Title: The French Connection
Author: Lily
Rating: PG to PG-13
Spoilers: Bargaining, but really only part one
Disclaimer: pshaw. not mine.
Summary: Yes, the resurrection worked. But no, it didn't wake Buffy up where she last was (that part seems to have gotten messed up, no?)...
Author's Note: *la la la* denotes Buffy thoughts

Oz picked up the paper again and began to read it in his usual order, arts before the front section. However, he was having trouble concentrating. He wasn't really worried about how Buffy and Angel would sort things out, but more about the call to Sunnydale. Shaking his head, he put down the paper and picked up Buffy's half-done coffee. It was cold and he threw the rest down the sink before putting the mug in the dishwasher. He was staring at the wall, lost in thought, when Buffy came back in.

"Oz?"

He jumped slightly, surprised. "Oh, how did it go?"

Buffy sighed and shrugged her shoulders, hopping up on the counter next to the sink, across the small kitchen from where Oz stood. "Angel and I were never really phone people. I could talk for hours on end to just about anybody, but I don't think I've talked to Angel on the phone for more than a few hours total since I've known him. It went pretty much how I expected it to go."

He raised an eyebrow.

She raised one back and held his gaze for a few seconds before smiling. "And I didn't wake him up."

"That's good, because, you know, that's what I was most concerned about," he replied wryly, with a smile to match hers.

"You mock, but you haven't seen Angel when he's just been woken up."

"Can't say I've had the pleasure." Oz smirked.

"Anyway, despite us not being phone people, I'm going to call him whenever I get back. Have a lengthier discussion...possibly not on the phone."

"Sounds like a plan," Oz's tone turned lower as he continued, "So...how did he sound?"

The slayer stared at him for a few moments, as if gauging how in depth an answer he wanted before dropping her eyes. "Pretty shook up. Apparently he went off for a few months right after he found out, looking for balance or something. Coping. He just got back a few days ago. And now he finds out I'm not dead after all. That's got to be a shock too--finally dealing with something only to find out that it was kind of unnecessary. Can you imagine that?"

She looked up when he didn't respond. He wasn't looking at her, and his eyebrow seemed to not know what it should do. When he met her eyes, she blushed deeply.

"Oh," she muttered, "of course you can...I'm an idiot...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..."

He cut her off.

"It's never unnecessary, Buffy."

She gave him a small nod, still ashamed of her insensitivity. Oz had barely mentioned Willow since she had been there, and had seemed okay with talking to her on the phone, but he was obviously not completely over his past with her.

Oz pushed up onto the counter on his side of the kitchen and sat directly opposite Buffy. The kitchen, like most of the apartment, was obviously made for one or two people living alone. It was small and narrow, and Oz had no trouble reaching his foot across to tap her knee. "Hey," he whispered, "don't worry about it."

He let his foot bounce back against the cabinets under the sink, a few steady thuds.

"So," he said, "you need a break before the next call?"

"I don't know. Maybe I should just get it over with. Don't you think? Or do you want to do something?" She began to mimic his earlier foot movements, banging her heels anxiously against the counter. "I'm not waiting all day until it's a reasonable hour there, might as well do it now, while it's still early enough that they might not have gone to sleep yet. Knowing our friends, they're still up...right?"

Reaching down, Oz grabbed one of her ankles on its way up. He smiled and gave her foot a comforting squeeze. "Go."

"Yeah. I will." Buffy jumped down off of the counter and left Oz sitting in the kitchen.

She walked back into Oz's bedroom. She had made the bed after waking up that morning, but the comforter was mussed from her sitting on it and fidgeting while talking to Angel. She sank into the spot that was indented farthest, where she had been sitting the longest. With a deep breath, she picked up the phone from the bedside table and put it in her lap.

She paused before dialing, not sure where to call. Magic Box?

*Too late for that.*

Picking one, she punched in the international code and then her home phone number. It rang three times and she was about to give up when she heard the sound of the receiver being lifted off the hook. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Hello?" It was an exhausted Willow. Buffy smiled. It was good to hear her again.

"Willow."

"Who is this?" Willow sounded more awake now, and very confused.

"Will, it's me," Buffy found herself whispering, as if her identity were a secret. "It's Buffy."

"Buffy? Who is this really?"

"Buffy."

Willow gasped, and there was a long pause before she murmured, "Oh my God..." Buffy heard a shriek of "Tara!" and waited for Willow to come back.

"Oh my God. Buffy, you're dead."

"That had been my understanding too..."

"Where are you? How did you get there? What happened? Where are you?" Willow was flustered, her voice raising with every question.

"Paris."

"What? You're in Paris? Buffy, how did you go from a hell dimension to Paris?"

"Actually, I was thinking you could help me with that one..." the slayer ventured, "I thought you did a spell..."

There was some shuffling and a loud beep. "Buffy? Are you there?" It was Willow, but she sounded farther away. "Tara's here. I put you on speaker phone."

"I'm here."

"Hi, Buffy." Tara's voice sounded like a whisper. "Congratulations."

*Congratulations? How ironic.*

"Hi, Tara. Thanks."

"You're welcome." There was a pause and Buffy could hear what sounded like Willow and Tara talking to each other. She could only hear snippets of their conversation.

"...the spell worked! she's..."

"...Paris...wrong place..."

"...why are you...it worked"

"...off by days...wrong..."

"Um, guys?" Buffy was almost yelling into the receiver. Not only did she feel bad about Oz's phone bill, but Willow had brought her back to life (without her permission) and was now ignoring her.

"Buffy! There was a spell, and, see, I thought it didn't work, but apparently it worked and just put you somewhere other than here because it was disrupted at the end. It was really a complicated spell. Not only was there a one-of-a-kind urn, but there were snakes! And it must have been even more messed up than that, because I did it almost a week ago, and you're only awake now."

"Yeah, must have been." Buffy didn't correct her friend.

"But..." Something seemed to be bothering Tara. "How did you know? That it was us?"

"Oh, Oz is living in Paris and he found me. He told me he had spoken to you and that you had told him about the spell," Buffy lied, "I'm calling from his apartment now"

There was silence on the other end and then a muffled Tara, not addressing Buffy. "You spoke to Oz?"

"How is he?" Willow asked, speaking into the phone, ignoring the question. "And what good timing! It was only about a week ago that he called. Kind of spidey-sense, don't you think?"

"He's good. And yeah. Weird."

"So when are you coming home?"

Buffy was about to make up an excuse for why she had to stay a few more days when she heard more shuffling on the other end of the line. When she heard a voice connected to the new noises, she stood up.

"Dawn?" Buffy was suddenly nervous.

"Oh God. Buffy."

"Willow," Buffy commanded, "take us off speaker."

Another loud beep, and then silence.

"Dawnie?" Buffy wondered if she had been imagining her sister's voice before.

"Oh, Buffy..."

The slayer felt tears come to her eyes, but she held them back.

"I'm here, Dawn."

"Where's here?"

"Paris."

"How? How did you get there?" Dawn's voice had lost some of the disbelief, and her questions sped up. "When?"

"You'd better ask Willow, she can explain it better than I can." Buffy ignored the 'when,' feeling guilty that she had left her little sister alone for longer than was necessary.

"Buffy," Dawn spoke quieter now, but eagerly, "I knew you were going to come back. I knew it. And I never gave up for one day. I don't know what happened yet, but I knew I hadn't lost you. I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't been like that, but I was okay. Everyone took good care of me, Willow, and Tara, and Spike, and Xander, and Giles...but it was really because I knew that you wouldn't stay wherever you ended up, you wouldn't let whatever put you there win. You wouldn't give up on life like that. I knew that you'd come back, and you'd come right home, and...and we'd be a family again, Buffy."

Dawn was crying softly, but Buffy could only stare at the wall, occasionally offering a mechanical "shhhh." Real comfort was beyond her.

*My family.*

They had brought her back to Earth, and now they were bringing her back to Sunnydale. Buffy was an adult and it was no longer an issue of what she thought she wanted. Want wasn't an issue. Dawn needed her. They all needed her. And so she would go home.

**end nine**