CHAPTER NINETEEN: HOMECOMING

Connor was fending off curious glances from most, if not all (minus Kennedy of course) the Potentials.  None of them had approached him, but he could feel their gazes on him, and it was making him uncomfortable.  He approached Buffy about it.

"Why are they staring at me?" he asked quietly.

Buffy looked around and saw a group of Potentials sitting in the corner, whispering and giggling quietly.  She rolled her eyes and wondered if she'd ever been that bad as a teenager.

"You're pretty much the only boy their own age that they've been in close contact with," Buffy explained.  "Minus Spike of course."

One of the Potentials raced down the stairs, yelling for Buffy, announcing that Faith was awake.  Buffy grinned at Connor, grabbed the scythe that had been in her line of sight the entire time and took Connor by the hand. 

"Come on, let's go see Faith."

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"Hey B," Faith greeted steadily, still sore from the blast earlier.  "Who's the kid?  He's a bit younger than you usually go for."

Connor and Buffy both wrinkled their noses, and Faith automatically noticed how similar the gestures were.

"You know, if I didn't know that Dawn was your only sibling, I'da guessed that junior here was your brother," Faith said.

Buffy smirked.  "Close.  My son actually.  Faith, this is Connor, Con, meet Faith."

Faith looked between Buffy and Connor, noticing the resemblances.  She pieced together everything else that she knew about Buffy and could immediately tell who the father was.

"So, when's Angel coming to SunnyD?" Faith asked.

"How'd you know Angel was my father?" Connor asked.

"Brooding gene," Faith replied simply.

Buffy just rolled her eyes.  She held out the scythe for Faith, who took it sceptically, unsure why Buffy was handing her a weapon.  She felt a sudden jolt of power rush through her. 

"Damn.  And…damn that's something.  It's old.  Strong.  And it feels like…it feels like it's mine," Faith gushed.  She considered her words, and laid the scythe down, not wanting to part with it, but knowing that it wasn't hers.  "I guess that makes it yours."

"Ours."

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The sun went down, and Buffy felt herself growing nervous.  She knew that Spike and Angel would track her back to the house, and she knew that she was in for an argument when they got back.  She could only imagine how frustrated they both were, but getting the scythe was something that she'd just felt had to be done by herself.

After her conversation with Faith and Connor, she was called into Willow's room, the Watcher and the Witch having information on where she'd be able to find out more about the scythe.  A tomb on un-consecrated ground.  She had a vague idea of where that could be.

"Be my back-up?" Buffy asked Connor.

He wasn't about to say no. 

They made their way down the stairs, only to halt just before they reached the bottom as two incredibly angry vampires burst through the door, startling most of the Potentials.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Angel asked angrily.

Buffy sighed and held up the scythe for him to see.  "Completing the mission."

His anger deflated and he knew that yelling at her wasn't going to do them any good.  He took the scythe from her and marvelled at the design.  He'd never held a weapon that he'd thought would be so effective.  Spike took a step backwards, not quite trusting his grand-sire with a weapon that held an incredibly sharp and solid stake at one end.  Angel handed the weapon back to Buffy, and she and Connor walked to the bottom of the stairs.

"You still shouldn't have taken off alone," Angel said.

"Angel, don't go there okay.  I can handle myself.  And I wasn't going to risk you or Con or anyone else by dragging you all in with me," Buffy explained.

"Buffy, you're my mate," Angel continued.  "My soulmate, my blood mate, my bond mate.  And technically, if we were in Ireland, that ring on your finger would make you my wife as well!"

Buffy completely froze.  She looked up at him with wide, shocked eyes.

A few of the Potentials perked up at Angel's statement as well.  They'd never seen this (absolutely stunningly gorgeous hunk of a) man before, and hearing him proclaim that Buffy was his mate and wife of all things was incredibly intriguing to them.

"Uh…you wanna run that last bit by me again," Buffy said quietly.

Angel stepped forward and took Buffy's hand in his, gently brining her hand to his lips, kissing the silver ring adorning Buffy's finger.

"I never really got the chance to explain what the rings meant to my people.  They're exchanged as a sign of eternal devotion to each other."

"So, you're telling me that you and I have been married since I was seventeen?" Buffy asked.

Angel just nodded.  Buffy swallowed hard and took a deep cleansing breath.  "Okay," she said, her voice oddly calm. 

"Can you see why I was so worried about you?" he asked.

"I get it Angel, trust me I do, but…I wasn't about to lead anyone else into that godforsaken place.  I may have been right about the scythe, but it was too much to ask of anyone else," Buffy said.  

Angel sighed.  He put himself in her place and wondered whether he too would have snuck out so that she couldn't follow.  He knew that he would have done the same thing. In fact, he was fairly certain that he had done so in the past, especially on a day that hadn't really happened.

"I get it," Angel whispered.  "But…I worry."

"He's not the only one," Connor added.

Buffy nodded and willingly accepted having Angel and Connor smother her in a tight hug.  She had to admit that being held in the arms of the two men she loved more than life itself was something that she definitely wanted more of in her life, and she knew that she had to make sure she, Angel and Connor made it through this fight.  That was why she'd sent Dawn away with Xander.  Her family needed to make it.

Buffy finally pulled away and flushed when she saw the Potentials watching them with undisguised interest.

"Don't you guys have anything better to be doing?" Buffy asked.

Kennedy shrugged nonchalantly.  "No.  So, who're the new boys?"

Buffy rolled her eyes.  "Everyone, this is Angel, my uh…husband," she said, looking to Angel for confirmation.  The way his eyes lit up, and the smile on his face more than answered her unspoken question.  "And our son (long story), Connor.  Angel, Con, meet…the girls."

"Angel?" Amanda repeated.  "As in the vampire Angel that Spike was complaining about the other day?"

Angel, Buffy and Connor all swung their gazes to look at the platinum blonde vampire.  He shifted and shrugged sheepishly.  "What?"

"Yes, Angel is a vampire.  He also has a soul," Buffy explained.

"Geez, how many vamps have you slept with?" Kennedy asked.

"Just two.  And I wouldn't recommend it with any soulless vamps," Buffy cautioned.  She knew that it was hypocritical to say that, considering her relationship with Spike, but it had started, middled and ended badly.

Connor checked his watch and looked pointedly at Buffy.  "We were leaving, unless I'm mistaken."

"What?  Oh.  Right.  Sorry guys," Buffy said, looking between Angel and the Potentials.  "Me and Con here gotta get going."

"Where?" Angel demanded.

"To get info on the scythe," Buffy replied.

"Let me come with you."

Buffy hesitated a moment before nodding.  It wouldn't hurt to have him be with her.  Who knew what they would be facing.  Also, she didn't particularly want to leave Angel alone with a household full of nearly forty or so Potentials who were too curious for their own goods.

"Alright.  Let's move."

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Many thanks for the reviews!  The next chapter will be the re-write of Chosen, so if you're not wanting to be spoiled, then you'll probably want to stop reading about now. 

Toodles.