Why is she back? Who did this to her? What a question! Spike. Spike made her into this evil, soulless creature. I told them. I told them not to trust him. He was evil, as much good as he "wanted" to do, he was evil. Now. She's a vampire. Because of him. That walking corpse, that monstrous being. I could have been there. I let her down. I let Dawn down. I failed. But I won't fail everything. Because I failed Buffy, I have to protect everyone else now. Including Anya and Isobel. I won't fail.
The sun sank into the horizon as Angel crawled up from an open pothole in the middle of an alley. Seeing Sunnydale from this point of view reminded him of L.A. He hadn't realized how long it had felt since he had been here.
He ran his hand across the glistening brick, still wet from the afternoon rain. His soul ached at the memories that were attached to this town. He felt like this every time he had come to visit Buffy in the past. He hadn't shown it. He didn't want her to know.
He forced a smile, but his insides were still torn apart. He shuffled his feet until he was able to stride down and out the alley, entering the bright-lighted city. He nodded a smile at a young couple coming out of the Starbucks. He paused a moment as he passed by the old mansion he used to live in on his way to the Summers'.
"Look, I know you only did what I asked. And we, we
got what we wanted."
"I
never wanted it to go that far."
"I
know that. It's not even a question of that. It's just, after ... I need a
little bit of a break. Please."
"You
still my girl?"
"Always."
Angel's insides twisted, but he felt a moment of happiness. He took off down the street again, passing by the rebuilt Sunnydale High. Dawn must be a senior now, he thought.
"I never thought you'd come."
"It's
a big night. I didn't want to miss it. It's just tonight. It doesn't mean that
I..."
"I
know. I mean, I understand."
"Dance with me?"
Angel gave a quick shudder, too many good memories were flooding into his head. But he couldn't remember any bad times. It was impossible. He focused on keeping the good memories away, instead of trying to conjure bad ones. He continued down the last street to Buffy's old house.
He finally reached the sidewalk path to the house's front porch and glanced up at the light coming from the windows. He glanced in the open window, seeing Xander and Anya with a small child running around their feet, giggling merrily.
A shadow. Angel shifted his gaze immediately, eyeing the side of the house. The shadows continued to move and a rustle picked up the leaves, shaking the night air. Then suddenly the shadow stopped and Angel could see somebody walking away. He stalked after it.
* * *
"Willow called him?" asked Wesley, trying to understand what was going on.
"I know, it's strange. You think she could handle a vampire, she's being doing it without Buffy for three years now," said Cordelia.
Wesley walked out the door, heading down the hallway. "H-hey! Just walk out when I'm ta…" Cordelia said as Wesley left.
Why would Willow call Angel? As much as I disagree with Cordelia's tact, I must agree that Willow should be able to handle any old vampire herself. And why would Angel go anyway, Wesley thought.
"Angel left this morning, only leaving us a note. Willow called. Something's happening in Sunnydale. I believe, although without Angel here I have no clue, that something big is coming. Basically, we're going to Sunnydale," Wesley said.
He had gathered everyone into the lobby of the Hyperion. Gunn and Fred sat on the round couch, and Cordy had taken a spot on top of the counter. Connor leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Dad's in Sunnydale? Isn't that where Buffy's from? Let's go," said Connor, not giving anyone time to even answer questions. He walked to the weapons cabinet and began loading some bags that Wesley had placed there. When he finished he set it next to Wesley's, also joining by his side.
"Wait," said Cordelia, "What if there's a reason Angel didn't want us to know. What if something big is coming, and he needs us here. Researching or something. You know, the important stuff."
"Then you stay, and you research, and you call us if you have a vision or something, " said Wesley, knowing he had just hooked her. Cordelia sighed and walked over and filled her bag with a couple of weapons. She also slipped her purse in the bag, taking up a fourth of the bag.
"Gunn, Fred?" asked Wesley, nodding at the two as Cordelia joined Wesley's side, setting her bag down.
"We're going," said Gunn, speaking for the both of them.
"We wouldn't leave ya'll out," said Fred, surprising Gunn. She jumped up and headed over to the weapons cabinet, filling both of the remaining bags with weapons, surprising Gunn again.
"What about Lorne?" questioned Gunn, helping Fred carry the weapons over.
"He said he'll stay and watch the Hyperion for us, and if we need any research in the books here he'll do the best he can," answered Wesley.
Fred and Gunn brought over the last bags, and Angel Investigations headed out the door.
* * *
Buffy woke up, hearing a noise outside the mausoleum. She pulled herself up quick and put on her shirt. She crept to the door of the mausoleum and creaked it open. Glancing through the small crack, she saw nothing. She opened the door and took a few steps out. There wasn't a thing in sight.
* * *
Angel stopped dead in his tracks. He peered down at the woman that had just stalked out of the crypt. His eyes widened when he saw Buffy standing there.
"When you become a vampire the demon takes your body, but it doesn't get your soul. That's gone! No conscience, no remorse... It's an easy way to live. You have no idea what it's like to have done the things I've done... and to care. I haven't fed on a living human being since that day."
…
"Then why didn't you say something?"
"But I wanted to. I can walk like a man, but I'm not one. I wanted to kill
you tonight."
Angel laughed at the irony, or at least he wanted to. He had wanted to kill Buffy that night, but things had taken an unexpected turn. Now eight years later he had to. Willow had called him, not because he knew Buffy, but because they couldn't do it. If anyone could, it had to be Angel.
Within his head and thoughts, Angel had forgotten to keep a watch on who he had been trailing. The shadows turned out to be three different shadows, stalking in a group.
* * *
Buffy yawned and stretched up, reaching to the stars in the air that were singing out to her. She grinned. A shout and a lunge when someone jumped from the side of the mausoleum.
Buffy raised her foot and kicked the attacker square in the face. A grunt was heard from the young man who fell to the ground. He wore gray, baggy pants and a light gray shirt with a horizontal, white stripe. His hair matched the night air in color, but the two others with him didn't.
Two women were with the young man, one with long red hair that looked remarkably like Tara though. The other had long, light-blue hair. The one with red hair wore a long, black dress with a slit on one side exposing the leg to the middle of the thigh. The blue-haired woman wore a simple pair of jeans and a solid black t-shirt, not unlike Buffy's own-or at least the one she had taken.
She smiled, morphing her face as she pulled the man up from the ground and dug her teeth into his neck, keeping her eyes on the two women. The red-haired woman smiled and let a chuckle out as Buffy spat out the blood and dropped the man to the ground.
"Vampire," she hissed. She snarled at the two women who had let her taste the guy.
"Go," ordered the red-haired vixen. The vampire and the other lady-that Buffy assumed was a vampire-lunged at Buffy.
* * *
Angel came back to the present. The shadows he had been trailing had made a reappearance and were attacking Buffy, that's all he needed to know.
He swooped down on the blue-haired, sending her flying into the wall of the mausoleum with a kick. She hissed and jumped up.
"What are you doing?" she screamed.
Angel morphed into vampire mode and spun around just in time to kick the male vampire, however, he stood his ground. Angel followed the kick with a punch to the stomach, and grabbing the vampire's hand, flipped him onto the ground, slamming his foot into the vampire's face.
The red-haired lady growled and conjured a ball of flame, launching it at Buffy. Angel jumped into Buffy, knocking her to the ground. The flame hit the side of the mausoleum, mere inches from the blue-haired vampire. She examined the scorch marks and the cracks, counting her blessings.
Angel smiled at Buffy. The two locked eyes and emotions swelled. The red-haired woman mumbled something while conjuring another fireball. Buffy's eyes flashed with pain and sorrow. She punched Angel in his stomach and threw an uppercut into his chin, causing him to launch a few inches off the ground, where she sunk low to the ground and kicked his legs, making him fall on his side. The fireball zoomed by overhead.
Angel's head made a cracking sound as it slammed into the ground. He regained his senses and realized he had saved the person had had come to kill, just as he watched Buffy run into the darkness. His senses became dulled at his failure and loss again, and the night became blacker as he realized he was fainting.
* * *
Buffy sat on the ground against a house, her face buried in her legs. She had just left her lover to be killed again. And the little boy was all over the news, even now. Why did she feel sorry about it? Angel could defend himself, and he was obviously here to hurt her, so why should she care?
She used the side of the house to pick herself up again. She decided to make things better with another killing. She walked down the sidewalk, waiting for anything to kill.
When a dog came by barking and yipping at her, she kicked its side with her foot and jumped on it when it landed on the ground, pleasure refilling her inside. She was getting hungry; she hadn't had anything to eat since that boy.
She searched and hunted for a human. She came across a teenage boy who was with his little sister. She immediately began seeking ways to drink them. Games made it more fun.
"Excuse me, do you have the time?" Buffy asked the boy.
"It's about 8:35," answered the boy, after checking his watch. He smiled at Buffy.
"What's your name?" questioned Buffy, leaning down to look at the girl.
"C-cindy," replied the girl, obviously scared of this woman.
"C-cindy," mocked Buffy, chuckling.
"Hey, leave her alone," said the boy, obviously beginning to be turned off by Buffy's rudeness.
"Oh, shut up," said Buffy, knocking the boy on the side of his head with her fist.
The little girl screamed and Buffy grabbed her chin, squeezing her cheeks together. The girl began to cry, one tear at a time streaked down her face. Buffy licked the first tear. She raised her head a little and licked from between the girl's eyes to the top of her forehead. The girl shuddered and made crying noises. Buffy smiled. This was fun.
The boy coughed on the ground and struggled to pull himself to his feet. He turned to where Buffy and Cindy were standing, but no one was there any longer. His insides twisted and he got worried.
"Hey!" shouted Buffy from up above. The boy looked up to see Buffy standing on a roof with the girl in her outstretched hand, hanging by the clothes on her back. The girl's tears continued to fall, but she made no noise, as instructed by Buffy. "Watch this," Buffy continued. She dropped the girl.
The boy screamed, but Cindy's screams were louder and pierced the night. The kid turned his head, not wanting to see the fall. He turned around again when he heard a thud. He pulled his hands away from his face and slowly opened his eyes to see Buffy standing right next to him, so close he could have felt her breathing.
She took the back of her hand to his face and sent him flying into a mailbox, cracking it in half. She picked Cindy up and morphed her face, sinking her teeth into the warm neck before any more blood was lost. Cindy continued to gasp and twitch, even when Buffy was finished with the second attack.
The boy stared up into the night sky, eyes wide open. Buffy walked over to him and peered down, grinning at the piece of wood sticking through the boy's chest. The top of the mailbox lay a few feet away. Buffy crouched next to the boy and pet his neck, sinking her teeth into him. She was almost finished when a tear slid down her face.
* * *
Angel awoke to three faces standing over him. The ground felt cold and hard underneath, and leaning up he realized he had been brought into the mausoleum. The vampires were with him, gazing down on to him, while the red-haired woman stood a few feet back. Her face held anger and she was obviously directing it toward Angel. He couldn't help but recognize the resemblance in appearance between her and Tara, but the attitude was definitely more like Buffy.
"I'm sorry," said Angel. Words didn't need to be spoken, but he felt he had to say something. "It's instinct."
"Don't worry about it," said the redhead, changing emotions quickly. It appeared as if she had just come out of a trance. Maybe she wasn't as pissed at him as he thought.
"We'll get her next time. But you might wanna stay away since you feel the need to protect her," said the male vampire. Angel turned his gaze to the third one, waiting to hear her speak.
"He's Mark, I'm Sarah, and that little goddess is Billowa," said Sarah, the blue-haired vampire.