Alison117- Thank you so much for the great review! I really appreciate it and it motivates me to write more. I have been working on a few other stories that I haven't posted yet. There is one that is an alternate reality, Angel is a vampire but Buffy's isn't the slayer. It's my first story that I have written that everyone isn't just plain human, so I'm constantly editing it to get it right. I have been working on it on and off for 4 years and have about 20 chapters written. I'm wondering if I should start posting it just to see what people think.

Guest- Thank you! I have also noticed that Bangel stories have started to decline, I feel like it's happening all over the internet! There are times when I am having writers block and I will read other Bangel fics for inspiration and I'm finding that I can't find any new ones! I don't want that to happen, so I am going to continue writing!

Thank you to everyone who had favorited and started following this story! You guys rock!

Chapter 2: New Partner in Crime

After watching her mother drive away, leaving her to her fate, Buffy turned around to face the glass door with lightly tinted windows. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her hand to the large door handle, dropping it before making contact. "You got this Summers, this isn't some movie… this is real life!" She dropped her hand back down to her side. "No, this is a nightmare, that's what this is!"

Suddenly, she thought of her mom, and how much she wanted it to work in this town. She owed a lot to her mom, she gave up so much for her, and that was before she started getting in trouble. Her mom had gotten divorced and had to learn how to be alone after being married for 15 years until Buffy had gotten kicked out of Hemery High School for burning down the school gym and they had to relocate to Santa Ana, California. Six months later, Joyce had to quit her job at a health insurance company that she had just started to get the hang of. Her mother had really struggled with entering the workforce after having the luxury of staying home for so many years. They had lasted in Victorville the longest, mostly because the school just didn't care but when Buffy and Pike had stolen the Assistant Principals car to go pick up Faith and Benny, who had decided to steal some alcoholic beverages from a gas station, the school decided to take action. The four troubled teens had charges pressed against them, Buffy had gotten off the easiest because her father didn't want it to get out that his daughter had stolen a car. Hank Summers was afraid it would affect his job, like it did when she had gotten kicked out of Hemery, so he covered it up the best he could. After everything she had put her mother through, she owed her this. Taking another breath, she pulled the door open quickly and looked around, so far so good. After pausing for a moment, she quickly stuck one foot into the door, and just as quickly she pulled her leg back out and looked around again. When she didn't see anyone, she jumped in the doorway and jumped back out with a tiny smirk. "Ha! I knew it would be fine!" Opening the door wider, she walked inside the building.

A woman with brown curly hair walked through a door about 10 feet in front of the blonde, the woman smiled. "Hi! Welcome to Awaken Church! I don't think I have seen you around here before, can I help you?"

Buffy looked around then turned to face the older woman again. "I'm here to… volunteer. Principal Snyder set it up."

"Oh!" The woman smiled brighter. "You must be one of the Cross-Outreach students! If you go right through there…" the woman pointed towards the door she had just walked through. "they will be able to help you. Just ask for Andrew. I'm Ellen Frank, by the way!" She smiled brightly.

Buffy looked from the door back to the woman, nodding. "Buffy." She offered before walking towards the door, up on stage she saw several people up on the stage, there was a man drumming in the far corner. Buffy didn't know if he was just messing around or he sucked. Buffy noticed a man with red hair standing by a row of chairs with a clipboard in his hand. "Are you Andrew?"

The man looked up at Buffy and simply shook his head to inform her that he wasn't who he was looking for. "He just left."

"Oh." Buffy said, snapping her mouth shut as she looked around at the people hooking up cords and tuning instruments. "Well, I think there has been misunderstanding. I don't have a musical bone in my body… unless you need me to play the recorder." Buffy nodded, raising her eyebrows. "I play a mean hot cross buns… or so my fourth-grade music teach told me."

"Who are you?" The man finally lowered his clipboard.

"Buffy." She answered, waiting for him to introduce himself.

"Oz." He nodded. "And I don't know what you are talking about."

Buffy looked around again, maybe she would luck out and Principal Snyder didn't make the arrangements for her to do… whatever it was she was supposed to be doing. She couldn't believe that troll had picked a Church of all things! She still couldn't get over the fact that she hadn't combusted when she entered the building! "Well, Principal Snyder…"

Oz started to laugh. "Oh, you. You are going to need to meet up with Jenny. She's on the other side of campus."

"Excuse me?" Buffy asked, confused. "Campus?"

The man nodded. "Yeah, that's what we call it. I will take you." Setting his clipboard in a chair, he turned to the people on the stage. "I will be right back, taking her to Jenny." Turning back to Buffy, he nodded his head towards the door. "So, what did you do to get assigned here?"

Buffy shrugged as she followed him. "Would you believe that I'm apart of Cross-Outreach?"

Oz shook his head. "Not if Snyder sent you." He pointed to an opened door at the end of a hallway. "This is Jenny's office. Gotta get back."

Buffy watched the man make his way back down the hall, then turned towards the open door. She peaked her head into the office where she saw a thin woman with shoulder length black hair sitting at a desk. Buffy cleared her throat, causing the woman to look up at her.

"Hi!" The woman pushed her chair back and stood. "You must be Buffy!"

"That would be me." Buffy nodded. "I guess you don't get many delinquents around here. So, like what am I supposed to be doing around here?"

Jenny laughed. "We have someone here that is working with our cleaning staff because he got in trouble with the law. I wouldn't exactly call you a delinquent, Buffy."

Buffy narrowed her eyes at the woman. "And you would know how?"

"With my department of the church we have to do a thorough check on whoever is coming in here." Jenny said as she motioned for Buffy to follow her. "You seemed like you were doing really well until your parents' separation. That's completely understandable, divorce is hard in general but it's even harder on kids."

Buffy glanced around the hallway as they turned, the walls were suddenly painted a brighter color and there was a large bumble bee painted on the wall. "Exactly what department is this?" Before Jenny could answer, several pictures came into view, hanging on the wall. Some pictures of babies, some toddlers, adults reading to small children. "Oh, no!" Buffy exclaimed. "There is no way!"

"Is something wrong, Buffy?" Jenny asked, turning to look at the blonde.

"Yes." She nodded. "Very wrong. There must be a mistake. I don't do kids. Snyder even knows this! The last time I got in trouble Snyder made me work at some kids event the school was doing to raise money and it was bad… very, very, bad. Snyder didn't even want me talking to the kids!"

"Relax, Buffy." Jenny offered her a gentle smile. "There are no kids here unless it's Sunday, we teach the kids God's word at their own level. Today you will just be setting out supplies and stocking the classrooms with snacks."

Buffy let out a sign of relief. She wouldn't be around kids.

"When you come back tomorrow, we will start training you." Jenny lightly rubbed Buffy's arm.

"Train?" Buffy asked panicked. "Train for what?"

"To teach the kids." Jenny smiled again. "You can either pick your own age group or we can just put you wherever it is that you are needed."

"I can't… I can't…" The blonde started to breathe heavily. "You don't understand, it's not just that I don't do kids, I CAN'T do kids. They will end up dead… or maimed. THEY ARE PROBABLY GOING TO END UP MAIMED!"

Jenny laughed and shook her head. "You won't be in the classroom alone, there is always at least 2 adults in each classroom at a time. And Buffy, none of the children will end up maimed or dead. It has never happened before."

"Not yet." Buffy pouted. "I don't even know anything about the Bible. How am I supposed to teach something that I know nothing about?"

"We have lesson plans, Buffy." Jenny laughed. "Now, let's give you the tour, shall we?" She turned on the light behind her and entered the room. "This is our Three-Year old's classroom."

0o0o0

"Hey." Jenny called, sticking her head into the school aged classroom where Buffy was putting snacks and cups in the cupboards overhead. "How's it going?"

Buffy shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

"Do you want to grab some lunch?" Jenny wondered.

Buffy shook her head. "Nah, I'm okay. I figure I better get this all done."

"Are you sure? I will count lunch as part of your community service hours." Jenny smiled hopefully. "My family is going to be there, so it will be just as torturous as picking up trash in the middle of the summer."

Looking down at the animal crackers in her hand, Buffy shook her head. She really liked Jenny, she was pretty funny. "You know what, sure."

"Awesome!" Jenny laughed. "Meet me out front in ten."

Buffy nodded as the dark-haired woman disappeared back towards her office.

0o0o0

Buffy looked around the restaurant as she sat down across from Jenny, she hadn't been in a restaurant like this in a while. In Los Angeles, it was common to have a waterfall inside of a restaurant but she didn't peg Sunnydale as the type of place to have one. It was casual, yet it felt like it was an expensive restaurant.

"Have you ever been here before?" Jenny asked her as the waitress handed them their menus.

Buffy shook her head, looking down at the menu. The prices were cheap for what the place looked like. "I didn't know this kind of place was in Sunnydale."

"You have been here a couple of months, right?" Jenny asked. "Have you done much exploring?"

"Three months." Buffy nodded. "And it depends on what kind of exploring you mean… I have gone to several grave yards, this town has an insane amount of them by the way… I have been to the police station…"

"What about the movie theater?" Jenny asked the young blonde. "The mall?"

Buffy shook her head. "I'm not really into that stuff."

"Oh, come on." Jenny smiled. "What seventeen-year-old girl isn't into the mall?"

"I'm not allowed to go to the mall without my mom since I got caught using the five-finger discount." Buffy answered truthfully. "And my mom doesn't really have much time now due to work."

Jenny nodded, she didn't want to press the issue because she wanted Buffy to feel comfortable with her. She knew that Buffy had gotten in trouble before, Principal Snyder had told her about her past troubles at Sunnydale High School since moving to Sunnydale. "Well, we should definitely go to the movies sometime."

"Sounds fun." Buffy nodded as the waitress brought a couple of waters for the woman until the rest of their party arrived.

"The school year is almost over." Jenny smiled. "Do you have any plans for the summer?"

Buffy shrugged. "I don't tend to know what I am doing until I do it."

Jenny nodded. "You will be going into twelfth grade… at Sunnydale High School, right?"

"That's the plan." Buffy bit her lip as she looked at the menu, then set her menu down at looked at Jenny. "That's why I'm doing this… the community service thing. My mom likes it here, I don't know why she likes this town so much, but she does. She has an art gallery and a few friends which is more than she has had anywhere else. Snyder said if I don't do this then I can't finish the year off and I can't go back next year. I need to make it work here, for my mom."

Jenny smiled at Buffy, she knew Buffy was a good person the moment she saw her, that fact that she was putting her mother first only confirmed that. Before Jenny could respond, Buffy cleared her throat. "Where is your family? I thought they were going to meet us here…"

"They should be here any minute." Jenny replied, as Buffy took a sip of her water. "They just had a few things to finish up before they could meet us. I think you will really like them."

Buffy nodded, if Jenny's family was as nice as she was then she was sure that she would like them.

Suddenly, Jenny's whole face light up as she looked towards the entrance of the restaurant. She saw an older man with glasses smiling back at their direction and making his way towards them. Jenny stood up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hey Sweetie, where is…"

"Oh, they couldn't get away." The man answered. "You know how they are, the perfectionist." The man looked at Buffy and smiled wider. "You must be Ms. Summers."

Buffy nodded. "Buffy."

"I'm Rupert Giles." He told her, sitting down beside Jenny. "Most people call me Pastor Giles… or when I'm just out and about, they call me Giles."

Buffy held her hand out for the man and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Pastor Giles."

"I hear you are going to be with us for the next month." Pastor Giles smiled at the waitress and thanked her for his water and menu. "I think you will really enjoy it."

Buffy nodded, she wasn't sure she would like it. Tolerate it, maybe. Hate it, more than likely.

"Do you have a home church, Buffy?" Pastor Giles asked. When Buffy shook her head no, he smiled. "Well, I promise not to make it too boring."

"What do you mean?" The blonde asked.

"Oh." Pastor Giles glanced at his wife. "You didn't tell her?"

Jenny shook her head. "I haven't gotten to it yet." She turned to the blonde. "It's mandatory that everyone that volunteers in our Kids Ministry attend at least one church service. The service times are 9am, 10:45am and 12:30pm because we have had so much growth within the Church we can't have just one service. You just pick a service to attend and a service to teach the children."

Buffy thought for a moment, she didn't know she would have to attend the church too. Like teaching kids about the Bible, that she knew nothing about, wasn't bad enough. "What about the other service?"

Pastor Giles shrugged. "You are only required to be there for the service you are attending and the one you are teaching. After that, you go on with your day."

"And attending the service also counts towards your community service hours." Jenny smiled and nodded.

Pastor Giles smiled and sipped his water. "We just don't let Snyder in on that part of it."

Buffy watched the two from across the table. She really liked this couple, she started to wonder what their kids were like.

0o0o0

"Bye sweetie, good luck!" Joyce called to her daughter before she drove off that Sunday morning.

Buffy turned around and took a deep breath, she was nervous and didn't really want to go in there. She had spent the past 2 days at the Church, the first day prepping the classrooms and the second day training and she really liked the people she had met so far. But today, she had to attend a church service which she couldn't even remember the last time she did that! And she had to teach kids, Jenny had said that Buffy would be in the four-year-old classroom because she knew that Buffy was nervous and that class was the best behaved. Looking around the parking lot, Buffy watched as all the people mingled outside, walked through the parking lot and greeted people. She briefly wondered if she could sneak into the classroom without anyone talking to her, she didn't know anyone and making awkward small talk wasn't exactly something she wanted to do this early in the morning and without having coffee first.

Buffy had arrived at the classroom almost undetected, one woman who introduced herself as Pat, who was really annoyingly cheerful at such an ungodly hour of… 10:30am, had tried to talk to her but she made the excuse that she was running late and left the woman in her dust. When she arrived in the classroom there was already a few children there, and a woman with bright red hair who was smiling down at a child while he gave her a high-five. The woman looked up at Buffy and smiled brightly. "Hi! You must be Buffy! I'm Willow!"

"Hi." Buffy mumbled.

"Jenny told me that I would be getting a new partner in crime." Willow laughed. "Here." Willow held out a lanyard. "I made your name tag for you, and…" she quickly turned around to where there was a small desk and grabbed a large cup. "I got you a coffee! I didn't know what you liked so I just got you a vanilla latte. They are my favorite!"

"Thanks." Buffy nodded. Maybe she would like this Willow girl, anyone that gave her coffee was someone that wasn't completely evil. Looking at the cup, she saw the words The Expresso Pump. She would have to check the place out sometime, the coffee was pretty good.

0o0o0

Buffy was so grateful that Willow had taken pity on her and taught the class, she had revealed to the redhead that even though she had read the lesson plan that Jenny had given her, she just didn't get it. She didn't know who the people were that she was supposed to be teaching these kids about, or even how to say their names!

Walking towards the sanctuary Buffy noticed that there was coffee in the foyer. Making her way over to the coffee, she grabbed a paper cup on the counter. "Nothing bad ever came from having a second cup of coffee." She said to herself. She quickly made her coffee, grabbed a lid and made her way into the sanctuary. There were people mingling around and talking, glancing up at the clock, she saw that the service didn't start for another ten minutes. Walking further into the sanctuary, she looked around for a place to sit where hopefully no one would talk to her. Settling on a seat in the far back, in the corner, she made her way to the seat before looking around. Even though she had been helping out at the Church for two days she had never been in the sanctuary. It wasn't like most churches, it looked more modernized with its gray walls and deep red strips going all the way around the room and what looked like strobe lights hanging from the ceiling. Thinking back to the British man she had met at lunch the other day, this church didn't match him.

Looking around at the people, Buffy noticed a group of people near the front, by the stage, some of them were sitting in the front row and some were standing. She noticed that Willow was among the people sitting, beside Willow was what looked like a young man, she hadn't expected the man to turn towards her right as she was trying to get a better look at him. She gasped and tried to act normal but when he smiled brightly at her, she knew he had caught her. He had dark brown hair, chocolate eyes and a smile to die for. She did a double take, was he really smiling at her? Yup, definitely smiling at her. He had perfect teeth too, just like the rest of him. Buffy turned away, blushing that he had caught her looking at him and that he had smiled at her. Shyly, she turned her head back towards him to see that he was still smiling at her and for the first time in three years, Buffy smiled.