Title: An End To All
Author: Angelus
E-mail: angelus1317@hotmail.com (Please put "An End To All" on the subject line.)
Subject: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel
Category: BSR
Rating: PG-13 - one short scene only.
Summary: Buffy and the Scoobies head down to L.A. to aid in the situation with The Beast. They think they know what they're walking into, but they have no idea.
Spoilers: Pretty much don't read if you haven't been watching either show recently. It's completely spoiler-ridden.
Archive: Anywhere, just ask me first.
Disclaimer: Yeah, right, sure I own 'em. In my dreams. Buffy, Spike, Dawn, Willow, Xander, Anya, Tara, Cordelia, Connor, Angel, and any other characters mentioned here are the property of Joss Whedon, WGN/UPN, and Mutant Enemy Inc. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's notes: This is my spin on how I want things to turn out in the end. C/A, B/S, all the way. Nothing much else to say. Oh, but I don't really know what street Giles lives on, so I named it Somerset Lane.
IMPORTANT Author's Notes: As you can see, this is a Buffy/Angel crossover. So, by a very precise scientific method (known to most as "eeny-meeny-miney-
moe"), I decided that I would post it under the Buffy section. This note is to inform you all that after the next two chapters are posted, it will be moving back to the Buffy section, classified as a Buffy/Spike romance/drama. It will NOT return to the Angel section. I'm sorry if this creates any problems or inconveniences, but a story can't be in two places at the same time, right? Well, at lease according to ff.net. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it. If you don't watch Buffy, however, you might not get very much out of this story, especially since the first two chapters are Buffy-centric.
Dedication: To Angie, the only person I know right now that is real and true and honest. And, consequently, just awesome as hell. I love you. So much. I can't thank you enough for just being there and being you.
~*~
Buffy was in heaven when the phone rang. Or, rather, Spike's arms, but close enough. His mouth was on her breast and his hand was creeping its way up her thigh and she swore that if he didn't just stop teasing her, she was going to have to kill him. But the bloody phone just kept ringing and...wait a minute. Bloody? Dammitt, now she was starting to talk like him.
"Dawnie, could you get that?" she shouted, proud at how normal her voice sounded. But then Spike's fingers brushed across the front of her thin cotton panties and she gasped, all thoughts of the phone forgotten. Approximately two rings and ten seconds later, it stopped, just as Spike entered her.
*Hope it wasn't anything important,* he thought.
~*~
Dawn sighed as she moved to grab the receiver. Getting the phone was supposed to be Buffy's job, just in case the school called wanting to know where she was. But she had seen her sister disappear up to her room about half an hour ago. Five minutes later, Spike had followed. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on.
"Hello?" Dawn spoke into the phone, trying her best to sound sick.
"Dawnie?" replied a muffled, staticky, but ultimately familiar voice.
"Angel?!" the teenager exclaimed. He chuckled.
"Yeah, it's me," he said. "Listen, is your sister home?" Dawn paused.
"Yeah, she's here, but she's kind of - " And then he hung up. Dawn frowned, staring confusedly at the receiver in her hand. From across the room, Willow looked up.
"Angel?!" she echoed Dawn's earlier sentiment, clearly just as shocked. Dawn nodded.
"We should probably tell Buffy," Kennedy suggested.
"Right. I'll go," Xander volunteered.
"No, I'll go," Dawn tried to protest, but Xander was already headed up the stairs. She bit her lip, thinking desperately of a way to stop him. But luckily, Buffy met him halfway as she was coming down, Spike trailing behind her. Xander glanced suspiciously from one to the other before dismissing the notion as impossible and focusing on more important matters at hand.
"You got a phone call," he said, as the three of them sat down in the living room.
"From who?" Buffy asked.
"Angel," Willow supplied softly. Her best friend's eyes went wide. Beside her, Spike's fists clenched.
"What did he want?" he asked gruffly. Xander directed the vampire's attention to Dawn with a wave of his hand.
"I don't know exactly," the girl admitted. "He hung up on me." Buffy frowned.
"Why?"
"I don't know that either."
"Tell me *exactly* what he said."
"Okay, I picked up, he recognized my voice, he told me it was him, he asked if you were here. I said yes, he said 'great', then he hung up."
The Slayer's brow furrowed in concentration. Despite how close she and Angel had become as friends over the years, they rarely spoke. It was just...too painful, she guessed. Still. She doubted it would ever not be, really. So if he was calling, it had to be something important. Probably life-threatening. She silently cursed herself for not answering earlier.
"You're sure that was all?" Buffy asked her sister. Dawn nodded.
"That's it," she confirmed. "But he sounded...I don't know. Funny. Not like Angel."
Her mind made up, Buffy reached for the phone. As she dialed the number from memory, Spike stood and walked out. Her heart went out to him, and while she wished that she could chase after him and explain the nessecity of this call and the depth of her yet-unspoken feelings towards him, there just wasn't enough time. Something was going on and she needed to get to the bottom of it. Spike's stubbornness and jealousy would just have to take a number for the time being.
On the fifth ring, Cordelia answered.
"Angel Investigations," she said. Buffy didn't fail to note the lack of enthusiasm in her voice, but she assumed for the moment that it was just Cordelia being Cordelia.
"Where's Angel?" she asked. There was a long pause before the brunette spoke again, so softly that Buffy could barely hear her.
"Angel's gone," she said. And only now did Buffy hear the weariness in the other girl's voice; the tears threatening to spill over any moment. This was a far cry from the Cordy they all knew and loved to hate. A million questions spun through Buffy's mind, and she realized that the situation in L.A. was much, much worse than she had been expecting.
"Tell me what happened," she requested. Cordelia snorted.
"You got a few years?" she joked weakly.
"I've got as long as you need."
~*~
Spike was at the sink when Dawn entered the kitchen, his back to her, a package of blood in one hand and a cigarette in the other, his whole body tense.
"You know you're not allowed to have cigarettes in the house," Dawn admonished. Spike ignored her, and the teenager let out an exasperated sigh, as teenagers were so good at doing.
"She's not going to go running back to him," she tried again. Still Spike didn't turn around, but this time at least he answered her.
"You don't know the half of it," he muttered. Dawn rolled her eyes, another patented teenager mannerism. For someone who had loved over two hundred and fifty years, he sure had a knack for acting like a twelve-year-old.
"Spike, I know what happened between Angel and Buffy, I know what happened between you and Buffy. And who is she with now?"
"Only because she can't be with him."
"Please, Spike. Wake up! Buffy loves you."
Spike gave a dry laugh. "I know you'd love for you, me, and Big Sis to be a family, Bit, but it's not in the cards. Vampire, vampire slayer. We've worked this equation before."
Dawn approached her surrogate brother, coming to stand next to him at the sink and turning him to face her.
"What math class were you in?" she asked. "Because I was told that all you have to do is change the variable. Work the equation again, and you've got a completely different answer."
"And what's that new variable?" Spike asked, clearly playing along to humor her.
"Your soul." With a knowing smirk, Spike finished off the blood pack and moved to the other side of the kitchen towards the door.
"Buffy doesn't give a damn about my soul," he said. "I went through hell and back to get it, just so that I would be good enough for her, and she treats me as if nothing's changed."
Dawn sighed. "Spike, you're acting like a child," she said bluntly. "You can be depressed and glowery and narcissistic all you like, trying to be the Big Bad, but you're not. You have a soul. And even without the soul - sorry to break it to you, but you haven't been evil in years. Yeah, things between you and Buffy ended badly, but it was nobody's fault. I've heard the stories and the excuses. You drove each other crazy - it wasn't a relationship, it was just sex. Now you have a chance at something real and you're running scared? Real mature. But hey, if you wanna run, go right ahead. Be my guest. Just realize what you're running from. Buffy had forgiven you. She's forgiven and forgotten and she loves you, but you're obviously too stupid to realize that. So if you want to run, run. Just don't expect us to be here when you come running right back."
For a moment, Spike just stared at her in awe. The girl who had once been his Nibblet had suddenly grown up right under her nose, blossoming into the radiant young woman standing before him, hands on her hips, head cocked to the side, eyes flashing in anger, looking for all the world like her big sister.
Buffy...
His blanket was still on the counter. He hadn't used it in weeks, but he grabbed it now, to shield him from the afternoon sun.
And he ran away.
~*~
Stunned, Buffy flopped back onto the couch, unable to believe her own ears.
"Need a minute?" Cordy asked knowingly.
"Try a century," Buffy replied wryly. She knew Angel had moved on; she wanted him to. But to *Cordelia*? And now Angelus was loose and Connor was a teenager and Cordelia was half-demon and Faith was out of prison...
"Wow," was all Buffy could manage out.
"You're telling me."
Another pause. "So do you want us to come down? It sounds like you guys could use some help."
"*Can* you? I mean I've heard all about the situation down there with the First, I wouldn't want you to leave something like that unattended."
"No, we have a team that can stay here, keep an eye on things. It's actually been pretty quiet lately."
"You're sure?"
"It's Angel."
"Right." Pause. "So...what's new with you?" Buffy chuckled. This was new.
"Not much."
"And by not much you mean boning Spike, correct?"
"What?!" Buffy exclaimed. "How did you..."
"Wesley."
"And how does *he* know?"
"Giles."
"Ah. There's not be any chance anything in the Watcher diaries about a Slayer killing her watcher, is there?" Now it was Cordelia's turn to chuckle, albeit lightly.
"Don't think so."
"Well, there may just be now." Pause. This situation just kept getting more and more surreal.
"Vampires," Cordy laughed. "And we're supposed to be the good guys, huh?"
"Supposedly," Buffy agreed. "What is it about them?" In all of history, in all the earth, there have been two vampires with souls. Two. I'm the freaking Slayer and I've fallen in love with both of them. What does that say about me? Why does this keep happening?"
"Because they're gorgeous and they live forever?" Cordelia suggested bluntly. This time when Buffy laughed, it was a real laugh. This wasn't the shallow, bitchy Cordelia of Sunnydale High. This was an older, more mature Cordelia.
"How's he doing?" she asked, not even needing to say his name. "I mean...how was he? Before all this started?"
"Good. Well, as good as Angel can get, you know. For about a week there, we were actually happy. All of us. And then this beast appeared and things spun out of control."
"And Connor? Last I saw of him, he was just a baby. And now..."
"Now he's a teenager. God help us all." The statement was casual, but Buffy could hear the tension in her...friend's voice. Friend...after all these years, after all the whining and the bickering and the insults, she and Cordelia had suddenly become friends. Brought together by their one common idiosyncrasy: falling in love with vampires.
"What?" she asked. Something about Connor was making Cordy nervous.
To her surprise, the former cheerleader's voice began to waver and catch as she spoke. "Before Angel lost his soul, I..." She choked, then whispered the last four words as if she was scared of them. And with good reason.
"I slept with Connor," she confessed. Buffy was too stunned to say anything. She had prepared herself for the worst, but she had to admit that she wouldn't in a million years seen *that* coming. Cordy went on, as if trying to apologize. "And Angel saw. We yelled and we fought and I never got a chance to tell him..." She stopped, afraid of admitting the words, to Buffy or herself. But the Slayer knew what was on the tip of her tongue.
"You love him," she stated quietly, scarcely able to believe the words. Cordelia was in love with Angel. It didn't seem possible. But then again, neither did this entire situation.
"Yes," Cordelia murmured. "I know it's stupid, but - "
"No," Buffy interrupted. "It's not stupid. Falling in love with Angel was one of the easiest things I've ever done in my entire life. Making that love last, and survive everything that was thrown at us? *That* was the hard part. But we've changed. I've changed, Angel's changed, and by God you've changed. My time with Angel is over. But who's to say that the two of you couldn't make it work? I won't lie to you, it's going to be difficult and frustrating and scary, but in the end? It's worth it. Even if you don't make it very long...its worth it."
"'Tis better to have loved and lost than never loved at all," Cordy quoted.
"Exactly. I wouldn't give up the time I had with Angel for anything. But I wouldn't drop everything just to go be with him if the opportunity came up, either. Being with Angel, and going though what I did after he left, and while he was Angelus...it was just something I needed to do to realize - "
"That it's okay to love another vampire?"
Buffy sighed. "I guess so," she admitted.
"You know, I never did hear the whole story on Spike. All I've heard are the bare details. To hear it from the source might be nice."
"Got a few lifetimes to spare?" Buffy asked wryly.
"Always."
~*~
Spike sighed as he wandered the dark streets of Sunnydale. It was late and he was hungry. Unfortunately, all of his blood was back at the Summers' house. As was his money, he realized forlornly as he passed the butcher's shop.
*Figures*, he thought to himself. *Now I'll have to go knocking at her door pleading for help. Brilliant, you git, just brilliant.* But as he rounded the corner, he realized there was still one more person who would take him in.
Giles. Granted, the vampire and the Watcher were far from being...well, *friendly*, but his apartment had become somewhat of a solace for Spike if he needed to escape the chaos of Slayerette central every now and then. Call him a softie, but he rather missed living with good old Rupert - it was nice to have a fellow Englishman around. Plus there was a television with cable, a couch with his name on it, and an opportunity for some quality conversation. The two of them had bonded, amazingly; over the Motherland and demons and a mutual love and respect for the Slayer. Call it an understanding of sorts. They could stand to be in the same room without trying to kill each other, at least. Well, that and, if he wasn't mistaken, there was a pack of blood still left in the fridge.
Spike turned down Somerset Lane.
~*~
"And that's the end?" Cordelia asked incredulously.
"For now," Buffy replied.
"Except for the part where you fell in love with him all over again."
"What?"
"It's in your voice, the way you talk when you talk about him. You still love him, don't you? Or maybe you never stopped."
"I think, now that I'm back and I accept it and I'm happy, that now I'm more ready for a relationship. It wasn't love before, not from my side - it was just sex. But now...I don't know. Something's changed. And it's not just the soul, either, it's just...the situation. Finally, the timing is right, and things are really just starting to...click. You know?"
"So when are you going to tell him?" Buffy paused uncertainly. "Oh, come on, you have to tell him sometime."
"I just...feel like we're stuck in the same old rut sometimes. Like we're back at the beginning where if I admit anything, he'd insist on telling everyone."
"He's a different person now," Cordy pointed out.
"Yes he is," Buffy agreed.
"And telling everyone...would it really be so bad? If he's good and you love him?"
"Maybe not...What about Wesley and the others - do they know?" Cordelia laughed dismissively.
"They knew before we did."
"And Angel? Have you told him?"
"Yeah."
"Oh. How did that go?"
"He said it back, if that's what you're asking. Surprisingly enough, he actually said it first. And then we took away his soul."
"God..." Buffy swallowed hard. Back in high school, she'd thought that Cordelia could never hope to understand that she was going through with Angel. Now the other girl's pain easily rivaled her own. "At least you have that," she said lamely. Cordy sighed.
"What a boat we're in, huh?" she asked. "You've got the man you love right beside you but you can't make yourself tell him. I did tell him and now he's a homicidal maniac."
"Vampires," Buffy concluded. "Can't live with 'em..."
"Can't live without 'em."
~*~
The house was empty when Spike entered. "Guess old Ripper's having himself a night out," he muttered. Oh, well. There was still blood and liquor. Moving into the kitchen, Spike got himself a glass and set about mixing a packet of blood with half a bottle of vodka. Collapsing into Giles' favorite armchair, he flipped on the telly and proceeded to drink himself into a stupor. The world was falling apart around him and Buffy was about to go running back to his grandsire's arms. Eternal unlife really sucked.
~*~
As she hung up the phone, Buffy glanced at the clock, and was shocked to see that she and Cordelia had been talking for nearly four hours.
"Wow," Willow commented, making the same observation. "That long on the phone with Cordelia? Who'd-a-thunk-it?"
"And without storming over there and strangling her mid-sentence," Xander chimed in. "I can't say I could show the same restraint. I am *so* glad that woman is all the way in L.A. The less I see of her, the better." He took one look at Buffy's expression. "We're going down there, aren't we?" he asked.
"Yeah," the Slayer replied.
"Are you sure that's smart?" Willow piped up. "I mean, shouldn't we be here to watch over the seal and everything?"
"Robin can handle it. We'll leave Andrew and a few of the Potentials with him and he should be more than okay."
"Buffy, what's going on down there?" Xander asked. Buffy sighed.
"The short version?" she began. "Big, unkillable demon that Angel used to know when he was Angelus. He couldn't remember anything about him because of some sort of spell that was cast to erase all memories or information about him. Because Angelus was Angel at the time the spell was cast, he wasn't affected. Wesley found a shaman who turned Angel back into Angelus. Someone stole his soul, he escaped, and now he's working for the beast."
The blank expressions Buffy received pretty much mirrored her own reaction to the news when she had heard it. "Yeah," she agreed. "I know. And they need us down there ASAP. So we'll leave tomorrow, first thing. Xander, you find the transportation; Willow, you wait for Giles and Dawn and the Potentials to get back; I'll go tell Andrew and Robin. Understand?" Her two best friends nodded. "Allright then. Off we go. To L.A."
"Once more unto the breach," Xander muttered to Willow under his breath.
"We few," she responded. "Oh, we happy few."
~*~
Author: Angelus
E-mail: angelus1317@hotmail.com (Please put "An End To All" on the subject line.)
Subject: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel
Category: BSR
Rating: PG-13 - one short scene only.
Summary: Buffy and the Scoobies head down to L.A. to aid in the situation with The Beast. They think they know what they're walking into, but they have no idea.
Spoilers: Pretty much don't read if you haven't been watching either show recently. It's completely spoiler-ridden.
Archive: Anywhere, just ask me first.
Disclaimer: Yeah, right, sure I own 'em. In my dreams. Buffy, Spike, Dawn, Willow, Xander, Anya, Tara, Cordelia, Connor, Angel, and any other characters mentioned here are the property of Joss Whedon, WGN/UPN, and Mutant Enemy Inc. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's notes: This is my spin on how I want things to turn out in the end. C/A, B/S, all the way. Nothing much else to say. Oh, but I don't really know what street Giles lives on, so I named it Somerset Lane.
IMPORTANT Author's Notes: As you can see, this is a Buffy/Angel crossover. So, by a very precise scientific method (known to most as "eeny-meeny-miney-
moe"), I decided that I would post it under the Buffy section. This note is to inform you all that after the next two chapters are posted, it will be moving back to the Buffy section, classified as a Buffy/Spike romance/drama. It will NOT return to the Angel section. I'm sorry if this creates any problems or inconveniences, but a story can't be in two places at the same time, right? Well, at lease according to ff.net. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it. If you don't watch Buffy, however, you might not get very much out of this story, especially since the first two chapters are Buffy-centric.
Dedication: To Angie, the only person I know right now that is real and true and honest. And, consequently, just awesome as hell. I love you. So much. I can't thank you enough for just being there and being you.
~*~
Buffy was in heaven when the phone rang. Or, rather, Spike's arms, but close enough. His mouth was on her breast and his hand was creeping its way up her thigh and she swore that if he didn't just stop teasing her, she was going to have to kill him. But the bloody phone just kept ringing and...wait a minute. Bloody? Dammitt, now she was starting to talk like him.
"Dawnie, could you get that?" she shouted, proud at how normal her voice sounded. But then Spike's fingers brushed across the front of her thin cotton panties and she gasped, all thoughts of the phone forgotten. Approximately two rings and ten seconds later, it stopped, just as Spike entered her.
*Hope it wasn't anything important,* he thought.
~*~
Dawn sighed as she moved to grab the receiver. Getting the phone was supposed to be Buffy's job, just in case the school called wanting to know where she was. But she had seen her sister disappear up to her room about half an hour ago. Five minutes later, Spike had followed. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on.
"Hello?" Dawn spoke into the phone, trying her best to sound sick.
"Dawnie?" replied a muffled, staticky, but ultimately familiar voice.
"Angel?!" the teenager exclaimed. He chuckled.
"Yeah, it's me," he said. "Listen, is your sister home?" Dawn paused.
"Yeah, she's here, but she's kind of - " And then he hung up. Dawn frowned, staring confusedly at the receiver in her hand. From across the room, Willow looked up.
"Angel?!" she echoed Dawn's earlier sentiment, clearly just as shocked. Dawn nodded.
"We should probably tell Buffy," Kennedy suggested.
"Right. I'll go," Xander volunteered.
"No, I'll go," Dawn tried to protest, but Xander was already headed up the stairs. She bit her lip, thinking desperately of a way to stop him. But luckily, Buffy met him halfway as she was coming down, Spike trailing behind her. Xander glanced suspiciously from one to the other before dismissing the notion as impossible and focusing on more important matters at hand.
"You got a phone call," he said, as the three of them sat down in the living room.
"From who?" Buffy asked.
"Angel," Willow supplied softly. Her best friend's eyes went wide. Beside her, Spike's fists clenched.
"What did he want?" he asked gruffly. Xander directed the vampire's attention to Dawn with a wave of his hand.
"I don't know exactly," the girl admitted. "He hung up on me." Buffy frowned.
"Why?"
"I don't know that either."
"Tell me *exactly* what he said."
"Okay, I picked up, he recognized my voice, he told me it was him, he asked if you were here. I said yes, he said 'great', then he hung up."
The Slayer's brow furrowed in concentration. Despite how close she and Angel had become as friends over the years, they rarely spoke. It was just...too painful, she guessed. Still. She doubted it would ever not be, really. So if he was calling, it had to be something important. Probably life-threatening. She silently cursed herself for not answering earlier.
"You're sure that was all?" Buffy asked her sister. Dawn nodded.
"That's it," she confirmed. "But he sounded...I don't know. Funny. Not like Angel."
Her mind made up, Buffy reached for the phone. As she dialed the number from memory, Spike stood and walked out. Her heart went out to him, and while she wished that she could chase after him and explain the nessecity of this call and the depth of her yet-unspoken feelings towards him, there just wasn't enough time. Something was going on and she needed to get to the bottom of it. Spike's stubbornness and jealousy would just have to take a number for the time being.
On the fifth ring, Cordelia answered.
"Angel Investigations," she said. Buffy didn't fail to note the lack of enthusiasm in her voice, but she assumed for the moment that it was just Cordelia being Cordelia.
"Where's Angel?" she asked. There was a long pause before the brunette spoke again, so softly that Buffy could barely hear her.
"Angel's gone," she said. And only now did Buffy hear the weariness in the other girl's voice; the tears threatening to spill over any moment. This was a far cry from the Cordy they all knew and loved to hate. A million questions spun through Buffy's mind, and she realized that the situation in L.A. was much, much worse than she had been expecting.
"Tell me what happened," she requested. Cordelia snorted.
"You got a few years?" she joked weakly.
"I've got as long as you need."
~*~
Spike was at the sink when Dawn entered the kitchen, his back to her, a package of blood in one hand and a cigarette in the other, his whole body tense.
"You know you're not allowed to have cigarettes in the house," Dawn admonished. Spike ignored her, and the teenager let out an exasperated sigh, as teenagers were so good at doing.
"She's not going to go running back to him," she tried again. Still Spike didn't turn around, but this time at least he answered her.
"You don't know the half of it," he muttered. Dawn rolled her eyes, another patented teenager mannerism. For someone who had loved over two hundred and fifty years, he sure had a knack for acting like a twelve-year-old.
"Spike, I know what happened between Angel and Buffy, I know what happened between you and Buffy. And who is she with now?"
"Only because she can't be with him."
"Please, Spike. Wake up! Buffy loves you."
Spike gave a dry laugh. "I know you'd love for you, me, and Big Sis to be a family, Bit, but it's not in the cards. Vampire, vampire slayer. We've worked this equation before."
Dawn approached her surrogate brother, coming to stand next to him at the sink and turning him to face her.
"What math class were you in?" she asked. "Because I was told that all you have to do is change the variable. Work the equation again, and you've got a completely different answer."
"And what's that new variable?" Spike asked, clearly playing along to humor her.
"Your soul." With a knowing smirk, Spike finished off the blood pack and moved to the other side of the kitchen towards the door.
"Buffy doesn't give a damn about my soul," he said. "I went through hell and back to get it, just so that I would be good enough for her, and she treats me as if nothing's changed."
Dawn sighed. "Spike, you're acting like a child," she said bluntly. "You can be depressed and glowery and narcissistic all you like, trying to be the Big Bad, but you're not. You have a soul. And even without the soul - sorry to break it to you, but you haven't been evil in years. Yeah, things between you and Buffy ended badly, but it was nobody's fault. I've heard the stories and the excuses. You drove each other crazy - it wasn't a relationship, it was just sex. Now you have a chance at something real and you're running scared? Real mature. But hey, if you wanna run, go right ahead. Be my guest. Just realize what you're running from. Buffy had forgiven you. She's forgiven and forgotten and she loves you, but you're obviously too stupid to realize that. So if you want to run, run. Just don't expect us to be here when you come running right back."
For a moment, Spike just stared at her in awe. The girl who had once been his Nibblet had suddenly grown up right under her nose, blossoming into the radiant young woman standing before him, hands on her hips, head cocked to the side, eyes flashing in anger, looking for all the world like her big sister.
Buffy...
His blanket was still on the counter. He hadn't used it in weeks, but he grabbed it now, to shield him from the afternoon sun.
And he ran away.
~*~
Stunned, Buffy flopped back onto the couch, unable to believe her own ears.
"Need a minute?" Cordy asked knowingly.
"Try a century," Buffy replied wryly. She knew Angel had moved on; she wanted him to. But to *Cordelia*? And now Angelus was loose and Connor was a teenager and Cordelia was half-demon and Faith was out of prison...
"Wow," was all Buffy could manage out.
"You're telling me."
Another pause. "So do you want us to come down? It sounds like you guys could use some help."
"*Can* you? I mean I've heard all about the situation down there with the First, I wouldn't want you to leave something like that unattended."
"No, we have a team that can stay here, keep an eye on things. It's actually been pretty quiet lately."
"You're sure?"
"It's Angel."
"Right." Pause. "So...what's new with you?" Buffy chuckled. This was new.
"Not much."
"And by not much you mean boning Spike, correct?"
"What?!" Buffy exclaimed. "How did you..."
"Wesley."
"And how does *he* know?"
"Giles."
"Ah. There's not be any chance anything in the Watcher diaries about a Slayer killing her watcher, is there?" Now it was Cordelia's turn to chuckle, albeit lightly.
"Don't think so."
"Well, there may just be now." Pause. This situation just kept getting more and more surreal.
"Vampires," Cordy laughed. "And we're supposed to be the good guys, huh?"
"Supposedly," Buffy agreed. "What is it about them?" In all of history, in all the earth, there have been two vampires with souls. Two. I'm the freaking Slayer and I've fallen in love with both of them. What does that say about me? Why does this keep happening?"
"Because they're gorgeous and they live forever?" Cordelia suggested bluntly. This time when Buffy laughed, it was a real laugh. This wasn't the shallow, bitchy Cordelia of Sunnydale High. This was an older, more mature Cordelia.
"How's he doing?" she asked, not even needing to say his name. "I mean...how was he? Before all this started?"
"Good. Well, as good as Angel can get, you know. For about a week there, we were actually happy. All of us. And then this beast appeared and things spun out of control."
"And Connor? Last I saw of him, he was just a baby. And now..."
"Now he's a teenager. God help us all." The statement was casual, but Buffy could hear the tension in her...friend's voice. Friend...after all these years, after all the whining and the bickering and the insults, she and Cordelia had suddenly become friends. Brought together by their one common idiosyncrasy: falling in love with vampires.
"What?" she asked. Something about Connor was making Cordy nervous.
To her surprise, the former cheerleader's voice began to waver and catch as she spoke. "Before Angel lost his soul, I..." She choked, then whispered the last four words as if she was scared of them. And with good reason.
"I slept with Connor," she confessed. Buffy was too stunned to say anything. She had prepared herself for the worst, but she had to admit that she wouldn't in a million years seen *that* coming. Cordy went on, as if trying to apologize. "And Angel saw. We yelled and we fought and I never got a chance to tell him..." She stopped, afraid of admitting the words, to Buffy or herself. But the Slayer knew what was on the tip of her tongue.
"You love him," she stated quietly, scarcely able to believe the words. Cordelia was in love with Angel. It didn't seem possible. But then again, neither did this entire situation.
"Yes," Cordelia murmured. "I know it's stupid, but - "
"No," Buffy interrupted. "It's not stupid. Falling in love with Angel was one of the easiest things I've ever done in my entire life. Making that love last, and survive everything that was thrown at us? *That* was the hard part. But we've changed. I've changed, Angel's changed, and by God you've changed. My time with Angel is over. But who's to say that the two of you couldn't make it work? I won't lie to you, it's going to be difficult and frustrating and scary, but in the end? It's worth it. Even if you don't make it very long...its worth it."
"'Tis better to have loved and lost than never loved at all," Cordy quoted.
"Exactly. I wouldn't give up the time I had with Angel for anything. But I wouldn't drop everything just to go be with him if the opportunity came up, either. Being with Angel, and going though what I did after he left, and while he was Angelus...it was just something I needed to do to realize - "
"That it's okay to love another vampire?"
Buffy sighed. "I guess so," she admitted.
"You know, I never did hear the whole story on Spike. All I've heard are the bare details. To hear it from the source might be nice."
"Got a few lifetimes to spare?" Buffy asked wryly.
"Always."
~*~
Spike sighed as he wandered the dark streets of Sunnydale. It was late and he was hungry. Unfortunately, all of his blood was back at the Summers' house. As was his money, he realized forlornly as he passed the butcher's shop.
*Figures*, he thought to himself. *Now I'll have to go knocking at her door pleading for help. Brilliant, you git, just brilliant.* But as he rounded the corner, he realized there was still one more person who would take him in.
Giles. Granted, the vampire and the Watcher were far from being...well, *friendly*, but his apartment had become somewhat of a solace for Spike if he needed to escape the chaos of Slayerette central every now and then. Call him a softie, but he rather missed living with good old Rupert - it was nice to have a fellow Englishman around. Plus there was a television with cable, a couch with his name on it, and an opportunity for some quality conversation. The two of them had bonded, amazingly; over the Motherland and demons and a mutual love and respect for the Slayer. Call it an understanding of sorts. They could stand to be in the same room without trying to kill each other, at least. Well, that and, if he wasn't mistaken, there was a pack of blood still left in the fridge.
Spike turned down Somerset Lane.
~*~
"And that's the end?" Cordelia asked incredulously.
"For now," Buffy replied.
"Except for the part where you fell in love with him all over again."
"What?"
"It's in your voice, the way you talk when you talk about him. You still love him, don't you? Or maybe you never stopped."
"I think, now that I'm back and I accept it and I'm happy, that now I'm more ready for a relationship. It wasn't love before, not from my side - it was just sex. But now...I don't know. Something's changed. And it's not just the soul, either, it's just...the situation. Finally, the timing is right, and things are really just starting to...click. You know?"
"So when are you going to tell him?" Buffy paused uncertainly. "Oh, come on, you have to tell him sometime."
"I just...feel like we're stuck in the same old rut sometimes. Like we're back at the beginning where if I admit anything, he'd insist on telling everyone."
"He's a different person now," Cordy pointed out.
"Yes he is," Buffy agreed.
"And telling everyone...would it really be so bad? If he's good and you love him?"
"Maybe not...What about Wesley and the others - do they know?" Cordelia laughed dismissively.
"They knew before we did."
"And Angel? Have you told him?"
"Yeah."
"Oh. How did that go?"
"He said it back, if that's what you're asking. Surprisingly enough, he actually said it first. And then we took away his soul."
"God..." Buffy swallowed hard. Back in high school, she'd thought that Cordelia could never hope to understand that she was going through with Angel. Now the other girl's pain easily rivaled her own. "At least you have that," she said lamely. Cordy sighed.
"What a boat we're in, huh?" she asked. "You've got the man you love right beside you but you can't make yourself tell him. I did tell him and now he's a homicidal maniac."
"Vampires," Buffy concluded. "Can't live with 'em..."
"Can't live without 'em."
~*~
The house was empty when Spike entered. "Guess old Ripper's having himself a night out," he muttered. Oh, well. There was still blood and liquor. Moving into the kitchen, Spike got himself a glass and set about mixing a packet of blood with half a bottle of vodka. Collapsing into Giles' favorite armchair, he flipped on the telly and proceeded to drink himself into a stupor. The world was falling apart around him and Buffy was about to go running back to his grandsire's arms. Eternal unlife really sucked.
~*~
As she hung up the phone, Buffy glanced at the clock, and was shocked to see that she and Cordelia had been talking for nearly four hours.
"Wow," Willow commented, making the same observation. "That long on the phone with Cordelia? Who'd-a-thunk-it?"
"And without storming over there and strangling her mid-sentence," Xander chimed in. "I can't say I could show the same restraint. I am *so* glad that woman is all the way in L.A. The less I see of her, the better." He took one look at Buffy's expression. "We're going down there, aren't we?" he asked.
"Yeah," the Slayer replied.
"Are you sure that's smart?" Willow piped up. "I mean, shouldn't we be here to watch over the seal and everything?"
"Robin can handle it. We'll leave Andrew and a few of the Potentials with him and he should be more than okay."
"Buffy, what's going on down there?" Xander asked. Buffy sighed.
"The short version?" she began. "Big, unkillable demon that Angel used to know when he was Angelus. He couldn't remember anything about him because of some sort of spell that was cast to erase all memories or information about him. Because Angelus was Angel at the time the spell was cast, he wasn't affected. Wesley found a shaman who turned Angel back into Angelus. Someone stole his soul, he escaped, and now he's working for the beast."
The blank expressions Buffy received pretty much mirrored her own reaction to the news when she had heard it. "Yeah," she agreed. "I know. And they need us down there ASAP. So we'll leave tomorrow, first thing. Xander, you find the transportation; Willow, you wait for Giles and Dawn and the Potentials to get back; I'll go tell Andrew and Robin. Understand?" Her two best friends nodded. "Allright then. Off we go. To L.A."
"Once more unto the breach," Xander muttered to Willow under his breath.
"We few," she responded. "Oh, we happy few."
~*~