Faith, Willow, and Buffy walked into the shattered lobby of the hotel Angel
owned, looking in shock at the damage to the once elegant interior. Workmen
wandered here and there, cleaning up debris and doing repairs.
"Goddess, Spike sure holds a grudge, doesn't he?" Willow tried to joke.
"Willow! Faith! Great to see you!" a voice shouted out. Buffy pulled a stake from her back pocket, seeing a green skinned, red-eyed demon with a pair of short horns protruding from his forehead. "Ah, and THIS must be Buffy, the famous Slayer of the former town of Sunnydale, am I right? Wow, you look gorgeous, babe, and don't let anyone else tell you different! Thought you'd be taller, though."
"Hey, Lorne, how's it hangin', yo?" Fait stepped forward and high-fived the demon of Caritas. "What's with the mess, dude, we miss something when Angel popped up in Sunny-D?"
"Ah, that's quite a story, there. While folks were high-tailing it out of Sunnydale a few weeks back, we here in L.A. were having our own little apocalypse, courtesy of a rogue Power-That-Was calling herself Jasmine." A brief look of sorrow slipped over the demon's features, then his usual cheerful mien slipped back into place. "Not to worry, though, Angel managed to pull the planet's fat out of the proverbial fire yet again, so we're just cleaning up the aftermath, right now."
"Wait a minute, how come we never heard of this?" Buffy asked.
"Were any of us watching the tube, B?" Faith bounced back.
"Er, no, we were all too busy trying to figure out how to stop the First." The blond Slayer replied, slightly embarrassed at how she and every one else had lost track of the outside world.
"Pardon a confused Host demon, but the First what?"
"The First Evil, Lorne-baby. The Buffster here thought up a plan that sank its plans, and Willow here managed to activate every potential Slayer into full bloom! We squashed the First like a bad zit, amigo!"
"The First Evil? Great merciful Zeus!"
"Have you been hanging out with Xander?" Willow asked.
"And you created an army of Slayers? That's fantastic!" Buffy looked at Lorne with confusion blatantly obvious on her face. A demon, cheering over the idea of hundreds, if not thousands of Slayers, all at once? "Well, what can I do for you ladies?"
"Look, handsome, we need Angel Investigations to find out the identity of that guy they pulled out of the ruins of Sunnydale last night. We think he might be one of our crew, maybe a vampire."
"No sweat, Faith, we'll just get some of our people at Wolfram and Hart to look into it for us!"
"WOLFRAM AND HART?????" A trio of voices rang out in the lobby.
_*_*_*_*_*
Back at the Scoobies hotel...
"Buffy loves SPIKE? Where have I heard THAT before?" Xander shook his head.
Kennedy shrugged, looking at the grim faces of the one-eyed construction worker and the ex-Watcher. She held out a bowl of popcorn to Vi, then offered some to Dawn, who ignored it.
"Whoa, Xan, this is NOTHING like Willow's 'My Will Be Done' spell. This has been a long time coming, and I for one am glad to see she's finally pulled her head out of her crack and realized it."
"What???" Kennedy asked, half curios, half outraged at the slight to Willow she sensed in the comment.
"A few years ago, Willow cast a spell to do her will, in an effort to rid herself of her feelings towards Oz, her boyfriend. A spell, which I might add, rendered myself sightless, Xander a homing beacon for demonic entities, and made Spike propose marriage to Buffy, which she accepted." Giles explained with a pained air, not wanting to remember the saccharine sickly sweet cooing and kissing that the two had indulged in, not three feet away from his distressed ears.
"Buffy was engaged to the hottie vampire?" Vi asked. "And she called it OFF?"
"Willow had a BOY-friend???" Kennedy nearly screamed.
"Chill out, 'my-girlfriend-has-a-tongue-ring', Willow didn't always walk on the Femme side of the force. She had a thing for Xander for years, and dated this guitarist who was also a werewolf, for a while." Dawn also explained. "And I don't think we can blame all of that on Willow, guys!" she said, giving Xander and Giles pointedly direct looks.
"Remember, the spell made them get married, it didn't say they had to be in love. I think Spike and Buffy did THAT all by themselves. And the compulsion ended when she broke the spell. So no, this isn't like one of Giles' acid flashbacks from his 'Ripper' days."
"I hate to say it, but she's. . .she's right." Giles ground out. "I highly doubt that this is some sort of mystical echo, or something. And while Buffy has had a relationship with a vampire before, I can't honestly say that this is just a re-orientation or transference of her lingering feelings for Angel. If anything, it's unlikely simply because Spike is quite possibly the most extreme antithesis of Angel possible."
"That, and he's nothing like tall, dark, and broody." Xander added.
"Yes, Xander, once again, that is what I believe I just got done stating. On top of that assessment, (and I can't believe I'm actually SAYING this,) I believe that Spike was far too honorable to take advantage of Buffy, if that were the case."
"I can't believe you just said it either, G-man. Spike? Honorable?" Xander stood aghast.
"Xander, how many times did he patrol with you guys when Buffy was dead?" Dawn asked, pointedly flicking a piece of popcorn at him as she did.
"More than I ever believed he would. Okay, and he saved me from being completely blinded by that freak, Caleb. I admit, the Evil Undead has been fighting on the side of the angels, lately, but, c'mon, Spike? Honorable?"
"Xander, he kept his promise to Buffy to keep me safe. He kept his promise to take care of me while Buffy was dead. AND, he kept his promise to fight at Buffy's side when we fought the First. In fact, when he makes a promise, he keeps it, always." She replied, her hands on her hips, giving him a look that was a cross between a Buffy-glare and Willow's infamous 'resolve face'.
"Yeah, even the ones you don't want him to keep." Xander admitted, with a chuckle.
"Are you kidding? ESPECIALLY the ones you don't want him to keep." Dawn laughed.
"All right, I admit, he's done a lot for us. A LOT. And most of the time, we never even thanked him for it. A lot of the time, we went out of our way to snub him for it. I went out of my way to snub him for it. Man, I can be a jerk, sometimes." Xander admitted, shaking his head. Dawn patted the one- eyed construction worker on the head.
Just then, the door busted open to reveal a grinning trio of Faith, Buffy, and Willow.
"Guys, you'll never guess who Angel found out is our Sunnydale mystery survivor! A certain Randy William Giles!"
Authors Note: C'mon, Randy Giles? I just couldn't resist. And a big hello to all of the folks who have been reviewing this and sending me requests for more. Thanks, one and all!
"Goddess, Spike sure holds a grudge, doesn't he?" Willow tried to joke.
"Willow! Faith! Great to see you!" a voice shouted out. Buffy pulled a stake from her back pocket, seeing a green skinned, red-eyed demon with a pair of short horns protruding from his forehead. "Ah, and THIS must be Buffy, the famous Slayer of the former town of Sunnydale, am I right? Wow, you look gorgeous, babe, and don't let anyone else tell you different! Thought you'd be taller, though."
"Hey, Lorne, how's it hangin', yo?" Fait stepped forward and high-fived the demon of Caritas. "What's with the mess, dude, we miss something when Angel popped up in Sunny-D?"
"Ah, that's quite a story, there. While folks were high-tailing it out of Sunnydale a few weeks back, we here in L.A. were having our own little apocalypse, courtesy of a rogue Power-That-Was calling herself Jasmine." A brief look of sorrow slipped over the demon's features, then his usual cheerful mien slipped back into place. "Not to worry, though, Angel managed to pull the planet's fat out of the proverbial fire yet again, so we're just cleaning up the aftermath, right now."
"Wait a minute, how come we never heard of this?" Buffy asked.
"Were any of us watching the tube, B?" Faith bounced back.
"Er, no, we were all too busy trying to figure out how to stop the First." The blond Slayer replied, slightly embarrassed at how she and every one else had lost track of the outside world.
"Pardon a confused Host demon, but the First what?"
"The First Evil, Lorne-baby. The Buffster here thought up a plan that sank its plans, and Willow here managed to activate every potential Slayer into full bloom! We squashed the First like a bad zit, amigo!"
"The First Evil? Great merciful Zeus!"
"Have you been hanging out with Xander?" Willow asked.
"And you created an army of Slayers? That's fantastic!" Buffy looked at Lorne with confusion blatantly obvious on her face. A demon, cheering over the idea of hundreds, if not thousands of Slayers, all at once? "Well, what can I do for you ladies?"
"Look, handsome, we need Angel Investigations to find out the identity of that guy they pulled out of the ruins of Sunnydale last night. We think he might be one of our crew, maybe a vampire."
"No sweat, Faith, we'll just get some of our people at Wolfram and Hart to look into it for us!"
"WOLFRAM AND HART?????" A trio of voices rang out in the lobby.
_*_*_*_*_*
Back at the Scoobies hotel...
"Buffy loves SPIKE? Where have I heard THAT before?" Xander shook his head.
Kennedy shrugged, looking at the grim faces of the one-eyed construction worker and the ex-Watcher. She held out a bowl of popcorn to Vi, then offered some to Dawn, who ignored it.
"Whoa, Xan, this is NOTHING like Willow's 'My Will Be Done' spell. This has been a long time coming, and I for one am glad to see she's finally pulled her head out of her crack and realized it."
"What???" Kennedy asked, half curios, half outraged at the slight to Willow she sensed in the comment.
"A few years ago, Willow cast a spell to do her will, in an effort to rid herself of her feelings towards Oz, her boyfriend. A spell, which I might add, rendered myself sightless, Xander a homing beacon for demonic entities, and made Spike propose marriage to Buffy, which she accepted." Giles explained with a pained air, not wanting to remember the saccharine sickly sweet cooing and kissing that the two had indulged in, not three feet away from his distressed ears.
"Buffy was engaged to the hottie vampire?" Vi asked. "And she called it OFF?"
"Willow had a BOY-friend???" Kennedy nearly screamed.
"Chill out, 'my-girlfriend-has-a-tongue-ring', Willow didn't always walk on the Femme side of the force. She had a thing for Xander for years, and dated this guitarist who was also a werewolf, for a while." Dawn also explained. "And I don't think we can blame all of that on Willow, guys!" she said, giving Xander and Giles pointedly direct looks.
"Remember, the spell made them get married, it didn't say they had to be in love. I think Spike and Buffy did THAT all by themselves. And the compulsion ended when she broke the spell. So no, this isn't like one of Giles' acid flashbacks from his 'Ripper' days."
"I hate to say it, but she's. . .she's right." Giles ground out. "I highly doubt that this is some sort of mystical echo, or something. And while Buffy has had a relationship with a vampire before, I can't honestly say that this is just a re-orientation or transference of her lingering feelings for Angel. If anything, it's unlikely simply because Spike is quite possibly the most extreme antithesis of Angel possible."
"That, and he's nothing like tall, dark, and broody." Xander added.
"Yes, Xander, once again, that is what I believe I just got done stating. On top of that assessment, (and I can't believe I'm actually SAYING this,) I believe that Spike was far too honorable to take advantage of Buffy, if that were the case."
"I can't believe you just said it either, G-man. Spike? Honorable?" Xander stood aghast.
"Xander, how many times did he patrol with you guys when Buffy was dead?" Dawn asked, pointedly flicking a piece of popcorn at him as she did.
"More than I ever believed he would. Okay, and he saved me from being completely blinded by that freak, Caleb. I admit, the Evil Undead has been fighting on the side of the angels, lately, but, c'mon, Spike? Honorable?"
"Xander, he kept his promise to Buffy to keep me safe. He kept his promise to take care of me while Buffy was dead. AND, he kept his promise to fight at Buffy's side when we fought the First. In fact, when he makes a promise, he keeps it, always." She replied, her hands on her hips, giving him a look that was a cross between a Buffy-glare and Willow's infamous 'resolve face'.
"Yeah, even the ones you don't want him to keep." Xander admitted, with a chuckle.
"Are you kidding? ESPECIALLY the ones you don't want him to keep." Dawn laughed.
"All right, I admit, he's done a lot for us. A LOT. And most of the time, we never even thanked him for it. A lot of the time, we went out of our way to snub him for it. I went out of my way to snub him for it. Man, I can be a jerk, sometimes." Xander admitted, shaking his head. Dawn patted the one- eyed construction worker on the head.
Just then, the door busted open to reveal a grinning trio of Faith, Buffy, and Willow.
"Guys, you'll never guess who Angel found out is our Sunnydale mystery survivor! A certain Randy William Giles!"
Authors Note: C'mon, Randy Giles? I just couldn't resist. And a big hello to all of the folks who have been reviewing this and sending me requests for more. Thanks, one and all!