Chapter 2:
"So how did it go?" Doyle asked her as soon as she came home that evening. He was preparing their dinner.
"It went great," Buffy replied. "But I don't get why the Powers that Be would send me to a woman that
doesn't seem to have any connection with the supernatural."
"Maybe you have to protect her from what's coming." Doyle said. "The Powers that Be aren't really known to elaborate."
Buffy sighed as she sat down in front of the dinner table. "I guess you're right." She looked at him expectantly. "So, what's for dinner?"
"What do you expect?" Doyle asked her teasingly. Buffy knew he can't cook and when he's the one in charge of the food, he always buys takeout food. That's how it had been for the past two years.
Ever since the day Buffy was brought back and Doyle was sent to be her guardian, the two of them had grown closer. She wasn't the Slayer anymore; she had another calling. A calling that involved her Slayer senses and abilities plus a bunch of supernatural powers.
And since Doyle's sins were already atoned, he became Buffy's guardian in her mission to stop the spread of evil. But unlike Buffy, Doyle wasn't brought back; he was asked to come back to purposely help Buffy.
It didn't once occur to the two of them that they would become family after both of their deaths; it also seemed ironic that the two of them would be living in the same house when they're very different from each other.
Buffy was Buffy and Doyle was Doyle; in everybody's opinion, that's the best way to describe them.
"You have mail today." Doyle said as soon as they had eaten dinner. He gave her a stack of letters that came there that afternoon.
Buffy took it and looked at it absent-mindedly. "It's from Faith."
Doyle looked at her, confused. "But it says there Patricia Adams."
"That's the pen name Faith uses when she writes letters to me." Buffy replied. "It's some sort of code so Giles wouldn't suspect a thing." "Aside from the fact that Patch Adams was her favorite movie of all time," she couldn't help adding.
"Oh." Doyle finally understood. Before Faith became the official Slayer, she had stayed in Florida for the rest of her imprisonment. That's how Faith found out that Buffy was alive and well. And after she was released, she helped the two of them in their mission and she and Buffy finally became the best of friends.
And even after Faith was called to be the Slayer after six months in Florida, she and Buffy still kept touch by writing letters every month. Faith's pen name was Patricia Adams and Buffy's was Summer Thompson. That way, no one from Buffy's past would know about her.
"So, how is Faith?" Doyle asked Buffy. "I haven't heard you talk about her for a long time."
"She's fine. She's been doing well, actually." Buffy replied.
"And how's Dawn?" Doyle asked her quietly. He knew that part of the reason Faith writes to Buffy every month was to let her know what's happening to Dawn, Giles, and her friends.
Buffy stopped eating and looked at him. "You really want to get All My Children with me, don't you?" There was a slight teasing in her voice but there was also pain.
"Look, if you don't want to talk about it, it's alright." Doyle said. "But you have to let it out, Buffy. You've been hiding how you're feeling about all of this for two years."
Buffy sighed. "Do we have to go through this again, Doyle?" Doyle had been bugging her about what she felt almost every week. "I accepted this calling, didn't I? Isn't that enough proof that I really don't have any hard feelings about this?"
"You're lying," Doyle said bluntly. "There has to be a reason for you to agree to this but I will not push you." He shook his head. "But you can't keep this up forever."
"It wouldn't hurt to try." And with that, they resumed their dinner and talked as if nothing happened.
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"I'm telling you, if business is as slow as this until next month, we can go!" Cordelia Chase convinced him. The two of them were still at the Hyperion Hotel, talking about Giles' invitation.
Angel sighed. "What would happen if you get a vision?" he asked her. "We can't just go there then come back here again if something goes wrong."
"Oh come on, Angel. You and I both know we can work this thing out." Cordelia said. "Look, Wesley, Gunn, and Fred are coming to Florida. You're the only one who isn't going to be there."
"Cordelia, even if you had already asked everyone to come, I still won't go." Angel answered.
Cordelia threw her hands up in defeat. "I give up. Don't go if that's what you want. But answer my question and I promise I won't bother you again."
Angel shrugged. "Sure, what is it?" He has a long night ahead, patrolling in LA.
"Is the reason you don't want to go to Florida has something to do with Fred?" Cordelia asked him.
"It has nothing to do with Fred!" Angel said.
"Yes it does," Cordy replied. "Your tone gave it away. You're afraid to introduce Fred as your girlfriend to Giles, Willow, Xander and Dawn."
"It's not that I don't want them to meet Fred, I do. I mean, I love her and I'm proud of her. It's just that-."
"You're afraid that they might think you betrayed Buffy." Cordelia finished. She looked at her friend. "Angel, you know that I like Buffy more than Fred for you because she was the Slayer and I had grown to respect her. But Buffy's gone and you've already moved on. Fred is now your girlfriend. If I've accepted that fact, why won't they?"
"Sometimes I still think it was all my fault." Angel said quietly. "If I hadn't gone to that other dimension, maybe she'd still be alive and kicking right now."
Cordelia walked over to Angel. "None of this is your fault and you know it. If Buffy didn't risk her life would we still have a world to live in? Would you be happy now if you know that you still can't have her?" Cordelia shook her head. "Often times, we have to look at the positive side of things." She laughed. "I'll admit, when Willow came here and told me what happened, that was the first time I really appreciated Buffy. But the past is the past, Angel. All of us had already moved on, not just you and- vision!" Cordelia felt a shot of pain.
Angel was beside her in an instant. After a few minutes, Cordelia was fine but was looking strangely at him.
"What was the vision, Cordelia?" Angel asked her.
"Angel, you're going to Florida, whether you like it or not." Was the only reply he got.