Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon. Harry Potter and company to JK Rowling. I'm just flattering through poor, poor imitation. All fun, no profit.
AN: Hope you guys all liked Dead Man's Party.
A Bicycle in the Family Tree
Part 10
Buffy stood outside the door to her house. She had arrived in Sunnydale by bus about an hour before, and had stopped to stash the trunk of clothes in Angel's mansion. Although going inside had brought back painful memories, Buffy had not wanted to try to explain to Joyce where she'd gotten all the new stuff. While she realized how badly keeping secrets from her mother had turned out last time, she was not ready to discuss this new turn of events. Or, at least not discuss it while standing on the doorstep.
She raised her hand to knock, but paused. She had fought the Master, Angelus, and countless other vampires and demons. Still, at this moment Buffy was positive that she had never been more scared, and of a door at that. What if… Making a decision, Buffy knocked firmly on the door. She was tired of being worried and constantly questioning whether or not she had made the right choice. The only way to find out was to go ahead and do it.
Despite her determination, as the door began to open Buffy had to fight back an urge to flee. And then Joyce was standing there, looking pale and tired first, then shocked.
"Buffy," she whispered.
Buffy opened her mouth, but could think of nothing to say. She gave her mother a tentative smile.
Joyce reached out and pulled Buffy into her arms, and they stood together in silence.
A bit later, she and her mother sat awkwardly in the living room. Buffy had already been taken on an impromptu tour of the house, despite her efforts to point out that yes, she did remember where the bathroom was. She had politely agreed that the new color scheme in the kitchen was fun but tasteful, and that the voodoo-looking mask in her mother's room was a delight to the eyes, although it actually freaked her out a bit. When they had gotten to her room Buffy had been very close to crying upon seeing that it was exactly the way she left it. That, more than anything else, proved to Buffy that her mother had wanted her to come back.
"Would you like anything to eat?" asked Joyce.
"No, thank you," said Buffy, feeling a lot like a guest. "Actually, I was thinking that I might go look for the gang. You know, start the groveling process with them, too."
Joyce looked out the window.
"It's getting pretty dark out there. Oh, but I guess you're used to that… right?"
Buffy forced a smile.
"Yeah, that's me… the night owl."
"Well, be careful. And… and you'll come back? When you're done, of course."
"Yes, mom, I will be coming back. And then you can feed me whatever you want," said Buffy standing up, marveling at how easily the word "mom" had come to her lips. Even though she had accepted that Narcissa was her mother, being with Joyce again made her realize how much she loved her. No matter what, Joyce was her mother. Although she was certainly interested in what Joyce would say about the adoption issue. Still, that was a matter for another day.
Once outside, Buffy decided to do a quick patrol as she headed towards Willow's house. There were at least two cemeteries and one dark alley she could check out along the way. Besides, focusing on finding vampires was easier than agonizing over how the gang would react to her return.
The first cemetery was beyond dead, and she stopped in the second for only a few minutes to wait for a fledgling to come out of his grave before scattering him on top of it. As she approached the alley, she heard the distinct sound of a scuffle and sped up.
Rounding the corner, Buffy found Xander, dressed head to toe in black, basically getting his ass kicked by a vampire. Without hesitation, Buffy ran up and kicked the vampire away. She then turned to help Xander up, as he had accidentally been knocked to the ground.
"Buffy," he said, looking up at her.
"That's me," she said, offering him her hand.
"Buffy!" he exclaimed.
She frowned, hoping that he'd get over his shock soon.
"We've been over this. Are you going to—"
She was abruptly cut off by the return of the vampire, who slammed into her, pushing her into the wall before turning his attention back to Xander.
At that moment Willow, Oz, and Cordelia rushed into the alley.
"Xander!" screamed Cordelia, rushing over and trying to pull the vampire away from him. Instead, the vampire pushed her away, knocking her into Oz and Willow.
Buffy got up from where she had fallen against the wall and pulled a stake out of her jacket. She calmly approached the vampire, who was still trying to subdue and Xander and get a hold of his neck.
"Excuse me," she called out.
The vampire ignored her. Shrugging her shoulders, Buffy plunged the stake into his back and the vampire exploded in a cloud of dust. Brushing the ash off of her outfit, she turned to face the rest of the gang.
"Buffy," said Willow in surprise.
Automatically, Buffy checked behind her, but finding only a dusty Xander, relaxed again.
"Hey, guys," she said. "Long time no see."
"You could say that," agreed Xander, moving around her to stand next to Cordy. The four of them standing across from her seemed to form a unified front, and Buffy could not determine how happy they were to see her.
"How long have you been back?" asked Willow.
"Just a few hours. I stopped at my house first, then came out here."
There was a moment of silence, and Buffy felt compelled to fill it.
"So, I see you guys are all big with the slaying."
"Well, someone had to do it," muttered Xander under his breath.
"Oh, we're getting really good at it," exclaimed Willow hurriedly.
Buffy nodded, choosing to ignore Xander's comment.
"I can see that."
"We would have killed that vampire without your help. Eventually," said Xander defensively.
She looked at him evenly.
"I know. I said that I could see you were good, not that you should bow down and kiss my feet for saving you."
Xander had the grace to look sheepish, but Buffy was already regretting her comment. She hadn't wanted to come here and alienate them further. Obviously, she had spent too much time with Draco.
She sighed.
"Anyway, I just wanted to see you guys and let you know I was back in town. I'm going to hit Giles' place next."
They nodded and the front finally gave way, letting her pass.
"Wait," called out Willow. "We'll come with you."
Buffy smiled, happy that at least one of her friends was making an effort.
A few days later, Buffy was feeling less comforted by that fact than before. The reunion at Giles' had gone fairly well, despite the general tension that remained. However, she had just been stood up by Willow, Xander continued to alternate between avoiding her and annoying her, and her mom's new friend Pat was creeping her in a major way. Not to mention the fact that she really missed her daily chats with Narcissa and hanging out with Draco. She had also discovered a dead cat, that later became a not quite so dead cat. Giles was currently researching what had turned the kitty into a zombie.
There were also events that were more positive, though. She was no longer wanted for murder, for one. And somehow Giles had managed to get her back into Sunnydale High. Not to mention that all of her friends were supposed to be coming over for dinner tonight. Hopefully, thought Buffy as she made her way home, they'll all show up.
A few hours later, Buffy was regretting her earlier thoughts, and trying desperately to remember if she had used the words "I wish" at any point. Her friends had shown up for the "dinner" that had become a full-on party. Lots of them. Apparently, she had about 50 or so more friends than she knew of. And the few she was aware of were not really high on her list of favorites right now. The only one missing was Giles, and he had been the most accepting of her return so far, and was therefore the one she wanted to talk to most.
Seeing Willow leaning against a nearby wall, Buffy took a deep breath and approached her, only to have a stilted conversation that was ended when Willow pointed to her ears, shrugged, and turned to face the band.
Buffy tried talking to Xander next, but he was much more interested in exploring Cordelia's mouth than in conversation with her. Feeling worse by the minute, Buffy wandered around the party a bit more, stopping outside the kitchen in time to hear her mother telling Pat how strange it was having Buffy back in the house.
Holding back tears, Buffy rushed up the stairs to her room. She grabbed the bag she had filled with clothes and other things at an earlier visit to the mansion.
"Where is it," she said, pulling out clothes and hunting through the bag until she found the mail box. She moved to her desk and pulled out a pen and paper.
Dear Draco, she began, things here are harder than I thought they would be. I know that I screwed up by running away, but I thought they'd at least give me a chance to explain. I don't know—
"What are you doing?"
Buffy turned to face Willow, who took in Buffy's red-rimmed eyes, the half-packed bag, and the note writing.
"You're running away again?" she demanded, stepping into the room.
Suddenly, Buffy was angry.
"Like you care," she retorted, sticking the half-finished note in a drawer. "None of you want me here."
"That's not true," said Willow.
"Oh, really? Is that why you've all been ignoring me?"
"No! I mean, we're not… we have a right to be mad!"
"Yeah," sighed Buffy, standing up.
"We needed you this summer," said Willow. "And you weren't here."
"You guys did fine without me. You've got that slaying thing down."
"No, we really don't," said Willow, "and I didn't mean we needed the Slayer. I meant we needed you. Buffy. Our friend."
Buffy watched her with a sad smile.
"I needed you," continued Willow. "I've been going through all kinds of things. I mean, I have a boyfriend now, and I've been doing magic, and I needed someone to talk to about all of this. I needed you!"
Joyce walked into the room.
"What's going on here?" she demanded. "Buffy, are you running away again?"
Buffy repressed the urge to scream, and pushed her way past her mother and Willow. She ran down the stairs and passed by Xander and Cordelia making out.
"Don't you dare leave, Buffy," yelled Joyce, following closely behind her.
"What, so I'm only allowed to leave when you kick me out?" Buffy yelled back at her. "You're the one who told me that if I left I shouldn't come back."
The band stopped playing and the room began to empty as people fled the awkward scene.
"I made a mistake!" exclaimed Joyce. "You just dumped all this Slayer stuff on me, and then expected me to let you… run off and do whatever it is you did. I didn't know what to do!"
"I didn't have a choice," said Buffy, "and I'm sorry, but saving the world was a touch higher on my to-do list than hashing out the finer details of Slayer life with my mom."
Xander suddenly stepped forwards.
"What about the rest of us? We didn't know if you were dead or not… you don't know what you put us through."
"You don't know what I've been through!" retorted Buffy.
"Because you didn't tell us!" exclaimed Willow, holding hands with the newly arrived Oz.
"Taking off like you did was wrong, Buffy. I mean, Willow was in the hospital, not to mention Giles… did you even stop to think about them?"
Buffy glared at Xander.
"Fuck you!" she yelled. "I haven't thought about anything but you guys for the last three months. I know leaving was wrong, and I'm sorry."
She began crying in earnest.
"Mom, I'm sorry that I never told you about being the Slayer, and about making you worry so much. And Willow, I'm sorry I wasn't here for your issues with boys and magic, and Xander… I'm sorry for whatever it is I've done to you to make you so damn mad at me. I'm sorry I abandoned my post, and that I wasn't there for any of you guys. I guess I'm a terrible friend."
Buffy wiped her face and tried to calm down.
"I'm sorry," she continued before anyone else could speak, "but you know what? You weren't there for me either. I was alone when I found Kendra dead and the police tried to arrest me. I was alone when my mom kicked me out of the house. And I was alone when I had to drive a sword through Angel, not Angelus, but Angel's heart to save the world."
Willow gasped in shock, while Xander shifted nervously.
"Buffy, the circumstances—" he began before she interrupted him.
"There are always circumstances," said Buffy, thinking about what Narcissa had said what now seemed like so long ago. "But that doesn't make you feel any less abandoned, and it didn't make me feel any less alone."
Joyce stepped forward.
"I think we all need to just sit down and talk like rational adults," she said.
There were general nods of agreement. Buffy gave her friends a small smile.
"A quiet night in," she said. "I think we've had enough excitement around here,"
With that, the large front window exploded inwards as a zombie pushed his way through.
"Or not," sighed Buffy, pulling out her ever handy stake.
She rushed up to the zombie and staked him. He looked at her, then shambled closer.
"So… not a vampire."
Several more began coming in through the window, and the Scooby gang fought back in earnest. Buffy found herself being pushed backwards and up the stairs as she fought against as many as she could. She, Joyce, and Willow ended up her mother's room, where they discovered Pat had been waiting until the fight ended.
"What's going on?" she cried out, rushing towards them. At that moment, a zombie broke through, grabbing her by the head and snapping her neck.
Buffy kicked the zombie, and he stumbled backwards, dropping Pat in the process. She kicked him again and got him far enough out to close the door. As she slammed the door shut, the creepy mask on the wall fell onto the floor, it's eyes glowing red.
As Buffy, Willow and Joyce continued trying to hold the door shut, none of them noticed the formerly dead Pat get up and move towards the mask. She picked it up and as she put in on it the eyes flared a brighter red and the mask became a part of her face.
Suddenly noticing this new turn of events, Willow shrieked. The others turned to see what had happened, and the loss of attention resulted in the zombies busting through the door again. Upon entering the room, the zombies dropped to their knees before Pat the zombie.
"This is not good," said Buffy.
Pat the zombie approached Willow and stared at her. A blinding flash of light came from her eyes and for a moment they were all paralyzed. For Buffy it was like being stupefied all over again, and she was very relieved when it wore off after a few seconds.
Buffy closed her eyes and rushed towards Pat the zombie, slamming into her and pushing them both out of the bedroom window. As they fought in the front yard, Buffy was frozen again, but for the most part managed to look away.
Realizing that the power stemmed from the eyes of the mask, Buffy grabbed a shovel she found on the ground, and flung it towards Pat the zombie. The blade sliced into the mask, and Pat, as well as the other zombies, fell lifelessly to the ground.
One by one the gang came out of the house, followed by Joyce and the recently arrived Giles.
Joyce ran forward and pulled Buffy close to her. Over her mother's shoulder Buffy saw that the Scoobies were smiling at her.
"Welcome home," said Xander. "It just hasn't been the same without you."
—so ignore the first part of my letter. Things aren't perfect, but I'm well on my way to patching things up here. Good luck at school!
Love, Buffy
P.S. Say 'hi' to Hermione for me!
AN again: What I think is most funny, is that after my mini-rant last chapter in which I said I wouldn't even try to write longer chapters, and that I was writing my own version of events and not Joss', I managed to crank out this near facsimile of DMP and at twice the length. (I took the basic plot, but wrote it how I imagine that a more adjusted Buffy, as in one that has had a decent summer, would react. In the original, she lets the gang get away with a lot more meanness. Plus I tossed in a few things that I wanted out of the way so I don't have to lean on any other episodes.) Oh, well… next part should be about Draco's good times in Hogwarts, so original stuff again!
Many thanks to: becks89, Darklight, Rosie W, ScruffyWes and Susan. And for some reason (ff.net sucks!) I can't see about the last 7 or 8 reviews for this chapter, and nothing has been sent to my email. So if I should have thanked you and didn't, sorry. It sucks for me, too :(
Happy Birthday to ScruffyWes!
Sorry about the wait on this chapter~ as I said, ff.net is acting like a little bitch.
~Eris~