A Few Days Later

Tony paces outside Buffy's room for several minutes before finally he enters the room "Buff?" He calls as he enters the room.
"Yeah." Buffy says as she turns to face him.
Tony frowns as he realises she had just been sitting on the end of the bed staring at the wall.
"You okay?" He asks as he moves to sit next to her.
Buffy merely nods "I'm fine." She says flatly, no emotion in her voice.
Tony sighs and looks down to see Buffy's hand shaking "Buff?" He moves to take her hand but she flinches, finally she looks over at him, her eyes now filled with water "I'm fine." She stutters her voice shaking as she speaks "I'm fine."
Tony eyes widen and he pulls his daughter into a hug "Buffy tell me what happened. Please."
Buffy takes several shaky breaths before looking at her father, tears falling down her cheeks but instead of saying anything she shakes her head "I can't."
Tony sighs "Buffy look, if this is about where...what happened to you there...you need to trust me, you're safe now."
Buffy shakes her head again "No. I'm not. No one is. This world is cruel and it's filled with nothing but pain..."
Tony frowns in confusion "Buffy, compared to where you were how can this be..."

Buffy's face falls and the emotion all slips from her expression "I was happy. Wherever I was...I was happy...at peace." Tony freezes and a look of despair covers his face "I knew that everyone I cared about was all right. I knew it. Time...didn't mean anything. Nothing had form. But I was still me, you know? And I was warm. And I was loved. And I was finished. Complete. I-I don't understand theology or dimensions, any of it really...but I think I was in heaven. And now I'm not. I was torn out of there. Pulled out, by my friends. Everything here is hard and bright and violent. Everything I feel, everything I touch. This is hell. Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that. Knowing what I've lost. They can never know."
Buffy's voice shakes again "I was happy and now it's feels like I'm dying inside. I don't feel anything."
Tony doesn't say anything he merely pulls his daughter into his arms and just stays there. He watches her sadly, anger and misery filling every emotion in his head.


Sunnydale, California

"Maybe we should call her." Willow says as she paces the living room at the Summers house.
Xander who was sat on the couch glances up at the red headed witch "She's hasn't even been there a week Willow why are you freaking out."

Willow shrugs before flopping on the couch next to one of her two best friends "I don't know. I mean it's not like Buffy didn't use to live with her dad..I guess it's just...since she's been back she's been...different."
Xander frowns at the look on his friends face before sitting up and offering her a small smile "Wil, we dragged her out of some untold hell dimension. It's gonna mess with her."
Willow nods, she completely understood that Buffy would be traumatized and distant but there was something that was still bugging her about the whole situation "I just feel like after all that shouldn't she be..."
"Grateful." Xander realises, he sighs and looks at his friend carefully "Give her time. Dawn was right, this time away will be good for the Buffster. She'll thank you when she's ready."


New York City

"Royally pissed pretty much covers it." Tony says as he paces the living room, while Pepper sits on the couch.
Pepper just continues to stare shocked "So she—"
Tony finally stops pacing and turns to Pepper "She was happy." He confirms as he comes to sit down next to her.
Tony sighs "I can't help but think maybe she was with Joy or maybe she was somewhere kicking afterlife ass...like Valhalla or whatever it's called. But all I know is that she was free and now she back, back to a world that expects her to drop everything for everyone else."
Pepper frowns as she realises why Tony seems to have a look of guilt covering his face "Tony, listen to me, don't feel guilty about being happy that's she's back. Yes everything she has been through is horrible but what you need to do now is make life as easy for her as possible. Take the week, just you and her. Remind her of how great this world can be."


The Next Day

"Move it blondie!" Tony says as he barges into Buffy's room. The blonde who was currently hidden under neath her duvet peeks her head out merely to moan and pull the covers back over her head.
"Hey!" Buffy exclaims as Tony pulls the covers off her, she stares at him shocked before glancing at the clock "6am? You really had to do this at 6am. Why aren't you passed out with a hangover? You never wake up before noon."
Tony shrugs "Beats me. Now come on, we are going to go do something fun."
Buffy scoffs "What's fun at 6am, I'll tell you...sleep!" She yells before placing her head underneath her pillow.
Tony groans before speaking "I'm gonna kill Pepper for this." He whispers "Fine I'll just go have breakfast at Tiffany's alone."
Buffy's head immediately shoots up and she leaps out of bed "I'm up! Getting ready!" She yells as she runs into the walkthrough closet.
Tony chuckles at the young girls reaction before shaking his head in joy, that was the first time he had seen her smile since her resurrection. Maybe Pepper really was a genius after all.


A Week Later

For the past week Tony had suffered through what felt like a thousand different tourists locations in New York, but the look of joy on Buffy's face made that pain lesson slightly.
They had gone from the Empire State building to the statue of liberty and to Tony's personal favourite, Coney Island.
Although he wasn't big on tourist-y stuff, doing it all with Buffy made it actually fun. Which surprised him. Plus the fact that she had even called him dumbass at one point showed he was making progress with her.

Right now though, Tony was in a panic. Pepper, Rhodey and Happy had all been begging to see Buffy since he had brought her home from Sunnydale. Pepper had managed to keep Rhodey and Happy at bay but now Buffy had been here two weeks and both men and even Pepper were edging to see the young slayer.
Tony had reluctantly agreed but he was worried what Buffy's reaction would be, she clearly wasn't much of a people person anymore. Tony had to keep her from breaking the arms of a member of the press on Wednesday when they were at Central park. Plus she hadn't exactly been asking to see them. It was clear that she just wanted time alone.
"She's gonna kill me." Tony says.
"You really should have informed the young Ms Summers Stark before you invited over the others, Sir. She is still suffering from PTSD..."
Tony cuts the A.I off "You can get all judge-y later alright Jar. If I live through this then feel free to judge me as much as you want."

At that moment the elevator doors open and in step the dreaded three.
"So where's the Buff?" Rhodey asks his best friend.
Tony hesitates "Okay, here's the thing...I sorta didn't tell her you guys where coming here." He rushes out the words hoping that he could quickly escape before they can process them.
Pepper notices Tony backing away towards the door and glares at him "No you don't. Sit down now. Now Tony!"
Tony moans before sitting down while Happy chuckles "Whipped."
Tony narrows his eyes "Do you like your job?"
Rhodey rolls his eyes "Ignore the baby." He tells Happy before turning on Tony "Where is the girl of the hour?"
At that moment Buffy walks into the room holding a set of blueprints "Dad, you wanna explain what the hell the Buffster—" Buffy freezes and stops mid stride as she spots the people in the room.
Rhodey, Pepper and Happy all stare at the blonde.

Buffy begins to feel very uncomfortable under their gaze, as they continue to stare at her "Okay I'm getting really weirded out here. Stop with the staring please. I was dead, now I'm not."
Before Buffy can do anything else the three of them practically speed over to her and hug her tightly "Guys I need to breathe. Otherwise I'm gonna end up back in my coffin real soon."
The three quickly pull away and smile at the young girl. The group of them then move to sit down and begin to talk.


After Pepper, Rhodey and Happy had left Tony heads down to Buffy's room to tell her he had ordered pizza. As he walks towards her door he freezes as the door is slightly ajar.
"Buff?" He calls as he pushes the door open, he frowns as he doesn't see her "Jar is she in the gym?"
"No, sir. I can't seem to find her on any of the cameras within the building."
Tony's eyes widen, he walks into the room and immediately opens her closet, his heart plummets as he sees no clothes only hangers left.
"No." He breaths, he moves to leave the room however he freezes as he spots a piece of paper on her bed.
Slowly the billionaire walks over to the bed and picks up the paper.

'Dad

Don't freak out okay, I'm fine. I promise. I haven't been kidnapped and I'm not being help hostage by some crazy supernatural creep. I just—I can't do this. Look I appreciate everything you've done but I'm not the girl I was. I can't be a Stark. I can't be around the press or Stark Industries or any of it. It's all too much. So I'm gonna go home to Sunnydale. I know you are most likely going to be reaching for one of your suits the second you put this letter down but don't. Clearly me being back means that the douchebag powers aren't done with me yet...but when I'm finished...I want to have a normal life for once, after everything that's happened, I know that I'm stuck as the slayer but I can still try to have something normal. As a Stark I can't. I'm sorry but I just need to go back to being a Summers. An unknown. No more wigs, no more crazy people from SHIELD trying to recruit me. Don't come to Sunnydale okay. I will contact you soon, but I just need time to readjust to being here, and I know you will try to convince me to come back to New York. But I can't.

Goodbye.

Love Buffy

Tony drops the letter before sitting on the bed. He stays there for several minutes just staring at the wall, before finally reaching for his phone. He tries to call Buffy but he is immediately sent to voice mail. He sighs sadly before dialling Pepper.
"Hello?" She answers.
"She's gone." He says flatly "She's gone. And I don't think she's coming back this time."