Sunnydale, the next night
"I still don't understand why I have to be here." Angel tugged nervously on the collar of his leather jacket.
Cordelia sighed heavily from the passenger seat of the car. "Because I said so. Stop fighting me, I'm sooo not in the mood" She rubbed her temples and glared at Angel out of the corner of her eye.
Faith, Elena, and Wesley were sitting in the backseat of Angel's convertible. They'd been watching the bickering between Cordy and Angel since they'd left LA a few hours ago. Now they were turning onto Revello Drive, and they still hadn't shut up.
"Guys?" Faith spoke up. "We're almost here." She pointed down the street to the Summers house.
"I know where it is." Angel snapped.
Faith sat back in her seat, holding her hands up. "Hey. Chill. I come in peace."
"Yea, I know. Sorry." Angel said, but he still sounded angry. They had left for Sunnydale as soon as it had gotten dark, and Angel had been on edge ever since. He hadn't planned on going back there…ever. Too many memories.
He pulled into the driveway and got out of the car, going to the back to get their overnight bags. Wesley went back to help him, and the girls headed for the front door.
"Anything yet?" Dawn asked Willow.
"Nope. I still can't get ahold of 'em." She hung up the phone. "I'm sure everything's ok, I just want to let Anya and Tara know what's going on."
The front door opened, and they heard Cordelia's voice. "Hey, anyone home?"
"We'll try it again later." Dawn said. "Right now, one crisis at a time. Where's Xander?" She asked worriedly. He had been less than excited to hear about the impending visitors.
"Good question. He's probably hiding out upstairs. Which, maybe a good thing."
Giles, who had been sitting in the living room reading, got up when he heard Cordelia. He went to meet her as she breezed through the doorway. "Hello, Cordelia."
"Giles!" She said, hugging him. "You look…. exactly the same."
He had known Cordelia long enough not to take it personally.
Willow and Dawn entered the room at the same time as Angel, Wes, Elena, and Faith. Introductions were presented when needed, and greetings were exchanged.
"Check it out!" Willow said jokingly. "Wesley lost the suit and tie! My world means nothing now..." She feigned sadness, and he smiled slightly.
"Yes, Willow, sarcasm still becomes you." She grinned and hugged him.
"Darn tootin'. Hey, who's that?" She asked, gesturing towards the only stranger in the room, who was in the middle of a conversation with Faith. The woman was practically radiating power.
"Oh, that's Elena. She's quite a powerful witch. Although...her attitude rivals Cordelia on a bad day." He didn't sound to depressed about it though, and Will smiled knowingly.
"Look at you..." Angel said, smiling, as he hugged Dawn tightly. "You're all grown up. You look so much like your mother..."
"Yea, he's right. Someone taught you how to moisturize, and it certainly wasn't these guys." Cordy said by way of 'hello'. She looked around the room and noticed a person missing. "Speaking of hopeless, where's Xander?"
"Still the first person you think about. I'm flattered." He walked down the steps and wrapped an arm around her waist and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Deadboy." He acknowledged, nodding in Angel's direction. The vampire seethed, and Xander decided that maybe things weren't going to be so bad, especially if he still had the power to piss off Angel.
"And you're totally delusional. Some things never change." Cordelia rolled her eyes, but didn't move his arm off of her. It was nice for things to be like they were before...of course, it could never be the same.
But being this house, with her old friends, made a convincing illusion. There was a person who was absent though, and everyone in the room felt her presence missing, espeically Angel.
"Come on guys." Willow said, getting comfortable on the sofa. "We need a plan."
Everyone agreed and settled down around the room, working on a strategy to kill Spike and Dru, and figuring out what they would do if the vampires managed to get the Hellmouth open.
i Sunnydale, 2002 /i
Spike stood over Buffy's grave. She'd only been in the ground for two years, but to him, it felt like over a century.
"I've been trying, Buffy. I have." He started, talking more to the headstone than to anything else. He just hoped that wherever she was, she could hear him. "Been takin' care of the Nibblet, making sure she doesn't get into any kind of trouble."
He sighed and fell into a sitting position at the foot of her grave. "I've gone patrolling every night, just like you would have wanted. Must've killed a million baddies by now. Figured you might be happy about that."
"But it's getting harder. I stayed good for you. And I'm not about to kid myself...you're not here anymore. Never gonna be. And now I can't control it as easy, Buffy. I just wanted you to know...to forgive me. I can't last much longer on the white hat's side without you here."
He didn't tell her about how he'd seen Drusilla earlier that night, about how she'd done some mystical whammy to make his chip go dormant. And how he was planning on meeting her after he was done here.
Spike hadn't killed anyone yet, but he knew, deep down, that it was only a matter of time. And he hated himself for it...but that didn't change facts.
"I'm not strong." He explained, both to the dead Slayer and to himself.
He couldn't stand looking at the gravestone anymore...the inscription was mocking him, the words there for the sole purpose of reminding him what he'd lost, and never even had to begin with.
Spike pushed himself up again and started walking away. He only turned back once, gazing at the grass and the flowers that always seemed to be there, no matter what. He thought idly about who who would send flowers every week for over two years, as his attention turned to the carving in the stone above the roses.
"Buffy Anne Summers...." He read out loud. "Goodbye, luv." He left the cemetery and went towards the old mansion without looking back again, wishing she was there to stop him.
2010
"Almost ready..." Dru looked at the ruins of the high school, anticipation heavy in her voice.
"How soon?" Spike asked, stopping the car in front of the building. They both got out, but he leaned against the driver side door instead of following her towards where the Hellmouth still lay.
"Tonight." She sang gleefully, her chilling voice carrying over the distance between them.
Involuntarily, Spike shivered.