hm. this chapter came out faster than i thought it would. wheeeee! ok. go read and thanks to everyone who's reviewing. muah!

Chapter 11

"And this is where we are now," Buffy said, finishing the Cliff Notes version of what had happened over the last two chapters. Although leaving out the part about Darla, the thought was too painful for her to even mention. Everyone was sitting around the small coffee table - except for Spike, who was in the kitchen minding his own business.

"Hmph..." Cordelia said, a little overwhelmed by everything that was going through her mind. Angel and Buffy... together again? Maybe? Cordelia wanted to put her head in a hole, keep it there, and never hear those two names in the same day EVER again. It was like Romeo and Juliet twisted into a sad and sick reality – and, of course, without those stupid looking outfits.

A pair of star-crossed lovers take their lives.

Well, yeah, of course you could call both Angel and Buffy star-crossed. Hell, you could even call them galaxy-crossed, and both Buffy and Angel had... died, in a sense. Buffy had even killed Angel - how much more of a modern day Shakespeare could you get? Watch out Leo and Claire, here come Angel and Buffy!

"Why hadn't you called us earlier, before Angel got here?" Wesley asked, breaking Cordelia away from her little ramble that still twirled inside her mind.

"We didn't think it was your fight," Buffy said, almost playing the exact same words Angel had told her.

((It wasn't your fight...))

"Well, hello, Ms. I-can-do-everything, you OBVIOUSLY couldn't do it by yourself! You're only one person Buffy..." Cordelia said.

((Angel, you SLEPT with her! You obviously didn't win!))

And, in the middle of everything inside and outside Buffy's head, it all collided together. Tears started to well up again and she just wasn't strong enough to hold the sobs inside anymore. Her face contorted into pain and guilt, and it all just hurt so badly. Buffy hung her head in her hands as everyone was too afraid to say anything else that would upset her even further.

Cordelia looked at the poor girl across her. Buffy Summers was breaking, she realized, and part of her felt some sort of compassion towards the Slayer. Because this was one of the only times they saw the real Buffy, not the Chosen One, not the great Slayer who fought and won battles, just Buffy. "Oh, Buffy... was it something I said?"

Buffy just cried harder. It wasn't something Cordelia said, not necessarily, but something she had said to Angel. One of the last things she said to him before - and without a word Buffy left the mix of Scooby Gang and AI Team, scrambling to get inside her room and away from everyone and everything that reminded her of Angel. Which was pretty pointless since she'd have to practically get out of California and out of her own skin to leave everything that reminded her of Angel.

Climbing up the stairs and quickly closing her door, she crawled into her bed and cried salty tears that streamed angry lines down her face. So desperately she wanted her Angel back, more than ever now. Times like these was when she still craved Angel's loving touch and soothing words to calm her down and clear her head. He was her strength and her love. And just like that, he was gone.

Maybe she should just let Glory kill her and let the new Slayer be called. The thought was incredibly selfish and obviously apocalyptic, but Buffy couldn't find it in herself to gather the strength and energy to fight this thing. She felt like she was drying up under a heated sun with nothing but dry, cracked stone beneath her.

Breathe, she told herself.

Using what motivation she had left, Buffy sat herself up, her legs thrown over the edge of her bed. Her breath hitched and she used everything within herself to stop another Buffy-goes-crazy episode. The people down there - her friends, family, and somewhat of a nemesis - needed a leader and, boy, what a bang up job she was doing right now.

A knock on the door wracked three times before Willow's voice came through from the other side, "Buffy? Can I come in?" Buffy didn't have the voice to answer, but the redhead opened the door anyway. Willow's mouth frowned when she saw Buffy's face tinted with tears. She closed the door and slowly sat next to where Buffy was. "You okay?"

Buffy turned her head to her best friend. "No," she said in a quiet voice, another goddamn tear falling from her glossy eyes. Willow thought she almost resembled an old worn out China doll. Her eyes like glass and her skin so pale she looked almost fragile. Buffy started to sob again and Willow took her head into her lap, quietly soothing Buffy and running her hand over her head.

"Oh, God, Will... I don't know what to do... I don't know what to do..."

"Oh, Buffy..." Willow said, she felt so horrible while watching Buffy cry. It was the best friend's job to make her feel better, but Willow couldn't think of anything that would make up for what had happened. "I'm so sorry..."

"Everyone keeps saying that," Buffy cried, "but he's never coming back... he's never going to be mine again..."

"Don't say that," Willow said, trying to spit out something productive. "We'll find a cure, Buffy. We don't need the council. They're like... rain on a sunny day. We can do it all by ourselves, just like the last time."

Just like the last time Angel almost died.

"Make him come back... please, just make him comeback..." Buffy said, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Shhh," Willow crooned. "Just rest, Buffy. We'll figure something out, I promise..."

After moments of quiet soothing and tears, Buffy had fallen asleep in Willow's lap. Willow was grateful that her friend was finally getting some shut eye through all of the chaos that is Sunnydale, California. She quietly spread Buffy out on her bed as best as she could, using a little magic to suspend her friend in the air while she opened the sheets; then quietly laid Buffy down and covered her with a blanket. She gave Buffy a small kiss on the cheek before she quietly walked out of her room, closing the door softly behind her.

Willow tiptoed her way back down stairs. Tension just bounced off the walls as all eyes turned to her. "She was just a little shaken up," she informed, frowning. "All of this is taking a lot out of her."

"I couldn't begin to imagine..." Wesley mused.

Willow shook her head, agreeing with Wesley. "I don't think any of us can."

"Is she alright?" Xander asked, compassion floating behind his humorous eyes.

Willow shrugged. "I think she'll be a little better after she gets some rest, but she'll be fine."

"That's good," Giles commended.

"So, do we hit the books again or do we go and get us a hell goddess to pummel?" Xander asked, only half joking.

"For some odd reason, I think I'm leaning toward the pummeling," Giles said as he relaxed his brow.

"A good man of our time," Xander quipped.

"Wait, so this Glory goddess, or whatever" Cordy started, a hand on her hip, "she's like the real deal in all the Sunnydale apocalypse history?"

"As real as it can get," Willow said, sitting herself down text to Tara. "It's gonna be a hell of a battle."

"Not unless she just zaps you all first," Spike retorted, stepping into the living room, a bottle of beer in his hands.

"Spike?!" Cordelia yelped, not knowing the bleached vampire was in the kitchen.

"Where'd you get that?" Dawn asked and she looked around to the other people in the room. "We have beer in this house?"

"Nope, sorry, love," he said, holding up the bottle and looking at it for a second. "Stole this down at some demon shindig. Snuck out while all you little Scooby people had your little private meeting that I'm never invited to."

"Does anyone realize that SPIKE is right here? IN this house?" Cordelia screeched, remembering the last time she saw him he was poking hot pokers through her boss' torso.

"Yes, Cordelia," Xander said. "He's... neutered now."

"Hey, now!" Spike protested, pointing a finger at Xander. "I'm just as bad as I was before, you know. Just can't hit people, that's all. Fucking Initiative and their bloody tools."

"Yeah, so he's harmless," Xander said, nonchalant.

"Now you just watch your - "

"Back off - "

"Hey!" Willow yelled, separating the two angry enemies, her eyes flaring with anger "This isn't the time for this; you both either sit down or shut up!"

"He started it, Red." Spike tried, but she just gave him an even more menacing glare.

They both sat down quietly, a little afraid of the usually quiet Wicca's outburst. "Good," she said, quietly. She gave each of them a stern look. "Buffy doesn't need you two bickering right now. She's got enough on her hands."

"Willow's right," Giles agreed. "I suggest you two... get your differences settled out right now."

"Yeah, whatever," Spike said, turning his head away. Xander just nodded meekly, crossing his arms. Anya wrapped her arms around him possessively.

Willow gave them another glare.

"Sorry," they both said, simultaneously; avoiding eye contact.

"Okay," Willow said, smoothing out her pants. Her patience level had descended into a pancake over the pass few days and the two of them weren't making it any better. "We need to find that spell."

"Do you think we should g - go and get some more books at the Magic Box?" Tara suggested, not having said anything in a long while. She walked over to Willow and grabbed her lover's hand, squeezing it affectionately.

"Magic Box?" Wesley questioned, a little confused.

"Giles' shop," Anya answered, happily. "He sells all kind of magical things. I work there. Do you plan on buying anything? I – I mean, we would greatly appreciate if it was very expensive. "

Wesley, Gunn, and Cordelia all gave her weird glances. "Um, no, that won't be necessary...." Wesley mumbled.

"Well," Giles said, cleaning his glasses for what seemed the fifth time that day. "There may be some books that we overlooked, but I don't want anyone going out now that we know how... devastating Glory's powers can be."

"Gee, isn't he just the biggest party pooper we've ever seen," Xander said who wanted to take revenge on Glory for what she did to Buffy - to all of them. He gave a sidelong glance to Angel who was still sitting in the corner; part of him felt a sense of... forgiveness for Angel. Forgiveness for what Angelus did to them, for Angel swooping in and stealing Buffy right from his grasp in their teenage years. Maybe those were all selfish reasons, but it looking at the degraded vampire now Xander a feeling of odd contentment.

But who said they all had to get touchy-feely right now, huh?

"So we just wait?" Dawn asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Um... for the moment, yes," Giles nodded. "We should, uh, reread the books for any thing we might have... missed. I'm sure there's plenty."

"Okay, then," Willow agreed. "Time to start hitting the books... again."

"Ugh, but I've probably read all of them five times already," Xander said, rubbing his head. "Isn't there an option B?"

"Xander," Willow sighed, "we have to do this for Buffy..."

"Yeah, you're right," he replied. He grabbed another book. "God, and I thought graduation was the last time I would ever read another book."

- - - - - - - - - -

"Oh," Wesley said, his head still buried in a book as he traced his finger under one of the many lines of words that held somewhat of a more significance than the others. The books pages were old and ancient, almost cracking beneath his fingers. "Oh, I - I think I may have found something."

Everyone's head looked over to the ex-Watcher, both anticipating and wary. There had been nothing remotely useful in the books printed in plain, good English and Giles and Wesley (and of course Anya, but she wasn't that much help at the moment) were the only ones who could even recognize different phrases or words in all the different demonic languages.

"There..." he continued, "there's some kind of passage about Glory in here... and maybe part of her... abilities, I think."

"Really?" Giles asked, looking over Wesley's shoulder. "Right here," he said, pointing to a paragraph half way down the page. "It says..." his eyes scanned the book and tried to make sense of the demonic language. "Something about... Glory's power? Am I not right? I'm not quite sure if I'm reading this correctly..."

"No, no, you're correct," Wesley said, he was a little fuzzy on the ancient tongue himself. Angel Investigations hardly ran into anymore demonic languages ever since the prophecy about Angel's Shanshu, which had gave them enough trouble translating the dead text. "At least I think so."

"God, why are all the good stuff encrypted in some other demonic, scratchy language?" Cordelia sighed, shoving her book down on the coffee table. "I mean, is it so much to ask for a decoding device or something?"

"And I think I may just have to second that," Xander said.

"I mean, hello," Cordelia continued rambling. "There was that one stupid – well, maybe not stupid – ancient scroll thing with Angel's prophecy - "

Giles and everyone's head shot up at the word prophecy. It was a word not taken lightly around Sunnydale and Wesley and Gunn immediately tried to stop Cordelia from saying too much.

"Cordelia, hey - " Gunn tried.

"Like does it take THAT much of their time to just write out Angel will become human in English. If they see so many prophecies why can't they prophesize that we'll all speak in - " she immediately stopped when the room got quiet and everyone was staring at her with wide eyes. Gunn and Wesley's head hung in horror and almost amusement.

"Did you say human?"

"Human."

"Human?"

"Uh... that was one of the times where I was just supposed to... shut up, wasn't it?"