And it's another new thing. This one just came to me one night and I just kept writing.
DISCLAIMER: My name is Lynsey, not Joss. I do own Jersey (and yes, I borrowed the name from Coyote Ugly).
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: Mentions of the whole B/A canon, including Forever
TIMELINE: about sixty years in the future
SUMMARY: POV of Buffy and Angel's granddaughter, she makes a discovery
DISTRIBUTION: If you already have my permission, go ahead, anyone else, LMK first.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't know if I necessarily like this one all that much, but I didn't want to stop for fear I might lose it.

I closed my grandmother's diary. Buffy Summers, she had been a slayer, too. The Slayer. My grandmother was the longest living and most powerful slayer to live. But the most amazing part wasn't that she was a slayer, too, but that my grandfather had been a vampire. My watcher, James, had often told stories of a young blond girl. The slayer over fifty years ago. He never spoke her name or the name of her vampire lover, but the stories he told were identical to the ones chronicled in my grandmother's diary. I picked the diary up again, stroking the cover, suddenly feeling closer than I had ever felt to my grandma. She wasn't just some relative who had lived as a teenager sixty years ago, but she had lived the same nightmare I was living now.

Then I was confused. How could I be the slayer now if Gram was still alive? I went back down to my room, put the diary into my purse, and grabbed my keys. Mom and Dad were both at work, they wouldn't mind if I drove up to visit my grandparents. Scribbling them a note telling them I had an assignment to do dealing with Gram and Grandpa and that I would call them later that night when I knew when I was going to be home.

I climbed into my car and pulled out of the driveway, trying to think of how I was going to talk about this to them.

'Hey Gram, guess what? Slayer blood runs in the family!' Gram would keel over right there. I sighed, getting on the freeway entrance and drove to Sunnydale.

* * * * *

I was standing in front of the house that my grandparents lived in. Both, well, I was told that both were nearly eighty years old even though I had really no idea how old Grandpa was. They had been living in this house for as long as I could remember. It was one of those old houses that looked like it had been standing since the Mexicans had claim over California. Very Spanish with old ivy vines growing up the sides of the walls and the sun hitting the red tiled roof making them even redder. Though the grass was carefully clipped behind the old iron fence, the yard still had the air of wild freedom to it. I walked up to the huge oak door and knocked.

The door was opened by Grandpa, still tall and handsome after all his years.

"Jersey!" he said, surprised to see me. He hugged me and looked at me, questioning me with his brown eyes as the wrinkles around them crinkled up as he smiled. He didn't look eighty.

"Hi, Grandpa," I said. He opened the door wider for me so I could step inside. I'd never noticed before how open the house was. Lots of windows for the sun to shine through. "Is Gram here?"

"Yeah, she's upstairs. I'll go get her," he replied moving up the stairs quickly, but carefully. He was still an old man. I moved around through the corridor while I waited.

"Jersey!" Gram said as she came down the stairs followed by Grandpa. Still spry and small, Gram didn't look eighty either. Her green eyes hadn't faded at all with age as they still sparkled with laughter.

"Hey Gram," I said hugging her and kissing her cheek. "I was wondering if I could talk to you both?"

"Of course, sweetie. What about?" I looked at her, remembering the old pictures of her and Grandpa when they were so much younger, of them holding their newborn daughter, smiling in the camera. I followed her them out to the courtyard where the garden was in full bloom and the sun was shining down upon us. They sat down across from me, taking the others' wrinkled old hand and watching me with curiosity.

"I was up in the attic earlier today, just looking through mom and dad's old things, curious," I began. Gram chuckled.

"Just like you, Angel. Entirely too occupied with the past," she said, teasing her husband and he rolled his eyes at her. I never realized how tan Grandpa's skin was until now.

"I found this in an old trunk," I said, pulling out the diary. It caught both their eyes as they looked at it. I watched them as a look of sadness swept through both of their eyes.

"And you want to know about everything I wrote in that book, don't you?"

"No. I wanted to ask you how to survive. A year ago I was called," I said quietly. A look of despair and anger passed over my grandfather's features as I sat quietly. Gram hadn't moved since I told them. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie." Grandpa looked at her, a sadness I had never seen before in his eyes as he wiped her tears.

"It's a very long story, Jersey," Grandpa said hesitantly. "Not very happy for a very long time."

"I want to know," I said gently, "but if you can't... I understand." Gram shook her head and wiped her eyes.

"No. You need to know," she said determined, "And as soon as we've told you, I want you to call your watcher. Tell him to come here." I nodded. "Angel, you should start. You're older." Grandpa laughed.

"I was born in 1727...."

* * * * *

I sat aghast looking at him. My grandfather was over 300 years old. Everything he had told me about his life and his unlife, before Gram, was whirling in my brain. My great-grandfather, a blond woman named Darla in an alley, my great-aunt Cathy, Angelus, "The Scourge of Europe," "The One with the Angelic Face," Drusilla, Spike, gypsies, curses, souls, rats, the Boxer Rebellion, New York alleys, Whistler, and the day he saw Gram. There were things about him that I couldn't believe... my grandfather, one of the most gentle men on the planet, torturing people. For fun.

"Jersey," he said softly, "that was a demon. It's not me. He hasn't been in me for a very long time. And as much as I hated him, being a part of a demon, he led me to Buffy and without her, neither of us would be here." I nodded, still feeling slightly numb about who he had been, but understood.

"Alright, it's my turn now. I was born in 1981, but I wasn't called until 1996...."

* * * * *

"And then he walked away from me. Every part of my being was screaming not to let him go, but I had to let him. We needed time," Gram explained, tears threatening to spill from her green eyes as they been doing since she began her story.

I smiled at her, tears threatening to spill from my own swollen eyes. "Cryptic Guy," Xander, Willow, The Three, staking Darla, dying, kissing in the cemetery, Kendra, her seventeenth birthday, Jenny Calender, Acathla, hell, running away, Faith, Christmas snow, Prom, Graduation.

"Then what?" I prodded.

"Then came the growing. College, mistakes, brain tumors, keys, Dawn, a boy named Riley Finn...," Gram replied.

"Not to mention apartments blowing up, friends dying, visions, days being erased, prophecies, sires being raised from the depths of hell, epiphanies...," Grandpa interrupted.

And so came the rest of the story.

* * * * *

"But then what? You were still a vampire when you stopped... ," I prodded. He nodded. Gram smiled.

"We're getting there," she answered. "We're getting there."

* * * * *

Fifty Years Earlier, New York City

It was her twenty-seventh birthday. Ten years since the only night that she and Angel had together. It still hurt remembering the days and months after that night no matter how many years passed. It had been a long time since she had seen him, nearly five years. There hadn't been that much contact in the two years after he left Sunnydale either. After he had come just to hold her after her mother's funeral things had been better between them. Much better. The next two years were filled with friendship and contact. When they needed help, they didn't hesitate. They were friends and friends helped each other.

He never liked her boyfriends and she never liked his girlfriends. He had started dating again after a while. He needed to and even though he always told them about the girl he had left because he loved her, they were willing.

But then she graduated. And they parted ways again. Graduation it seemed would always part them.

She sighed and looked out the window. The New York skyline, it was a fascinating sight. It had always intrigued her. She'd been here since she graduated, working and still slaying. The latest slayer had taken over in Sunnydale and everyone had practically forced this job in New York on her. So she packed up her life and boarded the plane while everyone watched and waved goodbye. And she hadn't gone back since. They had come to her instead. Except Angel. His life had gone on in Los Angeles and every time he had tried to come, some great catastrophe had occurred and he missed his plane. And then they just stopped.

She sighed again as she poured herself a glass of wine, taking the birthday cards over to the couch to read through them again. Xander and Anya, Willow, Tara, Cordelia and Gunn, Oz, Giles, Wesley, Dawn... such a myriad of people sending her birthday wishes. All except him. He hadn't sent her a card or at least it hadn't gotten there yet. Which to her meant it wasn't coming. It had always arrived a day early in the past.

"Happy Birthday, Buffy," she whispered to herself, watching the snowflakes falling on the city.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buffy stretched her arms, another birthday gone and she could keep moving. It was only on her birthday that she really thought of Angel anymore.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Six Months Later, Los Angeles

Angel scratched his head, there wasn't anything he could think of to do. There was a demon. A big one. And for some reason it had set its sights on his current girlfriend, Bianca. She was currently sleeping upstairs in one of the hotel rooms having been awake all night, terrified that she was going to be killed. He heard the door open and then slam shut. Footsteps approached and then a figure stood in the doorway.

"Dawn?" he asked as he watched Buffy's younger sister standing in the doorway.

"Angel," she replied, "I just got off the phone with Buffy. Well, not just got off because I had to drive up here, but I talked to her." He nodded his head, suggesting her to continue. "She just broke up with Steve. Then she started ranting on about how you didn't send her a birthday card this year. Who knows why she's bringing that up now, but I don't think she's doing very well with this break up."

"Why?" he questioned.

"I, well, I don't know. Sisterly thing, ya know? I think she misses you," she answered.

"I miss her. I'll always miss her, but there are things... ," he stopped, watching the figure behind Dawn come into the room.

"Hey," Bianca said drowsily.

"Hey. You feel better?" Angel asked as she sat down on the corner of his desk.

"Little bit," she shrugged. He smiled at her and turned his attention back to Dawn, who was glaring bitterly at Bianca.

"I wish I could go out, Dawn, but there are things here... ," he began.

"I know. All these things that are too important to do. You haven't seen her in five years. I know you're busy, but I think she really needs a friend right now," Dawn snapped.

"Buffy... ," Bianca drawled. Angel nodded at her absentmindedly.

"Dawn... ," he said, but Dawn rolled her eyes and stalked out of the room, slamming the front door.

"Is Buffy okay?" Bianca asked.

"She just broke up with her boyfriend," he answered.

"Oh... ," she replied. She just watched him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Angel stood outside of her apartment building. It had been a long time since he'd been in New York. It seemed even longer since he had seen her.

* * * * *

"Why did you stop?" I demanded. Gram was smiling mischievously at me.

"It's nearly ten o'clock, Jersey. You need to call your mom. I may still be her mother, but she'll skin me alive if she knows that I didn't make you call," Gram said.

"Right. Oh, okay. I'll call her," I laughed. I ran inside the house so I could get back sooner to hear the rest of the story.

"JERSEY!" my mother yelled into the phone as soon as she picked it up.

"Hi, mom," I said meekly.

"What are you doing there? Why didn't you call sooner? When are you coming home?" she asked, firing the questions at me. Then a hand touched my shoulder and I jumped a mile.

"Grandpa!" I screamed.

"Let me talk to your mother," he laughed. He took the phone away and I went into the family room where Gram had moved from outside.

"Isa, honey, relax. Jersey is fine... Isabelle... Isabelle... I think you need to come up here," he said, "Fine. Jersey?" I came back and took the phone as he went back to Gram laughing.

"You're staying the night since it's Friday night. We're coming up tomorrow morning because Grandpa said that we needed to," my mother said to me.

"Okay," I sighed, glad that I didn't have to leave right away so I could hear the rest of the story. I hung up the phone and went back into the room. I glared at Grandpa.

"I'm the slayer, you scared the crap out of me!" Gram laughed.

"Honey, your grandfather spent over 250 years lurking silently in the dark. He managed to get me every time."

"Oh," I muttered, still embarrassed that he'd scared me.

"Jersey, do your parents know?" Gram asked.

"No," I laughed, "James said secret identity is to be secret." Gram breathed deep, taking this in.

"Angel, finish the story. After I need to talk to Jersey for a minute," she replied.

* * * * *

He went to ring the bell when someone walked out of the building. He caught the door and moved in quickly. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of 8C, her apartment. Then he knocked and waited. He took an unneeded breath as the door swung open.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There was a knock on the door. She moved to answer it and as she swung the door open and saw who was standing there, her breath caught.

"Hi," he said, smiling nervously.

"Angel, hi," she replied, "Come in."

"Thanks."

"Not that I'm not glad to see you, but why are you here?" she questioned.

"Dawn came to visit me about a week ago. She was worried about you, said I needed to come visit," he replied, "And give you this." He handed her something and as she took it, tears filled her eyes.

"Thank you," she smiled.

"I'm sorry it's so late, but happy birthday," he said wiping her tears away. She laughed. After they talked for hours, like they used to. And Buffy felt herself falling into a familiar place of safety she had with Angel.

"I miss you, Angel. I've been missing you for nine years," she said softly. He sighed, holding her hand.

"I know," he smiled a bittersweet smile at her. He looked out the window and then at the clock. "I need to go. The sun's going to rise and I'm sure you have things to do."

"Yeah, okay," she replied. He got up and hugged her and left. She sighed and let him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The rain was pouring down her office window and she couldn't sit there any longer. It was time for lunch anyway. She grabbed her umbrella and headed outside. She pushed the glass door open to find Angel standing there in the rain, droplets falling from his hair as he watched her.

"Angel... ," she began.

"Buffy, I miss you, too. I've been missing you for nine years and I don't know that I can handle it anymore. I just love you," he said softly. He moved to her as she dropped her umbrella, letting the rain soak through her cloths, and kissed her. As they kissed the clouds opened up and the sun shined on them. Buffy broke apart and smiled and then realized what was happening.

"Angel! The sun... and you're not dust... ," she said slowly. He nodded, amazed, realizing what was happening. Buffy put her hand to his chest and felt the steady thump of his heartbeat. She looked up and smiled.

"Your heart's beating," she whispered.

"I know," he whispered back.

* * * * *

"And you lived happily ever after?" I asked, the hopeless romantic in me coming out.

"Actually, no. It took nearly three more years for us to finally be together. After being hurt so many times, we were both scared no matter who much we had loved each other and still did," Gram told me, "but in the end, it was how it was always meant to be."

* * * * *

Grandpa had gone to bed and Gram and I were sitting on the couch.

"Jersey, honey, you asked me how to survive," she began, "and then you said that your secret identity was still secret. That's not it."

"But... ," I interrupted.

"Someone, Spike no less, once told me, 'the only reason you've lasted as long as you have is, you've got ties to the world.' And I know that you have your mom and dad, but let me guess, as soon as you found out that you were a superhero, all of your friends stopped hanging out with you and there was only responsibility?" she asked. I thought about it for a minute and nodded.

"Kendra died because she was all business. Faith died because she was all play. And all the girls after her, they died because they didn't have the right balance either," Gram said, holding my hand, "I won't pretend that I had the right balance, Jersey, but it worked for me better than it worked for anyone else. And I don't want to lose you."

* * * * *

I was lying in the bed that used to be my mother's, thinking about everything they had told me; everything they had been through. Suddenly I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to keep the promise I had made to Gram just hours ago. I didn't want them to lose me either.

* * * * *

I woke up to voices downstairs and automatically recognized them to be my parents and grandparents. 'Oh, boy,' I thought to myself, 'here comes the fun part.' I climbed out of bed and padded out of the room, to the kitchen where everyone was waiting.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Gram said. I smiled and tried to tame the mess of hair I had on my head.

"So, daddy, why exactly did we need to come up here?" Mom asked. Dad looked at me, questioning me with his eyes.

"That's something that Jersey needs to tell you," Grandpa answered and they all turned to face me. I sat down at the table, slumping in my chair.

"This wouldn't be happening if you all had just told me everything in the first place," I muttered.

"Honey, don't mutter," Dad said.

"Why didn't you tell me about them?" I asked Mom.

"What... ? What do you mean?" she replied.

"Slayer, vampire," I answered, pointing to Gram and then Grandpa.

"How... when... uh... ," she sputtered.

"I was called a year ago, Mom. I'm the slayer," I said quietly, "I came to ask Gram how she survived."

"She found my old dairy, Isa, it couldn't be helped," Gram replied. Mom looked like she was going to pass out.

"Who's your watcher?" she asked.

"James Gunn," I answered. Everyone looked at me, shocked.

"Cordy and Gunn's boy," Grandpa laughed, "Well, I'll be."

* * * * *

"Why didn't you tell me?" I cried as I opened the door for my watcher.

"I was instructed not to, Jersey," he replied.

"But they're my grandparents. You always talked about 'the slayer' and 'the vampire with soul.' You didn't tell me that your parents knew them either," I snapped.

"Jersey, I wanted to tell you. I thought you should know, but the council told me not to," he said calmly.

"But you always talked about 'the watcher' like you wanted to be just like him. Giles didn't give a damn about the council," I retorted.

"Yes, I know, but now that you do know what else can I say? I'm sorry."

"Gram and Grandpa would like to talk to you," I replied. His eyes opened wide.

"What?"

"They want to talk to you. What, your parents were good friends of theirs', what's the problem?"

"I haven't seen them since my parents died, when I was twenty, Jersey. Over twenty years ago. I didn't know who they were until I joined the council which was later that year," he sputtered.

"How did your parents die, James?" I asked quietly.

"They were attacked by a demon," he replied softly. I nodded and smiled at him.

"Come on, they won't bite. Well, Grandpa doesn't anymore," I teased.

* * * * *

Gram hugged him and Grandpa shook his hand, "Your parents were some of the best friends I ever had," he told him. And then they quizzed him on battle tactics and demonology.

"You have to keep her alive," my mother whispered to him. He nodded.

I didn't plan on going anywhere. I had Slayer's blood in me; vampire blood in me, too. I was going to survive.

Well... what did you think? Did it totally suck? I'm trying to get myself back into the fic mode...

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