Title: Going Back to the Beginning

Author: Melissa aka/Peaches Girl

Email: This is the continuing story of BTVS and ATS. It starts after the end of season 7 of Buffy and during season 5 of Angel. This fic is AU and starts with the Scooby Gang moving on with their lives.

Rating: PG-13 to start then NC17

Spoilers: Angel season seven, but only in spirit most of it is all me.

Distribution: Sure, you want it let me know.

A/N: I love Angel and Buffy so this is my version of how to bring them back together. A lot of angst and hopefully some smut(LOL).

Prologue

It has been almost a year since the closing of the hell mouth in Sunnydale and life had become so surreal. The Scooby Gang had lived thru the experience and moved on. Some had scattered across the globe to vast areas of the world.

Giles had gone back to London taking Wood, Faith, and a few other girls. He wanted to try and piece together the remains of the old council and start a new one. There were few members of the council who were not killed in the explosion that decimated the head quarters and Giles had hoped to round up as many of the ones who had survived. It was a great task in deed and Giles needed Faith and the other girls as muscle in case anything got hairy.

It had taken several months of digging thru rubble and fighting off demons and scavengers to get any records or books that weren't destroyed in the blast. They didn't recover that much but what they did find was essential. Giles with the help of some old contacts was able to rent a building for them to set up a new council and begin to recruit new Watchers. They needed more Watchers than ever since Willow's spell spread the power of the Slayer to all the potentials. He knew that this time the council would be different. No longer would they rule over the Slayers like they were employees', no they would work with the Slayers. Training them, helping them, and being open and honest with them. This was a new time, a new era, and Giles was determined not to make the same mistakes his predecessors had made.

Willow traveled to the coven for a short while to do a spell to help her locate the other potentials. They decided to tell the girls of their new destiny's and let them decide if they wanted in on the fight against evil or just live their lives as normal as possible. Kennedy, Rona, and Vi stayed with Willow and decided to help her in her task.

Xander on the other hand had no idea what he wanted to do. After he lost his eye, he felt that his abilities to aid his friends were limited. His friends did not want to hear this and talked him into an adventure or quest if you will in Africa. Giles had stumbled upon a prophecy that involved the first Slayer and a weapon that she had forged herself. They narrowed the area down to somewhere in Africa and Xander was sent to try and find it. Since they had no idea how long this adventure would take him Willow decided they should help locate the Slayer's in Africa. Xander left with five girls that were with them in Sunnydale and had picked up several new Slayers in Africa. He hit dead end after dead end and wound up using most of his time locating new Slayers and getting them passage to London. He wasn't too sure about doing this for the gang but after he got to Africa, everything fell into place for him. He finally felt like he was doing some good for the world, he finally found his niche, his purpose, the reason he was still doing all of this.

Buffy knew what she wanted to do. She knew that she needed to get as far away from Sunnydale as possible or even California for that matter. She wasn't the only Slayer anymore, and that fact finally gave her some peace of mind. Everything she had been craving for so long was almost in reach. She wanted a normal life, well not totally normal, she was still a Slayer but she could now relax and let others do most of the work. It made her feel good but scared at the same time. It had been so long since she didn't have the burden of the world on her shoulders that she didn't even know were to start a new life. She and Dawn traveled the country a little, staying in small town hotels, shopping in malls, and just having a great time. Finally she decided it was time to find a place to live on a more permanent basis. Dawn needed to go back and finish school.

She didn't know how they decided on Rome. It just came to her one night. She always wanted to go to Italy and once they had arrived there she knew that it was home. At least until Dawn finished school and if she went to college, that would be some time.

No one really wanted to take responsibility for Andrew though so Buffy just sort of got stuck with him. He did travel to London to help Giles on small errands and when he left Buffy welcomed the quiet. Andrew was a nice enough kid but she felt like a mom to him and Dawn instead of a sister and a friend. Andrew and Dawn fought like siblings and at times Buffy wanted to kill both of them. Most of the time they acted like a real family, having dinner together, helping Dawn with homework, and watching TV quietly in the evenings. Buffy thought life had become a little boring until she flashed back to the last few years on the hell mouth and pushed all those thoughts out of her mind.

Everything seemed to be falling into place for the whole Scooby gang. They all got into regular routines of every day life. There was one thing that was different though, they didn't have each other anymore. They were all in different places across the world. Willow traveling around the United States, Xander in Africa, Giles and Faith in London, Buffy and Dawn in Rome, they were as far apart as any group could be. Buffy felt that the final fight in Sunnydale had put a huge wedge in all their relationships. They were different people now, all with a different purposes, and different paths, and they were no longer dependant on one another. They shunned Buffy, threw her out of her own house and cast her aside. She forgave them long enough to get the battle over with but when it was over so was their relationships. She didn't think that they would ever be the same again. Things were said and done that couldn't be taken back and she didn't know if she would be willing to let them be taken back.

Spikes untimely death in the hell mouth and the betrayal of her so called best friends had left Buffy scared. She hid it well from everyone; she had become so good at that. Spike's dying had bothered her most of all. She loved the vampire but not the way he wanted her to. She knew he was in her heart and she wanted to love him more but she just couldn't. It took her a very long time to come to realize that her heart would never be in another relationship no matter how hard she tried. She gave her heart and soul away a long time ago and no man would ever have it again.

That last night in the grave yard, seeing him again had woken that part of her that she kept locked away. Just his touch sent electricity through her that no other man would ever be able to do. It was Angel who would hold her heart forever. After seeing him again, feeling his cool lips on hers she knew that he would be the only man she could ever love with all her soul. Just knowing that he was out there and that some day they may find a way to be together was the reason she kept her heart and soul locked away. She tried so hard with Riley, to love him, give him her heart but it was of no use. Riley even knew that her heart her very soul couldn't be reached that was why he left.

Buffy got a job working in a small dress shop in town. She didn't really need a job but she wanted one. It was her way of trying the normal life thing and it seemed to be working for her. She met a man there, well he wasn't really a man, but she really liked him anyway. He was handsome and nice and really cared for Dawn which gave him bonus points in Buffy's book. She had a hard time calling him The Immortal and just shortened it to Mort. He didn't seem to care for that name but Buffy gave it to him so he went with it. They spent a lot of time together going to parties, night clubs, and restaurants. Buffy had so much fun with him. He was a great guy to hang out with but just like all the other men in her life something was missing. She wanted to let him in, give him all of her but she just couldn't. He felt her pulling away from him little by little and he struggled to pull back.

One night he took her out to a club for some dancing and of course drinking when he ran into an old rival. He heard that Angel was coming to Rome and he couldn't wail to see him again. It had been quite some time since he had seen the vampire and he heard of his being ensouled. He also knew of the past he and Buffy had and now he wanted to how he could break the vampires hold on his new love. It didn't turn out the way he had planned though. When Buffy found out that Angel was there also with Spike who was supposed to be dead, Buffy became enraged. She cut into him like he had never seen before. He knew that her rage should have been directed at the old Watcher of hers who had conveniently withheld the information about Spike but he was the one in front of her. Not only did Giles not tell her about Spike being back but also that Angel had been on his way to Rome. She was pissed and ready for a fight. She was mad at Giles, she was mad at Mort, and she was even mad at Angel for not telling her about Spike in the first place. She wanted to march over to Angel and give him a piece of her mind but Mort wouldn't let her. He quickly escorted her out of the club and back to her apartment as fast as he could.

Later that night she finally reached Giles. She was so mad and he didn't have much of a chance to explain himself in between her loud rants but after a few minutes of screaming at him she quickly quieted down and listened to what he had to say. As she began to listen to Giles speak her angry expression turned to one of puzzlement then to one of shock. He wanted so desperately to know what the Watcher was telling her. He paced the room glancing in her direction in short waves waiting for her to finish. She turned her back to him and began to whisper into the phone and Mort felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise. He didn't like this at all and when she hung up the phone she stood there with out a sound for several minutes. He wanted yell at her ask her what was said but after the look she gave when she tuned to him he decided to wait. She had a look of sheer terror on her face and it scared him a little but nothing compared to what she would ask of him next.