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Chapter 3 – Too much?

"Wh-what?" Buffy asked, still shocked from everything she just heard.

"I'm so sorry" Angel said as he went over and hugged Buffy. Beside them, Dawn was sobbing quietly. Buffy just stood there as Angel hugged her unable to move or think straight. "But h-how can that be? I just called him a little while ago and a woman answered" said Buffy after she pulled out of the hug. "She must've been under the control of the demon. Whether dead or not, the demon can control it's victims as long as they aren't strong enough to fight his thrall"

As Buffy took this all in, she looked around, unsure of what to do. All the shock of the news made her feel unable to think properly. Should she hit something? Run away? Get mad? Cry like her sister? At that last thought, she remembered about Dawn who was just sitting quietly, her face tear-stained. Oh god, Dawn. She thought to herself and went over to her sister and hugged her tight. "Ssshhh. It's okay" Buffy said quietly while stroking her sister's hair. A few tears escaped her eyes as she held her sister. This time, she let them fall freely.

"I can explain" Andrew said nervously since he saw Willow's serious face.

"Oh, you better" she said.

"Okay. Just don't freak out and go all dark-witchy and vainy on me" he whined.

"Hello? Good now! Ever since, like way before!" Willow protested defensively. "Remember? All white-haired me? I got my powers in control now. Ever since the spell in the hellmouth with the scythe, I was able to harness my powers and – wait, you're the one who's supposed to be explaining." Willow saw his uncertain expression. "I won't kill you, okay? You just ticked me off"

"Well, I just gotta be sure. You'll never know. Your annoyance over me might take you back over to the dark side just like Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars and start killing-"

"Just explain already!" Willow said, getting really pissed and impatient with Andrew.

"Okay, okay, fine. Spike is back. He's working with Angel at Wolfram and Hart for I don't know how long. That's all I know, I swear"

"Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell Buffy?" Willow asked a little hurt.

"Well, Spike told me not to tell you guys about him. Especially Buffy. Besides, he said he was gonna tell Buffy on his own" he added.

"Did you even tell him how Buffy was doing after he died?" asked Willow.

"Yeah. As a matter of fact I did. I told him she was happy, peachy, yadda, yadda, yadda" he said nonchalantly.

"No she-" Willow said but paused. No, he couldn't have known. He doesn't know her as well as I do. She was clearly hurting after Spike died even if she tried to hide it. "Never mind" Willow said. "We'll talk about this in the morning" she added as she went to leave the room. "Uhhhh. Go to bed or something" she added hastily as she closed the door.

"Wait! You left your mug!" Andrew called out but he was too late. He walked over and saw the drink was his favorite. "Yum" he said as he was about to take a sip. But, it magically floated up and the door magically opened to let it out as it floated away towards the Wicca's room.

"Ha. Powers for good, my butt" he said as he turned the lights off and flopped onto his bed.

Buffy and Dawn just sat there in silence, hugging each other, both grieving for their dad. Angel felt so bad seeing them suffer, seeing Buffy suffer so he decided they might need to be alone somewhere private and maybe get some sleep.

"I think you guys should get some rest. We'll take care of everything in the morning, what do you think?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think we should. But Dawn and I need a place to stay" Buffy said.

"It's okay. It's all taken care of. You guys can stay with us as long as you want" said Angel.

"Thanks" Buffy said as she smiled faintly at Angel.

"It's no problem at all" Angel said as he lead them out to the car where it was raining outside. While in the car nobody said anything as they made their way to Wolfram and Hart. Dawn though, decided to break the silence.

"Can we pass by his apartment?" asked Dawn quietly.

"I don't think that's a good idea right now" answered Buffy. But then, Buffy saw her sister's subtle pleading look and decided to let Dawn have her way. "Ok, fine but lets not stay there long" said Buffy as she nodded to Angel.

Buffy felt like it took forever for them to reach their dad's apartment. Probably because she was dreading what she may or may not see. In a while they arrived at the apartment.

"Are they…still in there?" asked Buffy uncertainly.

"I'm not sure. But they should be gone by now" answered Angel.

Buffy looked at Dawn and she nodded as Buffy cautiously opened the door. Fortunately, they were already gone. Buffy let out the breath she was holding then she went around the place. The place was a mess and there definitely was a struggle. Dawn was looking around too and her eyes fell upon her dad's desk. On it was a corkboard and it had a picture of her, Buffy and their dad.

"Dawn!" Buffy called out from the other end of the room.

"Dawn?" I think we-" she said but stopped as she spotted her sister and what she was doing. Dawn had in her hands a picture of her and Buffy with their dad during the summer they spent together in L.A. Among other things in that room was a box on top of a shelf that said Buffy and Dawn. Buffy walked towards it and opened the box to find letters, gifts, and other things that she and Dawn had given their dad ever since they were kids. He still kept them. Buffy thought as she tucked the box away sadly. She walked towards her sister who still hasn't moved since she got there. "I miss him" whispered Dawn. "I miss him too. So much" Buffy whispered back.

"It's not fair" Dawn said quietly as the sisters stared at the picture Dawn was holding.

"I know Dawnie. Sometimes the world just isn't fair."

"Really?" asked Dawn as she looked at her sister. "Cause to me, it feels like it's always unfair"

Buffy hugged her sister as a message that everything will be alright, not saying it out loud since she herself didn't know if everything was going to be alright.

"Come on, we'd better get going" Buffy said as she pulled out of the hug and lead Dawn out of the room.

"Wait" Buffy said as she went back to the room to get something. She brought the Buffy and Dawn box with her. On her way out, she saw the broken window which the demon probably escaped from. A jolt of rage and anger went through her as she thought about the demon that murdered her dad. But, not wanting to stay any longer and be reminded of the tragedy, she just let it go and shut the door on her way out.

It was a bright, cheerful Saturday morning and the whole gang was going to have a meeting at Xander's place.

"Die! Die Andrew! Die!" Xander yelled.

"Never! Feel my wrath, weakling!" Andrew yelled back.

The two were fighting, obviously but against each other in a video game. In a while, the game ended and victory was Xander's.

"Who's the weakling now?" taunted Xander. "Ha. I can still win a video game even with one eye. Go me!" he said

"I demand a rematch!" complained Andrew.

"Not now. Besides I won fair and square" Xander said as he stood up and looked out of the window.

"Where is everybody? Willow said we would be having a meeting today here and only you showed up"

Andrew gulped because knew what it would be all about. "Well, I dunno, maybe-" he started to say but the doorbell rang and they heard Willow's voice through the door.

"Speak of the devil" Xander said before opening the door.

"Guys! Hi! I was wondering whether you already forgot where I lived!" Xander greeted.

"Very funny, Xander" Willow said as she, Kennedy, Faith and Robin entered the apartment.

"So, what's all the hubbub all about?" Faith asked while everyone gathered around in the living room.

"Yeah, what's happening? Or is this some sort of unplanned movie marathon?" asked Kennedy.

"It's something I discovered last night. Something important and……somewhat unexplained" she said as she walked behind where Andrew was sitting and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Mr. Not-so-sneaky here, has apparently been keeping something from us for I'd say a long enough time"

"Okay. I'll tell you guys but just stop staring at me like I'm some kind of psycho killer!" Andrew whined again then he noticed that everyone just stared at him more after he said that.

"You know what? I'll do it" Willow interrupted, fed up with Andrew. "It's about Spike"

"Spike? As in save-the-world-Spike?" Xander asked.

As much as he didn't want to admit that, he did. Everyone knew very well how much Xander hated Spike and after Spike had saved the world and died doing it, his perspective of the vampire changed. He looked back and saw that he had in fact, changed and done good to the world. He also saw that Buffy was hurting after he died and he felt for her. He knew very well what it felt like to loose someone. Xander never really understood Buffy's relationship with Spike but he knows enough to know that his best friend grieved for the vampire. But it still wasn't like he'd want to go be best buds with Spike. But weirdly, he sort of missed all the annoying remarks Spike would throw at him.

"……don't know how long Spike's been back but-" Willow said but was interrupted by Xander who just came out from being deep in thought and just happened to catch what Willow just said.

"Whoa whoa, hold on there a sec, Will. Spike's back?" he asked astonished.

"Yeah, where've you been all this time?" asked Willow as she continued and didn't wait for Xander to reply. "Anyway, all that we know is that Spike's been back for a while and he's working at Wolfram & Hart with Angel.

Just then, the phone rang and Xander answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey Xander, it's me. I tried calling everyone else but they were all out" answered a glum-sounding-Buffy.

"Hey, it's the Buffster! Hold on, I'll put you on speaker phone" he said as he pressed the button.

"Hey Buffy!" Everyone greeted.

"Hey guys" she greeted back a bit quietly. She really didn't want to be on speaker right now when she was about to tell the gang bad news.

"What's the matter B? You don't sound like yourself" said Faith.

"Yeah, Buffy. What's the matter?" asked Willow a little worried.

Buffy paused for a while before answering. "I have…news. Bad news"

Everyone looked at each other, all registering the thought that it wasn't about Spike because Buffy should be happy about that, right? Don't tell her Willow mouthed to the others and they nodded in reply.

"What is it, Buffy?" asked Kennedy.

"How bad is it?" Willow asked getting more nervous by the minute.

Buffy gave a bitter laugh. "It's bad alright." She said so quietly that they barely heard her. "It's my dad. He uh… was murdered by a demon" she said quietly. The gang could hear her sniff in the background.

"Oh my god, Buffy. I'm so sorry" said Willow

"Yeah…I'm sorry Buffy" Xander said while the others were just quiet in a bit of a shock and didn't know what to say.

"Thanks. I called to let you guys know I'll be staying with Angel. He uhh, has extra rooms for me and Dawn. If you want contact me, just call me on my cell phone. He's the one who told us about……anyway, our trip will be cut short so I guess you guys should expect us soon" said Buffy, her voice become softer and softer.

"Okay, you should take all the time you need. No hurry" Xander said.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon, guys. Bye" she said as she hung up.

No one said anything for a while. They were all to busy thinking.

"Poor Buffy" said Andrew sadly.

"Yeah, she's had too much to handle" said Willow.

"And she still doesn't know about Spike?" asked Robin and everyone nodded.

"Well, that's the bright side right? I mean, she's in L.A. after all, and Spike works with Angel so they're bound to bump into each other" Faith said, then she realized what she just said. "See each other, I mean"

"Yeah, so then Spike will be a good thing for her. She'll be happy and he'll be there to comfort her, right?" asked Kennedy.

"Yeah, or Spike could know that she's there and start avoiding her so she wouldn't know he was back. Or worse, Angel would stop Spike from seeing Buffy" Xander said.

"I don't think Spike will be too eager to look for Buffy. I mean, why would he keep it from her all this time and never call her? I'm sure things like these just don't slip your mind" said Robin.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. I just hope that after all this, with the Buffy's dad dying and Spike coming back and all, it won't be too much for Buffy" Willow said as everyone silently agreed and sat in silence, all deep in thought.

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