Chapter 4

Unexpected news

Buffy had gone straight to her car as soon as she had hung up. She had called Angel shortly after her conversation with Willow. She knew that if he had taken the trouble to call her, it was not without reason. Courtesy calls weren't his style and she hadn't spoken to him directly since they'd seen each other the day before the final battle against The First. So she had wasted no time and dialed his number. She remembered their conversation.

"Angel, it's Buffy. Did you call Willow?"

"Yes, well, I thought it was you who would pick up."

"I'm at work now, but since she told me you called, I decided to call you back straight away."

"I told her it wasn't a matter of life and death."

"She told me, but if you called, it's not without reason, is it?"

"..."

"Angel?"

"Yeah, uh, actually it's because I wanted to tell you something."

"Yeah?"

"Uh…"

"Angel, what's going on?"

"Well… I know we haven't spoken in a while… since the day before the apocalypse actually and… I know that people you cared about didn't survive."

"Yes, there were several Potentials, Anya, Spike,…"

"That's why I'm calling."

"For condolences?"

"No! I mean… It's about Spike I'm calling."

Buffy had been speechless for a few seconds. "Well… he's dead, Angel. He wanted to stay when everything was falling apart. He must have been disintegrated while the necklace you gave me destroyed all our enemies. If it's to get the necklace back, I'm sorry but it's gonna be hard. Sunnydale is nothing more than a huge crater!"

"It's not for the necklace. It's just… something unexpected happened. Spike… he came back."

"What do you mean he came back?"

"He's back, Buffy."

"..."

"Buffy?"

"Yeah… I… I'm here. How is that possible, Angel?"

"I don't know! All I know is that he showed up at my office a month ago."

Angel hadn't been able to see her but if he had, he would have noticed that she was even paler than him.

"What do you want me to do?" She had asked him.

"I… Nothing. I just thought you should know. It's partly thanks to him that we're still here today after all."

"You're right…"

"Angel! We need you right now!" She had suddenly heard through the phone of her interlocutor.

"What's happening?" She had asked.

"I have to go, an important meeting. If you wanna come by my office in Los Angeles, I'll explain in more detail."

"I don't know if…"

"He won't be there."

"Alright. I'm coming."

She was still waiting in her car, stuck in traffic for a good half hour already. Why did she want to come immediately? Besides, she didn't know if she wanted to see the bleached vampire again. Of course she wanted to see him again! She was just stunned by the news and didn't really know how to react. Why hadn't he come to see her if he had come back? Maybe he didn't know where she was… Maybe he had other things to do…

"Seriously, what's with this city!"

She looked at her watch: 6:30 p.m. If this continued, she was going to arrive after the closing hours and Angel would be gone! No, he lived just above his office, there would be no problem… Unless he had moved without telling her! After all, she hadn't told him she'd moved in here… She'd just texted him some news right after the victory… She'd felt too tired to call him at that moment and she didn't have another opportunity.

She had to wait another 20 minutes before finally seeing the building where Angel worked. She parked quickly and strode through the swinging entrance doors. She headed towards reception where a young woman was sorting scattered papers on her desk.

"Hello, excuse me, I'm looking for Angel. I know it's a little late but we were supposed to meet."

"We don't close before 9 p.m., don't worry," the employee replied. "I'll go get him. Who shall I say is here?"

"Buffy."

"Just Buffy?"

"Yes, it's Buffy Summers but he'll know."

"Alright. You can sit down, I'll be back."

"Thank you."

Buffy chose a chair in the corner of the hall and sat down. The room was quite large and there was no one. She felt tiny in this immensity. She leaned back in her chair and thought about her conversation with Angel again.

Spike was alive! It was… incredible! It was a miracle, even! She had been affected by his death despite the happiness after their victory. She hadn't talked about it too much despite the fact that it might have seemed obvious to be saddened by the death of a person who had helped them fight, even if it was a vampire. A bond had formed between the Slayer and him just before his death. A bond that she couldn't describe and didn't want to share. No one would have understood. It had been useless since he was dead anyway. Until today…

She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Angel call out to her. She stood up, grinned, and naturally took him in her arms. She was always happy to see him.

"I missed you, you know," he said, taking a step back.

"I missed you too, Angel. I'm sorry I haven't called in all this time…"

"Don't worry, I didn't call either." He led her towards the elevator and pressed the button for the penultimate floor. "We're going to my office. It'll be better to talk up there."

"Okay."

"You came quickly," he noticed.

"Yeah, I… I wasn't very far."

"Were you traveling for work? At this time, traffic jams are usually terrible."

"I got lucky."

Why hadn't she told him that she lived ten miles away? She preferred to avoid the question and focused on the passing floors.

The elevator doors finally opened onto a long, dimly lit corridor. They walked for a few moments and Angel stopped in front of one of the many doors. He took a key out of his pocket and turned it in the lock then invited Buffy inside. She discovered a large room with dark colors. A desk was in the corner. All the walls were hidden by large shelves full of books and many chests were on the floor. They probably contained weapons. Suddenly, a detail struck Buffy. A whole section of the room was illuminated by the last rays of the sun passing through a huge bay window.

"Angel! The window!"

"Don't worry," the vampire replied as he had figured out her surprise, "We have special windows throughout the building. They prevent ultraviolet rays from passing through."

"Oh! I never thought about that."

"The view is much nicer now." He smiled quickly and she did the same. "You can sit on the couch if you want."

He pointed something behind her and Buffy turned around. She discovered a small corner sofa on her left that she hadn't noticed when she arrived. She took off her coat and placed it on her knees as she sat down. Angel came to join her and sat down next to her. She hadn't changed. She was as beautiful as ever. Yet he noticed a hint of anguish deep in her eyes and he wondered.

"Is everything okay, Buffy?"

"Yes, yes. It's just… your call really confused me. I didn't expect that."

"Makes sense," he replied, smiling. "I had trouble believing my own eyes at first."

"So… how is he?"

"Fine. Well, I think. He doesn't talk much about how he feels. He was never very talkative about it; you must have noticed. Besides, I'm not good at that either so…"

Buffy looked down. At one point, one of the only things Spike said to her was how he felt about her. She looked back at Angel. He didn't seem to have noticed her confusion and continued.

"Still, he seems to be doing better. Now he has returned to a more or less normal life, he's starting to go out again. Before, he didn't want to."

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"He was saying you were too close." The young woman frowned and Angel kept on, "It was weird. Sometimes he'd go out and then come running back saying that he had seen you, that you shouldn't see him… That was really odd behavior. Even more than usual, I mean."

Buffy's heart sank. Could it be that Spike saw her? After all, she still came out at night and even patrolled sometimes, although demonic activity had notably decreased since the destruction of Sunnydale.

"Is that why he hasn't tried to contact us? He doesn't want to see me?"

"I think so."

"Angel, why did you tell me he came back if he doesn't wanna see me?" Buffy asked suddenly.

"You didn't wanna know?"

"I did, of course, but… If I can't see him, it's… it's almost worse," she said, looking at her hands.

"Worse than what?"

Buffy raised her head to meet Angel's eyes. She didn't want to expose her feelings so that he would make fun of her or worse, lecture her. She hesitated to confide but she didn't see any trace of anger. She decided to continue then.

"Worse than when I thought he was dead," she whispered. "I know that some really weird things happened between him and me but… when he came back with his soul, I saw he had changed. We got closer and… Well, we got closer in a friendly way, I mean. Nothing happened between us," she insisted, "But…"

"But he was in your heart."

They looked at each other intensely, Angel with cold eyes and Buffy a little embarrassed that he remembered what she had said. At that moment, Angel understood that she no longer completely belonged to him despite the kiss they had shared. Sure, there had been Riley, but he was a regular man. He was with the good guys and he knew why Buffy had been attracted to him. She had needed to start a healthy romance that would have been more viable than a relationship with a 200-year-old vampire.

But Spike was none of that. On the contrary, he was like him, a vampire who had been bloodthirsty. A vampire who had killed two Slayers, a vampire who…

"I miss him, I can admit that," Buffy said softly, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Angel stood up. His heart was heavy. "It's getting late. You should stay here tonight. Maybe Spike will change his mind and you'll be able to see him."

"Thanks. But… Angel, why are you doing this? I thought you hated him."

"I can't say that I like him, but… I know he was important to you so…"

Buffy smiled thankfully before exclaiming, "Oh my God, what time is it?"

"Um… It's after 8 p.m. Why?"

"I told Willow and Xander to expect me at my house at 7 p.m.! I completely forgot!"

"Call them now. Here's the phone."

"Thanks." She approached the desk, picked up the receiver and dialed her home number.

Can you tell how old this story is?

I think I started writing in 2007 and home phones were still a thing! Even though this is a series of the late 90s, it feels strange now!