A/N Let's just pretend that "Storyteller" to this one ("Dirty Girls") has
already happened. Just put Faith in Buffy's place and put more attraction
with Spike in there. Ok, on with the story.
Chapter 74
Buffy sat curled in on herself on the other side of the limo. Angel watched her, trying desperately to understand how she was feeling. The scenery flashed by and Buffy barely even noticed. Her cheeks were streaked with dry tears and her eyes were red and wet. Sure she and Angel now owned Wolfram and Hart. Sure her friends in LA were a major part of that team. Sure she had 12 cars and a private limo. Not to mention the huge office and private elevator she and her husband shared at the law firm. None of it mattered because her son was no longer her son. It had been the easiest decision she had ever had to make, but it was also the hardest on her. All of the memories of Connor.. Just like the day that wasn't: Memories that weren't.
Connor had blamed her and Angel the whole time for being raised in Quor- toth. He wasn't the only one who blamed her for it. Buffy blamed herself for it too. She could have done more. Every time she flashed back to that horrible night.. Every time she saw herself doing something different and saving her baby boy. Now, Connor was happy. He didn't even know that Buffy and Angel existed. He didn't know that the people he was with.. They weren't his real family. The thing Buffy was happy about was Connor didn't know that vampires and demons and everything supernatural was really real. He was just a kid who had just graduated from high school at the top of his class.
Buffy laid her head down on her knees and started to sob. Angel reached out to touch her, but she swatted his hand away. "Don't touch me."
"Are you mad at me?" Angel asked.
"No. I just don't want to be touched. I.. I don't know what I want. My son is gone. He really is dead. And no one will know we ever had a baby but us. All this time, he hated me."
"He didn't hate you."
"He blamed us for all his problems. I guess he had every right too. We were lousy parents."
"Don't say that."
"We were always out saving the day and pushing him to help. I think the only thing that made him happy was playing football."
"You made him happy. Connor loved you Buffy. You were his mother."
"It didn't do anything to help him. He still.. He still pulled a me. He pushed himself away and pretended to be there to love and he pretended to love us. I should have known that on the boat when he tried to put you in the ocean."
"Well, it's over now. He's not ours anymore. He belongs with his family."
Buffy was about to respond when the limo stopped and the partition between them and the driver came down. "Excuse me Mr. And Mrs. Summers. I think there's trouble up ahead." The driver said.
"What's going on?" Buffy asked, wiping away her tears.
"There's a girl in the road."
Buffy and Angel looked at each other and then jumped out of the limo. Sure enough there was a young girl in the road. Buffy ran up and crouched next to her. "Are you ok? Can you hear me?" She rolled the girl over. "Can you talk?" Behind them, the driver got out and looked at them.
Angel looked at him. "This girl's bleeding badly. We have to get her to the hospital." He bent over and picked up the girl. Buffy followed Angel back to the limo and they sped away.
Buffy looked at Angel. "Oh yeah, guess we're back in Sunnydale."
Thirty minutes later, Buffy, Willow, and Angel stood watching the surgeons work on the girl. Willow had come to the hospital after Buffy had called her house. Dawn said that Faith was out on patrol with Spike, so no luck there. This was the first real big action since Andrew's tears had closed the seal. Faith had mentioned Giles trying to let Robin Wood kill Spike because Spike had killed his mom back in the 70s. Buffy grunted and turned away.
"What?" Angel asked.
"I think I'm going to go find Faith." Buffy announced. She looked at Willow. "Can you stay here and call when the girl wakes up?"
"Of course Buffy." Willow hugged Buffy. "I'm glad to have you back here. Both of you."
"Hey Willow?"
"Yeah?"
"Um.. This is a really weird question.. Do you.. Do you know why Angel and I are married?"
"Of course I do. You went to see him at that place you two went after we brought you back to life and while you were there, I bound his soul to him. Nothing happened, but when you came back and I told you about it and you went to Angel in LA. A month later, you guys went to Vegas and then San Francisco. Not to mention you both love each other more than life. Why are you asking?" Willow's eyes widened. "Are you two having a fight and you want to know why you're together in the first place so you can work it out?"
"NO! God no, Will. I love Angel and he's the guy I wanted to be with. I just.. I don't know why I asked such a silly question." Buffy started to leave. "Call if there's any news."
Angel followed Buffy out to the limo where the driver was waiting. They climbed in and told the driver to take them to the Sunnydale Cemetery. Ten minutes later, Buffy and Angel were walking through the cemetery. Angel looked at Buffy. "I guess everyone's memories were altered."
"Yeah." Buffy said bitterly.
"Are you going to be ok?"
"No."
"Thought so."
Buffy stopped and faced Angel. "Why would I be ok Angel? My only son is no longer my son. He belongs with some run of the mill family away from all the death and destruction that seems to follow his true parents around wherever they go. Granted it's what I've always wanted for him, but.. I miss him. It hurts so bad in my heart to think about what I've given up."
"You still have me."
"I'll always have you." Buffy wrapped herself in Angel's arms. "Please Angel.. Please don't ever leave me alone, ok? I don't think I could bare it if I lost you too."
"Buffy, I will never ever let you be alone. Nothing will keep me from you. No matter what happens, I'll always be by your side. I promise."
A scream sounded out behind them and the two broke apart at a run. They followed the sound from which the scream had come and found a blonde young woman running at top speed through the cemetery. Her pursuer caught up to her just as Buffy and Angel rounded a mausoleum. Buffy yanked him off and discovered that it was Spike.
"Spike, what the hell are you doing?" Buffy asked angrily.
"Buffy?" Spike asked incredulously. "What are you doing here?"
"Getting ready to stake you."
"Bit of a misunderstanding here."
"Yeah? I'd say it looks like you're chasing a girl and getting ready to kill her." Angel said.
Behind them all, Faith said, "B? Angel?" They all turned. "You're back!"
"What's going on?" Buffy asked. Suddenly, the girl jumped up in full vamp face and attacked Angel. He swatted her off and easily staked her.
"We should make the bad guys wear a sign." Angel said, dusting himself off.
"Nice to have you two back." Faith said.
"Wish I could say it's good to be back." Buffy said. "So, is there any room left for us at our own house?"
"I think we can give your bedroom back to you guys."
"Uh.. We do have a house to go back to right?" Angel asked.
"Of course. Sure everything's been trashed and replaced, but it's still pretty much the same house." Spike said.
"And you would know how?" Buffy asked.
"Well, I live there."
"What?!" Buffy and Angel asked together.
"Faith.. She told me to since I was a danger. I have chains downstairs."
"Hey, those are ours!" Angel said. Buffy blushed and Faith and Spike stared at Angel. "Not that we use them like that.. You know what, we're adults and it's none of your business what we do in our bedroom."
"You know what? To spare any further embarrassment, let's get back to the house." Faith said.
"I'm with her." Buffy said. "Come on, our.. Car is this way."
Buffy and Angel led Faith and Spike back to waiting limo. Faith stopped and Spike ran into her as he gaped. "This isn't a car! This is a soddin' limo!"
"Where's you get a limo?" Faith asked.
"HOW'D you get a limo?"
"Um.. It's really a long story and it's one we don't have time to tell you about right now." Buffy said as she and Angel slipped in the limo. "Just get in."
They drove to the house in silence and then told the driver to go on back to LA. Faith was the first to walk in followed by Spike then Buffy and Angel. Dawn walked in. "Buffy!" She hugged her sister tightly and then Angel. "I missed you guys."
"It's been about a month." Buffy said.
"Hey look, we have two more house guests." Faith joked.
Giles walked in behind them. "Buffy.. Angel.. It's good to have you back."
"I wish we could say it's good to be back." Angel said. "So far, we've got a potential in the hospital and the First still on the loose.. Right?"
Giles nodded. "So far."
"Well, Angel and I are kinda beat, so we're going to go upstairs and sleep." Buffy said. "Can you guys try to keep it down?"
"Sure Buffy." Dawn said. "Goodnight."
"Night." Buffy and Angel said, heading up the stairs. Buffy stopped at the top and stared at the wall. Angel paused and looked at her, understanding what she was staring at.
Buffy touched the wall. "There used to be a door here."
"It doesn't exist because Connor isn't ours. He was never ours."
"Don't say that. He's still my son and nothing can change that.. Not even taking away everything that was him."
Angel nodded and took her hand. "Come on. We both need sleep. It's been a hard night for us both."
Buffy walked in to Principal Wood's office the next morning. "Hey. From what I've heard.. You look pretty good."
"Buffy." Principal Wood said, standing. "You're back."
"Yeah. Things settled down a lot in LA. So how are you?"
"I'll be ok. Unless, of course, you want to start beating up on me now too."
"I won't. Well, I thought about it. As far as I'm concerned, we're on even ground. Spike is just Spike. I want to make this clear though: I don't have time for your vendetta, but I need you in this fight. I want you on my side."
"Thanks. That means a lot."
"So, we're good here?"
"Absolutely." Buffy sighed. "You're fired."
"What!?"
"Effective immediately."
"You're firing me? I just got back from important business. It's not my fault evil rises everywhere I am."
"Buffy, there's nothing here for you. I mean, people are leaving town, half the kids don't even bother showing up anymore. You've got things to deal with that are much worse than anything here. Look at the big picture."
"Right. The big picture. The one with the big war and the dead little girls."
"Not dead. Not dead. Not if you help get them ready."
"I don't want to lead them into war. It can't be the right thing."
"Most wars aren't, you know."
"Some of these girl haven't even been tested in battle yet."
"Then, I guess, maybe you should test them."
"Couldn't I just come to work part-time? I could make flyers for encounter groups and post them up all over school."
"And you're fired again. Remember, Buffy, the mission's what matters. You're back now and you need to take charge. Faith is a good leader, but I'm fairly certain that you're better." Buffy nodded. "So.. How's Angel?"
"He's good. He's at the house." Buffy sighed. "Hey, we own an evil law firm."
"Really? How'd you manage that?"
"We stopped world peace."
"Oh."
"I'll explain it later when we have time. So, people are leaving town?"
"Yeah. I'm guessing they all feel the bad mojo that's really been emanating from the Hellmouth."
"That's a first. They should have left a long time ago."
"They sense something much larger than what they're used to is coming. Pretty soon this whole town will be deserted."
"Except for us. We'll be the stupid ones running head first into the demons while everyone is running head first in the opposite direction."
"It's your job. Get used to it."
"I've had eight years to get used to it. It's an acquired taste." Buffy stood. "Well, I better get back to the house since I'm not needed here."
"I'll see you Buffy."
"Bye." As soon as she was out on the street, Angel pulled up in the van. Buffy smiled ironically at the normalcy of it all.
"Buffy, Willow just called from the hospital. The girl's awake." Angel said, opening the door for her.
Buffy climbed in and Angel drove to the hospital.
Chapter 74
Buffy sat curled in on herself on the other side of the limo. Angel watched her, trying desperately to understand how she was feeling. The scenery flashed by and Buffy barely even noticed. Her cheeks were streaked with dry tears and her eyes were red and wet. Sure she and Angel now owned Wolfram and Hart. Sure her friends in LA were a major part of that team. Sure she had 12 cars and a private limo. Not to mention the huge office and private elevator she and her husband shared at the law firm. None of it mattered because her son was no longer her son. It had been the easiest decision she had ever had to make, but it was also the hardest on her. All of the memories of Connor.. Just like the day that wasn't: Memories that weren't.
Connor had blamed her and Angel the whole time for being raised in Quor- toth. He wasn't the only one who blamed her for it. Buffy blamed herself for it too. She could have done more. Every time she flashed back to that horrible night.. Every time she saw herself doing something different and saving her baby boy. Now, Connor was happy. He didn't even know that Buffy and Angel existed. He didn't know that the people he was with.. They weren't his real family. The thing Buffy was happy about was Connor didn't know that vampires and demons and everything supernatural was really real. He was just a kid who had just graduated from high school at the top of his class.
Buffy laid her head down on her knees and started to sob. Angel reached out to touch her, but she swatted his hand away. "Don't touch me."
"Are you mad at me?" Angel asked.
"No. I just don't want to be touched. I.. I don't know what I want. My son is gone. He really is dead. And no one will know we ever had a baby but us. All this time, he hated me."
"He didn't hate you."
"He blamed us for all his problems. I guess he had every right too. We were lousy parents."
"Don't say that."
"We were always out saving the day and pushing him to help. I think the only thing that made him happy was playing football."
"You made him happy. Connor loved you Buffy. You were his mother."
"It didn't do anything to help him. He still.. He still pulled a me. He pushed himself away and pretended to be there to love and he pretended to love us. I should have known that on the boat when he tried to put you in the ocean."
"Well, it's over now. He's not ours anymore. He belongs with his family."
Buffy was about to respond when the limo stopped and the partition between them and the driver came down. "Excuse me Mr. And Mrs. Summers. I think there's trouble up ahead." The driver said.
"What's going on?" Buffy asked, wiping away her tears.
"There's a girl in the road."
Buffy and Angel looked at each other and then jumped out of the limo. Sure enough there was a young girl in the road. Buffy ran up and crouched next to her. "Are you ok? Can you hear me?" She rolled the girl over. "Can you talk?" Behind them, the driver got out and looked at them.
Angel looked at him. "This girl's bleeding badly. We have to get her to the hospital." He bent over and picked up the girl. Buffy followed Angel back to the limo and they sped away.
Buffy looked at Angel. "Oh yeah, guess we're back in Sunnydale."
Thirty minutes later, Buffy, Willow, and Angel stood watching the surgeons work on the girl. Willow had come to the hospital after Buffy had called her house. Dawn said that Faith was out on patrol with Spike, so no luck there. This was the first real big action since Andrew's tears had closed the seal. Faith had mentioned Giles trying to let Robin Wood kill Spike because Spike had killed his mom back in the 70s. Buffy grunted and turned away.
"What?" Angel asked.
"I think I'm going to go find Faith." Buffy announced. She looked at Willow. "Can you stay here and call when the girl wakes up?"
"Of course Buffy." Willow hugged Buffy. "I'm glad to have you back here. Both of you."
"Hey Willow?"
"Yeah?"
"Um.. This is a really weird question.. Do you.. Do you know why Angel and I are married?"
"Of course I do. You went to see him at that place you two went after we brought you back to life and while you were there, I bound his soul to him. Nothing happened, but when you came back and I told you about it and you went to Angel in LA. A month later, you guys went to Vegas and then San Francisco. Not to mention you both love each other more than life. Why are you asking?" Willow's eyes widened. "Are you two having a fight and you want to know why you're together in the first place so you can work it out?"
"NO! God no, Will. I love Angel and he's the guy I wanted to be with. I just.. I don't know why I asked such a silly question." Buffy started to leave. "Call if there's any news."
Angel followed Buffy out to the limo where the driver was waiting. They climbed in and told the driver to take them to the Sunnydale Cemetery. Ten minutes later, Buffy and Angel were walking through the cemetery. Angel looked at Buffy. "I guess everyone's memories were altered."
"Yeah." Buffy said bitterly.
"Are you going to be ok?"
"No."
"Thought so."
Buffy stopped and faced Angel. "Why would I be ok Angel? My only son is no longer my son. He belongs with some run of the mill family away from all the death and destruction that seems to follow his true parents around wherever they go. Granted it's what I've always wanted for him, but.. I miss him. It hurts so bad in my heart to think about what I've given up."
"You still have me."
"I'll always have you." Buffy wrapped herself in Angel's arms. "Please Angel.. Please don't ever leave me alone, ok? I don't think I could bare it if I lost you too."
"Buffy, I will never ever let you be alone. Nothing will keep me from you. No matter what happens, I'll always be by your side. I promise."
A scream sounded out behind them and the two broke apart at a run. They followed the sound from which the scream had come and found a blonde young woman running at top speed through the cemetery. Her pursuer caught up to her just as Buffy and Angel rounded a mausoleum. Buffy yanked him off and discovered that it was Spike.
"Spike, what the hell are you doing?" Buffy asked angrily.
"Buffy?" Spike asked incredulously. "What are you doing here?"
"Getting ready to stake you."
"Bit of a misunderstanding here."
"Yeah? I'd say it looks like you're chasing a girl and getting ready to kill her." Angel said.
Behind them all, Faith said, "B? Angel?" They all turned. "You're back!"
"What's going on?" Buffy asked. Suddenly, the girl jumped up in full vamp face and attacked Angel. He swatted her off and easily staked her.
"We should make the bad guys wear a sign." Angel said, dusting himself off.
"Nice to have you two back." Faith said.
"Wish I could say it's good to be back." Buffy said. "So, is there any room left for us at our own house?"
"I think we can give your bedroom back to you guys."
"Uh.. We do have a house to go back to right?" Angel asked.
"Of course. Sure everything's been trashed and replaced, but it's still pretty much the same house." Spike said.
"And you would know how?" Buffy asked.
"Well, I live there."
"What?!" Buffy and Angel asked together.
"Faith.. She told me to since I was a danger. I have chains downstairs."
"Hey, those are ours!" Angel said. Buffy blushed and Faith and Spike stared at Angel. "Not that we use them like that.. You know what, we're adults and it's none of your business what we do in our bedroom."
"You know what? To spare any further embarrassment, let's get back to the house." Faith said.
"I'm with her." Buffy said. "Come on, our.. Car is this way."
Buffy and Angel led Faith and Spike back to waiting limo. Faith stopped and Spike ran into her as he gaped. "This isn't a car! This is a soddin' limo!"
"Where's you get a limo?" Faith asked.
"HOW'D you get a limo?"
"Um.. It's really a long story and it's one we don't have time to tell you about right now." Buffy said as she and Angel slipped in the limo. "Just get in."
They drove to the house in silence and then told the driver to go on back to LA. Faith was the first to walk in followed by Spike then Buffy and Angel. Dawn walked in. "Buffy!" She hugged her sister tightly and then Angel. "I missed you guys."
"It's been about a month." Buffy said.
"Hey look, we have two more house guests." Faith joked.
Giles walked in behind them. "Buffy.. Angel.. It's good to have you back."
"I wish we could say it's good to be back." Angel said. "So far, we've got a potential in the hospital and the First still on the loose.. Right?"
Giles nodded. "So far."
"Well, Angel and I are kinda beat, so we're going to go upstairs and sleep." Buffy said. "Can you guys try to keep it down?"
"Sure Buffy." Dawn said. "Goodnight."
"Night." Buffy and Angel said, heading up the stairs. Buffy stopped at the top and stared at the wall. Angel paused and looked at her, understanding what she was staring at.
Buffy touched the wall. "There used to be a door here."
"It doesn't exist because Connor isn't ours. He was never ours."
"Don't say that. He's still my son and nothing can change that.. Not even taking away everything that was him."
Angel nodded and took her hand. "Come on. We both need sleep. It's been a hard night for us both."
Buffy walked in to Principal Wood's office the next morning. "Hey. From what I've heard.. You look pretty good."
"Buffy." Principal Wood said, standing. "You're back."
"Yeah. Things settled down a lot in LA. So how are you?"
"I'll be ok. Unless, of course, you want to start beating up on me now too."
"I won't. Well, I thought about it. As far as I'm concerned, we're on even ground. Spike is just Spike. I want to make this clear though: I don't have time for your vendetta, but I need you in this fight. I want you on my side."
"Thanks. That means a lot."
"So, we're good here?"
"Absolutely." Buffy sighed. "You're fired."
"What!?"
"Effective immediately."
"You're firing me? I just got back from important business. It's not my fault evil rises everywhere I am."
"Buffy, there's nothing here for you. I mean, people are leaving town, half the kids don't even bother showing up anymore. You've got things to deal with that are much worse than anything here. Look at the big picture."
"Right. The big picture. The one with the big war and the dead little girls."
"Not dead. Not dead. Not if you help get them ready."
"I don't want to lead them into war. It can't be the right thing."
"Most wars aren't, you know."
"Some of these girl haven't even been tested in battle yet."
"Then, I guess, maybe you should test them."
"Couldn't I just come to work part-time? I could make flyers for encounter groups and post them up all over school."
"And you're fired again. Remember, Buffy, the mission's what matters. You're back now and you need to take charge. Faith is a good leader, but I'm fairly certain that you're better." Buffy nodded. "So.. How's Angel?"
"He's good. He's at the house." Buffy sighed. "Hey, we own an evil law firm."
"Really? How'd you manage that?"
"We stopped world peace."
"Oh."
"I'll explain it later when we have time. So, people are leaving town?"
"Yeah. I'm guessing they all feel the bad mojo that's really been emanating from the Hellmouth."
"That's a first. They should have left a long time ago."
"They sense something much larger than what they're used to is coming. Pretty soon this whole town will be deserted."
"Except for us. We'll be the stupid ones running head first into the demons while everyone is running head first in the opposite direction."
"It's your job. Get used to it."
"I've had eight years to get used to it. It's an acquired taste." Buffy stood. "Well, I better get back to the house since I'm not needed here."
"I'll see you Buffy."
"Bye." As soon as she was out on the street, Angel pulled up in the van. Buffy smiled ironically at the normalcy of it all.
"Buffy, Willow just called from the hospital. The girl's awake." Angel said, opening the door for her.
Buffy climbed in and Angel drove to the hospital.
