WARNING!!! MINOR SPUFFYNESS!!!
Yeah, I'm all about the Spuffyness because of the mere LACK of it in this week's episode! Grrr...
Chapter 11: The Bronze
Buffy sat at the bar, looking on at her friends having a blast on the dance floor. She could see Xander strutting his stuff with Willow, who was smiling happily. Gunn and Fred were right next to them, bopping along with the music. Angel was with Cordelia at a table, just talking, each of them cracking smiles every now and then. Dawn and Connor were at the pool table, Dawn trying to teach Connor the basics of the game.
And then there was her. She was all alone at the bar, carelessly stirring around the olive in her martini. She was bored, but she wasn't about to rain on the good time her friends were having. It was beginning to become a normal thing- her being by herself. It wasn't always a bad thing. She remembered the days when she actually *wished* she was by herself, with no one fussing over what she had to do next.
Actually, it was a good thing she was alone. There were too many things running through her mind. She couldn't believe how Angel was acting. He made her so angry, or just irked her, since he got here. It wasn't that she minded him "watching over" her, it was just the fact that he was *always* there, like a shadow or something.
In about a minute, she'd be ordering shots of tequila. *No Buffy. Remember that incident with tequila, and Spike? No. Don't want to get drunk and not be able to fight, and then get sick,* she scolded herself. She downed the martini and decided to step outside for some fresh air.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"This town hasn't changed one bit," Cordelia said to Angel. "The people have, but the town definitely hasn't. I'm *so* happy I decided to relocate to LA."
Angel smiled at Cordelia. Same old Cordelia. "You and me both," he told her.
She looked at him, feeling his comment was filled with a little contempt. "Are you sure? Seems like you've jumped back into your role as Buffy's 'protector'," she said to him.
"Protector? What are you talking about?"
"Oh please! Angel, you're acting like you always have around Buffy. You follow her like a lost puppy or something. No, not a lost puppy- you follow her like an over-protective boyfriend. Then again, that's what you were," Cordelia said. "Newsflash, Angel, you're not her boyfriend anymore."
"Cordy," Angel said, "I'm not acting any different than how I would if it was any other person in trouble. Buffy is just... different. We've been through so much..."
She let out a chuckle and said, "Like, sending you to a hell dimension?"
He gave her a scowl, but it only lasted for a second. "*Besides* that. We've got history, that's all. I care about her too much to let anything bad happen to her." He looked over to where Buffy was sitting at the bar. She looked bored, playing with her drink and all.
"I don't know. You two are the everlasting mystery... to everyone," she said. The quietly, she asked, "Do you still love her?"
Angel sighed. The answer to that was complicated. Of course he still loved her. He loved her more than anything in the world, but it was a love that couldn't go anywhere. It was a love that could only last in a dream. "Of course I do," he told Cordelia, "But it's difficult. We can't ever-"
"We know the story," she said, interrupting him. She was obviously distraught by his answer, and annoyed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Okay, so you hold the pool stick like this..." Dawn instructed as she showed Connor how to hold the stick. "And then you can hit the ball." She aimed and struck the ball with the tip of the stick. It hit the one and sent it into a corner pocket. "See? Now you try."
Connor was a bit clumsy with this game. He took the stick from Dawn's hand and mimicked how she held it and then finally to when he hit the ball, not particularly aiming at anything. It was a blunder. He hit the ball too hard and it bounced around the table until it finally landed itself in a pocket.
"Um... That's great, but the whole point is *not* to hit the white ball into a pocket. See, what you do is hit the white ball so it hits another, colored ball," Dawn explained.
"Which one do I hit?" he asked.
"Well, I'll skip the rules of the game, just hit the ball," she told him and laughed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Buffy stood outside, leaning against the wall. It was quiet out here, and that's what she really needed- quiet. Besides, she was still on the lookout for her friends. Even though they were on a "break" Buffy knew that she wasn't. She would never be, until this whole thing was over.
"Buffy," she heard a familiar voice say. She followed the voice and ended up in a dead-end alley. There, leaning against a dumpster was Spike. He looked a bit more level-headed than when she last saw him. He was just standing there, looking calm, maybe even collected. "Didn't think you'd show," he told her, looking down at the ground. "Hell, who am I kidding? I didn't think you'd hear me."
"I did," she said stoically. "What are you doing here, Spike?"
He shrugged and asked, "What are *you* doing here? Nonetheless with the Poofter Squad. What are they doing here?"
"Help," she said. "They're here because... they need to be here."
"I'm sure they are," he muttered.
"Spike, it's not about them. They just came here. I don't know *why* they came here, or why they're even staying. They're here, I think, because... they know. They know that something's coming," Buffy explained. Then, changing the subject, she asked, "What are you doing out?"
He looked at her innocently and said, "I thought you wanted me out of the basement? This is the only place I could think to go." He cocked his head to the side. "You're right, you know. The voices aren't as loud up here."
Buffy looked away for a moment. Okay, maybe he wasn't *that* collected. She put a hesitant hand on his arm, and found that he was shaking, just a little. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. She did a quick sweep of his body. He didn't look okay, like he wasn't feeding all that well. Buffy took her hand away and stepped back. "Come here, Spike," she said in a commanding voice.
Spike looked at her unsure of what she was asking. He pushed himself up so he was standing straight. Then he took a step toward her, and then another. He was swaying a bit, and then finally his legs gave out on him and he started falling toward her. Instead of letting him fall, she rushed toward him and caught him. He felt so sleepy, suddenly.
"Come on, I'm taking you inside," she said gently, throwing his arm around her shoulders to steady him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Cordelia noticed that Angel kept looking over to the bar, keeping a close eye on Buffy. The last conversation they had didn't seem to matter much. He was still acting like her protector. That guy just wouldn't quit, though Buffy apparently was making it clearly obvious to everyone that the whole "Angel" situation was over and done with.
"For God's sakes Angel! Can you for once, while you're in this town, unwind? Buffy's a big girl and can take care of herself. And even if she died... again... you know she'd come back, like she always does. That girl's immortal or something," Cordelia told Angel, a touch of contempt in her voice.
"That's the thing, Cordy," Angel replied, "Buffy's not acting like Buffy. She's distant. I could completely understand her being distant towards us, but to her friends? I don't understand. I know it's been hell for her since she came back. Willow pulled her out of heaven, did you know that?" He looked at Cordelia with a raised eyebrow.
She was speechless. She didn't know what to say to that. Eternal peace for Buffy, and she was torn out of happiness and whatever she was feeling up there.
"She's been keeping things from everybody. I know it. I should know it, I've been the king of secrets for my entire un-life. I could even say that it's not Buffy anymore, but a shell of her," he continued. "You keep asking me what happened when Buffy and I met up last year? This is what we talked about. She told me where she was, how she was torn out, and how she felt. She felt empty and unhappy. Buffy told me she thought she wouldn't be able to feel again. She said she was happy to be out of this world, because all she felt here was pain, and that's not what she wanted."
"Oh God..." was Cordelia's only reaction. "I'm sorry Angel. I didn't mean..."
He gave her a comforting smile and a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'm glad I told you. You don't know how much I appreciate your concern. I know I don't show emotion so much, but just know I love having you around, Cordy."
Cordelia's gaze drifted to the bar and to Buffy. She saw her finish her drink and get up. Then she just walked out of the club. She was gone. "Um, Angel. I think you might want to get into protective-mode. Buffy left," she told him.
Angel looked around. Buffy wasn't at the bar anymore, or anywhere in the club for that matter.
"Go look for her," Cordelia said to Angel.
He nodded and walked quickly toward the exit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dawn laughed at Connor's feeble attempt to play pool. He sure was cute, being all innocent. Sure, he was technically a year old, but then again, *she* was technically only two years old. He was quite interesting, not at all like Angel, well not like the Angel that Dawn remembered. The always brooding, unemotional... poof, to put it in Spike-terms. Connor was like a regular teenage boy, kind of, if you forget the part about being born to two vampires.
She noticed Buffy sitting all alone at the bar. She kind of felt bad for her sister, since she was pretty much being singled-out. It looked like everyone had a "partner" of some sort, and she was left all by herself at the bar. Buffy didn't even look like she was having a good time. She sat there staring into her drink.
"Dawn, what's wrong?" Connor asked, noticing her attention was elsewhere.
"Buffy..." she said, "She's all by herself at the bar, and I feel kind of bad. I mean, look at her, she looks so depressed."
Connor looked over to the bar, where Buffy was sitting. Dawn was right, Buffy did look pitiful. "Ah, don't worry about her. She's probably just tired, or just thinking. My father does that a lot."
"You think I don't know that? Angel is the king of brooding and all sorts of unhappy," Dawn told Connor. "God, if you only knew how he was back then... Well, they're all memories, I know, but they were real. That's all that matters."
Interested, Connor came up behind Dawn and asked, "How *was* my father back then? I wish I knew more about him, but... I can't ask. I do remember him telling me Buffy sent him to a hell dimension?"
"You might want to pull up a chair for this one..." Dawn said, walking over to a table. "This is going to be a long story."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"I can't go inside," Spike told her, flat out. "Your friends... I can't..."
"Spike, you need to sit down. I may not be the expert on vampire health, but I know enough to know you're not okay. You need me to help you walk!" she told him. "Please tell me you've fed."
He nodded at her, weakly. "I have."
As much as she didn't want to bring up *what* he's been feeding on, she had to. She lifted her eyebrow in question and asked, carefully, "On what?"
"Rats mostly," he replied.
A gut-wrenching sick feeling flipped in Buffy's stomach. This was not the conversation she wanted to be having with Spike. She never *thought* she'd be having this conversation with Spike, not in a million years. "It's not enough," she said to him quietly. "Come on, we're going inside."
"No, Buffy. I can't. I don't want them to see me..." he told her, his eyes reflecting a hint of fear. "The can't see me... They won't forgive me."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Connor was watching Dawn intently. He was so interested in her story of his father. So far, she told him about when Buffy first met him, how she didn't know he was a vampire, let alone a vampire with a soul. Then she told him about their "great love story" which she said with a ton of sarcasm. Angel then turned back into Angelus and almost killed everyone by bringing an apocalypse, but Buffy put a stop to that by sending him into hell. Dawn didn't neglect to add that Spike had a part in the whole thing too, but in keeping the apocalypse from coming. Then a couple of months after, Angel came back, and they started their whole relationship again, but then Angel just got up and left after Buffy and the gang graduated.
"I heard that Angel came to see Buffy when she was in college, back when she was with Riley," Dawn added. "He and Riley had a little fist action. I wish I had seen it."
Connor was still stuck on how his father turned evil. "How did he turn evil?" he asked.
"Um... Buffy and Angel... They kind of... Well, they slept together."
"So that turned him evil..."
"No! I mean, yes. I mean, there's this clause that says that if Angel knows one moment of true happiness, he'll lose his soul and go all bad Angelus again," Dawn explained. "I guess that was his one true moment of happiness."
Connor nodded, not completely understanding. "Well what about Darla, my mother?"
That was beyond Dawn. "Hey, don't look at me. I don't know how *that* happened and how he didn't go bad. But look at it this way, if it *didn't* happen, you wouldn't be here, with all of us, enjoying some R&R at Sunnydale's nightspot." She smiled, in an attempt to ease Connor.
"Hey, where'd your sister go?" he asked, pointing to the empty seat at the bar.
Dawn looked to where he was pointing. Buffy was no longer at the bar. Then Angel caught her attention. He was bolting to the exit. Apparently, something had to be wrong. Why would Angel be making a mad dash for the door?
"I am probably risking an earful from my sister, but... Are you feeling like following them?" Dawn suggested carefully.
Connor was ahead of her. He was already standing up, ready to follow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Forgiveness or not. You need help, Spike. You're coming with me... *now*," Buffy said to Spike sternly.
"If you could only understand what I'm feeling right now," he said to her. "Just to have your eyes on me is painful. I can't... I can never..."
"Buffy?" they both heard someone call.
"It's Angel," Buffy whispered to Spike as the footsteps were coming closer. "Don't make me ask you again. Come with me, into The Bronze."
Spike gave her the crazed giggle that he was so used to doing now. "It doesn't matter. Let him see me. There's no need to hide me from him, Buffy," he said.
Buffy just looked at Spike. He was still leaning on her, trying to keep himself up. He was looking straight into her eyes. There was a sense of pleading in that stare, like he really wanted to say "help me" but couldn't.
That was when Angel rounded the corner. "Buff-?" he started, but didn't finish. His eyes were focused on the vampire leaning on her. "Spike," he said, his face turning stone-cold.
"Angel, there's an explanation for this," Buffy said quickly, still holding on to Spike.
"Yeah, that's what I've been waiting for," Angel replied.
"You've got a bit of explaining to do yourself, mate," Spike said quietly, his comment directed towards Angel.
Buffy looked at Spike, confused, then to Angel. "What's he talking about?"
"Are you telling me you haven't figured it out, pet?" Spike asked, looking at Buffy. He was quite adamant in his question. The confused look on Buffy's face definitely meant she had no clue. "Peaches here was the one spying on us the other night. I knew I felt a familiar presence, I just didn't know it was him."
She looked at Angel, a "how could you spy on me like that" question in her eyes. Buffy's expression conveyed so much more. She was angry that Angel was butting into her business like that. She couldn't believe he would do such a thing- spying on her like he didn't trust her.
"I didn't know where you were going... You just left the house without telling anyone where you were going. I had to follow you out, I was worried," Angel explained. "Then I saw that you were going to the high school. I didn't know why, but I was worried, and if anything were to happen, I'd have been there to protect you."
Spike let out another laugh. "Look at you, still playing the role of the grand savior. You've been gone for so long you can't even imagine what has happened here in good ol' Sunnyhell," he said to Angel.
Buffy mind was somewhere else. If Angel saw them talking... "You know," she said quietly to Angel. "You know, about Spike."
"Believe me, it wasn't the way I hoped to find out," Angel said. Then he looked over to Spike and said, "If I would have even found out at all. That's why Anya was saying the things she did. I'm not the only one anymore." He looked to Buffy again.
"Isn't it ironic?" Spike said, chuckling all the while. "I hated you because you got your soul back, while everyone else loved you, accepted you. Now I get mine, and everyone..." his voice got sad just then, "Everyone hates me."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dawn and Connor lurked in the shadows outside of The Bronze. They saw the scene between Buffy, Spike, and Angel from around the corner. It shook them both. They heard every word they were saying.
"... I hated you because you got your soul back, while everyone else loved you, accepted you. Now I get mine, and everyone... Everyone hates me," they heard Spike say to Angel.
Dawn was taken aback by this. She didn't know what to think. He left because he went to get his soul back. Was it for Buffy? Did he love her that much to risk, apparently, his sanity? She knew he loved Buffy, but she also knew that he hurt her, or tried to hurt her. So the real question was, did he get his soul back to get the monster out of him?
"I can't believe she didn't tell me," Dawn whispered softly, inaudible to the others. Then louder she said, stepping into view, "I can't believe you didn't tell me, Buffy. You didn't tell me, Xander, or Willow. Why? You knew he had his soul back. Why didn't you tell us?"
Buffy, Spike, and Angel turned to look at Dawn.
"Dawn," Buffy said, acknowledging her presence.
"Niblet..." Spike said hoarsely.
"Why?" Dawn asked softly, her attention on Spike, who was still leaning on Buffy.
"Dawn, we shouldn't be talking about this now. What we *should* be doing is getting Spike somewhere," Buffy said, starting to lead Spike away.
Connor stepped up behind Dawn just then.
"What are you doing here Connor?" Angel asked.
"I saw you run out. I thought something... bad might be going on," he replied.
Suddenly, Spike spoke up. "I heard about you... You, Connor. You're Angel and Darla's little offspring. Heard about it, all of it- how you locked your dear old daddy in a wooden coffin and sent him into the ocean. Yeah, word gets around you know," his gaze drifted to Angel, "Heard about your little spell of insanity too. And oh, that ex-watcher you used to have tagging along with you, heard about his little alliance with that bloody law firm. Hell, who am I kidding, he's getting his kicks from shagging that woman."
Buffy and Dawn were utterly confused. Angel and Connor looked embarrassed.
"This is like a bleedin' family reunion," Spike muttered to Buffy, who just sighed in response.
"Enough. Spike, I'm taking you to my house. Angel, you're coming with us. Dawn, Connor- you're going to tell the rest of them exactly what's going on. And can you please tell them not to worry. We've got some issues to sort out- *between the three of us*," Buffy said, taking charge. "I will discuss this with everyone later. We'll be at the house, so please, make it clear to Xander that *everything is fine*."
Dawn knew that her sister was just about fed up with everything, and that she wanted to face up to things. Dawn nodded and said, "Alright. We'll meet you at the house later." Then to Connor she said, "Let's go explain." She took Connor by the arm and started walking back into The Bronze.
Buffy started walking with Spike still leaning on her. Angel followed close behind, and the three of them walked back to Buffy's house in silence.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Okay, so it wasn't all *that* Spuffy, but there was a lot of Buffy/Spike interaction. Next chapter will be up shortly. Until then, please R&R! =)
Yeah, I'm all about the Spuffyness because of the mere LACK of it in this week's episode! Grrr...
Chapter 11: The Bronze
Buffy sat at the bar, looking on at her friends having a blast on the dance floor. She could see Xander strutting his stuff with Willow, who was smiling happily. Gunn and Fred were right next to them, bopping along with the music. Angel was with Cordelia at a table, just talking, each of them cracking smiles every now and then. Dawn and Connor were at the pool table, Dawn trying to teach Connor the basics of the game.
And then there was her. She was all alone at the bar, carelessly stirring around the olive in her martini. She was bored, but she wasn't about to rain on the good time her friends were having. It was beginning to become a normal thing- her being by herself. It wasn't always a bad thing. She remembered the days when she actually *wished* she was by herself, with no one fussing over what she had to do next.
Actually, it was a good thing she was alone. There were too many things running through her mind. She couldn't believe how Angel was acting. He made her so angry, or just irked her, since he got here. It wasn't that she minded him "watching over" her, it was just the fact that he was *always* there, like a shadow or something.
In about a minute, she'd be ordering shots of tequila. *No Buffy. Remember that incident with tequila, and Spike? No. Don't want to get drunk and not be able to fight, and then get sick,* she scolded herself. She downed the martini and decided to step outside for some fresh air.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"This town hasn't changed one bit," Cordelia said to Angel. "The people have, but the town definitely hasn't. I'm *so* happy I decided to relocate to LA."
Angel smiled at Cordelia. Same old Cordelia. "You and me both," he told her.
She looked at him, feeling his comment was filled with a little contempt. "Are you sure? Seems like you've jumped back into your role as Buffy's 'protector'," she said to him.
"Protector? What are you talking about?"
"Oh please! Angel, you're acting like you always have around Buffy. You follow her like a lost puppy or something. No, not a lost puppy- you follow her like an over-protective boyfriend. Then again, that's what you were," Cordelia said. "Newsflash, Angel, you're not her boyfriend anymore."
"Cordy," Angel said, "I'm not acting any different than how I would if it was any other person in trouble. Buffy is just... different. We've been through so much..."
She let out a chuckle and said, "Like, sending you to a hell dimension?"
He gave her a scowl, but it only lasted for a second. "*Besides* that. We've got history, that's all. I care about her too much to let anything bad happen to her." He looked over to where Buffy was sitting at the bar. She looked bored, playing with her drink and all.
"I don't know. You two are the everlasting mystery... to everyone," she said. The quietly, she asked, "Do you still love her?"
Angel sighed. The answer to that was complicated. Of course he still loved her. He loved her more than anything in the world, but it was a love that couldn't go anywhere. It was a love that could only last in a dream. "Of course I do," he told Cordelia, "But it's difficult. We can't ever-"
"We know the story," she said, interrupting him. She was obviously distraught by his answer, and annoyed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Okay, so you hold the pool stick like this..." Dawn instructed as she showed Connor how to hold the stick. "And then you can hit the ball." She aimed and struck the ball with the tip of the stick. It hit the one and sent it into a corner pocket. "See? Now you try."
Connor was a bit clumsy with this game. He took the stick from Dawn's hand and mimicked how she held it and then finally to when he hit the ball, not particularly aiming at anything. It was a blunder. He hit the ball too hard and it bounced around the table until it finally landed itself in a pocket.
"Um... That's great, but the whole point is *not* to hit the white ball into a pocket. See, what you do is hit the white ball so it hits another, colored ball," Dawn explained.
"Which one do I hit?" he asked.
"Well, I'll skip the rules of the game, just hit the ball," she told him and laughed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Buffy stood outside, leaning against the wall. It was quiet out here, and that's what she really needed- quiet. Besides, she was still on the lookout for her friends. Even though they were on a "break" Buffy knew that she wasn't. She would never be, until this whole thing was over.
"Buffy," she heard a familiar voice say. She followed the voice and ended up in a dead-end alley. There, leaning against a dumpster was Spike. He looked a bit more level-headed than when she last saw him. He was just standing there, looking calm, maybe even collected. "Didn't think you'd show," he told her, looking down at the ground. "Hell, who am I kidding? I didn't think you'd hear me."
"I did," she said stoically. "What are you doing here, Spike?"
He shrugged and asked, "What are *you* doing here? Nonetheless with the Poofter Squad. What are they doing here?"
"Help," she said. "They're here because... they need to be here."
"I'm sure they are," he muttered.
"Spike, it's not about them. They just came here. I don't know *why* they came here, or why they're even staying. They're here, I think, because... they know. They know that something's coming," Buffy explained. Then, changing the subject, she asked, "What are you doing out?"
He looked at her innocently and said, "I thought you wanted me out of the basement? This is the only place I could think to go." He cocked his head to the side. "You're right, you know. The voices aren't as loud up here."
Buffy looked away for a moment. Okay, maybe he wasn't *that* collected. She put a hesitant hand on his arm, and found that he was shaking, just a little. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. She did a quick sweep of his body. He didn't look okay, like he wasn't feeding all that well. Buffy took her hand away and stepped back. "Come here, Spike," she said in a commanding voice.
Spike looked at her unsure of what she was asking. He pushed himself up so he was standing straight. Then he took a step toward her, and then another. He was swaying a bit, and then finally his legs gave out on him and he started falling toward her. Instead of letting him fall, she rushed toward him and caught him. He felt so sleepy, suddenly.
"Come on, I'm taking you inside," she said gently, throwing his arm around her shoulders to steady him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Cordelia noticed that Angel kept looking over to the bar, keeping a close eye on Buffy. The last conversation they had didn't seem to matter much. He was still acting like her protector. That guy just wouldn't quit, though Buffy apparently was making it clearly obvious to everyone that the whole "Angel" situation was over and done with.
"For God's sakes Angel! Can you for once, while you're in this town, unwind? Buffy's a big girl and can take care of herself. And even if she died... again... you know she'd come back, like she always does. That girl's immortal or something," Cordelia told Angel, a touch of contempt in her voice.
"That's the thing, Cordy," Angel replied, "Buffy's not acting like Buffy. She's distant. I could completely understand her being distant towards us, but to her friends? I don't understand. I know it's been hell for her since she came back. Willow pulled her out of heaven, did you know that?" He looked at Cordelia with a raised eyebrow.
She was speechless. She didn't know what to say to that. Eternal peace for Buffy, and she was torn out of happiness and whatever she was feeling up there.
"She's been keeping things from everybody. I know it. I should know it, I've been the king of secrets for my entire un-life. I could even say that it's not Buffy anymore, but a shell of her," he continued. "You keep asking me what happened when Buffy and I met up last year? This is what we talked about. She told me where she was, how she was torn out, and how she felt. She felt empty and unhappy. Buffy told me she thought she wouldn't be able to feel again. She said she was happy to be out of this world, because all she felt here was pain, and that's not what she wanted."
"Oh God..." was Cordelia's only reaction. "I'm sorry Angel. I didn't mean..."
He gave her a comforting smile and a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'm glad I told you. You don't know how much I appreciate your concern. I know I don't show emotion so much, but just know I love having you around, Cordy."
Cordelia's gaze drifted to the bar and to Buffy. She saw her finish her drink and get up. Then she just walked out of the club. She was gone. "Um, Angel. I think you might want to get into protective-mode. Buffy left," she told him.
Angel looked around. Buffy wasn't at the bar anymore, or anywhere in the club for that matter.
"Go look for her," Cordelia said to Angel.
He nodded and walked quickly toward the exit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dawn laughed at Connor's feeble attempt to play pool. He sure was cute, being all innocent. Sure, he was technically a year old, but then again, *she* was technically only two years old. He was quite interesting, not at all like Angel, well not like the Angel that Dawn remembered. The always brooding, unemotional... poof, to put it in Spike-terms. Connor was like a regular teenage boy, kind of, if you forget the part about being born to two vampires.
She noticed Buffy sitting all alone at the bar. She kind of felt bad for her sister, since she was pretty much being singled-out. It looked like everyone had a "partner" of some sort, and she was left all by herself at the bar. Buffy didn't even look like she was having a good time. She sat there staring into her drink.
"Dawn, what's wrong?" Connor asked, noticing her attention was elsewhere.
"Buffy..." she said, "She's all by herself at the bar, and I feel kind of bad. I mean, look at her, she looks so depressed."
Connor looked over to the bar, where Buffy was sitting. Dawn was right, Buffy did look pitiful. "Ah, don't worry about her. She's probably just tired, or just thinking. My father does that a lot."
"You think I don't know that? Angel is the king of brooding and all sorts of unhappy," Dawn told Connor. "God, if you only knew how he was back then... Well, they're all memories, I know, but they were real. That's all that matters."
Interested, Connor came up behind Dawn and asked, "How *was* my father back then? I wish I knew more about him, but... I can't ask. I do remember him telling me Buffy sent him to a hell dimension?"
"You might want to pull up a chair for this one..." Dawn said, walking over to a table. "This is going to be a long story."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"I can't go inside," Spike told her, flat out. "Your friends... I can't..."
"Spike, you need to sit down. I may not be the expert on vampire health, but I know enough to know you're not okay. You need me to help you walk!" she told him. "Please tell me you've fed."
He nodded at her, weakly. "I have."
As much as she didn't want to bring up *what* he's been feeding on, she had to. She lifted her eyebrow in question and asked, carefully, "On what?"
"Rats mostly," he replied.
A gut-wrenching sick feeling flipped in Buffy's stomach. This was not the conversation she wanted to be having with Spike. She never *thought* she'd be having this conversation with Spike, not in a million years. "It's not enough," she said to him quietly. "Come on, we're going inside."
"No, Buffy. I can't. I don't want them to see me..." he told her, his eyes reflecting a hint of fear. "The can't see me... They won't forgive me."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Connor was watching Dawn intently. He was so interested in her story of his father. So far, she told him about when Buffy first met him, how she didn't know he was a vampire, let alone a vampire with a soul. Then she told him about their "great love story" which she said with a ton of sarcasm. Angel then turned back into Angelus and almost killed everyone by bringing an apocalypse, but Buffy put a stop to that by sending him into hell. Dawn didn't neglect to add that Spike had a part in the whole thing too, but in keeping the apocalypse from coming. Then a couple of months after, Angel came back, and they started their whole relationship again, but then Angel just got up and left after Buffy and the gang graduated.
"I heard that Angel came to see Buffy when she was in college, back when she was with Riley," Dawn added. "He and Riley had a little fist action. I wish I had seen it."
Connor was still stuck on how his father turned evil. "How did he turn evil?" he asked.
"Um... Buffy and Angel... They kind of... Well, they slept together."
"So that turned him evil..."
"No! I mean, yes. I mean, there's this clause that says that if Angel knows one moment of true happiness, he'll lose his soul and go all bad Angelus again," Dawn explained. "I guess that was his one true moment of happiness."
Connor nodded, not completely understanding. "Well what about Darla, my mother?"
That was beyond Dawn. "Hey, don't look at me. I don't know how *that* happened and how he didn't go bad. But look at it this way, if it *didn't* happen, you wouldn't be here, with all of us, enjoying some R&R at Sunnydale's nightspot." She smiled, in an attempt to ease Connor.
"Hey, where'd your sister go?" he asked, pointing to the empty seat at the bar.
Dawn looked to where he was pointing. Buffy was no longer at the bar. Then Angel caught her attention. He was bolting to the exit. Apparently, something had to be wrong. Why would Angel be making a mad dash for the door?
"I am probably risking an earful from my sister, but... Are you feeling like following them?" Dawn suggested carefully.
Connor was ahead of her. He was already standing up, ready to follow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Forgiveness or not. You need help, Spike. You're coming with me... *now*," Buffy said to Spike sternly.
"If you could only understand what I'm feeling right now," he said to her. "Just to have your eyes on me is painful. I can't... I can never..."
"Buffy?" they both heard someone call.
"It's Angel," Buffy whispered to Spike as the footsteps were coming closer. "Don't make me ask you again. Come with me, into The Bronze."
Spike gave her the crazed giggle that he was so used to doing now. "It doesn't matter. Let him see me. There's no need to hide me from him, Buffy," he said.
Buffy just looked at Spike. He was still leaning on her, trying to keep himself up. He was looking straight into her eyes. There was a sense of pleading in that stare, like he really wanted to say "help me" but couldn't.
That was when Angel rounded the corner. "Buff-?" he started, but didn't finish. His eyes were focused on the vampire leaning on her. "Spike," he said, his face turning stone-cold.
"Angel, there's an explanation for this," Buffy said quickly, still holding on to Spike.
"Yeah, that's what I've been waiting for," Angel replied.
"You've got a bit of explaining to do yourself, mate," Spike said quietly, his comment directed towards Angel.
Buffy looked at Spike, confused, then to Angel. "What's he talking about?"
"Are you telling me you haven't figured it out, pet?" Spike asked, looking at Buffy. He was quite adamant in his question. The confused look on Buffy's face definitely meant she had no clue. "Peaches here was the one spying on us the other night. I knew I felt a familiar presence, I just didn't know it was him."
She looked at Angel, a "how could you spy on me like that" question in her eyes. Buffy's expression conveyed so much more. She was angry that Angel was butting into her business like that. She couldn't believe he would do such a thing- spying on her like he didn't trust her.
"I didn't know where you were going... You just left the house without telling anyone where you were going. I had to follow you out, I was worried," Angel explained. "Then I saw that you were going to the high school. I didn't know why, but I was worried, and if anything were to happen, I'd have been there to protect you."
Spike let out another laugh. "Look at you, still playing the role of the grand savior. You've been gone for so long you can't even imagine what has happened here in good ol' Sunnyhell," he said to Angel.
Buffy mind was somewhere else. If Angel saw them talking... "You know," she said quietly to Angel. "You know, about Spike."
"Believe me, it wasn't the way I hoped to find out," Angel said. Then he looked over to Spike and said, "If I would have even found out at all. That's why Anya was saying the things she did. I'm not the only one anymore." He looked to Buffy again.
"Isn't it ironic?" Spike said, chuckling all the while. "I hated you because you got your soul back, while everyone else loved you, accepted you. Now I get mine, and everyone..." his voice got sad just then, "Everyone hates me."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dawn and Connor lurked in the shadows outside of The Bronze. They saw the scene between Buffy, Spike, and Angel from around the corner. It shook them both. They heard every word they were saying.
"... I hated you because you got your soul back, while everyone else loved you, accepted you. Now I get mine, and everyone... Everyone hates me," they heard Spike say to Angel.
Dawn was taken aback by this. She didn't know what to think. He left because he went to get his soul back. Was it for Buffy? Did he love her that much to risk, apparently, his sanity? She knew he loved Buffy, but she also knew that he hurt her, or tried to hurt her. So the real question was, did he get his soul back to get the monster out of him?
"I can't believe she didn't tell me," Dawn whispered softly, inaudible to the others. Then louder she said, stepping into view, "I can't believe you didn't tell me, Buffy. You didn't tell me, Xander, or Willow. Why? You knew he had his soul back. Why didn't you tell us?"
Buffy, Spike, and Angel turned to look at Dawn.
"Dawn," Buffy said, acknowledging her presence.
"Niblet..." Spike said hoarsely.
"Why?" Dawn asked softly, her attention on Spike, who was still leaning on Buffy.
"Dawn, we shouldn't be talking about this now. What we *should* be doing is getting Spike somewhere," Buffy said, starting to lead Spike away.
Connor stepped up behind Dawn just then.
"What are you doing here Connor?" Angel asked.
"I saw you run out. I thought something... bad might be going on," he replied.
Suddenly, Spike spoke up. "I heard about you... You, Connor. You're Angel and Darla's little offspring. Heard about it, all of it- how you locked your dear old daddy in a wooden coffin and sent him into the ocean. Yeah, word gets around you know," his gaze drifted to Angel, "Heard about your little spell of insanity too. And oh, that ex-watcher you used to have tagging along with you, heard about his little alliance with that bloody law firm. Hell, who am I kidding, he's getting his kicks from shagging that woman."
Buffy and Dawn were utterly confused. Angel and Connor looked embarrassed.
"This is like a bleedin' family reunion," Spike muttered to Buffy, who just sighed in response.
"Enough. Spike, I'm taking you to my house. Angel, you're coming with us. Dawn, Connor- you're going to tell the rest of them exactly what's going on. And can you please tell them not to worry. We've got some issues to sort out- *between the three of us*," Buffy said, taking charge. "I will discuss this with everyone later. We'll be at the house, so please, make it clear to Xander that *everything is fine*."
Dawn knew that her sister was just about fed up with everything, and that she wanted to face up to things. Dawn nodded and said, "Alright. We'll meet you at the house later." Then to Connor she said, "Let's go explain." She took Connor by the arm and started walking back into The Bronze.
Buffy started walking with Spike still leaning on her. Angel followed close behind, and the three of them walked back to Buffy's house in silence.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Okay, so it wasn't all *that* Spuffy, but there was a lot of Buffy/Spike interaction. Next chapter will be up shortly. Until then, please R&R! =)