BLOOD REDEMPTION

EPISODE ONE: HOUSEWARMING

Buffy stared into the pancake batter contemplatively. Her eyes were distant. She was a thousand miles away from the tiny suburban house.

We've lived here three months now.

As time passed, Buffy had more and more days when she didn't think about Sunnydale at all. Didn't think about the flames. The nightmares. All the moves she could've made. All the things she could have did.

But she couldn't forget him. God, she wished she could. But she couldn't.

"Buffy? Uh, hello?"

Buffy started and looked up. It was Xander.

"You know, you still look weird in a business suit. Even more so with the eyepatch," she said.

"Okay, I'm a little overdressed for my fairly uneventful job shelving books at the library. But I thought, 'hey!' If it worked for Giles it can work for me!"

He shook out the shoulders a little and smiled. "Besides, I can't help it. I'm addicted to the suit. It makes me feel all professional-like."

"Yeah, the Doctor No look really says, 'hey, that guy's really not a dork'," Willow joked as she jogged down the stairs. "I'm taking Dawn to school, right?"

"Please and thank you," Buffy replied.

"Only until I get my driver's license!" Dawn interrupted as she followed the redheaded witch down the stairs.

"Yes, then you can wreak havoc on other drivers," said Buffy, spooning the pancake batter onto the griddle.

Dawn sighed disgustedly and pulled a denim jacket hanging on the back of a nearby chair. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm an excellent driveway."

"Dawn, you ran over the mailbox. Four times," Buffy sighed.

"Uh, Buf?" Xander said nervously. "Did the Bisquick box say the pancakes were supposed to be on fire like that?"

"Oh, dammit!" Buffy cried. She took a towel and proceeded to beat out the flames, effectively causing them to consume the entire stovetop.

Someone came up behind her and doused the blazing oven with a fire extinguisher.

"Honestly, did I not teach you anything?"

Buffy whirled around, grinning. "Giles!"

She gave him a quick hug. "You're back pretty early. I thought you were in New York, being scolded by other stodgy British guys."

An expression of deep worry clouded Giles's face. Then it was gone as quickly as it had come. He took off his glasses and polished them vacantly as he spoke.

"Yes, well…there were certain circumstances that…"

Buffy rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Oh, calm down. Don't have a stress fest on me. Help me salvage these pancakes?"

She handed him a pancake turner with a hopeful smile. Giles frowned and set it back on the counter.

"I'm sorry, Buffy. I can't stay and chat. I'm needed at the Watcher's Council…"

"Oh…" Buffy said, her face falling. "That's okay." She tried to seem more upbeat. "Come by for dinner, alright? We're having Shake 'n Bake!"

"A culinary delight, I'm sure," he said, returning her half-hearted smile to the best of his ability. "I'll be sure to drop by."

"Bye!" Willow said from the doorway. "We're off for an adventure in education!"

"Woohoo," Dawn grumbled.

Dawn looked up from where she was slumped on her desk and cast a hopeful glance at the clock. She moaned. Four hours to go.

"Hello students," a voice said in monotone. Dawn glanced toward the front of the room. A short, balding man with an odd bowtie and tiny spectacles was drumming his fingers together in an annoying way.

"Welcome to Autumn Falls High School. We are thrilled to have you partake in our learning expedition."

He raised one finger skyward officiously.

"But. If you're learning expedition includes horseplay, misuse of the elevators, and or marijiuna, you will be expelled. Thank you."

He sat down at a desk and peered at them over a stack of papers.

"Now, who's ready for some algebra?"