. She already knew who her blonde friend was talking about. Olivia, Rupert's ex-girlfriend.

"Do you want to sit with us in service?" The blonde asked the other three she was walking with.

"We?" Rupert asked, wondering who was with the young blonde.

Jenny was wondering the same thing as her boyfriend. "Did you get your mom to come?"

Buffy shook her head. "Dawnie is inside though."

Jenny nodded, understanding then turned to Angel. "Buffy's mom used to come to church with her but she hasn't come in a while."

"She met a guy who doesn't go to church, so she decided she wouldn't come either." Buffy told the dark-haired man, then turned to Jenny and Rupert. "But, after several years of begging, mom is finally letting Dawnie spend the night at my place for Christmas."

"You still don't want to spend Christmas at your mom's house?" Rupert asked her. He knew there was a history between Buffy and her mother's boyfriend but he had hoped that it would get resolved at some point.

Buffy pursed her lips teasingly. "Giles, it's been how many years now? Things between me and Ted are not going to get any easier."

"I don't blame you, Buffy." Jenny shook her head. "If a guy told me that he was going to smack me across the face I don't even know what I would do. You handled it with such grace!"

"On the outside, I might have been showing grace…" The blonde motioned to her face and laughed. "…but on the inside, pre-Jesus Buffy was fighting to surface."

Jenny laughed. "I can't image you being any other way than you are now."

Rupert cleared his throat.

"Shut up, Giles!" Buffy giggled. "I am not defined by my past, none of us are." Buffy glanced behind her to the doors entering the building, then back to her friends. "We better get in there if we want good seats."

Angelus raised his eyebrow at her comment, was there a such thing as good seats at a church? He followed his sister, her boyfriend and their blonde friend inside the church. Buffy stopped to hold out her arm to a long-haired brunette that was a little shorter than Buffy, linking arms with the girl they made their way into the sanctuary. He assumed that was Dawnie that they had mentioned earlier, the others hadn't mentioned who exactly she was but if he had to guess then he would say that it was Buffy's younger sister. Inside the sanctuary there were no pews, just padded chairs lined up in rows.

Buffy lead everyone to the very front row, then allowed the young brunette to go before her to sit down. Jenny smiled and walked past Buffy, gently leading her boyfriend behind her. Jenny smiled at Buffy, the blonde gave the older woman an odd look like she didn't know why she couldn't sit next to her own sister. Buffy took a seat beside Rupert and Angelus sat beside her.

Buffy smiled at Angelus and leaned slightly towards him. "I think it's great that you came to church tonight, Jenny told me that you don't believe in any of this but tonight is a special night and it means a lot that you would do this for your sister."

Angelus shrugged his shoulders. "So far, it doesn't seem so bad."

"I promise, it will be painless." She giggled and lightly bounced in her chair. "Comfy chairs are always a plus."

Angelus laughed, she was right. The chair he was currently sitting in was a lot more comfortable than the pews.

"Now, if you come back on a normal Sunday, I can't guarantee that it will be painless." Buffy whispered. "Some of the stuff that is preached cuts deep but I feel like it's always something that I need to hear and I grow from it. So, in the end, it's a good thing. How long are you going to be in town?"

"A few weeks." Angelus shrugged.

"Great." Buffy smiled. "Maybe you will get to come to a Sunday service."

"I'm sure I will." Angelus nodded.

Buffy smiled a little wider, she glanced at a large screen that now had a countdown on it, then whispered. "I would really like that.

The countdown got to zero and a woman appeared on stage asking everyone to stand as she started playing the guitar. Angelus was surprised when the drummer started playing and he could feel the vibrations through his body. It was more like a rock concert than a church! He turned to look at Buffy, she was singing with her hands raised up and her eyes closed. He couldn't take his eyes off her.

0o0o0

Once the service was over everyone walked out to the foyer where there was hot chocolate and cookies. Angel talked to Buffy more and he found that he really liked her, her happiness was contiguous and he wished that he could feel like that all the time. Angelus actually felt sad when Buffy told him that she had to get going to the classroom so that she could greet the children as they arrived for the next service.

Buffy hugged Angelus and smiled. "I really enjoyed talking with you, Angel. I'm sure we get to see each other again before you leave."

Angelus smiled and hugged her back. "I really hope so."

Angelus watched her walk towards a hallway where the children's classrooms were located, Jenny watched the young pair with a smile on her face. She knew they would like each other.

To be continued…