As he surveyed the soon-to-be battlefield before him, Angel wondered if he was being a coward. Not that there was anything cowardly about what he was currently doing - he would be leading the attack from the front, as always. No, it was simply the fact that he'd chosen to be here at this exact moment, instead of in Thirteen - where, he realized with a pang, Buffy might be released any minute now - that had him questioning his courage. The truth was, he could have postponed the assault on District 6 another day or two, just long enough to see how she was doing and speak with her...if he wasn't afraid of what she might say.

From the moment of her miraculous return, he had warned himself not to get his hopes up, reminded himself repeatedly that years had passed since they were together and she had changed a lot in that time...only for all those admonitions to fly right out of his head the instant their lips met. Despite his better judgment, he had started to hope even as a part of him felt vaguely alarmed by the obsessive desire that was threatening to overtake his mind at a time when he couldn't afford to be distracted - but then, when Willow told him it wasn't real, that Buffy had only kissed him because she was under the influence of powerful, malignant magic...

He wasn't an idiot; he knew sooner or later (and it would probably be best if it was sooner) he would have to face her, listen to her awkward requests to pretend nothing had happened and agree with a smile, assure her that it wouldn't change anything between them while hiding his pain at having something he had wished for so desperately dangled in front of him, then cruelly snatched away again... But he wasn't in a great hurry to do it.

Luckily, he didn't have long to ruminate on the emotional blow waiting for him back at his home base; at that moment, Six's defenses were breached, and he charged forward to meet the small force of Peacekeepers arrayed against the rebel soldiers, letting the rush of battle drive all thoughts of Buffy from his head.

###

Angel stayed in District 6 for a week, assessing what the rebellion had gained from its newest member - he was certain the hovercrafts in particular would prove to be a valuable resource - and deciding how to make the best use of it, as well as recruiting and training new soldiers with the help of two of his commanders, Boggs and Paylor, plus Peeta and Gale.

The boys didn't quite have Katniss' flair, but Peeta was a well-known figure in his own right - he had been right beside her throughout much of her time in the arena, after all - and a skilled orator, while Gale had an undeniable passion for the cause and a story that people responded to, of leading the survivors to safety when his home was destroyed by a vengeful Snow. Both had also become very capable fighters despite their ordinary backgrounds and lack of supernatural abilities, allowing them to serve as inspiring examples to the new recruits.

While he was gone, Buffy and Katniss started training together again, though their progress was slow - at first because Katniss was recuperating from a life-threatening wound, and then she was just plain distracted. Buffy tried to be patient with her, but after day four of the younger Slayer's head so clearly being elsewhere, she decided she had to say something.

"Okay, what's with you?" she demanded after knocking a blunted practice sword out of the girl's hand. "Slayer healing should have you back at a hundred percent by now, so why are you only giving me eighty-seven?"

"Maybe it feels like enough when you're making up the other thirteen percent all by yourself," Katniss retorted. "You literally beat the stuffing out of a punching bag." She shot a pointed glance at the chunks of foam littering the floor.

"Point taken," Buffy said sheepishly, before sighing and running a hand over her face to brush away the sweaty tendrils of hair that had escaped her ponytail. "My nerves are just wound super tight what with the whole 'Angel being gone' thing..." Her voice trailed off as a sudden flash of insight hit her, and with it, a possible opportunity for some girl talk, which she hoped would aid in her goal of defrosting things between them. "Which is maybe also what has your brain all scattered, since he took your boys with him."

"My boys? Excuse me?"

"You know, Peeta and Stormy-"

"Gale," Katniss corrected.

"Right. Anyway, scuttlebutt around here is that Bread Boy may or may not be your boyfriend, although you and Gale seem pretty tight too. Any juicy love triangle drama there?"

"No! Gale's my best friend."

"Which means Peeta must be more," Buffy surmised with a sly grin.

"No... I mean, not yet," Katniss floundered, unsure how to explain her not-quite relationship with her former district partner from the Hunger Games. Then it occurred to her that she shouldn't have to. "What's it to you anyway?"

"Well, you're so uptight that it's nice to know you're not a total robot. It was honestly kind of a relief to see blood instead of wires when that uber-vamp scratched you, because I've met some very lifelike robots in my day. Just be careful," Buffy advised, all traces of humor vanishing abruptly. "Dating can get complicated when you're the Slayer and your honey's just an average Joe."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you know, some guys have this macho complex about being with women who're stronger than them. Everything goes fine at first, and you think you and he are on the same page, then the next thing you know he's griping about you not paying enough attention to him and you find him in a vampire brothel..."

Buffy's expression had steadily darkened into a full-blown glower as she spoke, and her grip on the canteen she'd been sipping from throughout their conversation tightened until the hard plastic cracked, sending cold water dribbling over her hand. Only then did she snap out of her memories enough to notice Katniss mouthing soundlessly at her like a fish out of water.

"Wh-what?" the younger girl finally managed to sputter. "Vampire brothels?!"

"Sorry," Buffy said ruefully, "I didn't mean to freak you out. Peeta seems pretty chill, so hopefully he's not insecure enough to reach crisis point over you being able to bench press more weight than him."

"He's not weak," Katniss said quickly, feeling a strange urge to defend him from any possible slight. "He was on our school's wrestling team, and he worked at his father's bakery after school. I've seen him toss hundred-pound sacks of flour like they were nothing, and he's probably even stronger now with all the training and fighting we've been doing."

"He's definitely buff," the blonde agreed with a grin. "I can see why you're into him." Then she turned serious again. "What I said about not taking him for granted might still be worth putting a pin in, though, no matter how chill he is. With the guy I mentioned, I don't know if I would've been able to fix things between us even if I'd seen the signs that he wasn't happy, but I legitimately had no idea we were on the rocks until I saw a hooker vamp sucking on his arm." When Katniss raised an eyebrow at her, she added, "No, that's not a PG-rated euphemism; apparently some people get a rush out of vamps drinking their blood, but that's not the point. The point is that communication is important in a relationship, and I don't want you to lose Peeta the way I lost Riley just because the whole 'putting words into sentences' thing doesn't come easily to you."

And maybe if I'd communicated better with Angel before shit hit the fan with the stupid brainwash-y demon magic, he wouldn't be freezing me out now, she thought glumly.

Meanwhile, Katniss found herself beset by her own sudden onslaught of doubt; she thought Peeta understood why she wasn't ready to begin a serious relationship, but was it possible that he resented having to wait, or suspected her of using the war as an excuse to put him off? Was she in fact doing just that?

Then she shook it off. It was true that the idea of fully committing herself to Peeta was still a little scary, but she was determined to try; her reaction to their current separation - which, while much less agonizing than his imprisonment in the Capitol, was still unpleasant - had only strengthened her resolve in the matter. When she did, maybe Buffy's advice on communication would be worth keeping in mind, but it wasn't what she needed to be focusing on at the moment, and why was she discussing her personal life with the other Slayer anyway? She respected her as a warrior and was learning to value her as a mentor, but it wasn't like they were friends.

"Thanks for your concern," she said as politely as she could manage, though she was sure Buffy would still describe her tone as 'on the surly side'. "Can we go back to hitting each other now?"

###

After their training session ended, Buffy went in search of Willow and found her in her room, though surprisingly she wasn't alone; that hipster film director, Cressida, was with her. Buffy knew they'd been spending a lot of time together over the last week, working on a series of ads for a TV blitz that Plutarch was convinced would be instrumental in turning the remaining fence-sitting districts against the Capitol, but they usually did that in the media room. They also seemed to be having way too much fun for their interaction to be strictly professional; they were laughing, and Cressida's camera sat off to one side, forgotten.

They looked up when Buffy entered and tried to get their laughter under control, but she was already backing away, feeling like she had interrupted something she shouldn't have. "Sorry, I didn't know you guys were in the middle of stuff."

"No, don't go," Willow said before she could fully make her exit. "Cressida wanted to know more about the pre-Panem world, and I kind of veered off onto memory lane."

"It's fine," Cressida assured her in response to her self-conscious look, "I really enjoyed your stories. Your friend Xander sounds hilarious."

"He was," Willow agreed with a fond smile while Buffy nodded. "He'd be glad to know that hearing about his high school hijinks made you laugh."

"Thanks for telling me. I know it can't have been easy to talk about him and all the other people who aren't here anymore."

"No, it wasn't, but it felt good to remember the good times we had together before everything went to hell in the proverbial hand basket. Thanks for listening."

"It's what I do best." Cressida flashed Willow an answering smile before excusing herself, though Buffy couldn't help noticing how she turned back for one last look as she passed through the doorway, or how Willow's eyes followed her until she was out of sight.

"You two seem awfully friendly," she commented with the barest hint of a suggestive inflection as she sat down beside Willow on her bed, taking the spot that Cressida had just vacated.

Willow's gaze, which had lingered for a second on the place where Cressida had been last, snapped back to Buffy, her expression reminiscent of someone who'd been caught with their hand in a cookie jar. "She's nice," she replied, her tone so perfectly neutral that Buffy suspected she was actively trying not to give anything away. "Like she said, she's a good listener and it helps to have someone I can talk to about our friends, our world, besides just you. Not that you're not enough," she hastened to add, "but Xander, Dawn, Giles, and all the others... The people of Panem should know about them. I'm glad there's someone here who feels the same way."

She clammed up after that, clearly not wanting to discuss the subject further, and Buffy decided not to push it. She was glad her best friend had found at least one person in this crazy new world she could connect with, but as much as she wanted her not to be alone, she understood why Willow wasn't ready to entertain the possibility of that connection progressing beyond friendship. It was one thing for her to give being with Angel another shot, considering the long history between them, but if she was in Willow's place, she highly doubted she would want to dive right into a brand new relationship.

"Well, I'm glad talking to her is doing you good," she said sincerely, and Willow looked relieved at the lack of any further teasing or prodding. "Speaking of things that are therapeutic, how's the magical recovery coming along?"

The question produced a visible perking-up in the witch. "It's coming," she said excitedly. "I can levitate bigger objects now and keep them in the air longer, and I'm getting back into casting more complex spells too. Nothing on a really cosmic scale yet, but I'm definitely getting my mojo back."

"That's great, Will, I'm so happy for you!"

She leaned forward, spontaneously pulling the redhead into a celebratory hug which she returned enthusiastically. When they parted, however, her face soon fell into a more businesslike expression. "On the subject of more complex spells, can I borrow your scythe? I want to see if I can tap into its magic again."

"Why? Are you thinking of trying another mass Slayer-empowering spell?" Buffy asked, her heartbeat quickening with a fresh surge of excitement.

"Well, not to knock you and Katniss, but it'd sure help to have more than two of you. I'd like to see about making some tweaks, though." When Buffy cocked her head inquisitively, she explained, "The first time around, I gave this power to hundreds of girls all over the world - girls we didn't even know - and later it occurred to me that empowering some of them may not have been such a great idea, so this time I want to try making it more...selective. We don't want to end up with another Simone Doffler."

"Simone..." Buffy frowned as she searched her memory for the name. "The punk with the pink mohawk who was always pushing for us to go full paramilitary, with guns and stuff? I remember hearing from Andrew that Rona sent her to him because she was too much of a handful."

Willow nodded. "If the world hadn't ended when it did, I can just about guarantee she would've become a problem," she said gravely.

Buffy's frown deepened as she pondered the implications of those words. "And a rogue Slayer is an extra layer of crap this already crappy world absolutely does not need, plus it would suck to know we were responsible for giving that kind of power to someone who abused it. So what's your plan for weeding out the bad apples?"

"I'm not sure yet," Willow admitted, nibbling thoughtfully at her lower lip. "I was thinking of maybe trying to rework my original spell so new Slayers can only be activated by touching the scythe or something... In the meantime, there's this." She reached into a box that was sitting on her pillow and pulled out an amulet with a chain attached, allowing it to be worn as a necklace. "I might still need to borrow a little juice from the other witches, but I'm pretty sure I can enchant this to light up around Potentials. At least that'll give us a chance to figure out which ones can be trusted with the power before we give it to them."

"That's a great idea, Will. Have I told you lately how amazing you are?"

The obvious admiration in her voice made Willow smile, but just like before, it was short-lived. "I just hope we can find some good prospects," she said somberly. "I have a feeling we'll be needing them sooner or later - probably sooner."

###

Her words proved to be more prescient than she could have imagined. Three days later, Angel returned with bad news: once the situation in Six was stabilized, he had visited the other rebel districts and found that conditions in Ten were rapidly deteriorating. Although the blight was over, the destruction of large swaths of their pastures meant that their surviving livestock were running out of food, putting most of the district's people in danger of losing their livelihoods and Panem in danger of losing its supply of meat, not to mention all the other products that were made from animals.

"There's only one move here," he announced to a stunned and dismayed assembly. "The blight left District 9 untouched; their grain combined with what the people of Ten and Eleven were able to salvage should be enough to keep most of the animals alive through the winter."

"So you want to take the last food-producing district under Capitol control?" Haymitch called out skeptically from his place near the front of the crowd, beside Katniss, Prim, Peeta, and Gale. "You do know they won't give it up easily, right? The fact that they're still holding on to Panem's 'breadbasket' is probably the only thing stopping even more defections to our side."

"I know it's a tall order," Angel replied patiently, not wanting to sound like he was sweeping the man's concerns - which several people likely shared, even if Haymitch was the only one brazen enough to voice them - under the rug, "but you have to keep in mind that we have a lot more trained fighters than we did in the beginning. If we deploy our forces strategically, I know we can do this - because no matter what the Capitol throws at us, we have something they don't. We have all of you. Your refusal to give in to fear, your willingness to set aside your differences and fight alongside strangers, your hope for a better world than the one you were always told you had no choice but to accept - there's nothing stronger than that. That's why we never give up, no matter how badly the odds are stacked against us, and that's why we're going to win."

His speech was met with cheers and applause, and even Katniss, who considered herself a dyed-in-the-wool cynic, found herself clapping along with the rest.

"He's good, isn't he?" Haymitch murmured in her ear. "Almost makes you believe this sorry world of ours really can change."

Angel received their ovations with poorly hidden discomfort before making a quick exit, slinking off into the maze of hallways that were currently empty, what with everyone having gathered to hear his report. In his haste to escape, he didn't notice one particular figure breaking away from the crowd and following him, Illyria stepping aside to let her pass while using her icy glare to deter anyone else who sought to disturb the solitude their leader obviously desired.

Only after the noise faded were his sharp ears able to detect his pursuer's habitually quiet footsteps, and he turned around to see the very person who had been on his mind almost every minute he'd been gone. "Buffy."

"Nice speech back there. Very 'Washington inspiring the troops'."

"Glad you approve. I gave a few pep talks back in the day, but just to the people I was closest to - my family."

She nodded understandingly. "It feels weird when the number of people in your crew blows up overnight, doesn't it? Like going from running the mom-and-pop corner store to an international mega-corp."

"From what I heard, though, you handled the Slayers going global pretty well. The couple of times I tried scaling up... Let's just say it didn't turn out great." Buffy nodded again, her expression sympathetic, and he was grateful that she needed no elaboration to understand that he was referring to his last-ditch efforts to prevent Wolfram and Hart from completing their apocalypse in the final days of the old world and his previous rebellion against them, which had come to be known in Panem's history books as the Dark Days. "After that, Illyria and I hunkered down here and did our best to turn our former prison into a safe haven for the survivors, but I never got up the nerve to try again until Katniss came along, and I guess maybe I've been hiding behind her."

"You shouldn't," Buffy told him, her voice quiet yet filled with conviction. "I'll admit she does have a certain...some people might call it charisma - people who don't know what a grouch she is," she added quickly, just in case Angel was about to tease her about warming up to the younger Slayer. "But something tells me she wouldn't be leading this revolution on her own if you hadn't roped her into it."

"Probably not," he agreed, recalling the disbelieving look on the girl's face when he first asked her to help him take down Snow. "She's from the poorest district in Panem, so she's had a hard life - the kind that makes people wary about sticking their necks out."

"But here she is, fighting the good fight - her and all these other people - because of you. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't sell yourself short. I didn't get to see nearly as much of what you did in L.A. as I would've liked, but you clearly earned your own bona fide hero cred after splitting from the Scoobies." And me. Her proud smile slipped as she pondered how Angel had come into his own after they broke up and wondered whether it would still have happened if he'd stayed with her, or if remaining in Sunnydale would have kept him in her shadow.

Somehow, he seemed to hear the unspoken words hanging in the air between them, because he said, "It means a lot to hear you say that, but you're not here to talk about my personal growth, are you?"

"No. We need - I need - to talk about us. Angel, what happened in those caves-"

"It's okay, you don't have to explain anything to me. I'm so sorry for what they did to you in the Capitol, how they used you to try and get to me-"

"I'm not." Angel could only gape at her, certain he must have misheard, and she hurried to finish what she needed to say before he found his voice again. "Flipping out over thinking you had a thing with Katniss wasn't fun, and definitely not one of my finest moments, but the 'you and me' part... Even if it was a spell that made us fall on each other's lips after we slayed that uber-vamp, I think it just gave me the push I needed to finally do what I've wanted to do since... Probably since the moment I stepped off that hovercraft and saw you again."

"Really? But I thought... Does this mean you're finished baking?"

Buffy shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. I mean, is anyone ever really finished? Does anyone ever stop growing and changing as long as they're alive? All I know for sure is that the only place I really feel like I belong in this wacky future world is with you. And yeah, I still have work to do to find my place here, but I've realized I don't have to do it alone, and I don't want to, and now I'm starting to do the nervous babble thing so I really need you to say something-"

Angel had listened to her rambling in stunned silence, his brain struggling to comprehend what he was hearing, but slowly it started to sink in that she wasn't angry about their enchantment-induced kiss, nor did she want to distance herself from him. Instead, to his utter amazement, the whole sorry affair had somehow acted as a catalyst for her realizing that she still loved him too - and, even more incredibly, she actually wanted to be with him again, right here and now.

There was a lot he could have said - after all, he had spent centuries thinking of all the things he wished he'd told her when he had the chance - and yet, when she asked him to speak up, all he could think of to say at that moment was, "I think there's been enough talk for now." Then he kissed her.

She responded eagerly, but not with the same frantic urgency as before. Instead, it was slower, deeper, the kind of kiss that was shared between lovers who had been apart far too long and were now savoring their reunion without feeling any need to rush it. When the war was over, they would have plenty of time to figure out how their relationship would work with all the growing and maturing they had both done during their time apart and plan their life together...but for now, this single moment of peace amid the strife and violence was enough.

And here we have a nice fluffy scene between our beta couple, plus some attempted girl bonding between Buffy and Katniss; I wanted to get it all out of my system here, because next time we'll be back in the war zone.

In other news, as my plans for the rest of this story have solidified, I feel confident in saying we're over the hump now, with my present estimate for the final chapter count hovering somewhere around 40, though it could end up being even less. Assuming I'm able to keep up my current pattern of updating every month (and I'll definitely give it my best shot) I think it's entirely possible this could be finished before the end of next year. I'll keep you all posted on further details as they become clearer.