Keeping Up With the Scoobies Chapter 10: Return to California, a buffy: the vampire slayer fanfic

BtVS || Spuffy || BtVS || Spuffy || Keeping Up With the Scoobies || Spuffy || BtVS || Spuffy || BtVS

Title: Keeping Up With the Scoobies – The Long Way Home

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Tags: m/f, f/f, hurt/comfort, survivor's guilt, fluff, found family

Main Pairing: Spike/Buffy

Side Pairings: Tara/Willow, Xander/Renee, Robin/Faith, Connor/Dawn, Dowling/Dylan, Angel/Cordelia, Wesley/Fred, Gunn/Anne, Oz/Bay, Buffy/Satsu (briefly), Willow/Kennedy (briefly)

Buffy Characters: William 'Spike' Pratt, Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers, Rupert Giles, Willow Rosenberg, Alexander 'Xander' Harris, Andrew Wells, Tara Maclay, Renee, Faith Lehane, Robin Wood, Robert Dowling, Dylan Turner, Satsu, Kennedy, Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne, Bayarmaa 'Bay'

Angel Characters: Angel, Cordelia Chase, Connor Angel, Harmony Kendall, Winifred 'Fred' Burkle, Wesley Wyndam Pryce, Charles Gunn, Lorne, Anne Steele

Summary: Buffy shared her powers with all potential Slayers. But that was only the beginning. Now, she has to deal with all the new Slayers, with the aftermath of LA going to hell – and coming back. The world knows about the supernatural, there's no going back.

Keeping Up With the Scoobies

The Long Way Home

10. Return to California

Leah was actually holding up surprisingly well. Xander honestly thought that the Slayer filling in for Buffy would be the one to struggle the most, because there was a special kind of pressure to that. But the redheaded Slayer had her sisters' loyalty and trust and she had paid close attention to Buffy and learned well. After two weeks, Xander ended up pulling Renee out of Scotland, because he felt in over his head. He'd never done this without Willow and Buffy – not like this. In Scotland, when he had been the leader of his squad, it was different. But this, right now?

Xander was in charge of the entire Slayer network, kind of on his own. Giles was still with the Watcher Council, not just as the current head of the council but also busy spelling all of the books that the council, all the squads and Giles' private library had. And Xander was freaking out a little. Sure, Andrew and Robin were there, but Robin mostly took care of his squad and kept to his own duties and Andrew was, well, Andrew. No, that wasn't fair. Andrew had actually been a pretty big help, he had such an easy time getting along with Robin's squad and was on good terms with most squad leaders. And Andrew had hit it off really well with Renee since she had come here. The three of them, with some of Robin's Slayers, had even had D&D nights. Not that Xander would ever admit it (but then again, how could he not, if Renee asked him to).

"Thanks for coming, Nee," whispered Xander softly, kissing his girlfriend's forehead.

She was laying on his chest, still half-asleep. They had another ten minutes before they'd have to get up and get to work. Renee helped out with training the Slayers, gave Xander support and helped him out with keeping the network updated on everything. Being in charge of it was one thing, but right now, with the evolved vampires, things were more stressful than they had to be.

"Of course," Renee tilted her head so she could look at him. "You needed me. I'm here. That's... what you do in a relationship. Be there for each other. Besides, the weather's nicer here. I think I like California. I've never actually been in the US before."

"Mixed feelings on California myself," commented Xander dryly. "You lose an eye in a state once and it kind of sours the whole state for you, you know?"

She laughed at that. Actually laughed. So many were being stiff and awkward when he made a joke like that. But she inherently understood him, his humor. It was his eye and he got to joke about it. He didn't need awkwardness or pity about it. Smiling, he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

"You're... not very worried about them," noted Renee after a moment. "I mean, I was kind of expecting you to be more... nervous pacing or rambling or something about them being gone, especially when you called me here. But you're... pretty calm."

"Once you spent eight years fighting the supernatural with these gals, your level of worrying about them will drop too," assured Xander with a grin. "I mean, look at Buff. She died twice and that didn't keep her down either. My girls are pretty tough. Little vacation in various hell-dimensions? They'll probably bring us funny souvenirs with them when they get back."

He laughed light-hearted, a bit confused by her flustered state. Until he realized he'd just implied that she would be around – close around – in eight years time. His cheeks heated up at that too. They'd barely known each other for ten months or so. Dating for one month.

"I didn't mean to put any, uh, expectations or pressure onto our relationship, I just meant, you know, you're a Slayer now, you're gonna fight with them a lot and-"

"It's okay," Renee smiled softly at him, resting a calming hand on his chest. "I get what you mean. And... I'd like that. Getting to know the inner circle of Scoobies that well. You guys... are a family. Not by blood, but by anything that matters. And I think that's beautiful."

Yeah. Yeah, it was. Xander smiled faintly as he relaxed back against the bed. Of course was he worried, especially about Dawnie, but he also knew that his girls could handle themselves. They'd be fine, wherever they were. After everything they had survived together, they were simply not allowed to meet their final death in some hell-dimension out of Xander's reach, simple as that.

/break\

"Hey."

That was all that stood in the room. A leisure hey and a cocky grin and the babbling of a baby. Xander stared doe-eyed, unsure what exactly he was supposed to say to that. Faith Lehane, badass Slayer who took his virginity, standing in front of the door with a baby on her hip.

"Oh my god, she is precious," whispered Renee excitedly as she came up behind Xander.

"Yeah, yeah. Ray of sunshine, light of my life, all that fun stuff," Faith grunted as she adjusted the baby and pushed her way past Xander and Renee. "You try a flight from Tibet to San Francisco with a cranky toddler, not as precious anymore. Is Robin still here?"

Oh. Xander stared even more dumbly at that. That was a thing? Wait. Sure, that would explain the baby's skin-color, but was that a thing? Had he missed something? Were they like a couple? What-

"He's out back with the squad. I'll go and get him, tell him to meet you in the kitchen?"

"Thanks, Renee," Faith nodded appreciatively. "Harris. You gonna show me the kitchen?"

"Right. Yeah. Right," Xander nodded and, after a moment, added. "Nice, uh, baby."

"Thanks. Made it myself," Faith cocked one eyebrow. "You're gonna be awkward about this, aren't you? See, when two badasses find each other very attractive, they-"

"I know how babies are made, Faith," Xander groaned, throwing his hands up. "Just. I don't know. If you'd asked me to make a bet on which one of all the Scoobies would have a kid first, I don't think you'd make the top ten. And I'm not even sure if there are ten Scoobies total."

"Not the first," offered Faith after a moment. "Oz got himself a wife and a kid. Little boy, named Kelden. Pretty adorable, actually. He got a good thing going back in Tibet."

"Tibet. Oz. Wait. Too much information at once," interrupted Xander. "But the baby is..."

"Robin's. That's why I want to speak to him," Faith rolled her eyes.

"Faith. Renee says you're... here... and that you want to speak with..."

Robin trailed off and came to a slowing halt as Faith turned around to face him. He immediately spotted the baby – hard to miss, after all – and it seemed that his brain came to a stop too, trying to process what he was seeing and coming up rather blank. He hadn't actually seen Faith in over half a year, ever since she had sneaked out of their shared room in the Giles Estate in the middle of the night without saying goodbye. Wait, was this why she had snuck out?

"Who... is that?" asked Robin softly as he approached her.

"Hope," offered Faith with a small grin aimed at the baby. "That's Hope Nikki Lehane."

"Nikki," Robin choked on the name and if there had been doubt, it was drowned now.

Faith shrugged and turned her head away from him. "I figured it'd be a nice touch. I don't know."

"Can... Can I hold her?" asked Robin, his voice so soft and fragile.

"Sure. I mean. She's... yours too. You know, just in case you were wondering."

She handed the baby off to Robin and he held his daughter like she was the most precious, breakable little thing in the entire universe. Which, to him she was. Xander carefully slipped out of the room to give them some privacy. Talk about things being boring without Buffy around...

/break\

The news coverage was starting to become a problem when the glamour disappeared. Rupert was fairly certain this was a sign that Willow's magic was at work to actually bring Los Angeles back, or that the Senior Partners had officially given up pretense and forsaken this. Perhaps both. Either way, he realized it was time to return to San Francisco – the spell had been spread among Willow's witch-network, seeing as one witch was stationed with each squad, while Rupert had taken care of his own books and the Water Council. Everything seemed taken care of and the estate was in quite good hands with Leah; she proved to be rather responsible as a squad-leader. Rupert had to admit, he was quite proud of the young Slayers they had trained and sent out into the world.

"Hello?" called Rupert out into the Victorian-style building as he ventured deeper. "Anybody home? Surely you are not leaving the house entirely unguarded, in times like the-"

He interrupted himself as he heard a terrible screeching sound that seemed to try and tear through his eardrums. What horrible demon was attacking the building? He readied himself for an attack, for a vicious beast, as he rounded the corner into the large living room, just to find... a baby, laying on a lamb fur on the floor, surrounded by Andrew, Renee and Robin, all laying on their stomachs and attempting to appease the screeching baby. His eyes wandered to the couch, where a very exhausted Faith was sprawled out, not asleep but also not entirely awake.

"Hey, G. If you're looking for Xander, he's next door with the squad," greeted Faith.

"Ah. I see you have... decided to come home," Rupert smiled faintly, a bit of pride in his voice.

"You try raising a toddler on your own," Faith huffed as she sat up some. "It might actually be impossible and single parents who do it right are the real heroes. Yeah, I decided... I figured I shouldn't be the only parent to screw the kid up, give Robin a shot too."

"Hello there, young lady," greeted Rupert with a soft smile as he knelt down between Andrew and Robin so he could look at the baby. "I am Rupert Giles, I'm the one who made sure your mother ate not just junk-food while she was pregnant with you. You're welcome."

The screeching stopped and large, dark brown eyes stared up at him curiously before grabby hands reached for his glasses. Even as Rupert moved away, the baby left hand-prints on the glass.

"So you knew," whispered Robin, looking up at him with narrowed eyes.

"I knew she was pregnant, I did not know it was... yours," supplied Rupert. "Congratulations to fatherhood. I'd like to warn you of her teenage years, they will age you multiple decades."

Though Rupert's eyes were soft and he smiled as he looked at the baby. He was glad she'd made the right call, to tell the father and to come here, where she would not have to do this alone. The smile turned more wry as he noticed the pink onesie the baby was wearing; purple writing claiming her to be a Junior Slayer. Something told him this one had been a gift from Andrew.

"Are you back because you saw the news and the way the world's currently freaking out about the giant hole in the bay?" asked Andrew. "Because like. Things are crazy."

"Yes. I am," Rupert adjusted his glasses as he got up. "I think that this is a sign of their pending return. Something is brewing in the hole left behind, Laurel tells me that she can sense Willow's magic reaching out, albeit still faint and more like an echo. And... someone else's magic too, though she could not name it, it was strong. It appears Willow has found magical back-up."

"Well, that's good, right?" asked Andrew, eyebrows drawn together. "Backup means they'll be back sooner, their journey might be safer. It's going to be a pain to explain though."

That, Rupert had to admit, was absolutely true. He started cleaning his glasses tensely.

/break\

When Buffy woke up, the first thing she became aware of were fingers in her hair, gently playing with it. She smiled a little and turned to look at Spike. He was awake, potentially still awake, because it seemed he was having a hard time believing all of this to be real. As though she would disappear when he closed his eyes. Once he noticed she was awake, he smiled at her.

"Hey," Spike whispered, leaning in. "Well-rested, love?"

"Beds are nice," Buffy sighed as she met him half-way for a gentle kiss. "Morning."

"Today's the day, according to the witches," stated Spike. "I checked in with Willow and Tara earlier, they say they're close. Which... still kind of unsure bout that."

"It's... strange, yes," admitted Buffy as she sat up. "But it's like... She's basically our Tara, only that she didn't die. Instead, we died. So... we're basically hers, only that we didn't die. Like our lives split that one afternoon and went different afterward and now... we get to be reunited."

Spike hummed, still sounding unsure. And she understood it; he'd only spent two days with Tara now. Buffy had been traveling with her for over a week before coming here and everything about Tara was just so very Tara and Buffy couldn't explain it, but it felt like Tara was back. Buffy had enough experiences with doppelgängers, even more so after their dimension-hopping, but this, this was different. Stretching, Buffy ruffled her hair a little and looked around.

"You know, I never really met Angel's team before. I mean, I met them briefly, when Faith was on the run and... But not really," Buffy got out of bed and grabbed her other set of clothes. "Tell me more about them. There seems to be a lot of tension between everyone, from what I've seen."

"The big ponce decided to play his own game without telling anyone in the team so the team's feeling... strongly bout that," supplied Spike. "Not to mention all the personal outfall of working for the demon lawyers. Ever since Fred nearly died, Wesley's been not too happy with Angel. He's also not talking to Gunn right now, because Gunn authorized the delivery of the deadly sarcophagus that nearly got Fred killed. So Gunn's kind of... kept his distance ever since everything went to hell, out of guilt. Been hanging out with his girlfriend, sweet blonde running a shelter for homeless kids downtown. Lorne's not much of a fighter, really, and he's been struggling with having killed someone during the big show-down, so he's been pulling away too. Living his life as a lord down here too, been running the entertainment industry basically, really. Hanging out with Harm a lot."

"Right. Yeah. So many questions about that one," Buffy frowned disturbed while brushing her hair. "Harmony – Harmony – is a star in this hell-dimension. I'm not sure..."

"Not much other entertainment left, love," argued Spike. "Kind of cut off from the world. And she's, I gotta admit, she's kinda funny, in a ditsy way. She makes it work."

"You have no taste in television anyway so you're the wrong person to ask," Buffy huffed out a laugh. "You know how much Passions you missed during your trip to hell?"

"Don't remind me," there was a cute whine to Spike's voice at that.

Again did Buffy laugh, though the look on her face was soft and fond. These moments, they made her feel so heavy and light at the same time. It was so casual so domestic. Would they get to be like that when they'd return to California? What... was even going to happen? Somehow, she wasn't ready to ask that yet. For now, they needed to concentrate on getting out here. After all, she didn't know what she was going to do either yet. The long-term plan had always been for the Scoobies to move together again. Was this going to be it? Or would everyone return to their corner? Was Buffy going to return to England? Were they all? Too many decisions to be made. Not right now. Right now, she wanted to enjoy this moment and that she got to have it. With a grin did she crawl back onto the bed, leaning over Spike and pinning him with her gaze alone.

"I like your hair like this," whispered Buffy, running her fingers through his curls.

"Cordelia's been dyeing my roots," admitted Spike. "Hair-dye, available even in hell."

Buffy laughed and leaned forward, resting her forehead against his collarbone as she imagined him having a little spa-day and Cordy ranting while she dyed his roots. Kind of surreal. The bizarreness of this current situation, if she thought back to her high school times. Back, when Spike had been a villain, Cordelia had been the queen bee of high school, Harmony her minion, Angel the supposed love of Buffy's life, and Wesley a stuck-up, inexperienced, rule-abiding Watcher.

"It's kind of wild how much things have changed since back then," whispered Buffy to herself.

"Mh? What did you say?" asked Spike curiously, running his hands over her sides.

"Just thinking how different everyone was when we all started out," offered Buffy after a moment before sitting up. "A lot has changed. We've all changed a lot."

She rested a hand on his chest, above his heart. He'd gained a soul. Spike grinned and tilted his head as he covered her hand with his. Leaning down one more time, Buffy stole another kiss.

"Okay. Let's go get breakfast and check in with our local witches," declared Buffy.

/break\

The moment they shifted back from the hell-dimension into their reality seemed like both a second and a whole year at the same time. Spike's intestines felt like they were being pulled out of his belly-button and as reality seemed to shake, he instinctively clung onto Buffy, holding onto her as both of them shielded Dawn in the middle between them. And just as sudden, it was over.

"Willow, Tara, are you alright?" asked Fred concerned as she hurried toward the witches.

Willow had collapsed forward and Tara was leaning heavily against the redhead. Once Spike and Buffy had their footing, they also rushed over toward the witches. While Buffy checked up on them, Spike let his eyes wander to make sure everyone else was alright too. They had all come to his place today, just in case something went wrong. To make sure they were all together.

"Ew, I did not miss this while we were in the hell-dimension!" squeaked Harmony as she patted at her smoking arm. "Someone non-flammable, close the curtains! This is not vamp-friendly!"

Gunn, Cordelia and Lorne hurried to do so, while Wesley remained at the glass-door to stare outside at the sky in awe. Blue sky. Spike couldn't believe it. Blue sky, white clouds. Bright sun. Harmony was right, he hadn't exactly missed that one either. Him, Angel and Harmony backed off from the windows. Back to the US, back to sunny California, back to... whatever normal would be.

"Does anyone have a phone?" asked Dawn excited.

"Right. Yes. Let's call Giles, see if we're actually back home," agreed Buffy before turning back to Willow. "Are you really alright? Do you need anything? You don't look well."

"Three days of sleep and maybe three large pizzas would be nice," Willow smiled weakly. "This was... draining. I don't think I could summon a speck of dust right now."

"It's okay. You get to sleep and eat all the pizza you want," Buffy chuckled.

"Xander!" exclaimed Dawn, holding the phone farther from her ear. "Can you hear me?"

"Dawn? Dawnie, is that you? Are you back?" Xander's voice was muffled, but that was him alright.

Spike raised one eyebrow as he watched the teen excitedly jump up and down. So this really was their dimension then, huh. Home, sweet home. Shaking his head, he went to lay Willow's arm over his shoulders and help her up. Help her back to her bedroom to get that well-deserved rest.

"Yes! Yeah, we're back. But Will's pretty drained, so we're going to stick around here a little longer, let her rest, before we make the journey back to San Francisco. But we're alright. They're alright too. Everyone's alive and accounted for," reported Dawn back. "We're home."

"You do not look as happy as someone who's been trapped in a hell-dimension for weeks should be," noted Willow when her and Spike made their way down the hall. "What's bothering you?"

"Home," offered Spike with a wry smile. "Don't exactly know where that is. Or what's next."

That made the redhead pause and blink too. "I... suppose neither do I. I've been guiding a squad, but I've not really... I'm not a Slayer-trainer. And I'm pretty sure that whatever Slayer stepped up in my absence probably did a better job at it than I did."

"So you haven't made a place yours yet?" asked Spike curiously.

"Not... really. No," Willow shook her head as they entered the bedroom. "Nothing's really felt real or right since Sunnydale disappeared in a crate. I guess it's time to start a new chapter."

"Guess for me too," Spike helped her into the bed. "Time to move on. I definitely had enough of LA, that's for sure. The more distance between me and Captain Forehead, the better too."

"Maybe give San Francisco a chance?" suggested Willow with a small grin. "I hear it's nice."

Author's note: I genuinely can't express how much FUN I am having with this story! The potential of a Willow-Spike friendship means so ridiculously much to me and I finally get to explore all the things that mean a lot to me but weren't or were barely in canon! I hope that love comes through though. NEXT chapter wraps up what I consider my own season 8, as everyone tries to find their new place, before we start the next arch ;)