Chapter Twenty nine

Buffy quickly walks down the main road, trying to get to her destination on time, which was starting to look impossible. Gunn had gotten in touch early this morning, and had asked to meet her somewhere private. She had suggested her old makeshift home from when she first arrived, and Gunn had agreed. Now she just had to make it across town in two minutes without drawing too much attention to herself. It was better said than done. No matter what she did she was sure people would never stop staring at her. The rumours had gotten worse, not helped at all by the events of the last couple of months. Now that she was back in the public eye, it seemed that all anyone could do was stare.

Buffy sighs and checks the time on the watch Giles had started making her wear. She smiles as she remembers their conversation. Giles had told her she had to start being more punctual and he had given her the watch. She just rolled her eyes at the time, but she had also been appreciative of the gift.

Buffy snaps out of her reverie, remembering she was meant to be meeting Gunn. She picks up the pace, deciding the stares aren't important for now, and eventually breaks into a run as she realises that Gunn might leave if she's late.

She runs up to the large doors of the old abandoned building, and pushes them open. She dashes inside and looks around for Gunn, hoping that he didn't give up on her and leave. She'd wanted to see him for some time.

"Looking for someone?" Buffy whirls around and sees Gunn sat on a crate in the deep shadows of the room, an amused smile, gracing his face.

Buffy sighs in relief and smiles at Gunn, "You're here. I thought you'd left."

Gunn smiles cheekily, "No. I knew you'd be late as usual."

Buffy pouts, "I'm not always late." She gives him her best innocent look, knowing full well that she was practically never on time. Except in demon situations, that is. For some reason she was always right on time.

Gunn snorts, "Yeah right. Anyway, I know I did not want to meet with you here to talk time-keeping skills."

Buffy clears her throat, getting serious now, "Right. What is it? It sounded important."

Gunn nods, "It is. I don't really know where to start."

Buffy shrugs, not knowing what to say, since she didn't know what she was doing there in the first place, "Anywhere."

Gunn nods slowly, thinking. He decides on his first issue and looks down, not knowing quite how to put it, "Your dad."

Buffy looks down too, not really wanting to dwell on it. Her dad was dead, and she was okay with that. There was really no need to go opening up old wounds. Especially if they would tear apart two good friends, "Gunn…"

Gunn shakes his head, interrupting, "No. Don't interrupt. I need to say it."

Buffy purses her lips. She personally didn't want to talk about her dad. Ever again, in fact. But she had known Gunn for quite some time and she could tell when he was serious. This was one of those times. They had never properly discussed what happened that night. If he needed closure…well there was no question there. Buffy nods, indicating for Gunn to continue.

Gunn looks back up at Buffy, unsure of what to say, but decides to say it the best he could, "It was an accident. I was in L.A. keeping an eye on things like I promised you, when I got word on the street that your dad had found out where you were. I followed as soon as I could, but when I got here I had no idea where to find you. Or him. By the time I managed to track him down it was too late and I found him shooting at you in that house." Gunn pauses and looks down, dreading what's coming next, but he knows it has to be said if ever wanted to have closure, "I hit him from behind, and he dropped the gun. We both grabbed for it, but I got it and I hit him again. He was just there, lying on the ground, and I thought he was dead. But a second later, he moaned, but he didn't move. So I aimed the gun at his head and I pulled the trigger." Gunn looks down in shame at his revelation. He'd been keeping that to himself the whole time and it felt good to get it out at last. He knew that Hank Summers was a monster and that he deserved to die, but part of him still felt bad for murdering one of his closest friend's father.

Buffy just stares silently in shock, not knowing what to say. Gunn had told her it was an accident, but now she knew that he had done it on purpose. Most probably for her. She didn't know what to think. Hank had deserved to die, she was sure of it, but she wasn't sure if she was happy now that she knew it had been because of her. Did that make it her fault? Was she responsible? She looks down at Gunn and realises that he was looking at her, waiting for a response.

She gives him a small smile, regardless of her feelings, "It's okay, Gunn. You don't need to feel bad about it. You were just trying to protect me. All of this was my fault."

Gunn immediately frowns, disagreeing completely, "What? No! I just told you I shot your dad. How do you think it's your fault?"

Buffy gives him a rueful smile, "You wouldn't have killed him if I wasn't involved. It's okay. You don't need to protect my feelings. I know how to handle myself."

Gunn sighs and shakes his head, dropping his head into his hand, "Listen to us. Arguing over who's guilty for murder."

Buffy smiles wryly, "Bet you never saw that coming when you thought about today."

Gunn shakes his head, looking back up at her, "No, I really didn't."

Buffy smiles again. She thinks again about what's been happening lately. She'd run away to Sunnydale after a prophetic dream, met up with Giles, Angel and his team, Willow, and Xander…which reminded her. She still had unfinished business on that end. She hadn't spoken with Willow yet, and she wondered what the redhead thought of her now. She couldn't still think she was guilty of all those things, could she? She would have to speak to her, even if just to clear the air. She wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to speak to her again.

Gunn watches Buffy carefully, watching the different emotions flicker across her face. When he finally notices her wince, he decides to call her on it, "Buff?"

Buffy is startled out of her thoughts and her gaze immediately shifts to Gunn, "Huh?"

Gunn smiles gently, "IOU?"

Buffy smiles at the familiar question. Back when they had been living on the streets in L.A. they didn't have much of anything, so instead of asking 'penny for your thoughts' they had started offering IOU's in place of the penny. Buffy smiles inwardly. She was sure that they had both run up quite a bill over the years. She turns her attention back to Gunn, "Just thinking about what I was gonna do about school."

Gunn makes a face, "Back to school, huh? When do you go back?"

Buffy makes a face in turn, "Tomorrow."

Gunn raises his eyebrows in surprise. That was unexpected, "How did you manage to get out so late on a school night?"

Buffy snorts, "Please! Like Giles can stop me."

Gunn stares at her for a moment, before giving her a sly look, "Snuck out didn't ya?"

Buffy looks down in embarrassment, "Okay, maybe I did."

Gunn laughs jovially. Same old Buffy. Buffy interrupts his laughter with a sigh, "I also have to talk to a couple of people."

Gunn's laughter slows and breaks off as he recognises her serious tone, "A couple of people, like…?"

Buffy sighs again, "Willow and Xander. I'm sure they hate me now, if they didn't before. And the rumours and gossip are already so much worse, and I'm not even back in school yet." She drops down to the floor with a groan.

Gunn looks at her sympathetically. He never understood why she even wanted to go to school in the first place. She's the Slayer. She has a secret duty and a higher purpose, so why bother even trying to fit in somewhere where people will never understand her. But she was his friend, and he wanted to be supportive. And in a way, he sort of understood her quest for some normalcy.

He gets up and kneels by her, "Don't worry about it, Buffy. If they do care about you, they'll understand and want to get to know you better. After all, who wouldn't like to know you? You're strong, forgiving, caring, and there is a hell of a lot more to you then they know. Willow was there. I'm sure she'll understand. And even if they don't, you've still got Angel and Giles and the team. They look out for you. Just like we used to look out for each other."

Buffy looks up at Gunn, teary, touched at his support. She leans forward and gives him a crushing hug, "Thank you."

Gunn hugs her back and then pulls back looking at her face, "I'm gonna miss you, Buffy."

Buffy smiles sadly, "Me too. Do you really have to leave?" Buffy knew that he would have to leave sooner or later. The police were always there in the way. If he didn't leave, he could be arrested, but that didn't stop Buffy from asking.

Gunn shakes his head regretfully, wishing with everything that he could stay with Buffy and that everything could be like old times, "I can't. You know that."

Buffy nibbles on her lip, "I know. But hey, it was worth a shot." Buffy's light tone was a total contradiction to her feelings. She had finally gotten back with one of her closest friends only for him to be forced to leave. She forces her mouth into a tight line, to stop her mouth from quivering as she tried to keep the tears from falling. She stands up slowly, followed by Gunn, and they stare at each other silently, before Gunn takes her hand and leads her outside in front of the building.

Buffy looks up at him, sadly with tears in her eyes, "This is the part where you say goodbye."

Gunn nods, "Yeah. It is." He takes both of her hands and looks her in the eye, "It has been incredible knowing you, Buffy. I will never forget you. You're an incredible person. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise." He drops a brotherly kiss on her forehead, before dropping her hands and stepping back, "Goodbye." He slowly backs up and turns, walking away into the shadows, out of her life. Forever.

Buffy silently watches him walk away, and as a tear trickles down her cheek, she whispers, "Goodbye…"