Chapter 2: Calls and Plans

The funeral was going to be the next Monday. Seven o'clock. One of the advantages of living in Sunnydale was a funeral could be pretty much the day a person died. Dawn had been the one to suggest Monday. Tuesdays tended to have trouble, and they had time to get everyone to Sunnydale. Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg, who had been speaking at a conference, were taking the next flight back to Sunnydale. Xander and Tara put themselves in charge of the funeral.

"I want to help," Buffy said, her eyes feeling perpetually wet and puffy, even as she avoided crying in front of anyone.

"You're in the hospital," Xander told her quietly.

"So?" she said, almost desperately. "I can do stuff. I can… order the flowers?"

"They're on order," Tara said in a tone that was just barely above a whisper.

"What can I do?" she begged. "I need to do something besides watch TV."

"Maybe you could call people?" Dawn suggested.

"We still need to tell people wh-when it is," Tara added.

"And that'll be fun," Xander muttered sarcastically.

"Who do we need to tell?"

Tara pulled a list out of her backpack and handed it to Buffy. "T–The Rosenbergs are calling the people they know."

Anya Jenkins X

Rupert Giles X

Cordelia Chase

Angel

Sp-k-

Oz

Wesley Wyndham-Pryce

Riley Finn?

The McNallys

Buffy looked over the list that felt way too short and nodded. Her eyes lingered over the name that someone (probably Xander) had tried to erase. But there was no point thinking about that now.

"Okay," she finally said. "I'll call Angel. And get Wesley's number."

"I'll get Cordy," Xander said, looking at the list again. "In case she's not with Angel. And then Mr. and Mrs. McNally."

"Do we have Oz's phone number?" Tara asked.

"Um, Giles said he has it," Xander told her.

Suddenly, Dawn laughed. They turned to her.

"Sorry," she said, "It just seems ironic."

†

Angel was having an amazing day. His son was coming to live with him. He gave Con- Steven a smile as they finished their fighting lesson. Gunn and Fred lay down, exhausted.

"You did great," Angel told the teenager.

"You did pretty good yourself," he replied.

"We still on for a movie tonight?" Gunn asked from his position lying on the couch.

Angel nodded. "There's an action movie down at the drive-in theater."

"I don't think I've ever been to a drive-in," Fred remarked.

"It'll be fun," Angel told them. "Plus, they've got free refills."

They were interrupted by the phone ringing.

"I'll get it," Angel said, making his way over.

"Good," Gunn said. "I don't wanna get up until it's movie time."

"Angel Investigations," Angel said, repeating the familiar phrase. "We help the hopeless."

"Hi, Angel," a familiar voice said.

Angel froze. "Buffy?"

Fred and Gunn turned to look at each other.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Uh," Angel said. "How are you?"

She was silent.

"What's wrong?"

"It's… Willow."

"What happened with Willow?" Angel said quietly, knowing she needed the prompt.

"She… She was shot."

"Is she okay?"

"No…" Buffy said, and Angel knew holding back tears. "She's dead, Angel."

Angel didn't say anything.

"The funeral's on Monday. At seven, so you can probably be there. Sunnydale Cemetery. Xander's calling Cordelia's house, if she's not with you, but, uh, we don't have Wesley's number."

"I'll tell him," Angel said.

"I… I don't know what you did last year... but... you can bring other people if you want to." Angel heard her sniffle and start crying, though she was obviously trying to hide it.

"We'll be there. Do you need any help?"

"I don't think so."

He hesitated. "Do you want us to come early?"

"Yes," Buffy whispered. "If, you know, you're not in the middle of a apocalypse or anything," she said, her voice louder.

"I'll see you soon," he replied.

"Bye."

With that, Angel hung up the phone.

"What happened?" Fred asked.

"You remember Willow, right?"

Gunn nodded. "The chick that told you Buffy was dead?"

"And the one that brought her back?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah. Um, she… She died. And the funeral's on Monday."

"But you're going early?" Connor asked.

Angel nodded. "Yeah. Cordy'll probably go. I'm not sure if she'll come early, but… And you guys can come if you want to. Offer your support."

"Sure, man," Gunn told him.

"Or, you know, if you need us here?" Fred suggested.

"You guys pick," Angel replied, quietly.

†

"Hi, honey," Cordelia said as she entered her apartment, her good mood evident in her voice. "It's me! And I got your favorites: Tuna and ice cream. How about tonight you try not mixing them together." Cordelia plopped her things on the table and turned around to see Groo, head down, wearing a brown leather jacket. "Oh, there you are. Wow, you look nice." she said with a smile.

Groo slowly raised his head to look at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I-" His meticulously planned speech was interrupted by the phone ringing.

"Sorry," Cordy said, "One sec." She raced over to the phone and pressed the 'talk' button. "Hello?"

"Hey, Cordy."

"Xander?" Cordelia said in surprise. Groo watched her with curiosity, not sure what was happening.

"Yeah," he said.

"Okay, what's wrong?" she asked, almost jokingly.

"What?" Xander asked, put off by her words.

"You never call me. It's always Willow."

Cordy froze.

"What's wrong with Willow?" she asked, dangerously quiet.

"She's dead."

The phone loosened in Cordy's hand. No.

"What is wrong?" Groo asked, noticing the look on her face.

On the phone, Xander continued, "The funeral's on Monday. Buffy's calling Angel."

"Who…" Cordy said, "Who else is coming?"

"Me, Buffy, Tara, Dawn," she heard him shuffle through some papers. "Giles, Anya, probably Oz, her family, their friends and whoever wants to come from LA."

"I'll be there," she said, almost whispering.

"See you then," Xander said, before Cordy hung up the phone.

"Princess?" Groo asked.

Cordy took a deep breath and looked up.

"What's wrong?"

Cordelia started crying. Groo pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back.

"She's dead, Groo," Cordy cried. "I… She's dead…"

Mentally, Groo pushed his prepared speech to the back of his mind. At that moment, she didn't need it.

†

"Hello?"

"Oz?" a sort-of familiar voice said.

"Yeah," Oz replied. "Who's this?"

"It's… It's Tara."

Oz froze "Tara? Willow's…"

"Yeah."

"How'd you get my number?"

"Um, Giles had it."

"Why are you calling?"

"Um… It's…"

"Willow?" he guessed.

"Yeah," she responded. Oz closed his eyes.

"What is it?"

"She's dead."

Oz sharply inhaled. He felt a lonely tear run down his cheek.

"The funeral's on Monday," Tara continued. "Seven o'clock."

Oz looked down at his hands and was unsuprised to see fur sprouting.

"I'll be there," he said.

"I'm sorry," Tara told him.

"So am I," he said before he hung up the phone. He looked down at his hands again and took a deep breath, trying to remember all he had learned from all the werewolves he had met in his time he had spent traveling.

He made his way outside and saw the couple he was currently learning from looking at the setting sun.

"Oz," Mrs. Elbert said. "Is everything alright?"

"Is there anyone in the forest?" he asked.

She shook her head.

With that confirmation, he made his way into the woods and let the wolf come out.

†

Oz wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been in the forest, but he was pretty sure it had been at least a couple hours, and he wasn't ready to go back yet.

It was easier when he could be the wolf. He could let his instincts lead him, for the most part, and the wolf's overbearing presence kept his mind at least a little distracted from Willow. He felt his heart break a little more just by thinking her name. It had been two years, but he knew he had never completely gotten over the red-headed witch.

And now he would never know how she still felt about him. All his plans, flying out the window. A year or two to completely master the wolf. Then he would go back to Sunnydale and talk. Catch up. He doubted she would want to date him again, and she had every right to be over him, but he had still wanted to talk to her. See her, smell her uniquely Willow smell, tell her about the places he'd been, maybe one day show her the most beautiful ones, even if it was just as a friend.

But now he never would.

†

"Hello?"

"Wesley."

"Angel?"

"Yeah."

"Why are you calling?"

"It's ...It's Willow."

"What about Willow?"

"She's dead."

Wesley didn't respond.

There was something… odd, wrong about that. He knew Willow, but they weren't close. He didn't know her enough to feel deep grief, but… he still cared. And even after just hearing the news, he knew he couldn't just ignore it.

"Buffy didn't have your number," Angel continued. "The funeral's on Monday at seven. Sunnydale Cemetery."

"I'll be there." Wesley hung up and turned back to Lilah, who was lying on his bed.

"Someone's dead?" she inferred. He nodded. What else was there to say?

†

Cordy wasn't surprised Angel wanted to go to Sunnydale early.

"Who else is coming?" she asked.

"Gunn and Fred are staying here," he told her, "To take care of the business. Connor- Steven's coming with us."

Cordelia nodded. "Groo's coming along, too."

The two of them sat down next to each other.

"Lorne's leaving for Las Vegas," Angel said.

"Really?"

"Just left."

"That seems like a him thing to do."

They stopped talking and Cordy placed her hand on top of his in comfort.

"Do you want to drive down together?" Cordy asked.

Angel nodded.

"Sure."

†

Justine was sitting in the motel room when Steven found her.

"Are we ready?" she asked.

Steven shook his head. "No. Someone died and he's going to a funeral out of town." Of all the ironies.

"Are we going to wait?"

"Unless something else comes up," he said. He was going to avenge his father if it was the last thing he did.

In case you haven't seen Angel Season 3 lately, the Scoobies' calls came right in the middle of 'Tomorrow', so Holtz had Justine kill him and frame Angel for his death, Connor's still going by Steven and plotting his revenge on Angel (the sinking him underwater thing), Groo was just barely cut off from breaking up with Cordy because he thinks she's in love with Angel (which means Xander called Cordy a bit later than Buffy called Angel, but she's also sad and bored in the hospital, whereas he's just sad, so I think it's okay), and Wolfram and Hart are aware Connor's back and a teenager.

Lorne may or may not have given Angel his 'you're totally in love with Cordelia cause reasons that work just as well as saying you're good friends' speech (can you tell I don't like that Cordy and Angel had to be talked into thinking about each other romantically? Because I don't like it at all), but at this point he's too distracted by Willow and Buffy to really think about it, so it doesn't really matter.

And if you don't remember who the McNallys are, they're Jesse's parents. Jesse was Xander and Willow's best friend pre-series, who was turned into a vampire and staked by Xander in the second episode of series only to never be mentioned again. Obviously, I haven't forgotten about him, though it's not going to be a major plot point.