Chapter Four: Aftermath

The next day was hard. Once Willow opened her eyes, she remembered that Tara wasn't with her anymore. It felt too real. The bed was massive without her. Willow decided to get out of bed and did her morning routine. She walked downstairs and joined everyone for breakfast. Wesley was already up and at the counter, having cereal. Buffy turned around with a bowl in her hands and saw Willow. She smiled and said,

"Good morning."

"Good morning." Willow replied and Wesley nodded to her. She was still surprised that he was here. She shook her head and turned to Buffy. "Dawnie's not awake yet?"

"She should be down in just a minute." Buffy told her.

Dawn walked downstairs and smiled at everyone. "I'm here. Ready for action."

"Here." Buffy said and handed her a bowl. "Have some cereal."

Dawn grabbed a box of cereal and some milk. She poured the contents into her bowl and joined the crew. Dawn ate her breakfast and looked around. It felt incomplete without Tara, but she didn't want to say anything to make Willow feel bad. Willow looked around and stood up.

"I'm going to class." Willow said.

Wesley finished his bowl of cereal and put it in the sink. "Well, I thank you for your hospitality, but I am going to find some other living arrangements. Seems like you've got a full house."

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked him. "That couch is pretty comfortable."

Dawn chuckled and Wesley nodded. "Yes, I appreciate it, but I have other responsibilities to attend to as well."

Buffy nodded and Wesley grabbed his stuff. He left the house to check in on Spike and Connor. He needed to make sure they had enough supplies. Buffy looked at Dawn.

"Are you all set?" She asked.

Dawn nodded. "Yep, got my bag, got my lunch. I'm all set to go."

"Good." Buffy said and hugged her sister.

She walked Dawn to the front door and her sister left for school. Buffy made her way to the Magic Box. Xander and Anya were there at the shop. Anya helped a couple pick out something for their house and Xander was working on the schedule for the crew. Buffy sat down and said,

"Wesley is here."

"What?" Xander asked, surprised.

"Wesley spent the night last night at the house." Buffy said. "I offered him a place to stay."

"But he said no?" Xander asked.

"I told him that he could stay longer if he needed to, but he went to find somewhere else to live." Buffy explained.

Xander nodded. "How's Willow doing?"

"It's awkward, but we're getting through it." Buffy replied.

Anya sold the couple a few Knick knacks and then the couple left. She walked over to the table and asked, "What's awkward?"

"Willow and Tara." Xander replied. "The big separation."

"Yeah, it's been hard, but I think we are getting through it." Buffy repeated.

Meanwhile, Wesley acquired an apartment for everyone. He got an apartment for himself and for the boys in the same building. The boys lived on the third floor and Wesley lived in the basement. Wesley opened the door and let the boys inside. Spike was surprised that he wasn't invited in. Spike placed Connor inside one of the daytime cribs. Wesley tossed the keys to Spike and said,

"Welcome home. The place is yours."

"Mine?" Spike repeated and Wesley nodded.

"It's all yours." Wesley said. "I live below you if you need anything. That way I can check on Connor during the day."

"The little bugger likes to sleep during the day." Spike told him. "He likes to wake up at night."

"I see." Wesley said. "Hopefully his sleep schedule will change." He walked over to the fridge. "I already stocked it with supplies."

"And my blood?" Spike asked.

"That's in your room." Wesley explained and walked over to the first bedroom. Spike followed him into the room. There was a spare fridge. "I wanted to keep it separate from the baby food."

"Makes sense I guess." Spike said and shrugged. "What about my smokes?"

"No more smokes with the baby." Wesley said firmly. "I mean it Spike, no more."

"Oh come on Wesley, even responsible parents smoke with the baby." Spike protested.

"No." Wesley said, words final.

Spike rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said. "No more smoke I guess."

"I have to go and speak to Buffy." Wesley said. "Do you need anything?"

"Just to go back in time before I accepted this deal." Spike said and sighed as Connor started crying. "I got him."

Spike walked into the primary room and took care of Connor. Wesley left the apartment and went back to Buffy's house. He knocked on the door and Dawn answered. She let Wesley inside the house. Wesley entered the living room where he found Xander, Anya, Willow, and Buffy. Dawn sat on the chair next to the couch. Xander shook his head and said,

"I can't believe you're here."

"Honey," Anya said. "Relax."

"I'm only here to help." Wesley said. "We can restore order to Sunnydale together."

"I agree." Buffy said. "Like it or not Xander, we need his help."

"We've always managed to get things back in order without his help." Xander said and stood up. "Don't you remember what happened the last time he tried to help?"

Buffy nodded. "Things are different now." She said and turned to Wesley. "Everyone deserves a second chance."

"Thank you." Wesley said. "Where do we start?"

"Well the demon horde that was here left town, thankfully." Buffy said. "We just need to clean up the place and things will resume as normal."

"I've already started to pick some of the trash up on my way home." Dawn said. "The town's a mess."

"Yeah the demons really trashed the place." Xander said.

"We'll manage." Buffy said.

"Most of the fires have been put out." Wesley noted. "Looks like the townspeople have gotten together and helped out."

"Good." Buffy said. "We can pick up Sunnydale and move on with our lives."

"Where's Tara?" Anya asked, pointing out her absence.

"Tara went to live on campus." Buffy said. "I spoke with her today."

"You spoke with her today?" Willow asked, suddenly chiming in.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, she wanted to check on me."

"We should talk about that." Dawn told her sister.

Buffy shook her head. "No, I don't want to talk. I can't."

"It's okay Buff, whenever you're ready." Xander said. "No one is pushing you." He looked at Dawn.

Dawn looked down and fidgeted with her fingers. She was worried about her sister. She hadn't talked to her much since she got back. Dawn wondered where she had been. What was hell like? Dawn could only imagine and wanted to be there for her sister. Xander was right though. No one was pushing her. Xander stood up and walked over to Wesley. He held out his hand and said,

"Welcome back."

Wesley thought it was a strange gesture, but shook his hand. "Thank you."

Anya smiled at Xander, but her heart dropped immediately. She wasn't sure how she felt about the resurrection spell. She knew it was a bad idea. Anya wanted to say something about it, but she kept quiet. She was outvoted on the spell part so she agreed. Anya sighed heavily and stood up.

"I should get back to the Magic Box."

Xander nodded. "We should get going."

Anya and Xander said their goodbyes. The couple left the house and Dawn got up from the chair. "I should go help the neighborhood, do damage control."

"What do the townspeople think happened?" Wesley asked.

Dawn shrugged. "Some big riot." She paused.

"Hm, I could have come up with something better." Buffy said. "Thanks Dawn, I appreciate your help." Dawn nodded and headed out the door. Willow looked at Buffy and said,

"Okay Dawnie has the townspeople." Willow said. "What about you guys?"

"We have a couple of things to follow up on." Buffy said. "Will you be okay?"

Willow nodded. "Yeah, I got it here."

Buffy looked at Wesley. "Let's go."

She wanted to see Spike and Connor to make sure they were okay. Buffy wanted to tell Willow about this plan, but she swore to Wesley that she wouldn't tell anyone. She didn't like keeping this secret from her. Wesley and Buffy left the house. Wesley drove Buffy to the apartment building and took her to Spike's house. He knocked on the door and Spike answered with Connor in his arms.

"Oh, hello." Spike said. "Be quiet, the little guy finally went to sleep."

Buffy walked inside and sat down on the couch. Spike walked into the baby's room and placed him inside the crib. He turned on the baby monitor and shut the door. Spike sat on the couch next to Buffy and fidgeted with his fingers. Buffy looked at him, worried. Wesley rolled his eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I took away his cigarettes." Wesley said flatly.

He shut the front door and walked over to the couch. Wesley sat across from them and sighed heavily. Buffy looked at him and said,

"I don't like keeping this secret from the gang."

"I know, but it's for Connor's safety." Wesley said. "The more people that know about his existence the more danger he's in."

"With Willow's help, we can put a protection spell on the apartment." Buffy pointed out.

"I can do some spells." Wesley said. "I'm a bit rusty, but I know the basics."

Buffy sighed heavily. "Alright," she agreed. "Let's do that then. I want to keep Spike and the baby as safe as possible."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that." Spike said.

"Spike, you've changed." Buffy said. "I see that and that baby needs your protection."

"Well, thanks I think." Spike said, unsure of how to handle that compliment.

"I should get going and check on the gang." Buffy said.

"I'll stay here. I have a few things that I need to do." Wesley told her and Buffy nodded.

The sun went down and Buffy went on patrol. Wesley got his own place in order and arranged his books with his journals. He locked the front door and then went to his bedroom. Wesley did his nightly routine and climbed into bed. He turned off the light and closed his eyes. In the middle of the night, he was awoken by a noise. Wesley sat up in bed and saw a figure of a man at the foot of his bed. He jumped and the man said,

"Oh Wesley, did you really think you could run away here?" The man paused. "As your father, I never thought you could do any better. You never were the man I wanted you to be! You will always be a coward!"

Wesley quickly turned on a light and the figure of his father vanished. He saw something move underneath the wall and up to the ceiling. He got up quickly and ran to Spike's door to check on him. Spike opened the door and asked,

"What do you want?"

"Something just attacked me. Is it here?" Wesley asked and barged in.

Wesley searched the apartment and shook his head. There was nothing there. Something was there. Something appeared as his father. Wesley looked at Spike and said,

"Something is here."

Author's Notes: Apologies for the long wait you guys! More to come!