Buffy looked at her watch. It was almost 1:30 a.m. She’d been here since five the previous morning. She enjoyed her new job more than she ever thought she would, but it required her to often times put in many hours. Giles had been right; training new slayers was tough. They were loud, rude, and never listened. Some were amazing students, but others made Faith look like an honor student. Ever since the final battle in Sunnydale, over 5 years ago, it had been the mission of Rupert Giles to rebuild the watchers council. It had taken him around two years to get everything ready. Being the only watcher left, he’d received access to all of their bank accounts, so money was not an issue. He’d not only rebuilt the council headquarters, but had built a “school” of sorts for slayers and up and coming witches. Lots of girls attended every summer, and those who were out of high school stayed year round. All new slayers were tracked down and encouraged to attend. New watchers were hired to teach slayers about their history and power. Buffy herself was in charge of training. She used the large training room that made hers at the Magic Box look like a closet, and sometimes took the girls on “field trips” so they could get the feel of fighting real vamps. Others were hired to help her, but Giles required paperwork that apparently only she could do. Thus, she was still at the school when she should be home in bed with her fiancé.
After his battle with the Senior Partners of Wolfram and Hart, Angel had gotten the Shanshu prophecy she’d always hoped that he would. He had been human for going on four years. Not long after he’d undergone his change, he had come straight to England to find Buffy. To say she was shocked was an understatement, but she’d eventually gotten over it and found herself back in his arms again. It was like a dream come true. It was everything she’d ever wanted and for once it seemed like things were going to work out for her. They’d gotten engaged about a year ago and the wedding was now only two weeks away. Along with work, she’d also been busy planning the day she never thought she would get to have. Dawn was helping out, demanding they have all of the traditional things at their wedding. Buffy just stepped aside and let her have her fun. The day itself wasn’t that important to her, it was the marriage she was looking forward to. Slayers never really got the chance to get married and have a life, but now that there were hundreds of them out there, it seemed that happiness was possible, even for her.
Angel worked for the council as well. Out of all the jobs he could have, he had become somewhat of a history teacher. It was pretty easy for him, though, considering he had been there for a lot of it. He could also give some good insight into the minds of vampires. He occasionally helped Buffy with training, but since becoming human, most of the newbies were stronger than him. It was a price he had been willing to pay to finally be with Buffy. He had come to realize that she didn’t need him to protect her and he was learning to live with being much weaker than her. He’d also built a stronger relationship with Willow, Dawn, and Giles. Xander still had little to no interest in bonding with the ex-vampire, but they did tolerate each other a lot more than they used to.
Xander had become a watcher for the council, along with Dawn. They often worked together and had formed a special bond in the past few years. It was never romantic, but they often depended on each other a lot more than they did others. Xander was dating Nora, one of the newer slayers to the program. Her boldness reminded him of Anya. He still missed the former love of his life, but he tried not to think about that too much. For almost a year after the final battle in Sunnydale, he’d avoided the subject, but finally Dawn had gotten him to talk about it. She’d grown a lot in five years. No longer a teenager, she had become a lot like her sister. She was strong and independent and of course she was stubborn. She was the youngest watcher in the school, but Ravina, her slayer, seemed to respect her. And on top of all of that, she got to wear heels almost everyday.
Willow and Kennedy had broken up not long after they’d moved to England. The slayer had wanted adventure and the year they spent in South America had not been enough for her. She’d moved back to her mansion, leaving Willow to work with the council alone. But the years since had brought her another girlfriend. Her name was Alice. She was another slayer, but a lot more like Tara than Kennedy. She was shy around those she didn’t know, but still loved to go out and have a good time. And the most important thing was that she made the witch happier than she had been in a long time.
The lives of the Scooby gang had all changed, and most all for the better. Their lives were finally taking on a bit of normal; especially Buffy’s. She only slayed when she felt like it and got to spend weekends and most week nights at home. Which is where she wanted to be right now.
“Ms. Summers?”
Buffy looked up at the voice coming from the door. “Hey Mandy. Come on in.”
The young girl entered the room and walked up to the desk. “Mr. Giles just wanted me to ask you how much you had left to do.”
The slayer looked down at her desk. “Too much to think about.”
“Actually, he wanted me to tell you to get your ‘arse’ home.”
Buffy laughed. “Okay, you don’t have to tell me twice.” She closed the folder on her desk and stood up. A wave of tiredness came over her and she ran a hand over her face. She let out a groan.
“What’s wrong?” Mandy asked.
“I’m just so tired. I don’t even know if I can make it home.” Her car was parked downstairs, and she’d finally gotten the hang of driving on the wrong side of the road, but her house was a good twenty minutes from here and she felt like she could pass out at any minute.
“Well, I could send you. I’ve been working on this teleportation spell, and I’m getting really good at it. Yesterday, I popped Erica out of the closet when she locked herself in there.”
“I don’t think so, Mandy.”
Mandy was among the young witches that attended the school. Willow was the head of the department, but a lot of the girls hadn’t done much more than levitate pencils, and Buffy wasn’t crazy about the idea of a beginner witch doing a spell on her.
“Please Buffy. I know I can do it. And you said it yourself, you’re too tired to drive, and it would take too long to walk…”
Something about the look on the girls face made it hard to turn her down. And she was really really tired. And walking home, she could run into vampires or any number of demons she would have to fight.
“And you did the spell already…on someone else?”
“Yeah, and it went great.”
Buffy sighed. “Okay fine. But if I lose any body parts, you are so expelled.
The girl made a squealing sound and Buffy cringed.
“You won’t regret this.”
“I hope not,” the slayer muttered to herself.
“Okay, all you have to do is stand there. You may want to get away from any furniture… just in case.”
Buffy raised her eyebrows and started to tell the girl never mind.
“It’ll be fine…trust me.”
Though she still wasn’t totally convinced, she didn’t feel like arguing. “Let’s get this over with, then.” She moved to the center of the room and crossed her arms. “Now what’s this spell you’re going to do?”
“All I have to do is repeat the spell and then say where I'm sending you. I do have to be specific though, so where do you wanna go?”
“How about into my bed?”
“Snuggling up with your honey?” Mandy asked with a smile.
“Yeah sure.”
The girl nodded. “Alright then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Buffy nodded and Mandy proceeded to speak in Latin, a language Buffy had yet to learn.
“Elsirius, heed my call, send Buffy Summers into the arms of the man who loves her most in this world.”
Smoke poured into the room and a bright light flashed. When the smoke cleared, Buffy was gone. Mandy smiled and looked around the office. Her spell had worked. She headed for the door, turning off the office lights on her way out.
-----------------------------
Buffy felt herself drifting slowly back into consciousness. The first thing her brain registered was the feeling on a hand on her bare back and a chest under her head. Without opening her eyes, she knew it was daylight. But it was also Saturday and that meant she didn’t have to get up yet since it seemed Angel wasn’t awake yet either. She snuggled into him and took a deep breath.
And suddenly she felt it. A familiar feeling; a familiar smell. But not Angel. She placed her hand on the bare chest and pushed herself up. When she saw his face, her eyes widened and she sat frozen in place.
‘What the hell is going on?’ she thought to herself.
His eyes opened suddenly, and he looked up at her with confusion all over his face.
“Buffy?”
“Spike…”
------------------
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!