Okay first is the usual disclaimers. I don't own Buffy, or any of the other
characters from the show, they're owned by one Joss Whedon, I think his
name is. I also do not own anyone from Angel. I hate the Conner storyline,
so don't expect to see any mention of that in here. But Cordelia IS already
half demon.
And X-men characters are owned by Marvel. Uhm and anyone else I may bring in to the storyline, if they are from any books, TV shows, movies and so forth, well they are owned by their creators, or whoever happens to possess the rights to them.
Also, a friend had asked me to write this story. He gave me a basic list of what he wanted it to be about, and who to be with. Of course he's refusing to help me edit the story. Bleah! But it's been fun so far.
I've decided to change the rating to R (if it lets me hehe) Because of some of the violence starting on page 2.
!!! Note: Yes I DO read the reviews. And I've taken anything pointed out as needed to be worked on into consideration. So I do like creative criticism. Before anyone freaks, I didn't change the whole of the story. But it should help it… I hope. Hehe. But I'm done now with this first part, and if it's not perfect, well sorry not going to re-work on this one again unless I need to do so for something that will effect the outcome. That way if I keep writing after I AM done with this story, I can see how I progress. But I figure, hey, I don't have anyone to edit for me, so I'll re-work each page once. ^_^ But keep the comments coming! They are appreciated. !!!
And now on to the story.
Angelus Reborn
June 3rd, 2001
"DAWN!!!!!!" Buffy cried out, while falling out of her bed. Looking at her clock, she found she'd only been asleep for 2 hours. Two weeks ago they had the final battle against the Hell Goddess, Glory. Glory was defeated, but before Buffy could throw herself off the platform to close the gateway, Dawn pushed her out of the way and flung herself into the tear. Because she originally was just a thing of energy, there wasn't even a body to lay to rest. Only memories of Dawn, running through Buffy's mind. Oddly, after Dawn was gone, everyone who wasn't around Dawn after she was created, forgot all about her. Including her father, Hank Summers. Not like he was likely to care in any event. Ever since Buffy told her father she refused to go live with him after her Mom died from the cancer, he disowned her. It took until then of that to realize just how cold he really was. She should have realized that a long time ago.
Buffy stayed lost in thought for a few hours, not able to go back to sleep. She also didn't feel like going out patrolling either. Eventually morning came, and after taking a shower, she went downstairs to make some coffee. Coffee was about the only thing she consumed as of late. She couldn't even remember the last time she ate. As soon as she hit the switch for coffee to brew, the phone rang.
Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops with the X-men, picked up phone in the rec- room. He dialed the number to call his Uncle Hank, after he finally tracked it down. After about 15 minutes arguing with his uncle, he finally got the number to his Aunt's home. Though, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out just why his uncle was so reluctant to giving him the number. He knew of the divorce, but you'd think he would still have contact with them for Buffy's sake. 'Oh well, Uncle Hank always was about work before anything, or anyone else.' He thought as he hung up and dialed his Aunt Joyce's phone number.
Buffy walked over to the cordless and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, you've got to be Buffy." A male voice replied.
"Uhm, who is this? If this is a telemarketer…"
"No! It's me! Your cousin, Scott.
"Oh my god, Scott! Where the hell have you been?" Buffy sobbed out.
"Sorry, I've been busy. Is everything okay? You sound like you're crying."
"Busy? I haven't heard from you for seven years."
"I know I should have called, or at least written, but well, I'll explain when I see you in person. I was wondering if my girlfriend and I could come out and visit you and Aunt Joyce." Scott nervously asked.
"You haven't heard, Mom, she uhm, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and she died a few weeks ago." She barely rasped out.
"WHAT? Why isn't your dad there for you?" He almost screamed.
"He…" She paused not knowing what to say. "After I refused to go back living with him he stopped talking to me. I think he's disowned me." She paused again wiping her eyes dry. "I've got friends, but I haven't been able to go out to see them for a couple of weeks now. I don't know what to do." Buffy weakly stated. She talked to Scott for a little while longer, gave him an address, knowing that he'd show up in a day or two. After she hung up, she went and grabbed herself a cup of coffee.
Scott was furious with his uncle, and would love nothing more than to show up at his home and deck him. But he knew he'd get arrested if he did. So as soon as he got off the phone with his cousin, he went to go find Xavier. "Hey Professor?"
"Yes Scott? What is it?" Xavier asked, without even looking up from the papers he was reading over.
"I finally got a hold of my cousin, and I found out my Aunt died a few weeks ago from cancer. Buffy, my cousin is alone now, and I need to see her. She sounded so.." Scott couldn't even find the words to describe how she sounded over the phone. "Well anyway, I was wondering if I could take Jean with me. I think she could help, and I do want Buffy to meet her."
"Of course. Take as long as you need, but be sure to leave me a phone number so I know how to reach you if need be."
"Thanks" Scott mumbled as he quickly jotted down the number and address to Buffy's home, and ran off to find Jean.
On his way he turned a corner and bumped right into one of the newer students who went by the name of 'Oz'.
"Whoa there Mr. Summers. You okay? You look like you've been through hell."
"Oz, you lived in Sunnydale, right?" Scott recalled.
"Yeah, been awhile since I've been there, why?"
"Did you know a girl named Buffy?"
"Uh yeah, she was the best friend of my ex girlfriend. She's nice, unique, tough as nails, but nice."
"I'm leaving soon to go see her, I was wondering if you could gave me basic directions to her house. I've got the address, but I've never been there…"
"You're going to Sunnydale? Bad place to be, man. C'mon, I better clue you in on a few things." Oz wasn't one for heart to hearts. Especially since he found out Willow had moved on. To another woman no less, but he was the one who left. So, he couldn't really blame her. But since Scott, and Jean too if she wanted, were going to his old home. They had to know. He told them about the Hellmouth, vampires, and even how Buffy is the Slayer. He left out a lot, mostly about Angel, his relationship with Willow, and everything not important to them surviving their stay there. At first Scott didn't believe him, but he reminded him how he's not a mutant, but a werewolf. In the end, Scott and Jean weren't quite sure if all of that was true, but they definitely took it all under advisement. That night they were in the air headed to California.
June 4th, 2001
Buffy opened her door when someone knocked. It was daylight so she wasn't too concerned with whoever it could be. She noticed a man who reminded her a lot of Giles, and a girl she didn't know as well.
"May I presume you are Buffy Summers?" He asked in an English accent.
"Yeah, why do you want to know?"
"Miss Summers, this girl here is the newest Slayer. Obviously Faith is now dead, wherever she ran off too. The Council is tired of dealing with your nonsense. So I am here to give you an ultimatum. You either comply with what the Council wants you to do, under a new watcher, or you have two weeks, to tie up any loose ends you have with this town, and leave the Hellmouth to us."
"And if I do neither?" Buffy spat venomously. "You don't scare me, the kid there doesn't scare me. She may also be a slayer now, but I'm THE Slayer. And I could kick all of your asses in a heart beat."
"You will be killed. Yes you're strong but you're not immune to bullets, bombs or anything else we could do with modern weaponry. The Council wants you dead to begin with, but since you defeated Glorificus, they're giving you a choice. Like I said, two weeks Miss Summers. No more."
"Fine, I'll leave." 'For a vacation for a while.' She thought to herself. "But until I have left, don't let me see your faces again, or I WILL give you the beating of your lives!" She growled as she slammed the door in their faces. 'Great, I've been thinking about taking a break, but now instead of relaxing I'm going to spend all the time figuring out what to do about those assholes.' She thought violently. 'Eh, maybe Scott and Jean will let me go stay with them. At least until I can find a way to rip apart the Council. Well better start packing. Giles won't like this either.' Before she even left the front door, someone knocked. 'This better not be that idiot again.'
Scott and Jean pulled up to Buffy's home just as an older man and a girl who looked like she was 15 got into a car and left. 'I wonder who they were.' He mused to himself. 'They didn't seem to be happy.' After they knocked on the door, he was shocked to see how Buffy looked. 'Oh god, she looks beat.' "Hey Buffy."
"Scott, you made it!" Buffy exclaimed as she hugged him tightly. Almost crushing him.
"Uhm Buffy, I'm having breathing issues!"
"Sorry!" She looked sheepish, and then she saw the red haired woman. "You're right Scott, she is pretty. Please come in, don't just stand there." She noticed the suitcases and grabbed them, and ran them upstairs to her Mom's old room. "Sorry I don't have really any food in the house. I'll get some a little later, but I've got tea, and coffee." She rambled.
"Nah we ate after we got off the plane, so we're fine." He studied her for a moment. "Buffy, when's the last time you ate?"
"I don't know. Couple of weeks ago I think." She nearly whispered. "Anyhow you're going to stay in Mom's room. It's got a bed large enough for both of you, and it has a bathroom connected to it there. Plus there is another bathroom just down the hall." She rambled again, trying to change the subject.
Jean who was pretty much silent was obviously studying Buffy closely. 'Oz wasn't making anything up.' She thought as she saw images of death, vampires, and pretty much everything Oz told them about. She also felt intense sadness, pain, and loneliness from the girl. 'Only 20, and she's seen more, and done more, than anyone should ever have to.' "Buffy, I was wondering if you'd like to come live with us, at the institute?" She more said than asked. She could tell she shocked both of them. "Before you decide, Oz, an old friend of yours is there. He did tell us about you, and the Hellmouth, but I think you need to get away…"
"Yes." Buffy deadpanned "But I don't know if it'd work out. I'm the Slayer. Hell they have a new one now, but I don't know. I would like to come visit you for, well I don't know how long."
"Well it's a start, but while there I am going to do my best to convince you to stay. But before we go, you need know one really important thing about the institute." Jean said.
"What's the important thing?"
"It's a school for mutants, and Scott and I are both mutants too." Jean nervously said. Buffy obviously was stunned for a few minutes. Then she said something that reminded both of them of Oz.
"Cool." Buffy smirked again. 'Well that explains Oz being there.' She thought. Though she wondered if they thought Oz was a mutant, or if they knew he was really a werewolf.
June 11th, 2001
Buffy was ready to leave after only one week of packing and preparing. Jean had already called Professor Xavier, and he agreed to let her stay. They also decided they'd give her time to adjust, and heal before figuring out where she would go from there. He even thought she might be a good addition if they could get her to stay. Buffy actually debated on telling her friends or not. Especially Spike, who'd want to follow her. In the end she did tell them she was going away for a while, but left out the part of the place being full of mutants. Spike begged and pleaded to go, but she said no, it was a family thing. In the end she won out. But he promised that if she didn't come back, he'd find her no matter where she hid. To which she only rolled her eyes. She warned them all about the new slayer. So they decided they'd take the time to take a break themselves and let the new girl do the dirty work. She did pull Willow to the side and told her about her Cousin and his girlfriend wanting to convince her to stay with them. Willow agreed that maybe she should. But she'd have to see about how things went first. She also told Willow about hearing Oz was there. Then she went home, to get some sleep so she'd be good to leave the next night.
June 12th, 2001
She ended up sleeping most of the way on the plane and was woken up 15 minutes before landing. It was already getting dark. Oz was waiting for them at the terminal. Buffy ran up to him and hugged him. "Hey there. Haven't seen you for some time now."
"Yeah. Been busy getting used to the fact that Willow fell in love with someone else. At least it's nice here. You'll make friends in no time."
"Wow you usually don't say so much at once." Buffy jabbed.
"I know. But you could use a friend right now."
"That obvious?"
"Yep"
"Well at least I don't have to worry about the Hellmouth for now." Buffy yawned out. They were all pretty silent from then on. Buffy pretty much started waking up on the drive from the airport to the Institute. Her eyes grew pretty wide when she saw the size of the mansion. Somehow she didn't expect the place to look so grand. "Wow." was all she could say. 'It's getting dark out though, can't wait to see what it looks like during the day.' She thought. Of course as luck would have it, just as they got there she felt some vamps approaching the gates just as they entered. They seemed to figure the three in the vehicle, and the guy sitting on the steps outside of the building smoking a cigar were easy meal targets. They didn't see the blond girl pull out her stake she had hidden under her pants in her sock. Nor did they expect her to be a Slayer.
Logan was sitting outside in the front smoking one of his many cigars. Enjoying a peaceful evening. When he saw Scott, Jean, Oz, and some new girl show up. 'The girl's cute.' He thought, before noticing 6 others approaching the gate. Unexpectedly they all jumped over the fence. Two of them headed for him, and the other 4 went to the car. At first he thought they may be mutants due to the jumping bit, then he smelled them. They smelled like freshly dead corpses. And their faces changed into very ugly creatures. 'What the, ah fuck, sharp teeth. Vampires. Wait how did I know they were vamps?' He mused. 'Maybe I once ran into them, just can't remember it.' Before he even stood up, the blond girl flew out of the car holding something he couldn't see where he was. She moved with inhuman speed and grace, and quickly dusted the four headed towards her. One of the two coming towards him, yelled out something about her being the 'Slayer,' whatever that was. They quickly forgot him, and headed towards the girl. Big mistake. He brought his claws out and beheaded the two before they even realized he moved. He looked over at the girl who was staring at his claws. "You alright?" He asked
"Yea. Nice claws! Must be handy to have built in weapons." She said while smirking.
"Sometimes." Was his reply, and then he walked over to the van and helped with the bags.
"Hey Logan, this is Buffy, Scott's cousin" Jean said while climbing out of the van.
"More Summers, huh?" He chuckled while running his hand through his dark hair, pushing it out of his face.
"Yep." Buffy replied as she followed Jean inside.
Logan watched the two women walk inside admiring the backsides for a moment before he went in. "Hey Scott, you're one lucky bastard you know that?"
"Why do you say that?" Scott asked.
"Cause you seem to always have beautiful women around you."
"Yeah well, she's my cousin. Almost more like a sister to me. Wish she was here under better circumstances though."
"Oh?"
"Yeah her Mom's gone, and well, the rest you'll find out later on. Let's just say she's been through a lot since she was 15. I'm proud of her, but glad she's safer now. Hopefully she'll stay." He muttered as he went inside.
Inside the mansion Xavier looked out the window, just in time to see Buffy literally turn 4 vampires into dust. Then Logan takes out the other two. Normally he doesn't believe in killing, but when concentrating on their thoughts. They just 'screamed' vampire. 'I knew she was the Slayer, from talking to Oz, and Jean. But I'd never thought I'd ever see them. I'm going to have that girl tested to see if she's a mutant, or if all her abilities really are of supernatural means. Especially since Oz mentioned she's already died at least once. He waited patiently for them to come in. First were the girls, and then Logan and Scott came with the rest of the bags leaving Oz to park the van.
**Hello Miss Summers. I am Professor Xavier** He said to Buffy in her mind.
"Whoa. Didn't expect that." She said. "Nice to meet you, Sir. Thanks, for letting me stay here."
"Not a problem. I would like to talk to you further tomorrow morning, but for now, I think Jean and the guys should help you get settled in." He turned in his wheelchair and looked at Jean. "I think since she's already 20, and graduated from High School, she should get her own room on the floor we're on."
"Alright, Professor. Come on, Buffy, Let's go find you a room." Jean said warmly. While walking Jean realized she'd become fond of Scott's cousin. They had a heart to heart talk before leaving Sunnydale, and she knew a little more than he did. Of course his reaction to the fact that if it wasn't for a friend of hers, she'd be dead right now due to the hands of a master vampire, probably was part of the reason Buffy didn't tell him most of the details. They found an empty room across the hall, from her room. Jean figured it'd help if she was nearby for now. Especially since Buffy had been having some nightmares. 'At least we've gotten her to start eating a little again.' Jean mused. After the guys dropped off the suitcases, they left Buffy alone to get acquainted with the room.
'Wow it's bigger than I thought it would be. Complete with a nice sized bed, dresser, mirror, and it's own bathroom!' Buffy thought with glee. 'And tomorrow afternoon if I can, I'll call everyone back home, and let them know I'm okay. I've got a feeling that Spike's going to be bugging them all until I do so. Buffy briefly thought about unpacking, but realized she was just plain tired. So she opened the suitcases on the floor, grabbed her pajamas, some towels, washcloths, and her shampoo and body wash. Then she headed into the bathroom for a shower. Once she was done with that, she fell asleep.
June 13th, 2001
She didn't stay asleep for more than a couple of hours. Of course sleeping the whole way over didn't help. Nor did the nightmares. So she decided to just stay in bed till early morning. Then she unpacked, and got on some exercise clothing, and went outside to work out. So far it looked like everyone was still in bed. Of course it being only almost 5am probably had something to do with it. First she did some stretching, then flips, kicks in the air, and whatever she felt like doing. Then she decided to jog around the school's grounds. When she started noticing people waking up, she went inside, found her room, took another shower, and got into fresh clothing. She then went downstairs to find the kitchen for something to eat. Luckily someone was cooking bacon, so it really wasn't all that hard to find.
Poking her head around the corner she found a large, blue furry man cooking heaps of food. 'Mental note to self, this guy looks like the type to never piss off.' After a moment she walked into the kitchen fully. "Good morning." She said as cheerfully as she could make herself sound. Which obviously wasn't very cheerful.
"Ah, hello. You have got to be Scott's little cousin I heard about. Though from the way Scott made it sound, I thought you'd be younger."
"Yeah that's me. Though I wish people would stop confusing people commenting on my height rather than age." She smirked. "The name's Buffy. And sorry if that was a poor attempt at a joke"
"I'm Henry McCoy, but just call me Hank" He said while chuckling at her joke. "You're not that short. You're almost the same height as Logan after all."
"He's the guy with the really neat claws, right?"
"Hah! I've never heard anyone call them 'neat' before. But yes, that's him."
"Cool." She mumbled. "Uh, is there any coffee around here?"
"Yep in fact I was about to make some. I like to cook whenever we have someone new show up. My way of welcoming them."
"You're all like a family, huh?" She asked.
"Yes, we are when I think about it. I never regretted the day I met the Professor. Or anyone else who lives here." He rambled on. "Anyhow, the rec-room is through the doors behind you. There's a TV in there, a pool table, and a phone as well that you can use if you want. I'll call you, and everyone else in when breakfast is ready."
"Thanks Mr. McCoy. Could you let me know when the coffee is ready as well? I'm not a people person till I've had coffee these days."
"Not a problem." He replied.
"Thanks!" She said with a grin as she sauntered through the doors into the rec-room. So far, no one else was in there so she was able to control the remote and channel surf. She ended up settling on one of the news shows. After 10 minutes she noticed that it was nothing more than the usual, so she turned the TV off. She was restless, and depressed. Buffy was glad that she came here. She knew she needed to get away from Sunnydale, or Sunny hell. However one looked at it. But she did miss her friends. She sat there on the couch thinking of everyone she's lost since she became a Slayer. First her parents split up, then a lot of her friends, and fellow students at her first High School. Then numerous friends, students, and residents in Sunnydale. Her sister slayer, Kendra. Her Mom, Dawn, and basically she contemplated her whole Slayer life. She felt guilty for pretty much everything. So many good people died because she couldn't do her job well enough in her mind. In a way she didn't think she deserved to even be alive. If she could, she'd go back in time and stop Dawn. She'd not have said goodbye to Dawn, letting her get pushed aside. She'd have been the one to jump. She didn't think Dawn would have sacrificed herself. Dawn was better than she could ever be. She was so lost in thought she didn't even notice someone walking up behind her.
Logan was up early in the morning like usual. He went out for his run and exercise. He had a spot in the woods behind the mansion where he worked out by himself. Of course since everyone else were usually asleep this early helped him have privacy as well. Coming back out of the woods while running he spotted Buffy running around the grounds herself, though not knowing the area yet, she stuck close to the mansion. She didn't notice him, so he watched her work out. She was fast, and could run as silently as he could. Well, from what he saw. He had yet to see her fully in the woods. Eventually, when a few others started stirring around, she went inside.
Eventually he went inside, and smelled the bacon. He rounded the corner and spotted Hank cooking. "Welcoming Breakfast again, huh Hank?"
"Of course. It is. Although so far you and Buffy are the only ones to have noticed so far. Speaking of which, Buffy is in the rec-room right now. Could you tell her the coffee finished brewing? She asked if I could tell her, but I've got my hands full."
"Sure, no problem." Logan chuckled. He walked through the doors and saw her sitting on the couch. She was obviously lost in thought as she didn't even register him being in the room when he moved right in front of her. "Whatcha thinking about, kid?" He asked. Startling her with his gruff voice.
"Uh hi, and I'm not a kid. As for my thoughts, well. Just thinking about my life in general." She muttered. 'Great now even I am starting to brood now.' Her thoughts muttered to her brain.
"Well I came in for Hank to let you know the coffee is ready."
"Thanks." She mumbled as she shuffled into the kitchen. Couple minutes later she came out with a cup of coffee, and sat back down. Not paying attention to Logan channel surfing.
"Damn it, there has got to be something good on TV." Logan grumbled.
"Nah, I already checked. There was only the news, and it was just the usual stuff." She replied.
"At least nothing bad is going on then."
"This is true"
For a moment they just sat there until he got bored flipping through the channels, and he shut the TV off himself. He looked at her for a moment before speaking up again. "Mind if I ask you a question?"
"You just did." She grinned. "But anyway, go ahead, ask away."
"The vamp last night called you the Slayer. What'd he mean by that?"
Buffy grimaced at the question. 'I bet everyone's going to be asking me that.' But decided to answer it anyway to get it out of the way with at least one person. "When I was 15 I became the Vampire Slayer. Basically, I was told that I was the 'Chosen One,' the one girl in the entire world Chosen to have powers to fight against the forces of darkness. Yada yada yada. It's a long speech. A very long boring speech. But it gave me an ability to have cramps when vamps are near by, and an increase of speed, strength, healing, and reflexes. When I was first 'Chosen' I was found by Merrick, who introduced himself as my watcher. He didn't last long against the first master vampire. My second watcher, Giles, who is still alive continued my training when I moved from LA to Sunnydale. Sunnydale sits on top of the Hellmouth, which IS the mouth to hell. Very annoying place, too. Anyway, Giles was more forth coming with information. He admitted to me how most slayers die within their first year of being the Slayer. And really, I did die. I just got better. But still, even though I'm in a way an "over the hill" Slayer, I don't think I'm a good one." She stopped talking to take a swig of her coffee. Before she could even ask if that answered his question, Oz came in.
"Oz, you're up before noon?" She asked surprised.
"Bacon. I smelled bacon."
"Figures."
"And, Buffy, you've saved the world from more than one Apocalypse. Hell I heard from an e-mail Willow sent me, that you went up against a hell goddess recently and won. I think you're probably the best slayer that's ever come around." He stated as he sat down in one of the chairs.
"No I'm not. If I were Merrick Kendra, Dawn, and others would still be alive! Hell maybe Mom wouldn't have developed that tumor, if I had just done what the council wanted me to do, which was leave my family, and friends behind. I should never have made friends in Sunnydale. Then no one would have been hurt. And I should never have been with Angel. He'd not have become Angelus." She muttered out as she walked out to the deck, to be by herself.
Logan watched her walk outside. He was stunned. From what Oz said, she'd done a lot of good. Yet she seemed to blame herself for those who got hurt, and didn't make it. Hell she blamed herself for her Mom's cancer. Not good. But, he wasn't a psychologist, so he wasn't sure what to say. He debated whether to try to talk to her, or to leave her be. But for some reason that he couldn't understand he wanted to get to know her, so eventually he got up, and followed after her. He found her in a corner, trying to keep from crying. "Buffy."
"Yeah"
"If ya ever need to talk, just ask."
"Thanks. But, I refuse to involve anyone else in my problems."
"None of us here are just anyone else. Remember that. Oh, hey I saw you do a light work out this morning." He decided to change the subject.
"You did?" She blushed. "I thought I was the only one up. Or at least the only one outside."
"I was in the woods. I like to do some of my exercises by myself back there. It's quieter that way. The kids here are good, but they complain a lot. And I've yet to see any of them keep up with me in a basic physical work out."
"Really. I bet I could give you a run for your money." Buffy smirked, while slowly cheering up a bit. Fighting and hunting vampires lately seemed to make her feel better lately. Last night's impromptu slaying felt good to her. Though she was afraid the darker side of her was starting to surface. Before she'd just go out on patrol. Now she liked going out, to hunt.
"We'll see about that. I don't know if you could keep up. But I think you'd be closer than most. If last night was any indication."
"In school, I was average. But I loved working out with martial arts, street fighting, and some weapons training as well. Like stakes, swords, crossbows. Even weight training is fun for me. I excel in those. Although it's hard finding any machine that makes me work out for weight lifting."
"Since this is a school for mutants, I'm sure you'll find some good ones here."
"Good. Now if only someone can give me a good fight I'll be happy."
"A fight huh?"
"Yeah I've not had a good workout fight for awhile now. Sometimes I think my abilities have increased. But I was told that's not possible. Giles told me I can't get stronger, faster, or anything like that. Maybe better at the fighting moves, and better aim with weapons. But sometimes, I wonder if he's wrong." 'Hunting vampires is starting to get a bit on the boring side. They're too easy to find in Sunnyhell.' She thought to herself.
"Maybe he is." He paused for a few, looking at the view of the grounds. "Well we should get inside. Breakfast should be ready soon."
"I'm not all that hungry, but Mr. McCoy is going though all that trouble, so I better show up I guess. I'll nibble a bit."
"You've not been eating much lately have you?"
"How'd you know?"
"Kinda obvious just looking at you. You should take better care of yourself."
"I know I know. Scott gave me the same speech when he showed up at my door. I feel like I'm surrounded by a flock of mother hens."
"As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. But seriously eat at least a couple of pancakes, and four slices of bacon."
"Why? Gonna make me?" She grinned at him.
"You'll need the energy for later. I wanna judge how good you are at working out today."
"I'll try then. Just to make sure I can kick your ass if nothing else. No guarantees though!"
"You know what?"
"No, I don't. What?"
"It's nice finally having someone around who's the same height as me."
"I know the feeling." She muttered as they walked inside.
Breakfast for the most part was mostly meeting a lot of the other students. Though most of them weren't all that awake, or too busy eating to do more than say hi. She figured she'd make more friends later on. At least she had Scott, Jean, Oz, and maybe even Logan to talk to now. She contemplated on them during breakfast. Scott was her cousin, but he was more like the older brother she always secretly wanted to have. Jean was becoming like an older sister. Oz, was well Oz. She'd known him since he started dating Willow, and although usually you couldn't read on his face how he was feeling, he had his moments where you could tell he truly cared. Logan seemed to be like her. At least, the Slayer side of herself. She couldn't figure out why, but felt easy to talk to him, and she had just met him the night before. 'Well now I might have someone to talk about fighting techniques. Giles just gets beat up lately.' Mr. McCoy and Professor Xavier were nice, but she didn't really know them. And everyone else, she really didn't know them yet. Then she thought of her friends back in Sunnydale. She hoped they kept the plan on having some downtime. 'God knows they deserve it.' She did still plan on calling them later on. When it wasn't still wicked early. She also hoped they wouldn't be following her. This was something she simply had to do. Mostly for her sanity. The Council's threat didn't scare her, they never could. But she was afraid of what the Council might to do her friends if they were considered in the way while she was gone. She didn't eat much at breakfast. But she did eat some so she'd have the energy to work out, with a second cup of coffee along with the food. Since everyone else got up when they were done, she did too. She even took her dishes into the kitchen and washed them, when a lot of the kids didn't. Since most were still eating, she even washed all the dishes in sink already, as well as all the pans used for cooking. She just didn't know where anything went yet, so she put the clean ones on the counter, ready for whoever had kitchen duty, to put them away. Then she went back to the deck outside to relax for a while.
Eventually Xavier was ready to talk with her. He reached out with his mind to get her attention. **Buffy, if you're ready I'd like to talk with you now.**
Buffy was shocked and not sure where he was or how to respond. Maybe if I thought it? **Can you hear me this way?**
**Yes, quick thinking figuring it out.**
**Uh, thanks, I've never had a conversation in my mind before. Where do I go to find you?**
**Well I usually talk in my office. Right now, I'm just outside the kitchen. If you meet me there I'll show you where the office is.**
**On my way.** 'I'll never get used to someone speaking in my head.' She frowned.
When they got to the office, and she sat down in a chair facing the desk, Xavier ran over the basic rules of the place. He also informed her, that when Hank was ready, that this morning she'd be sent in for a physical as per the rules of staying there. Even if only for a visit. Though she thought it was more to see if they could study here 'slayerness'. Luckily most of it could be done with computers without removal of her clothing. Jean would do anything that involved undressing, afterwards. He also wanted a DNA test done to check for the X-gene. When she wanted to know why, he explained his suspicions that she just might be a mutant, which could explain her keeping her slayer abilities after she died, and Kendra was called. He also tried to talk her into moving there, if she so wanted. She just shrugged and said she'd think on it. She didn't want to talk to much about her life when he inquired. Eventually she just said if he wanted to know some things to ask Oz. She wasn't really in the mood to talk.
After she was done talking to Xavier, he called Hank in to show her to the medical lab. Where he took some of her blood for DNA, and tested her for any diseases. He also took ex-rays. After he was done, Jean came in and did her part of the physical. Including gynecology checks. All in all she was put down as having perfect health. The DNA test would come back a little later. So when she got out of there, Logan was waiting for her.
"Hey, go get workout clothing on. Time to show you our gym, and see what you got." He grinned.
"Finally, fun! I can kick your ass now." And they silently walked back to her room, where he waited outside the door. From there he took her to the gym. Buffy could barely contain her excitement. They seemed to have everything in there. Smirking she recalled a time she was sick of working out. Of course then she was in High School and wanted a normal life. Now she couldn't imagine what one was like anymore.
She saw weight lifting machines that offered up to the amount of a large truck. And there was this one area with equipment that was in a circle. Logan explained to her, that when she punched and kicked them, it measured not only the strength, but also the speed of which it was done. He showed her the punching, and hitting combo he wanted to do. First in slow motion, not really doing it, then he showed her in a more normal pace. Then he asked her to go all out on them. And she did. He was pretty surprised too, because she was really good on her first try. Not as good as him. But then he did have age and experience on her. But if anyone could get even close to keeping up, it'd be her. When they fought with each other, it was more like they stalked, and measured the other up the first time. They ended up fighting 3 times. Logan won the first, and last time, and Buffy won the second time. When they were done they both had huge smiles on their faces.
"You're not bad." Logan stated while staring at her ass whenever her back was turned.
"Well thank you for kicking my ass. Of course now I'm going to have to have to train as much as possible until I can beat you up every single time." She grinned
"You wish. But stick around long enough, and with my help, I'll get ya as close as possible up to my speed. Minus the claws though."
"I am SO jealous of those claws. I am always having problems hiding all my knives and stakes."
"You're the first then, I think." Logan chuckled.
"Hey I'd have loved kicking vamp ass if I had built in tools like that. It'd just have to decapitate them. It'd probably have saved my ass from kicking the bucket by the master."
"Maybe, but you're still around, so don't feel too bad."
"Alright, well I gotta go get changed. Then call my friends before they think I'm suddenly dead or something."
"Didn't you tell them you were coming here?" Logan got a surprised look on his face.
"Yeah I did." She sighed out. "But if they don't hear from me soon, they will come rushing out to 'rescue' me. Plus I really don't want Spike to show up. He's probably calling my house every second to see if I'm home yet."
"He got feelin's for ya then."
"Uh yeah. Would never work out though. Wish he'd see that." Buffy muttered while walking out the door, as fast as possible before the conversation became even more personal. She liked talking about fighting, and she was trying to keep it that way. She couldn't allow anyone else to get involved.
'I wonder what she would say if I asked her out?' Logan mulled over in his brain while watching her leave. 'What the hell am I thinking. I'm older than her, she'd probably just laugh. Wouldn't she? That's it. I'm acting like a lovesick teen. There has got to be something wrong with me.' He growled to himself and he started to leave.
Buffy took only a quick shower for the sweat. Then after she got into clean clothing she grabbed her phone cards and went downstairs. Luckily the phone in the rec-room was a cordless, and it looked like everyone was elsewhere. So first she dialed Giles' number.
"Hello, Giles Residence."
"Hey Giles."
"Buffy! What took you so long to call us? I thought you'd have done so last night. Spike waited around for hours staring at the phone."
"Sorry I was too busy getting settled in, after a little slaying."
"And here I thought you were taking a break from it."
"Well what can I say, we got to the place, the vamps showed up, so I turned them into plant fertilizer."
"Oh well, so when do you plan on coming back?"
"I'm not sure yet. Hell they've been trying to talk me into staying here permanently."
"You're cousin?"
"Yeah, and his girlfriend along with the professor too."
"But your sacred duty. You can't just ignore it!"
"Giles, they've got another Slayer there already. I'm sure she can keep an eye on things now. Glory is gone, no master vamps have even looked twice at Sunnydale now from what I heard at Willy's before I stopped Glory. The fact I dusted Dracula scared a lot of them off. No one there knows I left. Except the group, of course. Besides I can kill off vamps here too. I just don't know if I can be there anymore. If I do stay, I'd like it if you guys visited me sometimes. Hell maybe even move out to this area. You guys are family to me. But living in Sunnydale is starting to kill me. Besides although I'd love to turn the Council into tiny little bits of nothingness right now, they may actually be doing me a favor by giving me the chance to let someone else deal with the Hellmouth."
"I'm not happy about this."
"I know. But this is ultimately MY decision. Besides you're not my watcher anymore, so you can't order me around." She pointed out. "Is Willow, or anyone else there?"
"No, Willow and Tara are at school. And, Xander and Anya are at work. Spike is probably in his crypt right now, but he was looking for you last night. He was freaking out."
"Figures, gone only one day and he's probably already trying to find a way to come bother me. Well tell them all I love them. And I'll try calling when they'll be around in a few days. But I've gotta go for now okay?"
"Alright. I hope you decide to return though."
"Bye Giles!" And Buffy hung up the phone. She didn't realize though, that Logan was on the deck, in an area she couldn't see him. And he had REALLY good hearing. 'So she might not want to go back. I do want to find out about this Council, and rip their heads off if they're a threat.' He heard her start dialing another number.
Buffy decided to call Angel and Cordelia. Angel and her were split up, but he was still a friend. Plus Cordelia wasn't so bad anymore. She'd been starting to feel like she could actually talk to her about some things.
"Angel Investigations. We help the hopeless."
"Cordelia!"
"Buffy? Is that you?"
"The one and only. Is Angel there?"
"No, I'm the only one here right now. Angel's asleep, and everyone else is at home. They don't start showing up till later. I was just doing some research."
"Oh well I want to talk to you too."
"Bout what?"
"I'm not going to be in Sunnydale for awhile."
"Good for you! That place is bad news. For awhile I was afraid you were going to die there."
"You were afraid for me?"
"Yeah. I have been. So where are you at now? LA?"
"Nope, Westchester, New York. With my cousin, and his girlfriend. I'm at the school they teach at."
"Giles must be pissed that you took off again."
"Yeah especially since I told him I might want to move out here, instead of just visiting. Giles gave me the sacred duty speech of course. But the Council found the next Slayer, and she's there now. I could just kick their asses out of Sunnydale, and stay there protecting it, but I…..I don't know if I want to do that anymore. I just dread hearing from Spike, after Giles tells him, and the others about me possibly moving."
"Spike?"
"Yeah seems Spike can't seem to accept no for an answer. I don't know why either. I mean he's a vampire. I'm the Slayer. His enemy! I kill his friends professionally!"
"Damn girl what is it with you and guys. First Angel, the vamp with a soul who's over 200 years old. Angel I can see. I mean with the soul and all. But Spike's only behaving cause of the chip!"
"Don't ask me why. I'm not sure. He did like my Mom though. They used to talk over cups of hot chocolate."
"You're MOM? Whoa."
"Yeah. He was actually upset by her dying."
"So since you're around I'm guessing Dawn's gone, huh?"
"Dawn, she uh…" Buffy started tearing up. "I was going to jump off this huge platform, into the dimensional tear to close it. I told her that I loved her, and she told me not to jump, cause she's not really real. But I loved her like a sister anyway." Buffy really did start crying then. "She caught me off guard, and pushed me out of the way, and jumped herself. I should have found a way to stop her. I should have been the one to die. She turned back into this ball of energy and we didn't even have her body to bury anymore. I'm a failure at being a sister, a daughter, and a friend. Especially at being the Slayer."
"Buffy stop. You're a great person…. Uh, hang on a moment." Buffy tried to calm down while she heard voices in the background. "Hey Buffy, Angel's guardian demon is here, he's annoying at showing up at weird times. Whistler wants to talk to you."
"Uhm, okay….?"
"Hey kid, look the PTB sent the new Slayer to Sunnydale so you could leave and heal. Do so. You're not at fault for those who've been hurt and died. Firstly, you should have been told about Angel's curse. Not even he knew. Stubborn gypsies. Then Angelus would never have showed up. So that's not your fault. Also you didn't cause your Mom's tumor, or your parents divorce. Also Dawn CHOSE to jump. She knew you've still got things to do. Besides she may have been energy, but she had a soul. She will be reborn someday. Last thing they PTB want to let you know is you're not the Slayer anymore. Xavier and friends are right. You ARE a mutant. Although most of your mutant powers are being masked by the slayer abilities you gained. Because of the X-Gene in ya, you kept them, when they should have been lost when you died. Normally at your age they'd be dormant, but work with Xavier, Jean, and that guy Logan you like so much, and it'll punch through the barrier in no time. Though sorry kid, you don't get cool claws."
"Damn" Buffy replied, to which Whistler chuckled. "So what new ability will I get?"
"Sorry can't tell you that. You get to find out all on your own."
"What is it with you guys being all cryptic n' stuff. Is there some kind of 'Frustrate Buffy Club' up there?"
"No, we frustrate everyone. Not just you." Whistler laughed loudly. "Don't worry, Spike will get over you but he IS going to follow you out there. And Angel, well he'll always love you, but he'll be fine. I've got to go now. Neither your or Cord here are to tell Angel or anyone else that I talked to you."
"Okay." And Whistler handed the phone back to Cordelia
"Okay it's me again" Cordelia said. "So tell me what's it like there?"
"Well Oz is here and he's controlling the wolf a lot better now."
"So that's where he's been hiding. And damn I KNEW you were a mutant!" She jabbed.
"Hey!" Buffy snickered. "Anyhow, there's this one guy named Logan. He's cute, and I could talk to him for hours about fighting styles, and how to beat others up. He's my height, can kick my ass, has these REALLY nice claws that come out of his hand. Metal ones. And he's built, with a cute ass." Buffy grinned on the phone while trying to talk quietly so no one would hear. If she only knew the grin Logan had outside on the deck hearing that. She'd probably blush that he heard her, after she kicked his ass for listening in.
"Oh, sounds like you like someone."
"Yeah kinda, but I don't know, he's older than me, by how much I don't know. But I'm sure he's got to have a girlfriend somewhere. He's too cute not to have one. Besides I'm only going to be talking about fighting and good workout routines. Those kinds of things, cause every relationship I've had has just turned out badly, with the slaying fest that always goes on."
"Nice to dream though, huh?"
"Hah, yeah it is. If my cousin knew the way I can just stare at Logan's cute ass, well I'm afraid he'd try to hurt him." Buffy pouted.
"Can't have that now. But you should let someone else get close. Besides you heard what Whistler said. You're not really the Slayer anymore. You can finally have a life!"
"I know but I've done it for so long, I don't think I could do anything else. I've even started to like hunting them."
"Which is why you need to stay the hell away from Sunnydale. Well I gotta go. I'll keep hoping Logan's girlfriend free for you, and that he'll ask you out."
"With my luck, that's not likely. I've obviously got bad luck with men. Besides like I said, it always ends badly for me." Buffy sighed. "Talk to you later. Tell Angel I said hi, and how I'm not in Sunnydale and everything okay?"
"No prob. Bye" And Cordelia hung up the phone.
Buffy put the phone back in its cradle and thinking no one was around curled up and cried a little, thinking about Dawn. At first she didn't notice Logan walking into the room. So she had no idea he came in from the deck. But she was startled when he sat down next to her on the couch. He looked at her for a bit while she tried to stop crying and ramble out that she just had dust in her eye.
"Hey something's on your mind. Don't give me the dust-in-the-eye excuse. You need to talk to someone pretty badly."
"No, I'm fine, besides other than being good at fighting I'm very boring, and uninteresting. As well as very bad at talking" She mumbled.
"C'mon, just say what's on your mind."
"Oh like you should talk. You don't seem like one for much in depth talking about yourself." She pointed out.
"No I guess I'm not. You're too damned observant, you know that?" Logan grumbled, while Buffy looked triumphant. "Anyhow if you're not ready to talk, that's fine, but I hate seeing you upset. At least lets find something to do that'll cheer you up." He said while wiping her tears off her face.
"Give me the ten cent tour of the place, then show me around the town?" She grinned 'And maybe I can find the good places to slay some vampires.' She quietly mused to herself.
"Why not?" And he offered his arm and they took off. After a couple of hours she had the basic layout of the area memorized, so she'd not have to worry about really getting lost anymore. And Logan promised to show her around the woods within a few days as well. But she said she'd figure them out herself. While walking, Buffy felt where a nest was when they passed by it. She promised to herself that she'd go and destroy it with in a couple of days. Every time Logan tried to find out anything about her, she'd always find a way to avoid answering him. She'd point out different places that would be a good spot for an offensive, or defensive mood. And she'd talk about good ways to kill vampires from some position or another. Logan was a bit frustrated by not getting her to talk, but he figured he'd have to be patient. He'd find some way to get her to open up.
She had completely forgotten about lunch, so when it was getting close to dinnertime she was a bit on the hungry side. She would have gone in and made something small for herself, but she was shooed out by Jean who decided to cook spaghetti for the night. She did tell Buffy that she needed to make her way to see Dr. McCoy, about the DNA analysis.
"Well this is a doctor, patient kind of thing, so I'm gonna head upstairs to do some readin' I'll see ya later."
"Thanks. For the tour." Then she hugged him, and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"What was that for?" He asked puzzled.
"For being sweet and kicking my ass earlier, and for showing me around so I didn't have to beg Scott, Jean, or Oz too." She replied while opening the door. She didn't see the huge grin on his face. He even ran into Scott on his way up to his room, and was NICE to him. That of course, freaked out Scott. And he went to go find Jean.
"Hey Scott." She cheerfully said from the stove. "What's up?"
"Logan is actually grinning from ear to ear, and said hi to me nicely. Err, what happened to him today?"
"I don't know. I know he was giving Buffy a quick tour around the town, before I sent her off to find out about her blood test. They seem to be getting along well."
"How well?" He asked suspiciously.
"Well they're not going out far as I could tell, if that's what you're afraid of. But, from the feelings I picked up off of them, they seem to see bits of themselves in each other. Wouldn't surprise me if they did hook up in the future."
"Great that's just what she'd need." Scott sarcastically muttered.
"Oh, it'd not be that bad. They both need someone to make them happy. Besides you'd not have to worry about him trying to be competition for you anymore." Jean smirked.
"She's too young for him."
"She's an adult. She became one at 15, Scott. There are times she seems like she's older than me. Besides you can't run her life for her. If she hooks up with someone it'll be her choice. Not yours."
"Maybe I ought to tell Logan to back off from her." He growled to himself, not realizing he spoke that thought.
"Don't you dare, or you'll sleep alone tonight." She growled back at him. Scott then just left to go mutter around to himself in the rec-room. 'Scott you're going to have to learn she's not your little baby cousin anymore. And I actually do hope they get closer. I know they are severely attracted to each other. The vibes alone…' Jean thought to herself while chuckling 'Now if only they'd truly admit it to themselves. Especially Buffy, that girl seems to want to try to distance herself from everyone, and be close at the same time.'
Back in LA Angel woke up early and came down into the office, where Cordelia had fallen asleep at her desk buried in books. He smiled at her obviously working hard. 'Damn, but she's not the same girl from Sunnydale that she once was.' He thought to himself. Eventually he decided to wake her up. "Cordy, come on, wake up." He gently nudged her.
"Huh? Oh! Angel, Hi!" She exclaimed. She didn't expect to fall asleep like that.
"Maybe you should take the night off, and go home for some rest."
"Perhaps, but first we need to talk. So sit."
"What's wrong?"
"I got a call from Buffy today." Cordy yawned out. Obviously still waking up.
"She okay?" Angel asked nervously. He left her because he knew it'd be better for them to be apart, but he still did, and always would have feelings for her. He'd still rush to her in an emergency, and would even die for her if need be.
"Yeah she is now. Dawn's gone now though. Buffy stopped Glory, but Glory had already opened up the gateway. Buffy was going to jump in to close it, but Dawn pushed her out of the way to do it herself. Buffy's crushed over that." She noticed that Angel became seriously pale.
"Oh god first her Mom, now this."
"Yeah well apparently there's a new slayer in Sunnydale. So Buffy decided to go take a vacation out of town."
"To where? Is she in LA and need to talk to me?"
"No, she's in Westchester, New York. Staying at a school where her cousin teaches. In fact I did a star 6.9. on the phone and got the number here incase you ever want to call her. I looked up information. Evidentially it's called Xavier's School For Gifted Students. Even got the address. She's slowly making friends there, and healing as well. She is considering moving out there permanently, much to Giles' dismay. Poor Giles gets to be the one to tell Spike that. "
"Why would he worry about telling Spike? I mean I know he's got that chip and all, but still."
"Cause he's got a huge crush on Buffy."
"SPIKE?"
"Yeah, kinda funny huh?"
"Maybe we should take a break soon and visit her to make sure she's okay."
"If we do, we should definitely NOT tell Spike. He'd insist on joining us. Not to mention he'd probably see you as a threat if he's got it bad for Buffy." Cordy smirked. "He'll probably find a way to move out there though if she does decide to stay." Cordelia said on her way out the door.
Angel looked at the time, and saw it wasn't too late there. So he dialed the number.
"Hello?" A gruff male voice answered.
"Uh yea an old friend of mine called me earlier, and got my employee earlier. She traced the call and got this number?"
"Name of person you're looking for?"
"Buffy Summers, if she's there could you tell her this is Angel."
"Hang on." Logan looked at the phone as if he wanted to reach through it and strangle the guy. He heard that Buffy once was with this guy. And though he wasn't sure what went on, he got the gist of that he hurt her pretty badly at one point. If what she said to Oz earlier in the morning was any indication. He took in a mental note to look up the name Angelus online. He remembered hearing he became Angelus. "Hey Buffy!" He called to her from across the room.
"Yeah?"
"Someone named Angel is on the phone for you." He saw Buffy blanch.
"How? I didn't give Cordelia the number." She muttered while walking over.
"He said the person you talked to earlier traced the call and found the number."
"Oh. Well I better say hi." She said as he handed the receiver to her. "Hi Angel."
"Hey Buffy, I just spoke to Cordelia a few minutes ago. How are you holding up?"
"Better than I was for a couple of weeks. I'm glad I can be away from the Hellmouth for now at least. I don't think I'm going to live there anymore. Or go back except to get the rest of my stuff, unless the world will literally go to hell if I'm not there."
"Understandable. Though no other slayer, I think can hold a candle to you."
"I'm not that good." Buffy snorted. "Giles and the rest are probably giving birth to wooly mammoths right about now. When Spike finds out later he'll most likely have an entire herd." She heard Angel laugh loudly at that one. "I told Giles I was thinking of staying earlier, and he wasn't exactly a happy little camper."
"I find it hard to believe that Spike actually has a thing for you."
"Yeah I know. He wanted to come along when I left. Took me awhile to talk him out of it."
"Buffy, you know, I'll always love you."
"I know we've had this conversation before. I'll always remember, and I'll always care about you as well, but like you said we DO need to move on. Which means neither one of us can keep bringing that subject up. It just stirs up hurt feelings."
"I'm sorry. I know I'll stop."
"Thanks. Oh hey, something I got to tell Giles in a few days. I got a DNA test done today to test my genes. I'm actually not a Slayer anymore."
"Huh? But how could you defeat Glory then?" Buffy slipped further outside, when she noticed her cousin trying to slip closer to hear what was going on, and then she closed the door and talked quietly knowing Angel could hear her.
"Turns out I'm really a mutant. And when the master killed me, the spirit of the Slayer really did fully leave me. But my mutant gene kept the changes, So, the slayer spirit semi-hung around cause of it for a while. Cause it knew I was still fighting for what it believed in. After Glory I felt her leave for good. So I'm probably not going to have anymore of the Slayer prophecy dreams. But I've still got my powers. The professor here thinks that even though I'm past puberty, there's still a chance my actual mutant powers may emerge. I guess they've been trying, but the Slayer bit kinda put a wall in front of them."
"Wow the things you learn about your friends." Angel chuckled.
"Yeah, maybe the info will get Giles to lay off of me. He was giving me the sacred duty speech bit today." She snorted.
"Hey I was thinking that maybe Cordelia and I could go out and visit you for a few days. See how you're doing and such. You could use some friends after everything."
"Sure, but not right away." She could just see the hurt look on Angel's face. "I need time to adjust first though. And I've got my cousin here. Plus Oz is here too, so I'm not completely alone."
"Oz is there? Is he a mutant too?"
"No, but his werewolf nature does consider him special."
"Well call and let me know when a good time is, okay?"
"Sure, not a problem. Uh my cousin is getting antsy wondering who I'm talking too. I haven't told him about us, and I don't want him eves dropping and asking too many questions."
"Afraid how he'll take you having been with a vampire?" Angel asked sadly.
"Not so much that, but his girlfriend has some empathy and telepathic abilities. Telekinetic too, but if I start talking about us, she'd pick up on what happened with Angelus. He bout had a coronary when I told him how the master killed me few years' back. He was ready to resurrect the master just to beat him to death. I don't even wanna think bout what he'd try to do to you."
"Ah, good point. Well talk to you another time. Take care Buffy."
"You two, and keep kicking demon ass, Angel. Bye" And she hung up the phone. Before walking in she looked up into the sky and spotted a few stars. Then she went back inside dreading her cousin's questions.
"So who's Angel?" He asked. 'Gee how'd I know he'd ask that' She thought wryly to herself.
"An old friend. I uh, called to tell them about me leaving and visiting here. Before they thought something happened to me. They don't live in Sunnydale anymore, so I never told them I was leaving for a while. Angel wasn't in earlier, but I talked to Cordelia, an old school mate. And he was just checking up on me making sure I was okay, after the whole Glory bit."
"You never did tell me who or what Glory was." Scott muttered while watching Buffy blanch at the question.
"Glory's full name was Glorificus. She was a Hell Goddess, bent on getting the key to open a portal to bring hell on earth. She came around a few months before Mom showed signs of the brain tumor. Anyhow that's not a subject I want to think about." She stated while walking out of the rec- room, before her over-protective cousin could ask anymore questions.
Logan made his way to one of the classrooms with a computer lab. He accessed the Internet and looked up Angelus under vampire lore, and other sites. Normally he hated the Internet, but he just HAD to find out about this guy. He couldn't figure it out. 'Damn, I'm pathetic lately. I'm starting to act territorial, and I've not even asked her out. If Scott knew he'd try to get my head on a silver platter.' He mused while waiting for site to load up. He was glad when he overheard her tell people she talked to that she didn't really want to return to Sunnydale, but something rubbed him the wrong way when he heard the guy's voice. He had a feeling he'd be trouble later on. When the sites finally did load up, although it wasn't much, what he did find shook him up a bit. Evidentially Angelus was one of the supposed more violent, and sadistic psychotic vampires out there. 'Damn girl you got mixed up with this one? He had best pray I never meet him.' Eventually he logged off, and went to bed. He didn't sleep to well though thinking about all the harm he wanted to inflict on Angelus.
A group of all sorts of demons, vampires, warlocks, witches and the like met up in an abandoned warehouse in LA. They were sick of Angel always getting in their way, messing all their plans up. They decided they had to do something about it. Angel always seemed to make it out of every situation alive. He was constantly getting stronger, more powerful. So instead of again trying to kill him, they decided to find a way to have his soul removed again. It took a week, but they came up with one. Angel was no more. Angelus was reborn. Now, maybe they could continue on with their plans for the City of Angels.
June 20th, 2001
Angel was alone in the office. It was still nighttime, but everyone was given the night off. He was sitting alone at his desk contemplating last week's conversation with Buffy on the phone. He realized that she was finally going to start truly moving on. And although part of him wanted her to, and knew she needed too, it hurt. He was still in love with her and always would be. All of a sudden he felt like something was pulling on him. Then he realized what it was. His soul was leaving. "No, not again." He shuddered and fell to the floor. He woke up about 10 minutes later as Angelus. "Whoever got rid of the soul, I thank you from afar." He grinned sadistically. "Buffy's moving on now huh? I'll have to see about that. I never did get to finish my work with her. She's still going to be my masterpiece." Angelus grabbed the keys to his darkly tinted car, and took off. Headed for Buffy in her new home. "Must find some friends along the way." He laughs as he pulls away from his hotel.
And X-men characters are owned by Marvel. Uhm and anyone else I may bring in to the storyline, if they are from any books, TV shows, movies and so forth, well they are owned by their creators, or whoever happens to possess the rights to them.
Also, a friend had asked me to write this story. He gave me a basic list of what he wanted it to be about, and who to be with. Of course he's refusing to help me edit the story. Bleah! But it's been fun so far.
I've decided to change the rating to R (if it lets me hehe) Because of some of the violence starting on page 2.
!!! Note: Yes I DO read the reviews. And I've taken anything pointed out as needed to be worked on into consideration. So I do like creative criticism. Before anyone freaks, I didn't change the whole of the story. But it should help it… I hope. Hehe. But I'm done now with this first part, and if it's not perfect, well sorry not going to re-work on this one again unless I need to do so for something that will effect the outcome. That way if I keep writing after I AM done with this story, I can see how I progress. But I figure, hey, I don't have anyone to edit for me, so I'll re-work each page once. ^_^ But keep the comments coming! They are appreciated. !!!
And now on to the story.
Angelus Reborn
June 3rd, 2001
"DAWN!!!!!!" Buffy cried out, while falling out of her bed. Looking at her clock, she found she'd only been asleep for 2 hours. Two weeks ago they had the final battle against the Hell Goddess, Glory. Glory was defeated, but before Buffy could throw herself off the platform to close the gateway, Dawn pushed her out of the way and flung herself into the tear. Because she originally was just a thing of energy, there wasn't even a body to lay to rest. Only memories of Dawn, running through Buffy's mind. Oddly, after Dawn was gone, everyone who wasn't around Dawn after she was created, forgot all about her. Including her father, Hank Summers. Not like he was likely to care in any event. Ever since Buffy told her father she refused to go live with him after her Mom died from the cancer, he disowned her. It took until then of that to realize just how cold he really was. She should have realized that a long time ago.
Buffy stayed lost in thought for a few hours, not able to go back to sleep. She also didn't feel like going out patrolling either. Eventually morning came, and after taking a shower, she went downstairs to make some coffee. Coffee was about the only thing she consumed as of late. She couldn't even remember the last time she ate. As soon as she hit the switch for coffee to brew, the phone rang.
Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops with the X-men, picked up phone in the rec- room. He dialed the number to call his Uncle Hank, after he finally tracked it down. After about 15 minutes arguing with his uncle, he finally got the number to his Aunt's home. Though, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out just why his uncle was so reluctant to giving him the number. He knew of the divorce, but you'd think he would still have contact with them for Buffy's sake. 'Oh well, Uncle Hank always was about work before anything, or anyone else.' He thought as he hung up and dialed his Aunt Joyce's phone number.
Buffy walked over to the cordless and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, you've got to be Buffy." A male voice replied.
"Uhm, who is this? If this is a telemarketer…"
"No! It's me! Your cousin, Scott.
"Oh my god, Scott! Where the hell have you been?" Buffy sobbed out.
"Sorry, I've been busy. Is everything okay? You sound like you're crying."
"Busy? I haven't heard from you for seven years."
"I know I should have called, or at least written, but well, I'll explain when I see you in person. I was wondering if my girlfriend and I could come out and visit you and Aunt Joyce." Scott nervously asked.
"You haven't heard, Mom, she uhm, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and she died a few weeks ago." She barely rasped out.
"WHAT? Why isn't your dad there for you?" He almost screamed.
"He…" She paused not knowing what to say. "After I refused to go back living with him he stopped talking to me. I think he's disowned me." She paused again wiping her eyes dry. "I've got friends, but I haven't been able to go out to see them for a couple of weeks now. I don't know what to do." Buffy weakly stated. She talked to Scott for a little while longer, gave him an address, knowing that he'd show up in a day or two. After she hung up, she went and grabbed herself a cup of coffee.
Scott was furious with his uncle, and would love nothing more than to show up at his home and deck him. But he knew he'd get arrested if he did. So as soon as he got off the phone with his cousin, he went to go find Xavier. "Hey Professor?"
"Yes Scott? What is it?" Xavier asked, without even looking up from the papers he was reading over.
"I finally got a hold of my cousin, and I found out my Aunt died a few weeks ago from cancer. Buffy, my cousin is alone now, and I need to see her. She sounded so.." Scott couldn't even find the words to describe how she sounded over the phone. "Well anyway, I was wondering if I could take Jean with me. I think she could help, and I do want Buffy to meet her."
"Of course. Take as long as you need, but be sure to leave me a phone number so I know how to reach you if need be."
"Thanks" Scott mumbled as he quickly jotted down the number and address to Buffy's home, and ran off to find Jean.
On his way he turned a corner and bumped right into one of the newer students who went by the name of 'Oz'.
"Whoa there Mr. Summers. You okay? You look like you've been through hell."
"Oz, you lived in Sunnydale, right?" Scott recalled.
"Yeah, been awhile since I've been there, why?"
"Did you know a girl named Buffy?"
"Uh yeah, she was the best friend of my ex girlfriend. She's nice, unique, tough as nails, but nice."
"I'm leaving soon to go see her, I was wondering if you could gave me basic directions to her house. I've got the address, but I've never been there…"
"You're going to Sunnydale? Bad place to be, man. C'mon, I better clue you in on a few things." Oz wasn't one for heart to hearts. Especially since he found out Willow had moved on. To another woman no less, but he was the one who left. So, he couldn't really blame her. But since Scott, and Jean too if she wanted, were going to his old home. They had to know. He told them about the Hellmouth, vampires, and even how Buffy is the Slayer. He left out a lot, mostly about Angel, his relationship with Willow, and everything not important to them surviving their stay there. At first Scott didn't believe him, but he reminded him how he's not a mutant, but a werewolf. In the end, Scott and Jean weren't quite sure if all of that was true, but they definitely took it all under advisement. That night they were in the air headed to California.
June 4th, 2001
Buffy opened her door when someone knocked. It was daylight so she wasn't too concerned with whoever it could be. She noticed a man who reminded her a lot of Giles, and a girl she didn't know as well.
"May I presume you are Buffy Summers?" He asked in an English accent.
"Yeah, why do you want to know?"
"Miss Summers, this girl here is the newest Slayer. Obviously Faith is now dead, wherever she ran off too. The Council is tired of dealing with your nonsense. So I am here to give you an ultimatum. You either comply with what the Council wants you to do, under a new watcher, or you have two weeks, to tie up any loose ends you have with this town, and leave the Hellmouth to us."
"And if I do neither?" Buffy spat venomously. "You don't scare me, the kid there doesn't scare me. She may also be a slayer now, but I'm THE Slayer. And I could kick all of your asses in a heart beat."
"You will be killed. Yes you're strong but you're not immune to bullets, bombs or anything else we could do with modern weaponry. The Council wants you dead to begin with, but since you defeated Glorificus, they're giving you a choice. Like I said, two weeks Miss Summers. No more."
"Fine, I'll leave." 'For a vacation for a while.' She thought to herself. "But until I have left, don't let me see your faces again, or I WILL give you the beating of your lives!" She growled as she slammed the door in their faces. 'Great, I've been thinking about taking a break, but now instead of relaxing I'm going to spend all the time figuring out what to do about those assholes.' She thought violently. 'Eh, maybe Scott and Jean will let me go stay with them. At least until I can find a way to rip apart the Council. Well better start packing. Giles won't like this either.' Before she even left the front door, someone knocked. 'This better not be that idiot again.'
Scott and Jean pulled up to Buffy's home just as an older man and a girl who looked like she was 15 got into a car and left. 'I wonder who they were.' He mused to himself. 'They didn't seem to be happy.' After they knocked on the door, he was shocked to see how Buffy looked. 'Oh god, she looks beat.' "Hey Buffy."
"Scott, you made it!" Buffy exclaimed as she hugged him tightly. Almost crushing him.
"Uhm Buffy, I'm having breathing issues!"
"Sorry!" She looked sheepish, and then she saw the red haired woman. "You're right Scott, she is pretty. Please come in, don't just stand there." She noticed the suitcases and grabbed them, and ran them upstairs to her Mom's old room. "Sorry I don't have really any food in the house. I'll get some a little later, but I've got tea, and coffee." She rambled.
"Nah we ate after we got off the plane, so we're fine." He studied her for a moment. "Buffy, when's the last time you ate?"
"I don't know. Couple of weeks ago I think." She nearly whispered. "Anyhow you're going to stay in Mom's room. It's got a bed large enough for both of you, and it has a bathroom connected to it there. Plus there is another bathroom just down the hall." She rambled again, trying to change the subject.
Jean who was pretty much silent was obviously studying Buffy closely. 'Oz wasn't making anything up.' She thought as she saw images of death, vampires, and pretty much everything Oz told them about. She also felt intense sadness, pain, and loneliness from the girl. 'Only 20, and she's seen more, and done more, than anyone should ever have to.' "Buffy, I was wondering if you'd like to come live with us, at the institute?" She more said than asked. She could tell she shocked both of them. "Before you decide, Oz, an old friend of yours is there. He did tell us about you, and the Hellmouth, but I think you need to get away…"
"Yes." Buffy deadpanned "But I don't know if it'd work out. I'm the Slayer. Hell they have a new one now, but I don't know. I would like to come visit you for, well I don't know how long."
"Well it's a start, but while there I am going to do my best to convince you to stay. But before we go, you need know one really important thing about the institute." Jean said.
"What's the important thing?"
"It's a school for mutants, and Scott and I are both mutants too." Jean nervously said. Buffy obviously was stunned for a few minutes. Then she said something that reminded both of them of Oz.
"Cool." Buffy smirked again. 'Well that explains Oz being there.' She thought. Though she wondered if they thought Oz was a mutant, or if they knew he was really a werewolf.
June 11th, 2001
Buffy was ready to leave after only one week of packing and preparing. Jean had already called Professor Xavier, and he agreed to let her stay. They also decided they'd give her time to adjust, and heal before figuring out where she would go from there. He even thought she might be a good addition if they could get her to stay. Buffy actually debated on telling her friends or not. Especially Spike, who'd want to follow her. In the end she did tell them she was going away for a while, but left out the part of the place being full of mutants. Spike begged and pleaded to go, but she said no, it was a family thing. In the end she won out. But he promised that if she didn't come back, he'd find her no matter where she hid. To which she only rolled her eyes. She warned them all about the new slayer. So they decided they'd take the time to take a break themselves and let the new girl do the dirty work. She did pull Willow to the side and told her about her Cousin and his girlfriend wanting to convince her to stay with them. Willow agreed that maybe she should. But she'd have to see about how things went first. She also told Willow about hearing Oz was there. Then she went home, to get some sleep so she'd be good to leave the next night.
June 12th, 2001
She ended up sleeping most of the way on the plane and was woken up 15 minutes before landing. It was already getting dark. Oz was waiting for them at the terminal. Buffy ran up to him and hugged him. "Hey there. Haven't seen you for some time now."
"Yeah. Been busy getting used to the fact that Willow fell in love with someone else. At least it's nice here. You'll make friends in no time."
"Wow you usually don't say so much at once." Buffy jabbed.
"I know. But you could use a friend right now."
"That obvious?"
"Yep"
"Well at least I don't have to worry about the Hellmouth for now." Buffy yawned out. They were all pretty silent from then on. Buffy pretty much started waking up on the drive from the airport to the Institute. Her eyes grew pretty wide when she saw the size of the mansion. Somehow she didn't expect the place to look so grand. "Wow." was all she could say. 'It's getting dark out though, can't wait to see what it looks like during the day.' She thought. Of course as luck would have it, just as they got there she felt some vamps approaching the gates just as they entered. They seemed to figure the three in the vehicle, and the guy sitting on the steps outside of the building smoking a cigar were easy meal targets. They didn't see the blond girl pull out her stake she had hidden under her pants in her sock. Nor did they expect her to be a Slayer.
Logan was sitting outside in the front smoking one of his many cigars. Enjoying a peaceful evening. When he saw Scott, Jean, Oz, and some new girl show up. 'The girl's cute.' He thought, before noticing 6 others approaching the gate. Unexpectedly they all jumped over the fence. Two of them headed for him, and the other 4 went to the car. At first he thought they may be mutants due to the jumping bit, then he smelled them. They smelled like freshly dead corpses. And their faces changed into very ugly creatures. 'What the, ah fuck, sharp teeth. Vampires. Wait how did I know they were vamps?' He mused. 'Maybe I once ran into them, just can't remember it.' Before he even stood up, the blond girl flew out of the car holding something he couldn't see where he was. She moved with inhuman speed and grace, and quickly dusted the four headed towards her. One of the two coming towards him, yelled out something about her being the 'Slayer,' whatever that was. They quickly forgot him, and headed towards the girl. Big mistake. He brought his claws out and beheaded the two before they even realized he moved. He looked over at the girl who was staring at his claws. "You alright?" He asked
"Yea. Nice claws! Must be handy to have built in weapons." She said while smirking.
"Sometimes." Was his reply, and then he walked over to the van and helped with the bags.
"Hey Logan, this is Buffy, Scott's cousin" Jean said while climbing out of the van.
"More Summers, huh?" He chuckled while running his hand through his dark hair, pushing it out of his face.
"Yep." Buffy replied as she followed Jean inside.
Logan watched the two women walk inside admiring the backsides for a moment before he went in. "Hey Scott, you're one lucky bastard you know that?"
"Why do you say that?" Scott asked.
"Cause you seem to always have beautiful women around you."
"Yeah well, she's my cousin. Almost more like a sister to me. Wish she was here under better circumstances though."
"Oh?"
"Yeah her Mom's gone, and well, the rest you'll find out later on. Let's just say she's been through a lot since she was 15. I'm proud of her, but glad she's safer now. Hopefully she'll stay." He muttered as he went inside.
Inside the mansion Xavier looked out the window, just in time to see Buffy literally turn 4 vampires into dust. Then Logan takes out the other two. Normally he doesn't believe in killing, but when concentrating on their thoughts. They just 'screamed' vampire. 'I knew she was the Slayer, from talking to Oz, and Jean. But I'd never thought I'd ever see them. I'm going to have that girl tested to see if she's a mutant, or if all her abilities really are of supernatural means. Especially since Oz mentioned she's already died at least once. He waited patiently for them to come in. First were the girls, and then Logan and Scott came with the rest of the bags leaving Oz to park the van.
**Hello Miss Summers. I am Professor Xavier** He said to Buffy in her mind.
"Whoa. Didn't expect that." She said. "Nice to meet you, Sir. Thanks, for letting me stay here."
"Not a problem. I would like to talk to you further tomorrow morning, but for now, I think Jean and the guys should help you get settled in." He turned in his wheelchair and looked at Jean. "I think since she's already 20, and graduated from High School, she should get her own room on the floor we're on."
"Alright, Professor. Come on, Buffy, Let's go find you a room." Jean said warmly. While walking Jean realized she'd become fond of Scott's cousin. They had a heart to heart talk before leaving Sunnydale, and she knew a little more than he did. Of course his reaction to the fact that if it wasn't for a friend of hers, she'd be dead right now due to the hands of a master vampire, probably was part of the reason Buffy didn't tell him most of the details. They found an empty room across the hall, from her room. Jean figured it'd help if she was nearby for now. Especially since Buffy had been having some nightmares. 'At least we've gotten her to start eating a little again.' Jean mused. After the guys dropped off the suitcases, they left Buffy alone to get acquainted with the room.
'Wow it's bigger than I thought it would be. Complete with a nice sized bed, dresser, mirror, and it's own bathroom!' Buffy thought with glee. 'And tomorrow afternoon if I can, I'll call everyone back home, and let them know I'm okay. I've got a feeling that Spike's going to be bugging them all until I do so. Buffy briefly thought about unpacking, but realized she was just plain tired. So she opened the suitcases on the floor, grabbed her pajamas, some towels, washcloths, and her shampoo and body wash. Then she headed into the bathroom for a shower. Once she was done with that, she fell asleep.
June 13th, 2001
She didn't stay asleep for more than a couple of hours. Of course sleeping the whole way over didn't help. Nor did the nightmares. So she decided to just stay in bed till early morning. Then she unpacked, and got on some exercise clothing, and went outside to work out. So far it looked like everyone was still in bed. Of course it being only almost 5am probably had something to do with it. First she did some stretching, then flips, kicks in the air, and whatever she felt like doing. Then she decided to jog around the school's grounds. When she started noticing people waking up, she went inside, found her room, took another shower, and got into fresh clothing. She then went downstairs to find the kitchen for something to eat. Luckily someone was cooking bacon, so it really wasn't all that hard to find.
Poking her head around the corner she found a large, blue furry man cooking heaps of food. 'Mental note to self, this guy looks like the type to never piss off.' After a moment she walked into the kitchen fully. "Good morning." She said as cheerfully as she could make herself sound. Which obviously wasn't very cheerful.
"Ah, hello. You have got to be Scott's little cousin I heard about. Though from the way Scott made it sound, I thought you'd be younger."
"Yeah that's me. Though I wish people would stop confusing people commenting on my height rather than age." She smirked. "The name's Buffy. And sorry if that was a poor attempt at a joke"
"I'm Henry McCoy, but just call me Hank" He said while chuckling at her joke. "You're not that short. You're almost the same height as Logan after all."
"He's the guy with the really neat claws, right?"
"Hah! I've never heard anyone call them 'neat' before. But yes, that's him."
"Cool." She mumbled. "Uh, is there any coffee around here?"
"Yep in fact I was about to make some. I like to cook whenever we have someone new show up. My way of welcoming them."
"You're all like a family, huh?" She asked.
"Yes, we are when I think about it. I never regretted the day I met the Professor. Or anyone else who lives here." He rambled on. "Anyhow, the rec-room is through the doors behind you. There's a TV in there, a pool table, and a phone as well that you can use if you want. I'll call you, and everyone else in when breakfast is ready."
"Thanks Mr. McCoy. Could you let me know when the coffee is ready as well? I'm not a people person till I've had coffee these days."
"Not a problem." He replied.
"Thanks!" She said with a grin as she sauntered through the doors into the rec-room. So far, no one else was in there so she was able to control the remote and channel surf. She ended up settling on one of the news shows. After 10 minutes she noticed that it was nothing more than the usual, so she turned the TV off. She was restless, and depressed. Buffy was glad that she came here. She knew she needed to get away from Sunnydale, or Sunny hell. However one looked at it. But she did miss her friends. She sat there on the couch thinking of everyone she's lost since she became a Slayer. First her parents split up, then a lot of her friends, and fellow students at her first High School. Then numerous friends, students, and residents in Sunnydale. Her sister slayer, Kendra. Her Mom, Dawn, and basically she contemplated her whole Slayer life. She felt guilty for pretty much everything. So many good people died because she couldn't do her job well enough in her mind. In a way she didn't think she deserved to even be alive. If she could, she'd go back in time and stop Dawn. She'd not have said goodbye to Dawn, letting her get pushed aside. She'd have been the one to jump. She didn't think Dawn would have sacrificed herself. Dawn was better than she could ever be. She was so lost in thought she didn't even notice someone walking up behind her.
Logan was up early in the morning like usual. He went out for his run and exercise. He had a spot in the woods behind the mansion where he worked out by himself. Of course since everyone else were usually asleep this early helped him have privacy as well. Coming back out of the woods while running he spotted Buffy running around the grounds herself, though not knowing the area yet, she stuck close to the mansion. She didn't notice him, so he watched her work out. She was fast, and could run as silently as he could. Well, from what he saw. He had yet to see her fully in the woods. Eventually, when a few others started stirring around, she went inside.
Eventually he went inside, and smelled the bacon. He rounded the corner and spotted Hank cooking. "Welcoming Breakfast again, huh Hank?"
"Of course. It is. Although so far you and Buffy are the only ones to have noticed so far. Speaking of which, Buffy is in the rec-room right now. Could you tell her the coffee finished brewing? She asked if I could tell her, but I've got my hands full."
"Sure, no problem." Logan chuckled. He walked through the doors and saw her sitting on the couch. She was obviously lost in thought as she didn't even register him being in the room when he moved right in front of her. "Whatcha thinking about, kid?" He asked. Startling her with his gruff voice.
"Uh hi, and I'm not a kid. As for my thoughts, well. Just thinking about my life in general." She muttered. 'Great now even I am starting to brood now.' Her thoughts muttered to her brain.
"Well I came in for Hank to let you know the coffee is ready."
"Thanks." She mumbled as she shuffled into the kitchen. Couple minutes later she came out with a cup of coffee, and sat back down. Not paying attention to Logan channel surfing.
"Damn it, there has got to be something good on TV." Logan grumbled.
"Nah, I already checked. There was only the news, and it was just the usual stuff." She replied.
"At least nothing bad is going on then."
"This is true"
For a moment they just sat there until he got bored flipping through the channels, and he shut the TV off himself. He looked at her for a moment before speaking up again. "Mind if I ask you a question?"
"You just did." She grinned. "But anyway, go ahead, ask away."
"The vamp last night called you the Slayer. What'd he mean by that?"
Buffy grimaced at the question. 'I bet everyone's going to be asking me that.' But decided to answer it anyway to get it out of the way with at least one person. "When I was 15 I became the Vampire Slayer. Basically, I was told that I was the 'Chosen One,' the one girl in the entire world Chosen to have powers to fight against the forces of darkness. Yada yada yada. It's a long speech. A very long boring speech. But it gave me an ability to have cramps when vamps are near by, and an increase of speed, strength, healing, and reflexes. When I was first 'Chosen' I was found by Merrick, who introduced himself as my watcher. He didn't last long against the first master vampire. My second watcher, Giles, who is still alive continued my training when I moved from LA to Sunnydale. Sunnydale sits on top of the Hellmouth, which IS the mouth to hell. Very annoying place, too. Anyway, Giles was more forth coming with information. He admitted to me how most slayers die within their first year of being the Slayer. And really, I did die. I just got better. But still, even though I'm in a way an "over the hill" Slayer, I don't think I'm a good one." She stopped talking to take a swig of her coffee. Before she could even ask if that answered his question, Oz came in.
"Oz, you're up before noon?" She asked surprised.
"Bacon. I smelled bacon."
"Figures."
"And, Buffy, you've saved the world from more than one Apocalypse. Hell I heard from an e-mail Willow sent me, that you went up against a hell goddess recently and won. I think you're probably the best slayer that's ever come around." He stated as he sat down in one of the chairs.
"No I'm not. If I were Merrick Kendra, Dawn, and others would still be alive! Hell maybe Mom wouldn't have developed that tumor, if I had just done what the council wanted me to do, which was leave my family, and friends behind. I should never have made friends in Sunnydale. Then no one would have been hurt. And I should never have been with Angel. He'd not have become Angelus." She muttered out as she walked out to the deck, to be by herself.
Logan watched her walk outside. He was stunned. From what Oz said, she'd done a lot of good. Yet she seemed to blame herself for those who got hurt, and didn't make it. Hell she blamed herself for her Mom's cancer. Not good. But, he wasn't a psychologist, so he wasn't sure what to say. He debated whether to try to talk to her, or to leave her be. But for some reason that he couldn't understand he wanted to get to know her, so eventually he got up, and followed after her. He found her in a corner, trying to keep from crying. "Buffy."
"Yeah"
"If ya ever need to talk, just ask."
"Thanks. But, I refuse to involve anyone else in my problems."
"None of us here are just anyone else. Remember that. Oh, hey I saw you do a light work out this morning." He decided to change the subject.
"You did?" She blushed. "I thought I was the only one up. Or at least the only one outside."
"I was in the woods. I like to do some of my exercises by myself back there. It's quieter that way. The kids here are good, but they complain a lot. And I've yet to see any of them keep up with me in a basic physical work out."
"Really. I bet I could give you a run for your money." Buffy smirked, while slowly cheering up a bit. Fighting and hunting vampires lately seemed to make her feel better lately. Last night's impromptu slaying felt good to her. Though she was afraid the darker side of her was starting to surface. Before she'd just go out on patrol. Now she liked going out, to hunt.
"We'll see about that. I don't know if you could keep up. But I think you'd be closer than most. If last night was any indication."
"In school, I was average. But I loved working out with martial arts, street fighting, and some weapons training as well. Like stakes, swords, crossbows. Even weight training is fun for me. I excel in those. Although it's hard finding any machine that makes me work out for weight lifting."
"Since this is a school for mutants, I'm sure you'll find some good ones here."
"Good. Now if only someone can give me a good fight I'll be happy."
"A fight huh?"
"Yeah I've not had a good workout fight for awhile now. Sometimes I think my abilities have increased. But I was told that's not possible. Giles told me I can't get stronger, faster, or anything like that. Maybe better at the fighting moves, and better aim with weapons. But sometimes, I wonder if he's wrong." 'Hunting vampires is starting to get a bit on the boring side. They're too easy to find in Sunnyhell.' She thought to herself.
"Maybe he is." He paused for a few, looking at the view of the grounds. "Well we should get inside. Breakfast should be ready soon."
"I'm not all that hungry, but Mr. McCoy is going though all that trouble, so I better show up I guess. I'll nibble a bit."
"You've not been eating much lately have you?"
"How'd you know?"
"Kinda obvious just looking at you. You should take better care of yourself."
"I know I know. Scott gave me the same speech when he showed up at my door. I feel like I'm surrounded by a flock of mother hens."
"As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. But seriously eat at least a couple of pancakes, and four slices of bacon."
"Why? Gonna make me?" She grinned at him.
"You'll need the energy for later. I wanna judge how good you are at working out today."
"I'll try then. Just to make sure I can kick your ass if nothing else. No guarantees though!"
"You know what?"
"No, I don't. What?"
"It's nice finally having someone around who's the same height as me."
"I know the feeling." She muttered as they walked inside.
Breakfast for the most part was mostly meeting a lot of the other students. Though most of them weren't all that awake, or too busy eating to do more than say hi. She figured she'd make more friends later on. At least she had Scott, Jean, Oz, and maybe even Logan to talk to now. She contemplated on them during breakfast. Scott was her cousin, but he was more like the older brother she always secretly wanted to have. Jean was becoming like an older sister. Oz, was well Oz. She'd known him since he started dating Willow, and although usually you couldn't read on his face how he was feeling, he had his moments where you could tell he truly cared. Logan seemed to be like her. At least, the Slayer side of herself. She couldn't figure out why, but felt easy to talk to him, and she had just met him the night before. 'Well now I might have someone to talk about fighting techniques. Giles just gets beat up lately.' Mr. McCoy and Professor Xavier were nice, but she didn't really know them. And everyone else, she really didn't know them yet. Then she thought of her friends back in Sunnydale. She hoped they kept the plan on having some downtime. 'God knows they deserve it.' She did still plan on calling them later on. When it wasn't still wicked early. She also hoped they wouldn't be following her. This was something she simply had to do. Mostly for her sanity. The Council's threat didn't scare her, they never could. But she was afraid of what the Council might to do her friends if they were considered in the way while she was gone. She didn't eat much at breakfast. But she did eat some so she'd have the energy to work out, with a second cup of coffee along with the food. Since everyone else got up when they were done, she did too. She even took her dishes into the kitchen and washed them, when a lot of the kids didn't. Since most were still eating, she even washed all the dishes in sink already, as well as all the pans used for cooking. She just didn't know where anything went yet, so she put the clean ones on the counter, ready for whoever had kitchen duty, to put them away. Then she went back to the deck outside to relax for a while.
Eventually Xavier was ready to talk with her. He reached out with his mind to get her attention. **Buffy, if you're ready I'd like to talk with you now.**
Buffy was shocked and not sure where he was or how to respond. Maybe if I thought it? **Can you hear me this way?**
**Yes, quick thinking figuring it out.**
**Uh, thanks, I've never had a conversation in my mind before. Where do I go to find you?**
**Well I usually talk in my office. Right now, I'm just outside the kitchen. If you meet me there I'll show you where the office is.**
**On my way.** 'I'll never get used to someone speaking in my head.' She frowned.
When they got to the office, and she sat down in a chair facing the desk, Xavier ran over the basic rules of the place. He also informed her, that when Hank was ready, that this morning she'd be sent in for a physical as per the rules of staying there. Even if only for a visit. Though she thought it was more to see if they could study here 'slayerness'. Luckily most of it could be done with computers without removal of her clothing. Jean would do anything that involved undressing, afterwards. He also wanted a DNA test done to check for the X-gene. When she wanted to know why, he explained his suspicions that she just might be a mutant, which could explain her keeping her slayer abilities after she died, and Kendra was called. He also tried to talk her into moving there, if she so wanted. She just shrugged and said she'd think on it. She didn't want to talk to much about her life when he inquired. Eventually she just said if he wanted to know some things to ask Oz. She wasn't really in the mood to talk.
After she was done talking to Xavier, he called Hank in to show her to the medical lab. Where he took some of her blood for DNA, and tested her for any diseases. He also took ex-rays. After he was done, Jean came in and did her part of the physical. Including gynecology checks. All in all she was put down as having perfect health. The DNA test would come back a little later. So when she got out of there, Logan was waiting for her.
"Hey, go get workout clothing on. Time to show you our gym, and see what you got." He grinned.
"Finally, fun! I can kick your ass now." And they silently walked back to her room, where he waited outside the door. From there he took her to the gym. Buffy could barely contain her excitement. They seemed to have everything in there. Smirking she recalled a time she was sick of working out. Of course then she was in High School and wanted a normal life. Now she couldn't imagine what one was like anymore.
She saw weight lifting machines that offered up to the amount of a large truck. And there was this one area with equipment that was in a circle. Logan explained to her, that when she punched and kicked them, it measured not only the strength, but also the speed of which it was done. He showed her the punching, and hitting combo he wanted to do. First in slow motion, not really doing it, then he showed her in a more normal pace. Then he asked her to go all out on them. And she did. He was pretty surprised too, because she was really good on her first try. Not as good as him. But then he did have age and experience on her. But if anyone could get even close to keeping up, it'd be her. When they fought with each other, it was more like they stalked, and measured the other up the first time. They ended up fighting 3 times. Logan won the first, and last time, and Buffy won the second time. When they were done they both had huge smiles on their faces.
"You're not bad." Logan stated while staring at her ass whenever her back was turned.
"Well thank you for kicking my ass. Of course now I'm going to have to have to train as much as possible until I can beat you up every single time." She grinned
"You wish. But stick around long enough, and with my help, I'll get ya as close as possible up to my speed. Minus the claws though."
"I am SO jealous of those claws. I am always having problems hiding all my knives and stakes."
"You're the first then, I think." Logan chuckled.
"Hey I'd have loved kicking vamp ass if I had built in tools like that. It'd just have to decapitate them. It'd probably have saved my ass from kicking the bucket by the master."
"Maybe, but you're still around, so don't feel too bad."
"Alright, well I gotta go get changed. Then call my friends before they think I'm suddenly dead or something."
"Didn't you tell them you were coming here?" Logan got a surprised look on his face.
"Yeah I did." She sighed out. "But if they don't hear from me soon, they will come rushing out to 'rescue' me. Plus I really don't want Spike to show up. He's probably calling my house every second to see if I'm home yet."
"He got feelin's for ya then."
"Uh yeah. Would never work out though. Wish he'd see that." Buffy muttered while walking out the door, as fast as possible before the conversation became even more personal. She liked talking about fighting, and she was trying to keep it that way. She couldn't allow anyone else to get involved.
'I wonder what she would say if I asked her out?' Logan mulled over in his brain while watching her leave. 'What the hell am I thinking. I'm older than her, she'd probably just laugh. Wouldn't she? That's it. I'm acting like a lovesick teen. There has got to be something wrong with me.' He growled to himself and he started to leave.
Buffy took only a quick shower for the sweat. Then after she got into clean clothing she grabbed her phone cards and went downstairs. Luckily the phone in the rec-room was a cordless, and it looked like everyone was elsewhere. So first she dialed Giles' number.
"Hello, Giles Residence."
"Hey Giles."
"Buffy! What took you so long to call us? I thought you'd have done so last night. Spike waited around for hours staring at the phone."
"Sorry I was too busy getting settled in, after a little slaying."
"And here I thought you were taking a break from it."
"Well what can I say, we got to the place, the vamps showed up, so I turned them into plant fertilizer."
"Oh well, so when do you plan on coming back?"
"I'm not sure yet. Hell they've been trying to talk me into staying here permanently."
"You're cousin?"
"Yeah, and his girlfriend along with the professor too."
"But your sacred duty. You can't just ignore it!"
"Giles, they've got another Slayer there already. I'm sure she can keep an eye on things now. Glory is gone, no master vamps have even looked twice at Sunnydale now from what I heard at Willy's before I stopped Glory. The fact I dusted Dracula scared a lot of them off. No one there knows I left. Except the group, of course. Besides I can kill off vamps here too. I just don't know if I can be there anymore. If I do stay, I'd like it if you guys visited me sometimes. Hell maybe even move out to this area. You guys are family to me. But living in Sunnydale is starting to kill me. Besides although I'd love to turn the Council into tiny little bits of nothingness right now, they may actually be doing me a favor by giving me the chance to let someone else deal with the Hellmouth."
"I'm not happy about this."
"I know. But this is ultimately MY decision. Besides you're not my watcher anymore, so you can't order me around." She pointed out. "Is Willow, or anyone else there?"
"No, Willow and Tara are at school. And, Xander and Anya are at work. Spike is probably in his crypt right now, but he was looking for you last night. He was freaking out."
"Figures, gone only one day and he's probably already trying to find a way to come bother me. Well tell them all I love them. And I'll try calling when they'll be around in a few days. But I've gotta go for now okay?"
"Alright. I hope you decide to return though."
"Bye Giles!" And Buffy hung up the phone. She didn't realize though, that Logan was on the deck, in an area she couldn't see him. And he had REALLY good hearing. 'So she might not want to go back. I do want to find out about this Council, and rip their heads off if they're a threat.' He heard her start dialing another number.
Buffy decided to call Angel and Cordelia. Angel and her were split up, but he was still a friend. Plus Cordelia wasn't so bad anymore. She'd been starting to feel like she could actually talk to her about some things.
"Angel Investigations. We help the hopeless."
"Cordelia!"
"Buffy? Is that you?"
"The one and only. Is Angel there?"
"No, I'm the only one here right now. Angel's asleep, and everyone else is at home. They don't start showing up till later. I was just doing some research."
"Oh well I want to talk to you too."
"Bout what?"
"I'm not going to be in Sunnydale for awhile."
"Good for you! That place is bad news. For awhile I was afraid you were going to die there."
"You were afraid for me?"
"Yeah. I have been. So where are you at now? LA?"
"Nope, Westchester, New York. With my cousin, and his girlfriend. I'm at the school they teach at."
"Giles must be pissed that you took off again."
"Yeah especially since I told him I might want to move out here, instead of just visiting. Giles gave me the sacred duty speech of course. But the Council found the next Slayer, and she's there now. I could just kick their asses out of Sunnydale, and stay there protecting it, but I…..I don't know if I want to do that anymore. I just dread hearing from Spike, after Giles tells him, and the others about me possibly moving."
"Spike?"
"Yeah seems Spike can't seem to accept no for an answer. I don't know why either. I mean he's a vampire. I'm the Slayer. His enemy! I kill his friends professionally!"
"Damn girl what is it with you and guys. First Angel, the vamp with a soul who's over 200 years old. Angel I can see. I mean with the soul and all. But Spike's only behaving cause of the chip!"
"Don't ask me why. I'm not sure. He did like my Mom though. They used to talk over cups of hot chocolate."
"You're MOM? Whoa."
"Yeah. He was actually upset by her dying."
"So since you're around I'm guessing Dawn's gone, huh?"
"Dawn, she uh…" Buffy started tearing up. "I was going to jump off this huge platform, into the dimensional tear to close it. I told her that I loved her, and she told me not to jump, cause she's not really real. But I loved her like a sister anyway." Buffy really did start crying then. "She caught me off guard, and pushed me out of the way, and jumped herself. I should have found a way to stop her. I should have been the one to die. She turned back into this ball of energy and we didn't even have her body to bury anymore. I'm a failure at being a sister, a daughter, and a friend. Especially at being the Slayer."
"Buffy stop. You're a great person…. Uh, hang on a moment." Buffy tried to calm down while she heard voices in the background. "Hey Buffy, Angel's guardian demon is here, he's annoying at showing up at weird times. Whistler wants to talk to you."
"Uhm, okay….?"
"Hey kid, look the PTB sent the new Slayer to Sunnydale so you could leave and heal. Do so. You're not at fault for those who've been hurt and died. Firstly, you should have been told about Angel's curse. Not even he knew. Stubborn gypsies. Then Angelus would never have showed up. So that's not your fault. Also you didn't cause your Mom's tumor, or your parents divorce. Also Dawn CHOSE to jump. She knew you've still got things to do. Besides she may have been energy, but she had a soul. She will be reborn someday. Last thing they PTB want to let you know is you're not the Slayer anymore. Xavier and friends are right. You ARE a mutant. Although most of your mutant powers are being masked by the slayer abilities you gained. Because of the X-Gene in ya, you kept them, when they should have been lost when you died. Normally at your age they'd be dormant, but work with Xavier, Jean, and that guy Logan you like so much, and it'll punch through the barrier in no time. Though sorry kid, you don't get cool claws."
"Damn" Buffy replied, to which Whistler chuckled. "So what new ability will I get?"
"Sorry can't tell you that. You get to find out all on your own."
"What is it with you guys being all cryptic n' stuff. Is there some kind of 'Frustrate Buffy Club' up there?"
"No, we frustrate everyone. Not just you." Whistler laughed loudly. "Don't worry, Spike will get over you but he IS going to follow you out there. And Angel, well he'll always love you, but he'll be fine. I've got to go now. Neither your or Cord here are to tell Angel or anyone else that I talked to you."
"Okay." And Whistler handed the phone back to Cordelia
"Okay it's me again" Cordelia said. "So tell me what's it like there?"
"Well Oz is here and he's controlling the wolf a lot better now."
"So that's where he's been hiding. And damn I KNEW you were a mutant!" She jabbed.
"Hey!" Buffy snickered. "Anyhow, there's this one guy named Logan. He's cute, and I could talk to him for hours about fighting styles, and how to beat others up. He's my height, can kick my ass, has these REALLY nice claws that come out of his hand. Metal ones. And he's built, with a cute ass." Buffy grinned on the phone while trying to talk quietly so no one would hear. If she only knew the grin Logan had outside on the deck hearing that. She'd probably blush that he heard her, after she kicked his ass for listening in.
"Oh, sounds like you like someone."
"Yeah kinda, but I don't know, he's older than me, by how much I don't know. But I'm sure he's got to have a girlfriend somewhere. He's too cute not to have one. Besides I'm only going to be talking about fighting and good workout routines. Those kinds of things, cause every relationship I've had has just turned out badly, with the slaying fest that always goes on."
"Nice to dream though, huh?"
"Hah, yeah it is. If my cousin knew the way I can just stare at Logan's cute ass, well I'm afraid he'd try to hurt him." Buffy pouted.
"Can't have that now. But you should let someone else get close. Besides you heard what Whistler said. You're not really the Slayer anymore. You can finally have a life!"
"I know but I've done it for so long, I don't think I could do anything else. I've even started to like hunting them."
"Which is why you need to stay the hell away from Sunnydale. Well I gotta go. I'll keep hoping Logan's girlfriend free for you, and that he'll ask you out."
"With my luck, that's not likely. I've obviously got bad luck with men. Besides like I said, it always ends badly for me." Buffy sighed. "Talk to you later. Tell Angel I said hi, and how I'm not in Sunnydale and everything okay?"
"No prob. Bye" And Cordelia hung up the phone.
Buffy put the phone back in its cradle and thinking no one was around curled up and cried a little, thinking about Dawn. At first she didn't notice Logan walking into the room. So she had no idea he came in from the deck. But she was startled when he sat down next to her on the couch. He looked at her for a bit while she tried to stop crying and ramble out that she just had dust in her eye.
"Hey something's on your mind. Don't give me the dust-in-the-eye excuse. You need to talk to someone pretty badly."
"No, I'm fine, besides other than being good at fighting I'm very boring, and uninteresting. As well as very bad at talking" She mumbled.
"C'mon, just say what's on your mind."
"Oh like you should talk. You don't seem like one for much in depth talking about yourself." She pointed out.
"No I guess I'm not. You're too damned observant, you know that?" Logan grumbled, while Buffy looked triumphant. "Anyhow if you're not ready to talk, that's fine, but I hate seeing you upset. At least lets find something to do that'll cheer you up." He said while wiping her tears off her face.
"Give me the ten cent tour of the place, then show me around the town?" She grinned 'And maybe I can find the good places to slay some vampires.' She quietly mused to herself.
"Why not?" And he offered his arm and they took off. After a couple of hours she had the basic layout of the area memorized, so she'd not have to worry about really getting lost anymore. And Logan promised to show her around the woods within a few days as well. But she said she'd figure them out herself. While walking, Buffy felt where a nest was when they passed by it. She promised to herself that she'd go and destroy it with in a couple of days. Every time Logan tried to find out anything about her, she'd always find a way to avoid answering him. She'd point out different places that would be a good spot for an offensive, or defensive mood. And she'd talk about good ways to kill vampires from some position or another. Logan was a bit frustrated by not getting her to talk, but he figured he'd have to be patient. He'd find some way to get her to open up.
She had completely forgotten about lunch, so when it was getting close to dinnertime she was a bit on the hungry side. She would have gone in and made something small for herself, but she was shooed out by Jean who decided to cook spaghetti for the night. She did tell Buffy that she needed to make her way to see Dr. McCoy, about the DNA analysis.
"Well this is a doctor, patient kind of thing, so I'm gonna head upstairs to do some readin' I'll see ya later."
"Thanks. For the tour." Then she hugged him, and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"What was that for?" He asked puzzled.
"For being sweet and kicking my ass earlier, and for showing me around so I didn't have to beg Scott, Jean, or Oz too." She replied while opening the door. She didn't see the huge grin on his face. He even ran into Scott on his way up to his room, and was NICE to him. That of course, freaked out Scott. And he went to go find Jean.
"Hey Scott." She cheerfully said from the stove. "What's up?"
"Logan is actually grinning from ear to ear, and said hi to me nicely. Err, what happened to him today?"
"I don't know. I know he was giving Buffy a quick tour around the town, before I sent her off to find out about her blood test. They seem to be getting along well."
"How well?" He asked suspiciously.
"Well they're not going out far as I could tell, if that's what you're afraid of. But, from the feelings I picked up off of them, they seem to see bits of themselves in each other. Wouldn't surprise me if they did hook up in the future."
"Great that's just what she'd need." Scott sarcastically muttered.
"Oh, it'd not be that bad. They both need someone to make them happy. Besides you'd not have to worry about him trying to be competition for you anymore." Jean smirked.
"She's too young for him."
"She's an adult. She became one at 15, Scott. There are times she seems like she's older than me. Besides you can't run her life for her. If she hooks up with someone it'll be her choice. Not yours."
"Maybe I ought to tell Logan to back off from her." He growled to himself, not realizing he spoke that thought.
"Don't you dare, or you'll sleep alone tonight." She growled back at him. Scott then just left to go mutter around to himself in the rec-room. 'Scott you're going to have to learn she's not your little baby cousin anymore. And I actually do hope they get closer. I know they are severely attracted to each other. The vibes alone…' Jean thought to herself while chuckling 'Now if only they'd truly admit it to themselves. Especially Buffy, that girl seems to want to try to distance herself from everyone, and be close at the same time.'
Back in LA Angel woke up early and came down into the office, where Cordelia had fallen asleep at her desk buried in books. He smiled at her obviously working hard. 'Damn, but she's not the same girl from Sunnydale that she once was.' He thought to himself. Eventually he decided to wake her up. "Cordy, come on, wake up." He gently nudged her.
"Huh? Oh! Angel, Hi!" She exclaimed. She didn't expect to fall asleep like that.
"Maybe you should take the night off, and go home for some rest."
"Perhaps, but first we need to talk. So sit."
"What's wrong?"
"I got a call from Buffy today." Cordy yawned out. Obviously still waking up.
"She okay?" Angel asked nervously. He left her because he knew it'd be better for them to be apart, but he still did, and always would have feelings for her. He'd still rush to her in an emergency, and would even die for her if need be.
"Yeah she is now. Dawn's gone now though. Buffy stopped Glory, but Glory had already opened up the gateway. Buffy was going to jump in to close it, but Dawn pushed her out of the way to do it herself. Buffy's crushed over that." She noticed that Angel became seriously pale.
"Oh god first her Mom, now this."
"Yeah well apparently there's a new slayer in Sunnydale. So Buffy decided to go take a vacation out of town."
"To where? Is she in LA and need to talk to me?"
"No, she's in Westchester, New York. Staying at a school where her cousin teaches. In fact I did a star 6.9. on the phone and got the number here incase you ever want to call her. I looked up information. Evidentially it's called Xavier's School For Gifted Students. Even got the address. She's slowly making friends there, and healing as well. She is considering moving out there permanently, much to Giles' dismay. Poor Giles gets to be the one to tell Spike that. "
"Why would he worry about telling Spike? I mean I know he's got that chip and all, but still."
"Cause he's got a huge crush on Buffy."
"SPIKE?"
"Yeah, kinda funny huh?"
"Maybe we should take a break soon and visit her to make sure she's okay."
"If we do, we should definitely NOT tell Spike. He'd insist on joining us. Not to mention he'd probably see you as a threat if he's got it bad for Buffy." Cordy smirked. "He'll probably find a way to move out there though if she does decide to stay." Cordelia said on her way out the door.
Angel looked at the time, and saw it wasn't too late there. So he dialed the number.
"Hello?" A gruff male voice answered.
"Uh yea an old friend of mine called me earlier, and got my employee earlier. She traced the call and got this number?"
"Name of person you're looking for?"
"Buffy Summers, if she's there could you tell her this is Angel."
"Hang on." Logan looked at the phone as if he wanted to reach through it and strangle the guy. He heard that Buffy once was with this guy. And though he wasn't sure what went on, he got the gist of that he hurt her pretty badly at one point. If what she said to Oz earlier in the morning was any indication. He took in a mental note to look up the name Angelus online. He remembered hearing he became Angelus. "Hey Buffy!" He called to her from across the room.
"Yeah?"
"Someone named Angel is on the phone for you." He saw Buffy blanch.
"How? I didn't give Cordelia the number." She muttered while walking over.
"He said the person you talked to earlier traced the call and found the number."
"Oh. Well I better say hi." She said as he handed the receiver to her. "Hi Angel."
"Hey Buffy, I just spoke to Cordelia a few minutes ago. How are you holding up?"
"Better than I was for a couple of weeks. I'm glad I can be away from the Hellmouth for now at least. I don't think I'm going to live there anymore. Or go back except to get the rest of my stuff, unless the world will literally go to hell if I'm not there."
"Understandable. Though no other slayer, I think can hold a candle to you."
"I'm not that good." Buffy snorted. "Giles and the rest are probably giving birth to wooly mammoths right about now. When Spike finds out later he'll most likely have an entire herd." She heard Angel laugh loudly at that one. "I told Giles I was thinking of staying earlier, and he wasn't exactly a happy little camper."
"I find it hard to believe that Spike actually has a thing for you."
"Yeah I know. He wanted to come along when I left. Took me awhile to talk him out of it."
"Buffy, you know, I'll always love you."
"I know we've had this conversation before. I'll always remember, and I'll always care about you as well, but like you said we DO need to move on. Which means neither one of us can keep bringing that subject up. It just stirs up hurt feelings."
"I'm sorry. I know I'll stop."
"Thanks. Oh hey, something I got to tell Giles in a few days. I got a DNA test done today to test my genes. I'm actually not a Slayer anymore."
"Huh? But how could you defeat Glory then?" Buffy slipped further outside, when she noticed her cousin trying to slip closer to hear what was going on, and then she closed the door and talked quietly knowing Angel could hear her.
"Turns out I'm really a mutant. And when the master killed me, the spirit of the Slayer really did fully leave me. But my mutant gene kept the changes, So, the slayer spirit semi-hung around cause of it for a while. Cause it knew I was still fighting for what it believed in. After Glory I felt her leave for good. So I'm probably not going to have anymore of the Slayer prophecy dreams. But I've still got my powers. The professor here thinks that even though I'm past puberty, there's still a chance my actual mutant powers may emerge. I guess they've been trying, but the Slayer bit kinda put a wall in front of them."
"Wow the things you learn about your friends." Angel chuckled.
"Yeah, maybe the info will get Giles to lay off of me. He was giving me the sacred duty speech bit today." She snorted.
"Hey I was thinking that maybe Cordelia and I could go out and visit you for a few days. See how you're doing and such. You could use some friends after everything."
"Sure, but not right away." She could just see the hurt look on Angel's face. "I need time to adjust first though. And I've got my cousin here. Plus Oz is here too, so I'm not completely alone."
"Oz is there? Is he a mutant too?"
"No, but his werewolf nature does consider him special."
"Well call and let me know when a good time is, okay?"
"Sure, not a problem. Uh my cousin is getting antsy wondering who I'm talking too. I haven't told him about us, and I don't want him eves dropping and asking too many questions."
"Afraid how he'll take you having been with a vampire?" Angel asked sadly.
"Not so much that, but his girlfriend has some empathy and telepathic abilities. Telekinetic too, but if I start talking about us, she'd pick up on what happened with Angelus. He bout had a coronary when I told him how the master killed me few years' back. He was ready to resurrect the master just to beat him to death. I don't even wanna think bout what he'd try to do to you."
"Ah, good point. Well talk to you another time. Take care Buffy."
"You two, and keep kicking demon ass, Angel. Bye" And she hung up the phone. Before walking in she looked up into the sky and spotted a few stars. Then she went back inside dreading her cousin's questions.
"So who's Angel?" He asked. 'Gee how'd I know he'd ask that' She thought wryly to herself.
"An old friend. I uh, called to tell them about me leaving and visiting here. Before they thought something happened to me. They don't live in Sunnydale anymore, so I never told them I was leaving for a while. Angel wasn't in earlier, but I talked to Cordelia, an old school mate. And he was just checking up on me making sure I was okay, after the whole Glory bit."
"You never did tell me who or what Glory was." Scott muttered while watching Buffy blanch at the question.
"Glory's full name was Glorificus. She was a Hell Goddess, bent on getting the key to open a portal to bring hell on earth. She came around a few months before Mom showed signs of the brain tumor. Anyhow that's not a subject I want to think about." She stated while walking out of the rec- room, before her over-protective cousin could ask anymore questions.
Logan made his way to one of the classrooms with a computer lab. He accessed the Internet and looked up Angelus under vampire lore, and other sites. Normally he hated the Internet, but he just HAD to find out about this guy. He couldn't figure it out. 'Damn, I'm pathetic lately. I'm starting to act territorial, and I've not even asked her out. If Scott knew he'd try to get my head on a silver platter.' He mused while waiting for site to load up. He was glad when he overheard her tell people she talked to that she didn't really want to return to Sunnydale, but something rubbed him the wrong way when he heard the guy's voice. He had a feeling he'd be trouble later on. When the sites finally did load up, although it wasn't much, what he did find shook him up a bit. Evidentially Angelus was one of the supposed more violent, and sadistic psychotic vampires out there. 'Damn girl you got mixed up with this one? He had best pray I never meet him.' Eventually he logged off, and went to bed. He didn't sleep to well though thinking about all the harm he wanted to inflict on Angelus.
A group of all sorts of demons, vampires, warlocks, witches and the like met up in an abandoned warehouse in LA. They were sick of Angel always getting in their way, messing all their plans up. They decided they had to do something about it. Angel always seemed to make it out of every situation alive. He was constantly getting stronger, more powerful. So instead of again trying to kill him, they decided to find a way to have his soul removed again. It took a week, but they came up with one. Angel was no more. Angelus was reborn. Now, maybe they could continue on with their plans for the City of Angels.
June 20th, 2001
Angel was alone in the office. It was still nighttime, but everyone was given the night off. He was sitting alone at his desk contemplating last week's conversation with Buffy on the phone. He realized that she was finally going to start truly moving on. And although part of him wanted her to, and knew she needed too, it hurt. He was still in love with her and always would be. All of a sudden he felt like something was pulling on him. Then he realized what it was. His soul was leaving. "No, not again." He shuddered and fell to the floor. He woke up about 10 minutes later as Angelus. "Whoever got rid of the soul, I thank you from afar." He grinned sadistically. "Buffy's moving on now huh? I'll have to see about that. I never did get to finish my work with her. She's still going to be my masterpiece." Angelus grabbed the keys to his darkly tinted car, and took off. Headed for Buffy in her new home. "Must find some friends along the way." He laughs as he pulls away from his hotel.