"As much as it sucks, we have to admit he's right." Xander scowled and crossed his arms, agreeing with Angel. "We've got to tell her tonight, or she'll be pissed that we kept it from her. They'll already be in trouble for not showing up sooner…" his eyes landed on Spike, reincarnated. Quietly everyone shifted where they stood; Kennedy moved to sit down before speaking up.
"Well, we haven't got much time, have we?" she said, holding up her phone. "Willow just texted me, apparently it was a slow night." She glanced at Giles whose eyebrows rose. A slow night was always worrying now, always made them think something bigger was coming. "They're about a half an hour away… So that means you've got to think quick, Angel." She said, pointing the statement at him. If he was going to be captain obvious and point out that they had to tell her, it was up to him to decide how.
"Why don't you just go to her flat? Knock on the door, and explain yourselves like you did with us? I could go with you!" Andrew suggested eagerly. "She'll need someone there who isn't a past lover – someone has to keep her calm." He nodded as he spoke, seeming to convince himself as he came up with the plan.
"As right as you are, I don't think you're the man to do it." Xander snorted, "Buffy tolerates you half the time. What makes you think she'll want you there when she's ready to rip her ex-boyfriend's heads off?" He laughed at the end of his reasoning. "I'll go, and Willow can stay. G-man you should probably come too. Dawn should probably stay here though, wouldn't want her getting hurt if it gets nasty." Xander smiled at the thought. He knew Buffy was going to be pissed.
"I can defend myself, why do you think you'd be able to? Last I checked you weren't much of a fighter either." Dawn scowled, releasing Spike to cross her arms. The tears had dried up and her face was determined. "I say all of the Scoobies should be there – only fair."
"You all know we're talking about Buffy right? You talk about her like she can't defend herself. Not to mention Faith is there. Don't you think the two of them will be able to handle themselves? Let them go alone, and send Willow back. We can catch her up here. It's going to be a personal thing guys. She loved both these men, and both are showing up after all this time… Can't you just let her breathe?" Kennedy asked, seeming to be the voice of reason
"Kennedy is right." Giles admitted, everyone else seemed to agree because they kept their mouths shut. "We've got to let her stand on her own two feet this time. There's nothing we can do about how she reacts. She'll take this however she takes it. So let's not stand in the way." He sighed and cleaned his glasses again, unsure of his words. He hated to think his slayer had to go through this alone, but there was no other way. They stood in silence for the next few moments. Nobody seemed to know what to do with themselves, there wasn't much to do.
"Maybe we should wait at her flat. It'll be easier on the lot of you if we're there and she doesn't know we saw you all first until the rough bit has passed. She'll be upset you didn't call her back right away." Spike said, looking at Dawn. "I'll come see you as soon as it's done. I promise." He whispered to her alone, quiet enough so only she and Angel would hear. Angel nodded and walked to the door as Spike hugged the young girl. "Hopefully she won't go postal." He joked, trying to lighten the mood as they shut the door behind him.
"You honestly believe she won't try to kill you?" Angel asked once they began walking. The scent of the slayer led them in the right direction. Both could feel the eyes of the gang on their backs as they went.
"I know she will. She'll try to kill you too, git. It's not like I'm the only one who's kept a secret. You were just as wrong as I was." He smirked, liking the idea of Buffy killing old broody brow. "If we're lucky she'll succeed." A laugh escaped him as Angel growled. "To be frank, I'll be glad if she tries killing us. At least she'll be showing she understands the situation - believes it. Buffy is no fool. She's grown up since you knew her. Not so easy to be fooled." He spoke fondly, remembering the time he'd spent with the woman he loved so dearly.
"I'm not an idiot. I know she's grown up. She'll just always be that shocked sixteen year old, innocent, and new to the world of pain in my eyes. Before all of this, the worst she knew was a divorce between her parents. That was the end of her life then. Not making the cheer squad. She's a strong woman. She's become a strong woman. Those seem trivial to her now." Angel's voice was trailing off, and he wasn't sure if he was reminding himself or stating facts to Spike. When they reached her door, both stood in silence, not sure of what to do with themselves. Obviously they were in for a long night.
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
"Sorry tonight was so uneventful girls. Hopefully we'll have more to do next time." Buffy sighed and waved goodnight to the girls when they got to the school. She stood beside Willow and Faith watching the girls for a few minutes, to make sure they all got back to their rooms. When they saw the last door close they headed back up to the flat. "Want to hang out? Watch a movie?" she asked the women on either side of her, hoping to avoid going back to sleep. Another dream meant another memory to her, and that was the last thing she wanted after a slow night.
"I'm in." Faith shrugged and supplied a smile. They both looked at Willow who nodded in agreement before turning to look back down the hall. Their door was right in front of them, but they didn't have the hall to themselves. A pain struck Buffy hard in the chest. She was seeing things, she had to be. It wasn't until Faith grabbed her arm that she believed they were really there. Willow had stopped a few steps before them, so she was further back.
"Go get Giles." Faith's order was directed at Willow as she tried to hold Buffy up. The blonde's legs seemed to be jell-o. "What the hell is wrong with you? Help me!" she shouted at Angel. Before he could move, the blonde man stepped forward and took Buffy in his arms in one swift movement, picking her up in a cradled position.
"The door." He mumbled eyes on Buffy. Faith didn't waste time in unlocking the door and pushing it open. When she turned to watch the men walk in she realized she hadn't invited either in.
"Get in! Shit!" she shouted, trying not to be too loud and alert the rooms full of slayers in the building. Both men walked in, Angel closed the door and the blonde man set Buffy on the couch. He kneeled beside her; their eyes hadn't strayed from each other since he'd got his arms around her. "You! Get away from her! Move." She demanded, reaching for her stake. Angel stepped forward and grabbed her wrist.
"Stop, wait." He said, pointing at the two at the couch. Buffy was sitting up know, tears welling up in her eyes. Many emotions were playing across her face. The expressions would've been funny had the situation been different. Angel moved to the couch, then, and sat by her facing her. Faith made her way around to stand beside the second man.
"Faith, it's him. It's really him. You see him too, right?" she whispered, her eyes still on Spike. Faith's mouth dropped as she kneeled down to look at Buffy closer. Just as she was about to speak Buffy's expression changed to a look of anger. "You're alive? You didn't die?" she nearly growled at him. Spike leaned back then, getting as far away as he could without being too far away to reach out and touch her if need be. "You let me think you died for a year? After all that happened? After what I said?" she turned and looked at Angel then, "And you! You knew he was alive? You knew how I felt, and you knew he was alive, but didn't find it necessary to tell me?" Standing up, Buffy swung her fist and knocked Angel in the jaw before turning to unleash her fury on Spike. "You let me hurt! You let me believe I'd lost…" her words fell short as her foot met his chest. Faith – finally realizing what was going on – stood and wrapped her arms around Buffy from behind.
"Stop B. Let them explain!" she spoke into Buffy's ear, trying to get through as Buffy tried to break free. "I'm sure they've got a reasonable explanation. I promise, if they don't we'll take them out old school." Faith's jaw was clenched as she tried to restrain the struggling blonde, but Buffy relaxed slightly at the promise. "I'm going to let you go. Just calm down, give them time to explain." She said calmly, slowly releasing Buffy.
"Right." Spike said, pushing himself up to a standing position with a hand on his chest where she'd hit him. Angel was standing in a defensive stance near the couch, apparently having figured himself out as she'd assaulted Spike. "I did die. I burned with the town. That happened." He stated, trying to make his point so she'd calm down a bit more. His words didn't seem to help much, though, so he continued. "Well, Angel here opened an envelope three weeks later, out fell the amulet, there appeared me." He shrugged. "Well, after one of his expected remarks, I went to hit him and went right through the git. Nearly fell on my bloody face." He shook his head. Spike was speaking cautiously, trying to avoid getting hit again. "Made an effort to leave but it seemed no sooner would I hit the street that I'd pop back into Broody Brow's office. So leaving wasn't an option. I was stuck. Fred… She tried her hardest to get me my body. Damn near got it once, but no such luck. Soon enough the Powers that Be decided they'd had their bloody fun." Spike scowled. "Well, next thing I know I'm able to leave… All I want to do is find you." He looked at Buffy, his heart bleeding for her. "I couldn't though. Not after how I'd died. Wouldn't be right, would it? I died a champion's death for you, pet. Couldn't just show up, here I am alive again. You deserved the life I meant to give you by dying with that damn town.
"After a bit of thinking I went back, asked to help. Ended up getting myself into Captain Forehead's mess - went into another apocalypse with him. Fought the senior partners army." He shrugged trying to show he didn't have anymore to say about the subject, "We couldn't stay there any longer, so we came here at night fall. Here we are." He held up his hands and looked at her hopefully. There was no way he'd be able to leave her again – not unless she asked him to.
"Why didn't you call? We could have helped fight." Faith spoke up, her eyes on Angel. "I thought you trusted us." Her words were sharp, they stung.
"I do trust you. We couldn't very well call you into it though. We didn't have time. It all happened fast, one minute it's just begun, the next it's all over. We lost Wes and Illyria…" Angel looked down, his thoughts racing as the memories played in his head. He'd watched Illyria go down. "Gunn made it through, but he had things to do he said. Needed to get to the hospital, mostly," the image of their only surviving friend flashed through his mind. "He was close to death. We couldn't find the words to apologize, so we had to go. Left your number though – at the hospital – so he should call at some point…"
"Can I have a minute?" Buffy asked, not bothering to wait for a reply before standing and making her way to her room. Once she was in the door she pushed it shut behind her and leaned against it. Didn't take her long to slide down, hug her legs to her chest, and let the tears flow.