A/N: I haven't updated, and I doubt anyone even remembers this story. Whatever. In the sense of many words, I've been busy. Titanic. Convention. Finals. Health. Power Point. Speeches. Tuesdays with Morrie. And that's just the beginning, without the soldering, labeling, swimming, running, writing, studying, stressing, and trying to enjoy summer. I'm sorry to any and all who liked this story and I didn't continue. Here is the latest update.
To y'all:
Buffy Fan/Protester: Um…the idea of this fic was to promote unity among the Scoobies, not schisms in the fandom. I respect your opinions, truly. But if you disagree, please keep it peaceful.
Queen Boadicea: Yeah, yeah. I'm a shipper too. I couldn't help it. ;)
Leanne8582: Abandoning…ha! Whoops. Sorry. I hope this (and MANY MORE) updates will please the general public.
jon3776: I understand your points. Xander has a been a little out of character, I must admit. I will work on that, thank you. As for Willow, she's a bit messed up at this time to begin with. She's still trying to get things figured out in her head.
AND ONTO THE MUCH BELATED UPDATE!
Chapter Seven: The Familiar ChangesAngel cocked his head slightly. "The one and only." He adjusted his jacket and looked at her in his customary broody, taciturn way. He paused, unsure of how to break the ice. "Um…You look good."
"Says the vampire who will remain ever so good-looking despite the centuries of wear." Buffy smiled. She put her stake away. "So, Sunnydale. Not exactly your city."
"I would say the same thing about Las Vegas, but hey, been there, done that and never really want to deal with destiny-sucking games of chance again, now do I?" At Buffy's blank "Huh?" look, he shook his head. "Don't ask. Please just don't ask."
"Wish granted." Buffy looked at him. Past demons, here they come. Angel was the same as ever, cool with that dry wit. It was the oddest thing about vampires: they were so unaffected by time. But Buffy knew him well enough to see a fair amount of frustration in his stance. Something was wrong. "What's up? Something's obviously bothering you."
Angel sighed. "How about we talk about it while we head over to your house?"
Buffy nodded and they walked, slowly and comfortably to the Summers' residence. "It's Connor. And Cordelia."
Buffy shivered as he mentioned his estranged son. Connor had always been a sore spot for Buffy; the very fact that Angel had a son—one that wasn't with her—had vexed her to no end. She decided to rest on the subject of Cordy instead. "Queen C still complaining about the lack of Kate Spade in her closet?"
"She pretty much shocked us all when she said three Prada bags were good enough for anyone last year." Angel smiled reminiscently. "But now…she ascended. Became a greater power. Whatever that means. And I didn't—I didn't…." Angel sighed, frustrated and unable to say what he wanted to say. "She's not Queen C anymore with her Cordettes. She's…matured. A lot. She's dealt with these visions with a lot of willpower that I had no idea she had. And she became like a second mother for Connor. I actually consider her a trusted friend. And then she's taken away and suddenly back without a single memory of me or anything…"
Buffy looked at his face, the passionate eyes dark and concerned. She pursed her lips. He actually cared about Cordelia Chase! Buffy felt a tinge of jealousy as she murmured, "That sucks."
"And now that Connor's gone off on his own….I hated my father when I was growing up. He kept telling me I was a drunken fool who would do nothing with his life. I swore if I ever had a son I would never be like my father. I swore that my son would be loved and would love me. And now he tries to kill me on a regular basis."
"My dad just divorced my mom and didn't even have the decency to come for her funeral. Dads can be pretty loath-able." Buffy stopped walking and Angel turned, wondering at her stopped pace. "But you're the most loyal and good-hearted vamp with a soul I know. You're a great father."
"Yeah, but how many vampires do you know with a soul?" At Buffy's silence, Angel was the one who stopped walking. "No. You've got to be kidding me."
"No one said Spike was sane," Buffy offered, although she shuddered at the mention of the British vampire.
"When did….How did this happen?"
"Don't—Just don't ask. I still don't know how to deal with this news."
Buffy paused. And then she laughed. Loud. In a nothing's-quite-funny-but-I'm-laughing-my-head-off-hysterically manner that caused Angel to give her a strange look, accompanied by an amused half-chuckle. "What's so funny?"
"Life. Life is so damn funny. How you've changed so much, I've changed, moved on, and we're still here, walking home on a random fall night after fighting some bad vamps. And then how everything's stayed exactly the same damn way. And everything we put behind us is still now and—" By this point, Buffy was crying.
Angel looked at her, knowing instinctively to reach out and hold her, but also knowing how awkward it would be, especially after all these years. But sometimes instinct knew better then the nonsense the head spewed out. His hand fell into place under her chin, holding her head slightly upturned toward him so her blinding beautiful eyes gazed straight into his with the tears rolling slowly down her cheeks. "What's wrong?"
Buffy laughed again mirthlessly, the weak chuckle hollow and pained. "I—Xander—I'm so confused. And he lied. About you. And I'm so confused about guilt and time and everything that I can't think straight and I don't want to deal with it right now. All I know is that when it comes to you, I can't control myself. My actions, my thoughts are all in super Buffy-is-wacko mode."
Angel let his inhibitions fall. He wrapped his arms around her, his chin resting softly on her head. "I'm a little wacky myself." Buffy laughed, letting herself just rest. It was nice just to rest, without emotional turmoil.
After a moment, Buffy pulled away. "I'm sorry. Jeez, you're probably tired and cold…obviously. We're almost to my house; you can sleep in my room if you want." Buffy blushed. "I mean, I can take the couch."
"No, that's okay. I don't plan to be here very long. I just wanted to talk to Willow."
"Willow?" Buffy gave him an odd look. "You came to see Willow?"
"I need to talk to her about Cordy. She doesn't remember a single thing and Lorne's gotten some apocalyptic messages from her singing."
"Singing? With Cordelia? Bad news in general. But as for Willow, she's still a bit iffy on the magicks. She doesn't want to go black again."
"Black?" Angel asked. "Gosh, being sent under the sea all summer by your son certainly takes you out of the loop."
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Willow set up the DVD player. This was going to be great. She put in the DVD, then waited until the WELCOME screen cleared. She smiled, getting up to get the popcorn and chocolate.
The door opened and Willow ran lightning fast to get Buffy before she stopped off to her room. "Buffy—"
Willow rounded the corner, popcorn bowl spilling slightly. She stopped in her tracks. "And Angel. Hi. What a nice surprise and oddly speak of the devil-y."
Angel nodded, amused. "Your popcorn—"
"—is falling on the ground and making a mess. I'm sorry. Buffy, I was trying to, you know, help you with your getting over phase, so I called up Anya to pick up a few things, like, you know, chocolate and popcorn since I'm not very control-car-while-standing-atop it recently and then I got all these chick flicks so we could have a girl's-night-in thing and you know how much you love The Princess Bride so I thought you'd feel better but now that Angel's here I think I'll clean up and, uh, make sure my Latin homework is done." Willow grinned sheepishly, heading slowly up the stairs.
Angel waited a moment after Willow's spiel, then touched her shoulder to bring her attention back to them and said "Actually, Willow, I came to talk to you. I need a spell."
"A-a spell?" Willow's eyes grew wide. "No. I mean, I don't do that anymore. I can't do that anymore. Me, bad with spells. Well, good with spells, that being the problem."
"No, I don't need specifically you to perform the spell; I just need a spell to end memory loss. If you could perform it, great, but if you can't, Wes could—" Angel stopped himself, and then continued, "Lorne or maybe Fred could do the spell."
Willow nodded enthusiastically, completely relieved that her actual spell-casting was not needed. "Oh, sure. How are they all doing? Is Fred out of her 'I was in an alternate universe hysteria'?"
"Uh, yeah. As far as I can tell."
"Anti-amnesia? There's a few you could try, although I haven't had to use them personally in the past. It's difficult at times to manipulate the mind. I've used Lethe's Bramble in the past, but that's for forgetting…" Willow stopped, frowning. She bit her lip, eyes watering, but continued. "Come in. I'll show you some herbs and look up some spells in my books for you."
Angel inclined his head and, with one last look at Buffy, followed Willow up the stairs.
Okay, more to come! Read and Review!