Hey, I actually started writing again!

Chapter 8: Failures

"What is it?"

Groo had asked to talk with Cordelia privately, so she had brought the two of them outside of the house. The moon wasn't quite full, but it was bright and its beams were shining on Groo's face as a sad expression formed on it.

"I… I do not believe I should stay in Sunnydale."

Cordy frowned. "What do you mean? The whole team's coming here."

"I am not a part of the team." There was a sad smile on his face.

"Hey, don't be like that," she said. "You're a champion. And my boyfriend, which pretty much gives you an automatic spot."

"But you don't love me."

Cordy jerked at the statement. "What do you– of course I love you!"

He shook his head. "Not as I love you. I had thought you were in love with someone else, and though I am not sure now, I know I love you more than you love me."

"Groo, that's not–"

He smiled at her. "It is alright. I do not blame you. But I do not want to impede any feelings of love you may have, simply because I feel them for you."

Cordy blinked, her eyes watering. "Groo…"

He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for teaching me of this world."

She watched him walk away, and she wished she had something to refute his claims.

But it wasn't fair to lie to him, even if the one person she might have had feelings for had been taken for years.

†

It was mostly a snap decision.

Xander had simply been walking home when he saw Anya sweeping up the Magic Box. Angel was coming back to Sunnydale, and Buffy had looked happier than he had seen her in ages, and all he wanted was something similar. So he entered the store.

"Unless you wish to spend money, the store is- Xander."

Xander shifted his weight. "Hi, Anya."

Anya stared at him for a moment before she gripped her broom tighter and turned away from him.

"The store is closed right now. Go away."

"Ahn..." He moved closer, and she whirled back towards him.

"What? Are you going to try and apologize again?"

"I am sorry," he said. "I never meant to hurt you."

"You left me at the alter," she told him.

"I know!" he admitted. "I know. I should have talked to you earlier, and I'm sorry. I just..." He sighed. "I miss you. Especially right now. And I just... want to make up. Even if you don't want to date again."

Anya watched him say his speech, her anger melting into a sad expression before she turned her head away. "We can't."

"Why not?" he asked.

"We just can't," she said again, gripping her broom.

"Kinda want a reason to go with that 'no'," he said, not quite sure where his voice fell in the range from hurt to angry.

Anya's head jerked back towards him with pure impulsivity. "Because I'm a vengeance demon!"

There was just silence following her outburst, and Anya glanced away again.

"I'm a demon again. And it's your fault."

†

"What do you mean you lost them?" Linwood Murrow was… well, pretty damn angry.

Gavin Parks wasn't entirely sure how to take this. He wasn't used to being the one Linwood was mad at.

"They're either hiding or they're not in Los Angeles anymore," he said. He hadn't completely believed it when all of his contacts hadn't known where Angel and his son were, but he had informants all over the city.

"I'm gonna go with the second one," Lilah said, dropping a picture of the scientist and the former street gang leader putting things in a moving truck.

Linwood growled. "I want that boy. And I expect one of you to find him. Got it?"

Gavin nodded, while Lilah idly said, "Got it."

And while Gavin left the meeting slightly worried and calling all his contacts, Lilah just double checked a file labeled 'Buffy Summers' and the obituary page of Sunnydale's newspaper.

She smiled as she took her pen and, under the subfile 'Willow Rosenberg', wrote 'deceased'.

†

Cordelia entered her apartment in LA with a sad smile on her face.

"Hey Dennis."

The curtains waved in response and Cordy let out an amused breath and felt her eyes get slightly wet.

"There's… I'm moving."

Dennis didn't move anything.

"It's not you!" she clarified. "The whole team is. We're needed in Sunnydale for a while, and, well, I can't afford to pay rent on an apartment I'm not using. So…" She sighed and sat down on her couch.

"I don't know if I'll be able to move back here," she continued. "So if I don't, I just wanted to thank you for being a pretty amazing roommate."

She smiled as she felt a slight breeze.

†

"Duck!"

Buffy fell into a crouch as Angel used his sword (because he apparently carried swords around all the time now. If it weren't for work, she'd have considered copying him) to behead one of the vamps behind her. She stood back up and slammed her stake into the last of the nest that had gathered in the mausoleum.

"Well," she said as the dust settled. "That was a bit more of a fight than I expected."

He made a noise of agreement and the two of them left the mausoleum to continue their route through the cemetery.

"How's Connor doing?" she asked, hoping to get a conversation going on their first patrol together in four years.

Angel smiled. "Good. I think he likes it here."

"He's still asking for fighting lessons?"

He nodded. "He's doing great. If you want to stop by..?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. But then Dawn's going to start bugging me for her own lessons even more."

"It couldn't hurt?"

Buffy let out an amused huff. "You too?"

He shrugged. "Just because she can fight doesn't mean you have to let her on patrols."

"But she'll want to."

"It's your decision."

Buffy mock glared at him. "Great, now I'm getting attacked on two sides."

He just smiled, and Buffy returned it, glancing around for more vampires, only to have her gaze pulled to a crypt that she had carefully avoided.

The smile slipped off her face, but she tried to shake herself out of it. She had just seen Clem the night before, and he was still crypt sitting. Spike wasn't back. Someone would have noticed, or he would have come by the house.

"Buffy?"

She blinked, and noticed she had stopped walking. "Sorry."

Angel was hesitant. "Buffy, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Of course," she said.

He looked at her, not quite sure if she believed him. And maybe she didn't. But…

"Why- why did you sleep with Darla?"

Angel didn't seem outwardly surprised at the question, but then, Buffy also couldn't read him quite as well as she used to.

"I…" he paused for a moment, and she realized no one had ever straight up asked the question. "I was lonely. And hopeless. I had fired Cordy, Gunn and Wesley, and had just failed trying to find the Senior Partners. She was there, and I felt numb." She looked at him, but he glanced down at the ground. "I wanted to feel something other than the cold I had surrounded myself in."

Buffy was silent for a moment.

"You remember how I was after my resurrection?"

He nodded, looking up at her.

"I…I didn't get better." she swallowed, and this time was the one to look down. "And Spike… He became an escape, in a way. Like you said. To feel. But I didn't stop after the first time."

"Because you hadn't trapped yourself," he said gently.

Buffy hesitantly looked back up.

"Who knows?" he asked.

"Tara, Xander and Dawn," she replied, and she realized how small her circle had shrunk. "And Riley," she added after a pause.

Buffy was pretty sure he had to stop himself from raising an eyebrow at that.

"Eventually," she took a deep breath as she continued, deciding on the spot that even though she was telling Angel, he didn't need to know all the details. "Eventually, I broke it off, but… he wasn't exactly… convinced, since it wasn't exactly the first time I'd tried to do it, and… well, it didn't end well. I guess that was when he decided it'd be better for him to stay out of town for a while."

If Angel noticed she wasn't saying everything, he didn't say anything, and only had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Do you think he'll come back?"

Buffy shrugged. "Probably. It's not like he was good at staying away before."

The two of them continued walking, before Buffy continued.

"Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"If… if he does come back, let me handle him."

He nodded. "Of course."

"No matter what you hear."

He stopped, and Buffy turned to look at him. "I promise," he finally said.

She smiled and nodded.

"And Buffy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for telling me."

I wanted Groo to hang around longer, but the coffee table was having more scene presence than him, so I figured it was time to say goodbye.

The W&H scene was pretty much just an update and set-up. The Buffy/Angel scene was also set-up (*cough* because Spike's an idiot who apparently wants to get staked *cough*), but also character stuff, and with characters I actually like. (Well, I like Lilah, but Linwood and Gavin are just. Super boring.)

Hope you enjoyed, and feel free to review!