TITLE: Destiny's Child
AUTHOR: sugarwater
E-MAIL: DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, all bow down to the mighty Joss
TIMELINE: Begins mid Season 2
SPOILERS: Probably just about everything
SYNOPSIS: B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Very very long epic type story, Chapter 9 takes place the day after Chapter 8.
FEEDBACK: Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome
RATING: T
Willow lazily trudged into the library the next day at lunch and headed into Giles' office. The sun shined through the window and the glare of the light on the cabinet dazzled Willow as she pulled out the book that Giles had been going through. She had hardly slept the night before. Images of a broken Buffy haunted her subconscious and she felt hopeless for not being able to do anything to make it better. Helping Giles with his research seemed to be the only thing she could do.

The watcher had told her that the book contained many ancient prophecies, but they were all in a very old language that Willow barely knew. She began to read through the prophecies looking out for words she knew like 'guardian' or 'slayer'. Finally, after a long search, she came across one that seemed to mention both of them and hurriedly started to work on translating the rest.

"Hows my favourite happy clam?" Xander said in a sing song voice as he entered the office.

Willow looked up and squinted her eyes against the light, frowning.

"Ok, make that not a happy clam. Whats up?" Xander asked as he took a seat across from Willow.

"Nothing. I'm fine. Just a little tired is all" Willow groggily replied, going back to her book.

"Oh I get it, have you been a naughty little Willow? Oz been keeping you up all night?" Xander teased.

"Hey man" Oz said coolly as he casually stepped into the office and walked behind Willow's chair.

Xander slumped down further in his seat as Willow gave him an exasperated look.

"What are you doing?" Oz inquired, scanning the book before Willow and rubbing her shoulder.

"Just research, it's a project of Giles' he's letting me help with. Nothing important" Willow lied, closing the book and smiling at her boyfriend.

"So where is the G man?" Xander asked.

"Oh, he went to pick Buffy up from the airport" Willow replied.

"Already? I thought she'd be a couple of weeks yet" Xander said, suddenly unsure if he was happy or not with his friends imminent return.

"I guess they sent her home early." Willow reasoned trying to smile. She was looking forward to Buffy's return but apprehensive all the same. She was worried about her friend's state of mind and desperately wanted everything to be back to normal. Willow only hoped that the gang made Buffy feel as welcome as possible.

Giles slowly walked down the antiseptic smelling corridor of the hospital. He was uneasy about seeing Buffy today as he felt that she blamed him for what had happened. He hoped that in time she would forgive him. As he entered the room he was surprised to see Buffy sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed and ready to go.

Buffy wanted to get out of the hospital as soon as possible now. She had got up early, had a shower and got dressed and had been waiting on Giles for the past hour.

"Finally, I thought you were never going to show, can we please go now?" Buffy exasperatedly said as she jumped off the bed and headed for the door.

"Buffy, good morning, yes-yes of course, are you sure you're ready to leave?" Giles asked hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm ready, willing and able, let's just get out of here ok?" Buffy pleaded.

Giles reached out and took Buffy's arms in his hands. "Buffy are you sure you're alright?" he asked sincerely, staring into her eyes, searching for some emotion.

"Giles, I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be?" Buffy smiled.

The slayer couldn't bear to think of what had happened, she had pushed it to the back of her mind and felt the need to put on a front. If she didn't she would never get through the day.

Buffy walked past her watcher and began to walk down the hall leaving Giles to look on in concern. It wasn't healthy for Buffy to be acting so normal. He knew that she must have found this unbearably hard.

As the pair walked down the corridor they passed a happy couple leaving the hospital with their new baby. Buffy gulped as she saw this and desperately hoped she wouldn't cry. She had to stay strong.

The drive home was practically entirely in silence. Giles tried to make light conversation but Buffy would shrug off his every question with a one word answer. When they finally reached Revello Drive, Giles carried Buffy's bag for her and she cautiously knocked on the door.

Joyce was expecting Buffy as Giles had called to say that she was being sent back early. She leapt to her feet when she heard the knocking and quickly made her way to the door. Joyce paused for a second before opening it. Buffy didn't say a word as her estranged mother caught her gaze, but she was relieved when Joyce finally reached out and hugged her.

Later that night, Buffy went in search of her friends. She was looking forward to seeing them and getting back to normal. As she made her way to the Bronze she walked down an alley and heard a strange noise. Buffy was immediately in stealth mode and silently walked in the direction of the sound.

As she turned the corner she could see a man dressed in black, walking around suspiciously. Buffy crept up on him but accidentally stood on an empty soda can. The man spun around instantly and swung his stake at her but Buffy blocked the swing and took the stake from him effortlessly. It was Xander.

Xander was completely shocked to see her and stood there, glued to the spot, staring at his friend.

"Didn't anyone ever warn you about playing with pointy sticks? It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye." She playfully chastised a stunned Xander.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" Xander retorted trying to catch his breath.

He stared at her for a moment before managing a small smile "Jeez, Buff!"

Suddenly a vampire smashed his way out of a crate leaning against a wall and lunged at Xander and Buffy, knocking them all to the ground. Xander tried to tackle the vampire but ended up being knocked to the ground again. As Buffy fought the vampire she heard Cordelia's voice come over a radio that Xander had attached to his belt.

"Come in, Nighthawk! Everything okay?" the message said.

Buffy was taken aback "Nighthawk?" she asked incredulously.

Within moments the Scooby gang appeared, running round the corner to rescue Xander. Buffy looked on in astonishment as her friends grabbed the vampire and threw him up against a wall. Oz jumped in with a stake but was shoved to the ground by a roundhouse kick from the vampire. Cordelia was soon thrown in the same direction but luckily caught by Buffy as Willow was similarly tossed aside.

"Oh, hey, Buffy!" exclaimed an un-phased Cordelia.

Buffy quickly pushed her aside as the vampire approached. With one quick move she staked the vampire and looked over to her friends as the dust settled. The Scooby gang were lying, heaped on the ground fighting for breath, staring at their estranged friend.

"Hey, guys." Buffy greeted them, smiling meekly.

"I got in a few hours ago, but Giles took me to see my mom first." Buffy explained as she reached for her cappuccino.

The gang were sitting on the sofas in The Bronze, eager to hear of Buffy's summer activities and more recently her time in Britain.

"So how was she?" Willow asked her friend.

"She seems cool" Buffy answered staring into her coffee.

Oz sat next to Willow and placed a few cups on the table in front of them "Hey, so you're not wanted for murder anymore." He said in his trademark monosyllabic tone.

"Good. That was such a drag." The slayer replied honestly.

"So where were you? I mean before Britain?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, were you, like, living in a box, or what?" Cordelia tactlessly interrupted.

"Oh, you know It's a really long story" Buffy began, hoping to escape having to explain her time in LA.

"So skip the heartwarming stuff about kindly old people and saving the farm and get right to the dirt." Xander chirped in.

Willow could see the look of dread in Buffy's eyes and had to bail her out. "You know what, maybe we should give Buffy a chance to settle back in before we quiz her about her summer"

"What she said." Buffy retorted, giving Willow a look of relief.

Xander eyed Willow strangely for a second but quickly shrugged it off. "Fair enough. In fact, you can leave the slaying to us while you settle in. We got you covered." He reassured Buffy.

"I noticed. You guys seem down with the slayage, all tricked out with your walkies and everything." She said as she eyed Xander and Cordelia amusingly.

"Yeah, but the outfits suck. This whole Rambo thing is so over. I'm thinking more sporty, like Hilfiger maybe." Cordy said, grinning at the thought.

"Still, we were getting good. We dusted nine out of ten." Willow enthusiastically said.

Oz leaned in and whispered in Willow's ear "Six out of ten."

"Six out of ten." Willow corrected herself.

"Whatever, we were kicking a little undead booty." Xander said coolly as he munched on a bag of potato chips.

Buffy smiled at her friends warmly. "Well, thank you for the offer, but I think I just wanna get back to my normal routine. You know, school, slaying... kid's stuff. In fact, I'm jonesing for a little brainless fun. What are you doing tomorrow?" Buffy asked Xander.

Xander looked around nervously, trying to think of an excuse "Oh, I would, but, uh, I'm kind of tied up." He said smiling at Buffy while he patted Cordelia's knee.

Cordelia laughed at what Xander had just implied "You wish." She said as she swatted his hand away.

"Will?" Buffy asked smiling at her friend.

"Sure. I'm in." Willow replied brightly.

"So what are you gonna do about school? You did get kicked out…" Xander began.

"Yeah I know, but mom is making an appointment with His Ugliness. I know she can break him." Buffy said positively.

Soon life would be back to normal and she could put everything behind her. A new beginning.

Buffy's skin radiated with warmth as it soaked up the sunlight shining down upon her through the trees. She smiled and arched her neck back to watch a butterfly glide silently towards the sky. As she leaned backwards, two strong arms enveloped her and she rested against the warm muscular chest behind her.

Angel and Buffy sat together under a large oak tree, enjoying the proximity between them, both completely at peace.

"I wish we could do this forever" Buffy sighed as Angel planted a soft kiss on her neck.

"Things to do, battles to fight" Angel replied apologetically.

"We'll be ok though, right?" Buffy asked worriedly as she turned around to face him.

"We'll always be ok. Love is forever. This is how it's meant to be" he whispered into her ear reassuringly.

The two lovers both turned their heads simultaneously and looked at the white moses basket beside them. The baby inside gurgled as she looked up at her parents.

"Do you think she's ok?" Buffy asked in a concerned voice.

"She's ok, but she's lost. Don't worry, she'll find her way back" Angel replied as he watched his daughter begin to fall asleep.

"What about you? Will you find your way back?" Buffy asked anxiously.

"Always" Angel replied, stroking Buffy's arm.

Buffy closed her eyes and once again rested against Angel's chest.

The high pitched sound that suddenly entered Buffy's consciousness forced her eyes to open hastily. Angel and Breanna were gone and she was lying in her bed, in her room, at home.

Buffy quickly reached over and turned off her alarm clock before sitting up in bed and running her hands through her hair. As she glanced back at her bedside table she remembered what was inside her drawer. Leaning over, she pulled open the drawer and took out the claddagh ring that Angel had given her for her birthday. She stared at it for a moment before looking past it into the drawer and seeing the mitten that was her only reminder of Breanna. Buffy picked it up and lay back down in her bed. As she clutched the claddagh ring and the mitten, tears filled her eyes, threatening to fall. Buffy closed her eyes tightly, willing herself to go back to sleep. She hadn't understood the dream, but it had been so vivid and comforting. Eventually she forced herself back into a deep slumber in hopes of seeing both of them again.

"Buffy! You're up, finally, hurry up and get dressed, we have to leave in half an hour to see Principal Snyder" Joyce called as Buffy sleepily made her way into the kitchen.

"Sorry, guess I was just really tired" Buffy replied as she made her way over to the fridge to pour herself a glass of juice.

"Well while you were getting your beauty sleep, I had an idea" Joyce began. Buffy ignored her mother and simply stared into the refrigerator.

"What if I invited Willow and Mr. Giles and everybody over for dinner tomorrow night? Don't you think that would be nice?" Joyce said smiling.

Buffy closed the refrigerator and reached for a glass out of the cupboard.

"…Since I sort of already did, I was hoping for a yes" Joyce said cautiously.
Buffy stopped what she was doing and turned towards her mother, giving a weak smile. "It'll be fun" she said before going back to her juice.

"Don't worry about school, honey. If we can't get you back into Sunnydale, maybe we can swing private school." Joyce told her daughter, trying to sound happy.

The meeting with Principal Snyder had gone less than great, the evil little man was refusing to let Buffy into school under any circumstances.

"Private school? You mean, like jackets and kilts? You want me to get field hockey knees?" Buffy whined.

"It's not that bad." Joyce tried to reason.

"What about home schooling? You know, it's not just for scary religious people anymore." Buffy said, desperately trying to find another option that didn't involve private school.

"We'll work something out. Okay?" her mother replied reassuringly. "Say hi to Willow?"

Buffy nodded and got out of the car, walking over towards the Espresso Pump.

Willow was waiting for her on a bench and quickly got to her feet when she saw Buffy coming.

"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed as her friend walked towards her.

Buffy stared at Willow and tried to smile. Seeing her best friend only reminded her of what had happened two days ago in LA. Giles and her were the only people that knew what had happened. Buffy could no longer push everything to the back of her mind and her eyes welled up with tears.

Willow saw this and her heart ached for her best friend. "Oh Buffy" she said as she reached out and hugged her friend. Buffy hugged her back and clung on to her desperately. After a moment she managed to compose herself and pulled back, wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, it's just, you're the only one I can talk to, I can't get her out of my mind" Buffy sobbed.

"I'm so sorry Buffy" Willow said, her voice cracking as tears rolled down her face.

"No, I'm sorry, come on, lets get coffee, I'm buying" Buffy said trying to sound chirpy.

Once they had ordered their mochas they sat down together in a booth.

"So Principal Snyder won't let you back into school huh? For sure?" Willow said.

Buffy stirred her coffee and sighed. "I think the words he used were 'absolutely not'" she sadly replied. "But mom reckons he has to, so she's gonna talk to the Superintendent of Schools first, but if that doesn't work then its private school for Buffy"

"Oh no, but I'm sure it won't come to that" Willow tried to reassure.

"Hope not. I just feel like everything is going wrong. All I want is for my life to go back to normal but I can't get back into school, my mom is paranoid that I'm gonna skip town again any minute and the gang were acting weird around me last night. Present company excluded."

"Don't worry about them, they just don't understand, they don't know what happened…Xander just sort of feels like you abandoned us...but he'll get over it, he will" Willow replied unconvincingly.

Buffy looked at her friend and frowned before putting her hand to her forehead and closing her eyes. "I can't deal with all this right now, I really can't" she honestly replied, trying to keep it together.

"It'll be ok Buffy, it will." Willow said, not really sure of what to say. The red head looked down at her coffee and then back at Buffy. "I've been doing some research, about Breanna…and I may have found something…I thought you should know" she said quietly.

Buffy slowly looked up at her friend. "What did you find?" she asked eagerly.

"I don't know, It's some sort of prophecy…I think it's the one that the demon guy was talking about. Giles is trying to translate the rest. It's so old, it's in some ancient dialect, I-I couldn't figure it out." She tentatively said.

"Well did you understand any of it? I mean is it bad? Will she be ok?" Buffy asked impatiently.

"I don't know, but it's something about the end of days...I think. But Giles will figure it out, I know he will." Willow told her.

Buffy took a deep breath and backed down. "I had a dream about her last night. Her and Angel." she began sadly. "What if I did the wrong thing? What if I wasn't meant to give her away? What if it would have been ok?" she said panicking.

"I don't know, no one knows, Buffy. But hopefully we can figure out what her purpose is." Willow said miserably.

"Yeah, hopefully" Buffy replied as she stared blankly into her coffee. She desperately wanted to be back in the dream she had had that morning. Everything was so perfect – nothing like the hell she was living when she was awake.