Part 11

      "So, ummm, Pacey, what exactly have you gotten yourself into out in
California?" Joey asked as she looked at her friend, trying to connect the
Pacey that she used to know and the new one that stood in front of her.
"And who are all of your friends?"
      "Oh, I'm sorry, guys," Pacey apologize.  "The young man standing in front
of you is Xander.  The girl next to him, the one I told you was Delia, well
her name is really Faith and she's Xander's girlfriend."  Pacey put his arm
around Cordelia and kissed her cheek.  "This thing of beauty by my side is
the real Cordelia Chase."
      "The one and only," Cordelia added.  "It's nice to finally meet you all.
Pacey has told me a lot about you.  Well, most of you that is."  Cordelia
shot a pointed glance in Andy's direction, as she possessively wrapped her
arm around Pacey and leaned into him.  She knew exactly who the blonde was
and would be damned if she was going to let her do anything to her
relationship with Pacey.
      "Yeah, Pacey told us about you guys, too.  That is, when we actually got to
talk to him," Jenn admonished.  "But it seems that he kept a few things to
himself.  Like just how exactly did you guys know what to do back there."
      "Long story," Willow answered as she, Angel and Dawson walked into the
hotel room.  They had a pretty good idea that this would be where they would
find everyone, considering that the forthcoming conversation was not one
that should be held someplace public.  "And I guess you all waited long
enough to hear it."  Willow looked around the room.  "So, who wants to do
the honors?"
      "Well, since I'm the common factor for everyone, I guess I'll start," Pacey
volunteered.  He waited until Dawson took a seat, joining the other Capeside
residents.    "It all started the night I got to Sunnydale and found out
that the things that go bump in the night were real when a few of the local
troublemakers decided to try and make Willow and I dinner for the evening.
Needless to say, it was an introduction that I will never forget."
      "You mean you discovered vampires were real your first night there?"  Andy
questioned, shocked.  "Why didn't you just turn around and leave then?"
Pacey shrugged his shoulders, not knowing how to really answer that
question.  It was one that he had been asking himself since he had first
arrived in Sunnydale.
      "I can't really say why I didn't leave," he replied.  "Maybe it had
something to do with the fact that I had found a group of people that knew
what was out there and didn't let the darkness win.  They didn't let the
evil that existed take over.  And I'm not just talking vampires, either,
although they do seem to be the predominant force in Sunnydale.  There are
other things.  Demons.  Zombies.  Witches.  And I've been told that it has
been home to at least one werewolf, although he left town before I got
there."
      "Werewolves?"  Dawson croaked in disbelief.  "Werewolves are real and you
had just missed one living in Sunnydale?  Let me guess, he went to your high
school."
      "Actually he did," Cordelia replied.  "He's a musician and his band is
touring right now.  That's why he and Willow broke up."  All eyes turned to
the blushing red head, the group from Capeside having deduced that she was
the Willow that Cordelia was talking about.
      "You dated a werewolf?" Jenn questioned, stunned.  "And I thought the guys
I dated in New York were strange."
      "Hey, he wasn't a werewolf when I first met him," the red head defended.
"Besides, just because someone's a demon, or something, it doesn't
necessarily make them a bad person.  Everyone's got a little evil in them.
It's just that with demons, the evil is a little closer to the surface."
      "Spoken like the true mate of a master vampire, Wills," Xander teased.
Willow stuck her tongue out at her long time friend.
      "Bite me Xander," she shot back.
      "I believe that would be Angel's job, Red," Pacey answered, causing the
group from Sunnydale to laugh and the teenagers from Capeside to look at
them lost, having completely lost track of the conversation after Xander's
comment about master vampires and mates.  "You know how possessive he gets."
      "Almost as possessive as Queen C," Willow smiled sweetly.  This time it was
Cordelia's turn to stick out her tongue.
      "Real mature there, D," Faith chuckled.  "We're really impressing Pacey's
friends with our usual banter."  Everyone from Sunnydale looked sheepish as
they realized that Dawson and the others were completely baffled by what was
going on.
      "How can you guys be so calm after what happened?" Jack asked.  "Vampires
just attacked out high school and here you are, laughing as if it was an
everyday occurrence."
      "That's because it is an everyday occurrence," Willow answered.  "Or, at
least, every other day."
      "Jack, guys, I know that this is a lot to take in, but you have to
understand that for us, what just happened was somewhat normal," Pacey
explained.
      "And Anne?"
      "Buffy," Willow amended.  "Her name is Buffy."  Willow felt Angel take her
in his arms and pull her against him.  "She's the reason we started slaying
vampires in the first place.  She saved me and Xander more times than we can
remember."
      "How?"
      "Well, she's like Faith.  A Vampire Slayer," the hacker continued.  "Her
destiny is to fight the evil that roams the Earth."
      "That is until she decides to run away and hide from her duty and everyone
that cares for her," Cordelia muttered, earning herself a few glares from
her friends.  "What, its true," she defended.  "So, she had to send Angel to
hell, big deal.  Okay, now I can see where that might scar a girl, it isn't
exactly an excuse.  We've all had something happen to us.  That means that
she had the right to declare it open season on humans in Sunnydale.  Please,
I dated Xander and faced the very real possibility of social suicide, but I
didn't back away from it."
      "And once again, Cordelia Chase is tact girl," Xander pointed out.  He
faced the other teens in the room.  "You'll have to forgive Cordelia.  She
tends to just say what she thinks without actually doing the thinking part."
      "Shove it, moron."  Xander puts his hands to his chest, acting as if he had
been shot.
      "Ouch, you've got me," he groaned.  "Your words wound me."  Cordelia just
rolled her eyes at the bickering teens.
      "Guys," Willow said, a mock warning in her voice.  "Cut it out."  Dawson
shook his head as he tried to take in everything that he was being told.
There were a few things that didn't seem to fit, especially the parts that
involved his Anne, or Buffy or whatever name she was going by.  Like the
sending Angel to hell.  And what did they mean by mate to a master vampire?
      "Can I ask a question?" He ventured to ask.  "Why did Anne, I mean, Buffy
have to send Angel to hell?" Willow and Angel looked between each other and
Dawson could tell that he wasn't going to like what he was about to be told.
      "Well, its kind of a long story," Willow started to explain.  Angel just
held her tighter.  "It's something that was in the past and that we don't
have to worry about anymore."  Willow didn't feel the need to go any further
in her explanation, having figured out that the teens from Capeside weren't
quite ready to accept that Angel was a vampire.  They had just learned that
vampires and demons existed, and that their friend Anne was a runaway
Slayer.  There was no need to toss in the fact that one of the men in their
presence was a vampire too.  "For now, though, I think it might be best if
you all went home and tried to get some rest.  You've all had quite a shock
for the evening and I'm sure you must need some rest."
      "Yeah, sleep would definitely be good, that is, if it would come," Jenn
agreed.
      "Pacey, can we talk tomorrow," Joey asked hopefully.  Pacey nodded his
head.
      "You know you don't even have to ask, Potter.  You know where you can find
me," he answered.  "Come on by whenever you want to talk."
      "I'll do that."  Jenn, Joey, and Jack all headed towards the door.  Andy
got up to follow them but stopped as she passed Pacey.
      "Does that invitation include me?"  Pacey looked over at Cordelia.
      "Andy, I.."
      "I know, you're involved with someone else," the blonde replied.  "It's
okay.  I just thought we could talk."
      "I would like that," he smiled.  Andy returned it before joining the
others, leaving only Dawson in the room.  "Dawson, are you going to be
okay?"
      "Sure," he nodded.  "I mean, I just found out that everything I thought was
wrong and that the girl I loved has some major secrets in her past.  Why
wouldn't I be okay?"
      "I'm sorry, Dawson," Pacey apologized.  "I know its alot to take in.  I
didn't exactly plan on you finding out about this whole thing."  Dawson gave
his friend a weak smile.
      "Yeah, well, that's one this we can always expect from you, Witter.  The
unexpected."  Dawson went and joined the others in the hallway.  "I'll talk
to you later."  Pacey nodded and watched as his old friends left the hotel
room, shutting the door behind them.  For some reason, he had the feeling
that he had just shut a door on his old like.
      "Well, that wasn't exactly how we planned it was it?"
 

next