Chapter 6: Insomnia
Buffy tossed and turned in bed, much to the dismay of Dawn, who was sleeping beside her. They slept in the master bedroom, while Willow temporarily took Dawn's bedroom since Cordelia took Buffy's old bedroom for the night.
"Buffy, stop moving. I can't sleep," Dawn whined. "If you can't sleep, go do something. You're ruining my beauty rest."
Buffy let out a long breath. She couldn't sleep. There were too many thoughts running through her mind. First, there was the whole 'From beneath you, it devours' thing that they were all trying to figure out. Then there were the dreams that have been coming every night for the past week. Every day she would wake up screaming to sweating puddles. Then Angel and his little LA crew come out of nowhere, and now the Scoobies were faced with a whole lot of explaining to do about the past three years. And then there was Spike, how worried she really was about him. Right now, she could really give Spike a run for his money with all the things going on in her mind.
She got out of bed, threw on her robe, and decided to hang out in the kitchen and have some hot tea.
Buffy crept slowly down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as she could, so she wouldn't wake up Angel or Connor. When she finally made it into the kitchen, she took out her mug and started to boil some water for her tea. She looked out the window, trying to just relax and not think about anything.
"Buffy?" she heard Angel say softly from the entrance to the kitchen.
"Forgot. Creature of the night. You don't sleep at this time," Buffy said. Then she turned to him and said, "So what did you want to talk about before?"
He took a seat at the counter. "About you," he said simply.
"Me? You know about me. I'm more interested about you," she retorted, leaning next to the sink and folding her arms. "You have a son, and you didn't tell me? When did this happen? Who's the mother?"
Angel took a deep breath, then replied, "Darla. She tried to make me evil again."
"Oh don't *tell* me you slept with her," Buffy said, shaking her head.
Angel stayed silent and rubbed the back of his head. "It's a little more complicated than that..."
"It's not brain science," she said sarcastically. "But I thought vampires..." Then Buffy remembered, didn't Darla get dusted? By Angel, nonetheless? "Wait a minute. Darla's dust."
Angel sighed. This was a long story. "I'm going to give you the condensed version. She was somehow brought back, human, by Wolfram and Heart. Then Drusilla came back and vamped her again. She tried to make me evil again. Yes, we slept with each other." He looked guilty for a moment. Then he continued with, "It turned out that it didn't work. Something happened, and she got pregnant."
Buffy snorted and said sarcastically, "That's what condoms are for."
Angel just looked at her, unflinching. It wasn't funny. He just continued with, "She came to me, after trying to find out why she was pregnant. We encountered danger, and she ended up killing herself for the child to be born. That's how Connor came into the world."
"So why does he look like he's Dawn's age?" Buffy asked, genuinely wondering.
"He was kidnapped by an enemy and raised in another dimension," Angel explained softly, not really wanting to recall that episode of his life.
"Oh... Touchy subject, forget I asked," Buffy said. The water in the pot was boiling. She walked over to it and continued to talk. "I know you're wondering about what's been going on in the life of me."
Of course he did. He always was. "What's it been like since you've been... back?"
Buffy chuckled. He didn't know the beginning of it. She continued to make herself her tea as she spoke. "A lot. Well, you saw me the first few days I was back. You know how I felt. You knew how unhappy I was. I told you where I was. You comforted me, and I don't think you know how much just seeing you meant to me. At that point in time, you and..." She faltered for a moment, backing up on what she was about to say. "You were the only one who knew." She poured the hot water into her mug and took a seat across from Angel.
"Are you all right now?" he asked.
"I'm better," Buffy replied, shrugging. "Last year was a dark time for all of us. My sister is a reforming klepto. Giles went back to England. Xander left Anya at the altar. Warren shot Tara and I... and Tara didn't make it. Willow went on a magic rampage after that and tried to end the world. Xander saved it. That's about my time back in a nutshell." Obviously, she left out the part about sleeping with Spike. She took a sip of tea.
Angel let out a tiny laugh and said, "We've been through hell and back, haven't we?"
Buffy couldn't help but smile. She rolled her eyes. "You don't know the beginning of it." After another sip of tea, she continued her explanation. "Will was addicted to magic last year, and Tara ended up leaving her. Then when they finally got back together, Warren went psycho and shot me and shot Tara. Willow lost it and went evil. She just got back from England, where Giles was helping her cope with what she did, and hone her magic."
"I see."
"The part about Xander and Anya? They were the perfect couple. They were happy and all excited about their wedding. The day of the wedding, Xander went all missing. When he came back, he told Anya he couldn't marry her. After that whole episode, Anya went the Vengeance Demon route again," she told him, recalling the events.
"What about you?" he asked, noticing how she was telling him about everyone else but her.
She looked away. She couldn't tell him. He'd go psycho and kill Spike. That was the last thing she'd want Angel to worry about. She shrugged and said, "I've been sulking. Giles left because he felt he had to. I got a job at the Doublemeat Palace to make ends meet here. Riley came back last year, because he was tracking some demon. We found out he got himself married." Buffy looked over at Angel who made a face at the mention of "Riley".
"So Captain America got married," Angel said, trying to hold back laughter. "I never liked that guy."
Buffy smirked. "He was a good guy. I was just incredibly stupid," she scolded herself. "But that doesn't matter anymore. I'm pretty much certain that a love life for me isn't written in my Prophecy." She laughed.
Which made Angel laugh in return. "Non-existent in my life too," he said, thinking about Cordelia in a flash. Once the laughter died down a little, Angel asked, "Any more interesting facts I need to know about you guys?"
"I'm a counselor at Sunnydale High," Buffy beamed happily.
Angel was surprised. Sunnydale High School was rebuilt?
"Xander's the school's contractor," Buffy explained, taking another sip of tea. "I went on Dawn's first day to explore and met up with some vengeful zombies in the basement. But I also met up with the new principal and he offered me the job."
"Don't you think that's a little..."
"Weird? Yeah, I know," she said to Angel, finishing his thought. "Other than that, I think I've caught you up on everything going on in this town."
"Dawn..." he said.
Buffy looked down. She was obviously hurt by this topic. "She's... my sister. She wasn't always. I have the memories of her being born and everything. She knows my life, and I know hers. Willow, Xander, Anya, Spike... They all have memories of her," she explained timidly. "The monks made her out of me. I had... *have* to protect her. She was the Key, in human form." Then somberly she added, "I died for her."
"Oh..." Angel could see she was hurt talking about this. He changed the topic by asking, "Spike... You mentioned him. How long has he been here?"
"Don't go all wiggy on me. He's been an ally since..." She was momentarily at a loss for words. Then finally finding the right ones, she said, "He got neutered. By Riley and the commandos, if that makes you like him a little better." She chuckled at her little joke. She decided to just leave it at that.
Angel was skeptical about Buffy's explanation. She was definitely not telling him something. But then again, so much has happened in his absence that he didn't really want to pry and upset her. "I haven't seen him since... Since he came looking for that damned Ring of Amarra."
There was a smirk on Buffy's face. "What did you do with the ring anyway?"
"Smashed it," he said simply. "It's not redemption, Buffy."
Buffy quickly changed the topic. "What was it like for you, when you got your soul back?"
"Why?"
*Excuse, think of a good one,* Buffy told herself. "You never told me."
Angel took a deep breath. "Painful at first. I remembered everything all at once, all the evil things I did." He swallowed, hard. "I cried, it was too much. I tried to be a vampire, and I found that I couldn't. I couldn't kill. I wanted redemption. Whistler helped me, showed me who you were. It was then that I decided to be one of the 'good guys'."
"Did you hear voices in your head?" she asked innocently.
He thought for a second then gave her a dumbfounded look. "It's a soul, Buffy. I didn't turn schitzo," he told her.
*Okay, then there has to be something definitely wrong with Spike,* Buffy thought.
"Why are you asking me this?" Angel asked, getting suspicious.
She shrugged. "No particular reason. I just wanted to know." She took a last sip of her tea, got up, and placed the mug in the sink.
"You're... different. Somehow, you're not the Buffy I remember," Angel observed as Buffy's back was turned to him.
Buffy didn't take that comment to offense. She smiled as she ran some water into the sink, her back still turned to Angel. She simply said to him, "The world's not all ho-hums. I grew up. We all grew up."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
To be continued...
Awww... Buffy and Angel! (*pshaw*) Sorry, I'm a complete Buffy and Spike shipper. *But* (big *BUT*) it would be a nice thing to see some B/A action again. (I know the rest of you B/S shippers are about to shun me. Sorry!) Those two need to resolve some really big issues. Then again so do Buffy and Spike, but Angel just uppin' left Sunnydale. How unbelievably rude!
Don't get discouraged, B/S fans, keep reading, you're in for a few surprises. ;)
As for all the B/A fans out there, keep reading, Buffy and Angel definitely have a destiny with each other. ;)
R&R! =)
Buffy tossed and turned in bed, much to the dismay of Dawn, who was sleeping beside her. They slept in the master bedroom, while Willow temporarily took Dawn's bedroom since Cordelia took Buffy's old bedroom for the night.
"Buffy, stop moving. I can't sleep," Dawn whined. "If you can't sleep, go do something. You're ruining my beauty rest."
Buffy let out a long breath. She couldn't sleep. There were too many thoughts running through her mind. First, there was the whole 'From beneath you, it devours' thing that they were all trying to figure out. Then there were the dreams that have been coming every night for the past week. Every day she would wake up screaming to sweating puddles. Then Angel and his little LA crew come out of nowhere, and now the Scoobies were faced with a whole lot of explaining to do about the past three years. And then there was Spike, how worried she really was about him. Right now, she could really give Spike a run for his money with all the things going on in her mind.
She got out of bed, threw on her robe, and decided to hang out in the kitchen and have some hot tea.
Buffy crept slowly down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as she could, so she wouldn't wake up Angel or Connor. When she finally made it into the kitchen, she took out her mug and started to boil some water for her tea. She looked out the window, trying to just relax and not think about anything.
"Buffy?" she heard Angel say softly from the entrance to the kitchen.
"Forgot. Creature of the night. You don't sleep at this time," Buffy said. Then she turned to him and said, "So what did you want to talk about before?"
He took a seat at the counter. "About you," he said simply.
"Me? You know about me. I'm more interested about you," she retorted, leaning next to the sink and folding her arms. "You have a son, and you didn't tell me? When did this happen? Who's the mother?"
Angel took a deep breath, then replied, "Darla. She tried to make me evil again."
"Oh don't *tell* me you slept with her," Buffy said, shaking her head.
Angel stayed silent and rubbed the back of his head. "It's a little more complicated than that..."
"It's not brain science," she said sarcastically. "But I thought vampires..." Then Buffy remembered, didn't Darla get dusted? By Angel, nonetheless? "Wait a minute. Darla's dust."
Angel sighed. This was a long story. "I'm going to give you the condensed version. She was somehow brought back, human, by Wolfram and Heart. Then Drusilla came back and vamped her again. She tried to make me evil again. Yes, we slept with each other." He looked guilty for a moment. Then he continued with, "It turned out that it didn't work. Something happened, and she got pregnant."
Buffy snorted and said sarcastically, "That's what condoms are for."
Angel just looked at her, unflinching. It wasn't funny. He just continued with, "She came to me, after trying to find out why she was pregnant. We encountered danger, and she ended up killing herself for the child to be born. That's how Connor came into the world."
"So why does he look like he's Dawn's age?" Buffy asked, genuinely wondering.
"He was kidnapped by an enemy and raised in another dimension," Angel explained softly, not really wanting to recall that episode of his life.
"Oh... Touchy subject, forget I asked," Buffy said. The water in the pot was boiling. She walked over to it and continued to talk. "I know you're wondering about what's been going on in the life of me."
Of course he did. He always was. "What's it been like since you've been... back?"
Buffy chuckled. He didn't know the beginning of it. She continued to make herself her tea as she spoke. "A lot. Well, you saw me the first few days I was back. You know how I felt. You knew how unhappy I was. I told you where I was. You comforted me, and I don't think you know how much just seeing you meant to me. At that point in time, you and..." She faltered for a moment, backing up on what she was about to say. "You were the only one who knew." She poured the hot water into her mug and took a seat across from Angel.
"Are you all right now?" he asked.
"I'm better," Buffy replied, shrugging. "Last year was a dark time for all of us. My sister is a reforming klepto. Giles went back to England. Xander left Anya at the altar. Warren shot Tara and I... and Tara didn't make it. Willow went on a magic rampage after that and tried to end the world. Xander saved it. That's about my time back in a nutshell." Obviously, she left out the part about sleeping with Spike. She took a sip of tea.
Angel let out a tiny laugh and said, "We've been through hell and back, haven't we?"
Buffy couldn't help but smile. She rolled her eyes. "You don't know the beginning of it." After another sip of tea, she continued her explanation. "Will was addicted to magic last year, and Tara ended up leaving her. Then when they finally got back together, Warren went psycho and shot me and shot Tara. Willow lost it and went evil. She just got back from England, where Giles was helping her cope with what she did, and hone her magic."
"I see."
"The part about Xander and Anya? They were the perfect couple. They were happy and all excited about their wedding. The day of the wedding, Xander went all missing. When he came back, he told Anya he couldn't marry her. After that whole episode, Anya went the Vengeance Demon route again," she told him, recalling the events.
"What about you?" he asked, noticing how she was telling him about everyone else but her.
She looked away. She couldn't tell him. He'd go psycho and kill Spike. That was the last thing she'd want Angel to worry about. She shrugged and said, "I've been sulking. Giles left because he felt he had to. I got a job at the Doublemeat Palace to make ends meet here. Riley came back last year, because he was tracking some demon. We found out he got himself married." Buffy looked over at Angel who made a face at the mention of "Riley".
"So Captain America got married," Angel said, trying to hold back laughter. "I never liked that guy."
Buffy smirked. "He was a good guy. I was just incredibly stupid," she scolded herself. "But that doesn't matter anymore. I'm pretty much certain that a love life for me isn't written in my Prophecy." She laughed.
Which made Angel laugh in return. "Non-existent in my life too," he said, thinking about Cordelia in a flash. Once the laughter died down a little, Angel asked, "Any more interesting facts I need to know about you guys?"
"I'm a counselor at Sunnydale High," Buffy beamed happily.
Angel was surprised. Sunnydale High School was rebuilt?
"Xander's the school's contractor," Buffy explained, taking another sip of tea. "I went on Dawn's first day to explore and met up with some vengeful zombies in the basement. But I also met up with the new principal and he offered me the job."
"Don't you think that's a little..."
"Weird? Yeah, I know," she said to Angel, finishing his thought. "Other than that, I think I've caught you up on everything going on in this town."
"Dawn..." he said.
Buffy looked down. She was obviously hurt by this topic. "She's... my sister. She wasn't always. I have the memories of her being born and everything. She knows my life, and I know hers. Willow, Xander, Anya, Spike... They all have memories of her," she explained timidly. "The monks made her out of me. I had... *have* to protect her. She was the Key, in human form." Then somberly she added, "I died for her."
"Oh..." Angel could see she was hurt talking about this. He changed the topic by asking, "Spike... You mentioned him. How long has he been here?"
"Don't go all wiggy on me. He's been an ally since..." She was momentarily at a loss for words. Then finally finding the right ones, she said, "He got neutered. By Riley and the commandos, if that makes you like him a little better." She chuckled at her little joke. She decided to just leave it at that.
Angel was skeptical about Buffy's explanation. She was definitely not telling him something. But then again, so much has happened in his absence that he didn't really want to pry and upset her. "I haven't seen him since... Since he came looking for that damned Ring of Amarra."
There was a smirk on Buffy's face. "What did you do with the ring anyway?"
"Smashed it," he said simply. "It's not redemption, Buffy."
Buffy quickly changed the topic. "What was it like for you, when you got your soul back?"
"Why?"
*Excuse, think of a good one,* Buffy told herself. "You never told me."
Angel took a deep breath. "Painful at first. I remembered everything all at once, all the evil things I did." He swallowed, hard. "I cried, it was too much. I tried to be a vampire, and I found that I couldn't. I couldn't kill. I wanted redemption. Whistler helped me, showed me who you were. It was then that I decided to be one of the 'good guys'."
"Did you hear voices in your head?" she asked innocently.
He thought for a second then gave her a dumbfounded look. "It's a soul, Buffy. I didn't turn schitzo," he told her.
*Okay, then there has to be something definitely wrong with Spike,* Buffy thought.
"Why are you asking me this?" Angel asked, getting suspicious.
She shrugged. "No particular reason. I just wanted to know." She took a last sip of her tea, got up, and placed the mug in the sink.
"You're... different. Somehow, you're not the Buffy I remember," Angel observed as Buffy's back was turned to him.
Buffy didn't take that comment to offense. She smiled as she ran some water into the sink, her back still turned to Angel. She simply said to him, "The world's not all ho-hums. I grew up. We all grew up."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
To be continued...
Awww... Buffy and Angel! (*pshaw*) Sorry, I'm a complete Buffy and Spike shipper. *But* (big *BUT*) it would be a nice thing to see some B/A action again. (I know the rest of you B/S shippers are about to shun me. Sorry!) Those two need to resolve some really big issues. Then again so do Buffy and Spike, but Angel just uppin' left Sunnydale. How unbelievably rude!
Don't get discouraged, B/S fans, keep reading, you're in for a few surprises. ;)
As for all the B/A fans out there, keep reading, Buffy and Angel definitely have a destiny with each other. ;)
R&R! =)