Prologue 2001
 

Spike had been with Willow since she had found out that she was going to ha ve a
baby.  He had been the only one in Sunnydale who would talk to her, ev eryone else had
turned their backs on her.  Buffy, Xander, Anya, Giles and even Tara h ad all walked
away from her in total disgust.
In her desperation she had turned to the one person who hadn't turned her away, she
turned to Spike.
Spike had been supportive of the young witch and her un-born child, he had  always
doted on Willow, and in his own way had tried to look out for her. He was t he center
of her world, her life line.
Spike had taken her out of Sunnydale and to LA where they had spent her rem aining
time until the baby was born.
The first stop they had made was to see Angel, and see if he could help in  any way.
At first Angel had been shocked to see his childe and Willow, Willow was st arting to
show her small bump.
Cordelia wasn't surprised when she was told of the reactions of Buffy and the rest of
them, she never really liked Buffy all that much, she had just put up with  her for
the sake of her and Xanders relationship.  She had however liked the r ed head in her
own way.  She wasn't a selfish brat like Buffy had been towards the  end of Cordelias
life in Sunnydale.
Wesley had been surprised by the reaction given to Willow by the former Wat cher
Giles, he had
thought that he would have protected Willow instead of effectively telling  her to
leave and not come back.

At first Angel had not trusted Spike with Willow but soon changed his mind  when he
saw the look of pure love the vampire had given Willow when he had felt the baby
kicking.  The look of sheer happiness made something inside the older  vampire melt.
He knew that Spike had found his true soulmate in Willow and was happy for  them both.

Angel had helped Spike and Willow somewhere nice to live, and had given the m both
jobs With Angel Investigations.  Willow worked alongside Cordelia in t he office,
researching and office work. And Spike worked alongside his sire and Wesley .

Six months later at 5.22am Jessica Willa Rossen was born.  She entered the world with
a loud yell.
 

Part One. 2017

Willow walked into the apartment that she shared with her daughter Jessica  and Spike,
they had been there for 17 years that year, and had been happy there until  today.
Today was the day when Willows world would come crashing down and painful s ecrets
would see the light of day.

"Jess are you here?"
Willow walked into her room which she shared with Spike and found Jessica s at on the
floor looking at a photograph.

"Where did you find that?" Willow asked Jessica angrily.

"I was looking for something, but I found this.  Who are these peopl e?"

"People who used to be my friends. Before I moved here with Spike."

"Would you tell me about them please, you never talk about your old life. Why do we
never see them?"

"I think we should wait until Spike gets back from the office."

Willow wasn't sure how to tell Jessica about her past, and she didn't w ant to tell
her about her father either.  She knew that this day would come, but s he had wanted
to tell her story when she was ready, not when she was forced into telling  the
painful secret that would now come to light.
She just hoped that Jessica wouldn't hate her and Spike for keeping the s ecret of her
fathers identity.

"Okay but Mom why do you look so sad?"

"Its just I am remembering why we left our old home, that's all sweethe art."

Willow jumped when she heard the front door opening.

"I`m back girls, where are you?"

Jessica flew into Spikes arms as he walked into the room.  She covered him in kisses.

"Hey not that I`m not happy to see you but whats with all the kisses my l ittle one?"

"Nothing just glad to see you home. I missed you today."

"I missed you too my little one."

Spike put his adopted daughter down and looked at his mate.

"Whats wrong Willow?"

"Its time to tell Jess why we left, and the other thing we have kept hidd en so long."

Spike had known this day would come, and he was ready for it.  He had  been preparing
for this day for the last 16 years.
 

Part 2

"What do you want to know about our previous lives honey?" Willow never wanted to
tell Jessica about anything that had happened in Sunnydale, sure Jessica kn ew all
about Spike and Angel being Vampires, and she knew about Willow being a wit ch, but
the story that was going to be told to the girl would shock her somewhat.
"I would like to know who is in the picture, and what they all meant to y ou.  I know
that Uncle Angel went out with a Slayer once, and that Uncle Wesley was onc e a
Watcher, but who are the others?"

The others were Xander, Anya, Oz, Buffy, Riley and Giles.  Jessicas fa ther was in the
picture, and it had awoken painful memories for both Willow and Spike.

Willow watched as the pain of the memories washed over Spike, he was rememb ering all
the things that had gone on over the years they had all fought the demons a nd the
evil that had surrounded them all on the Hellmouth.

"Jess luv, there are some things that you might not want to hear, but to  fully
understand your Mothers reasoning you must try and understand one thing."

"Whats that Spike?"

Spike went over to Jessica and put his arm around her shoulders. He loved h is adopted
daughter so much at times it hurt him, it was killing him inside to know th at the one
thing that he and Willow had tried to protect her from was finally going to come
out.  He wanted to make it as easy as possible for all of them, but he had a feeling
that it wasn92t going to be easy as both the women involved had a temper t o rival his
own.

"That the Hellmouth was a bad place, worse than LA.  Your Mother and I were lucky to
get out in one piece."

"I want to know about it, I need to , I`m sorry if it hurts you to talk a bout it, but
please.  I feel like a part of my life is missing, and you both have t he key to that
missing part."

Willow had known that there was a piece of Jessica that was missing and now she was
going to get that part of her life.

"Jessica I hope that when I am through telling you about our lives before you I truly
hope that you still love us as much as you do now, there has been a secret  that I
have been hiding from you and it is painful, but you know that I would do a nything
for you.  I love you Jessica, more than you could ever know."

"I know Mom, and you have my love forever,"  She looked over to Sp ike.  "As do you
Spike."

"Shall we begin ladies?"
Spike looked at the two things in his un-life that had kept him going for a ll these
years, and smiled at them both knowing the pain that was about to be un-lea shed on
them all. Willow moved over to where Spike and Jessica were sat and made he rself
comfortable for the long
emotional journey they were all about to begin.  It had taken 16 years , but the day
was finally here, the day when the truth would come out, and Jessica would  either
stay or leave.  The day when three lives were set to change forever.
 

Part 3

Willows Story.

“Life was different living on the Hellmouth, you never knew if your friends were
going to be at school the next day. We never knew why our friends went missing, that
all changed when Buffy started school with us.”

Willow pointed at the young blonde haired girl in the photograph.

“She was a Slayer, all be at a rather reluctant one to start with. She wanted the
quiet life, no slaying vampires or demons.  But it would change when a dead body with
two little puncture marks was found. “

Jessica didn’t want to interrupt her mother but she wanted to know who the others
were so she asked.

“Mom who are the others?”

Willow looked at the picture, and at how young an innocent they all looked, the
picture was taken before Angelus had made his appearance.

“The older looking man with the glasses is Giles, he was Buffys watcher, and a mentor
to all of us, the guy with the blue hair was Oz, he was my first true love. He was
also a werewolf. He disapeared” in my first year of college.  The girl was Anya, she
was Xanders girlfriend, and also an ex-demon by the time they started dating. Riley
was Buffys friend, but later after Angel he became her boyfriend.  I don’t think any
of us really liked him, we put up with him for Buffys sake.  The last person is
Buffy, she was my best friend, and the Slayer.  I loved her even though at times she
could be a little selfish and self centered.  She saved my life more times than I can
remember.
I haven’t seen any of them for 17 years, and there have been times when I wish that I
could see them all again, but that part of my life is over.

Jessica looked at her Mother and saw the pain that the story was bringing her, a part
of Jessica wanted to stop the pain she was causing, but another part wanted to know
who her father was, she knew that no-one could ever replace Spike but she wanted to
know.

“Is my father in this picture?”

“Yes he is Jess.  There is more to this than just telling you, there wasn’t much
history between us, but there was an undeniable chemistry.”

“Shall I take over luv?”

Willow squeezed Spikes hand and shook her head, she wanted to tell this her way.
Even if it hurt her, she didn’t want to hurt Jessica but she had a feeling that this
was going to hit the girl hard.

“No Spike I can do this.”

She smiled at her mate and got ready to continue.

“Jessica, I want you to understand something about your biological father and
myself,  we shouldn’t have done what we did, but things happened on the Hellmouth.  I
am not making excuses for my behavior or his, but when you had things like the end of
the world, and demons who liked to hurt children you have to take any comfort you can
find, and if it seems wrong to you then I am sorry.  But that was what life was like,
you took risks, sometimes things were okay and no-one found out but other times……Well
lets just say things do go wrong.”

“Mom, I am not judging you, I never would.  I love you no-matter what you have done,
I don’t care.  You are my Mother, and you could never do anything that bad…..Could
you?”

“I don’t know baby, I`ll leave it up to you to decide. I want you to make me a
promise though.  It might be hard to keep, but please its important.”

“Sure Mom, what is it?”

Willow looked at Spike, who knew what this was about, she smiled at him hoping that
Jessica still loved them after this.

“I want you to promise me that after this is all finished that you wont hate me or
Spike.”

“Okay, but why would I hate you or Spike, what did you do?”

“We killed your father.”
 

Part 4

Jessica looked at her Mother in total shock.  “You killed my Father.  But how?”

“It was an accident luv, we were supposed to protect him, and we failed.  I was more
interested in protecting your Mother, and I wasn’t concentrating on him.  I should
have seen it coming,  I am so sorry luv I am the reason you will never get to know
your Father.”

Spike looked at his `daughter` with tears in his eyes, he felt better now she knew
the truth about it, but it was killing him.

Jessica wrapped her arms around Spike.  “If it wasn’t for you then Mom and I wouldn’t
be here.”

“And I wouldn’t have the you to make my un-life more bearable,  I love you kitten.”

Spike held on to Jessica as if his un-life depended on it, He loved this small girl
with all his being.  The night that her Father had been taken had been re-playing in
his mind for the past 17 years, and now thanks to the unwavering support and love
that his mate and their daughter had shown truly made him the luckiest Vampire that
ever walked the earth.  Now he could put those terrible nightmares to rest.

“Tell me about the others in the group, and what they said to make you leave,
please.”

“Buffy was the worst out of all of them, she hated me.  And with good reason, she had
loved your Father a great deal.  It was a great loss to us all, Buffy more than any
of us. You see Buffy had never had a relationship as strong with another man, not
even her Father.  And the loss to her was insurmountable.  She blamed us for his
death, well me in actual fact, and when she found out about you my darling she went
crazy.  She tried to hurt me, she told me it was all my fault and that it should have
been us instead of him.  And the others agreed with her, they all made it obvious
that they never wanted to see me or Spike ever again.  I tried to talk to her but
gave up when she told me I should be in Hell for killing him.”

“They wanted you Mother to get rid of you but she wouldn’t, they called her a
thoughtless selfish whore, Xander told her that it should be her in the ground not
your Father, I wanted to kill him but because of the chip I couldn’t.
The one who surprised us most at the gathering of the gang was Anya.  I had always
liked her, she never tried to hide what she was feeling.  She was upset and didn’t
try and hide it, she told us in no-uncertain terms that the feeling of the group as a
whole was for us to leave and never come back.  She told us that she hated Willow
because she was having a baby, something that she would never have.  She and Xander
had gone their separate ways a few months before and she was un-happy because no-one
else had come up to the standards she was used to. In her way of thinking if she
couldn’t have a good life then no-one else should have a good life either, she wanted
the whole world to suffer the same pain that she was going through.
Next up was Oz, he was a real Prince when he told Willow what he thought of her, he
hated  us both with a passion I have never seen before in a human, who wasn’t in his
werewolf guise. In his defense he had loved your Mother for a long time, and he was
hurt by what he saw as her betrayal.  He wanted her back up until he found out about
you, but when he found out about you he let all his hate come out.  He called her
some awful names and said she was nothing but a tramp that shouldn’t be allowed to
have children or happiness.
Giles was the last to say his piece he was calm about everything, he said that for
our own safety and well being we should leave Sunnydale and never come back, I could
see the sadness in his eyes as he told us to go.
We left Sunnydale that night, and have never been back since.”

“Who was my Father, was it Riley?”

“Yes my darling it was, I am sorry to say that I betrayed Buffy and Oz.  I have had
to live with that betrayal for years, I want you to know that you have inherited his
best points, and not his bad ones.”

Spike laughed at Willow,  “You just inherited you Mothers bad points.”

“Like what Spike?”

“Like your temper, and your need to have everything done now.  But also your
beautiful red hair and your love of life, not to mention your wild sense of
adventure.”

“You forgot one thing Spike.”

“Whats that my love?”

“My un-dying love for you.”

Spike wrapped his arms around his mate, neither of them noticed Jessica sneak away
out of the house.
 
 

Part 5

Jessica walked the streets of LA for hours, she didn’t know where to go what to
do.
She knew that she wanted to talk to someone, and she could only think of one
person
who would listen to her, but she was unsure if he would want to talk to her.

She turned up at Angels an hour later, just before the sun rose.  She knocked
on the
door that lead to his basement apartment.
She heard Angel stirring behind the door and waited for him to open it.

“Jessica, what a nice surprise, but why the long face and the time of morning? “

“Uncle Angel I didn’t know where else to go, and you wont judge me.”

“You had better come in, and then you can tell me whats wrong.”

Angel lead Jessica into his apartment and sat her down on his sofa, he settled
down
for what was going to be a long talk.

“ I just found out about my father and my moms life before she came here.”

“And what do you want to do?”

Angel had a feeling that she wanted to go back to the place where this had
started.

“I want to go to Sunnydale, I want to see my biological fathers grave, and see
if any
of moms `friends` are still alive, just so I can say to them that their cruel
treatment of mom didn’t destroy her.”

“Do Willow and Spike know of your plan?”

“No, not yet.  I wanted to talk it over with you first and see what you thought
about
it.  I trust you, and if you say no then I wont,  its not as if I don’t trust
Mom and
Spike but I wanted your opinion before I told them, you have know them a lot
longer
than I have.”

Angel looked at her knowing how much Willow and Spike meant to her, she would
never
hurt them knowingly and he thought that in one way this was the best thing she
could
have done.

“In some respects I think it’s a bad idea, but I think that it will be good for
all
of you to get some sort of closure to the whole thing, and if anyone who knew
your
mother and Spike are still around then maybe you can put some of your ghosts to
rest,
and prove to them that your mother is a strong person and a good one.  Maybe
they
might welcome  you all back with open arms and then again maybe they wont.  But
I
know one thing if they don’t welcome you all they are making a very big
mistake.”

“Do you think Mom and Spike will be mad at me?”

“No honey we wont be mad.”

Jessica turned around and looked towards the sound of her mothers voice, she
saw the
look of love in her eyes and knew that she was doing the right thing.

“So when are we off to Sunnyhell then?”

“Can we go tonight after the sun sets?”

“If you are sure this is what you want to do, then I guess so.”  Willow looked
at her
daughter with admiration, she looked so fragile but underneath it she was a
tough
child.  Willow was proud of her.

“Tonight it is then, are you coming Uncle Angel?”  Jessica looked up at her
Uncle
with hope in her eyes.

“If you really want me to come with you I cant see any problems, I think that
Cordelia may want to come as well..”

“I can just see it now if Xander is still about, she will rip him to pieces for
what
he did.” Spikes eyes lit up with the thought of Cordelia ripping Xander to
pieces, he
never did like him much.

“Tonight we leave for Sunnydale then, we`ll meet here just after sunset.”

With that Willow and Spike took Jessica home to sleep and later in the day pack
for
the trip that Willow had never wanted to make again.  But for her daughter she
would
face the ghosts of her past and put them to rest.
 

Part 6

“Are you sure you want to do this luv?” Spike asked Willow.

“No I don’t, but for Jess I`ll do anything.”  Willow hugged Spike.

“Mom, Spike are you ready? The sun has gone down so I think we should leave.”

“Yes we are, shall we go then.”  Spike really didn’t want to go but for Jess like
Willow he would do anything.

They all got into Spikes car and headed out to Angels, where they would pick up Angel
and Cordelia.

Willow had spoken to Cordelia earlier and from what was said Cordelia was looking
forward to seeing who, if anyone was alive out of the Scooby gang.  And she was
looking forward to seeing if any of them actually regretted the way they had treated
Willow.  But knowing them all like she did she didn’t think any of them would,
especially Buffy if she was still alive.

Spike was lost in his thoughts as they drove over to Angels, Sunnydale had not been
the best place that he had spent any of his un life but it did have one redeeming
quality, that was were he had met Willow and for that he was grateful.  If he hadn’t
gone there to find the gem of Amara then he wouldn’t have met up with Willow again
and he wouldn’t have the chip, and he wouldn’t have had a `daughter` like Jessica.

“Spike we are at Angels, don’t you think we had better stop the car and pick them
up?”  Jess was jumping around in the back seat of the car yelling at Spike to stop.

“Oh sorry luv, was lost in my thoughts.

“You lost in thoughts, now there is a new concept.”   Jess giggled with glee at being
able to tease Spike.

“Listen missy you aren’t too big to go over my knee for a good hard…..Oh never
mind.”  Spike realized that if he carried on with that line he would have Jess
screeching in the back all the way to Sunnydale.

“I hope that Cordelia hasn’t brought too much stuff, otherwise we wont be able to fit
it in the back.”   Ever practical Willow had forgotten how much Cordelia tended to
pack for little trips.

Willow saw Cordelia and Angel standing outside the office waiting for them.

“How long does she think we are going to be gone Spike, look at all that stuff she
has got with her.”

Spike grinned at his mate and knew that there was no way they were going to get all
that in the trunk.

“About time you guys, how long does it take for you to get over here?”

“Hi Cordy, thanks for coming on this little trip with us, it means a lot to Jess.”

“Hey Willow no problem, in fact I am quite looking forward to seeing if any of them
are still alive, and if they are I`m going to do a little kicking butt.”

Willow looked at her dearest friend and hugged her.  Cordelia returned her hug with
the same ferocity , she knew that Willow and her family would need a lot of help and
support during this little venture.

“Come on then lets see if we can get all this in the trunk, how long do you think we
will be gone Cordy?”

“I don’t know, but I brought things for every occasion.  And anyway some of it isnt
even mine, Angels things are in there too.”

Angel and Cordelia had been together for 10 years now and they both adored it, and
the plus for Cordelia was that she knew that the Slayer had hated it.  Not that that
was the only reason she was with Angel, but it was a plus that the old Queen C loved.

“Right mate shall we get the bags in the trunk then we can get going.”

Spike and Angel had fought fiercely when Spike and Willow had arrived in LA but now
they were as close as they had been when Angel had sired Spike.  They still argued
but it was a more grown up relationship now, as they were both older and wiser.

“Okay we all ready to go?”

Angel wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible as he didn’t want
Willow going through any more pain, he wanted it over as much as she did.

“Sunnyhell here we come.”  Spike said in a sarcastic voice.

They group bundled into Spikes car and drove into the busy streets towards a place
that none of them ever wanted to see again.
 

Part 7
 

A little under two hours later the group arrived at a motel just outside of
Sunnydale, they had all agreed that they should start their quest that night.

“Nice motel, I`ll put it into my 100 places not to visit for a vacation.”

Cordy was looking with distaste at the small pool, well hole in the ground.   And the
peeling paint on the office door.

“We wont be here that long princess, only long enough to find out if anyone is still
alive, and see where Riley is buried.”

Cordelia looked up at Angel and raised her eyebrows.

“Just make sure that’s all were here for, no fighting demons, or evil on any scale
for that matter.”

“Yes Cordelia, I wont do anything like that I promise.”  Angel lowered his face
towards Cordelia and kissed her forehead.

“Oh bloody hell, will you two stop all that lovey dovey rubbish please”  Spike was
anxious to get this all over and done with so that they could all go back to there
lives in LA.

“Come on Dad lets go see if they have cable.”  Jess held onto Spikes hand and lead
him towards the check in office.

“Geez dad, they don’t have cable. I wonder if they have ever even heard of it.”

“Jess we aren’t here to watch TV all the time.”

“Dad you forgot one thing.”

“Whats that luv?”

“You and Uncle Angel cant go out during the day, so you`ll both be stuck inside
watching the walls.”

Spike slapped his forehead and turned on his heel.

“new plan, we find a motel with Cable.”

The others looked at him as if he was crazy.

“What do you mean with Cable, don’t they have it here, God what is this the Dark
Ages?  Its bad enough that you could breed alligators in that joke they call a pool,
but no cable.  Right that’s it everyone in the car.”

“Okay Cordy where do we go now?”  Willow was growing increasingly nervous the nearer
they got to Sunnydale.

“We go to the best hotel Sunnydale has to offer.”

“Where the hell is that luv?”

“My old house, I found out that it was up for auction a couple of years ago and I
well brought it back.”  By the time she had finished telling them this news she was
looking at her hands.

“Why would you buy it back Cordy?”  Angel knew her reasons but none of the others
did.

“I bought it because of the memories it held for me, I know it sounds silly and I
know that I wont be able to use it, but it’s a big part of who I was and I want to
keep it as a reminder of what I was.”

Angel was proud of his mate, she had come so far in the 20 years he had known her.
She was no longer the self centered, selfish little rich girl he had once known.  She
worked hard, and played hard and he loved her.

“You want to be reminded of what a mean little chit you were, just like I like to
remember the good old days when I was `The Big Bad`”

Cordelia exchanged a look with the blonde vampire and smiled at him, he knew why she
had bought the house, she had her house, he had his collection of railroad spikes.

Five minutes later they arrived at what was Cordelias childhood home, it still looked
the same to Willow although it looked less cared for.

Cordelia opened the large door for them, she set about turning all the lights on, and
opening the windows.

“Er…Cordelia sweetie we need an invitation to come in.”

“Oh god I`m sorry, Angel, Spike you are welcome to come in.”

Spike and Angel dumped all the bags on the floor.  Spike was eager to get things
sorted out so that they could all leave Sunnyhell.

“Wow Aunt Cordy I never knew you had such a lovely home when you were little.  I wish
I had been around when you were younger.”

Cordelia looked at Jess with a small smile on her face.

“No you don’t Jess, I wasn’t a very nice person then, ask your Mom and Angel.  I was
horrible, I thought the world revolved around me, and that was a bad thing to think.”

Cordelia looked around the house and smiled.  “Not a very nice person at all.  Come
on then lets get going, I want to see how much this town has changed.”

“Okay, lets go.” Angel  looked at Jess.  “Where do you want to go first Jess?”

“Can we go and see where Riley is buried, then if we have time we can see if we can
find any of your old `Friends`.”

Willow held her daughters hand in hers as they walked towards the car, the second
step in their trip was going to be painful.  But it would be worth it for Jessica,
and in a way for Willow too.  She wanted to end that part in her life, and start a
new without the guilt she had been carrying around with her for the past 17 years.
 

Part 8

“Hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years, maybe it looks a bit older and could use a
lick of paint.”  Cordelia noticed that the town was in a bad state of repair.

Willow looked around at the town she had spent the first 18 years of her life, it
wasn’t in the best state when she left, but it had gotten really bad after all the
years of neglect.  Most of the shops had gone out of business and had boards over the
windows.  Even the most prominent shops had gone under, there was only one place that
looked like it had been painted since she had left.  The coffee shop still looked
like it had always done, one thing had changed about it though, it was closed for the
night and it was only 7 p.m.

“They must have a curfew or something, maybe they learned how to open their eyes to
what was really going on. Like the one they had when you were in the wishverse
Cordy.”  Willow smiled at Cordy, who really hated being reminded about that episode.

“Oh the one where I lasted all of five minutes, and you were a slightly insane
vampire, is that the one you are talking about Willow?”

“Yes Cordy, that’s the one, and pleases don’t remind me about that particular
Vampire, I am so glad that never happened.”

“Pet all that leather……..” Spike had to say something like that it was in his nature
to tease Willow about that, and each time he did Willow turned a rather dark shade of
red.

“Yes well can we please get this trip over with?”  Angel wanted to get this trip over
with so that they could all get on with their lives and leave the past where it
belonged.
“Yes I think it would be best to get this over with.” Jess turned to Willow. “Where
is he buried Mom?”

Willow pointed up the street towards the cemetery where Riley was buried, she
absent-mindedly thought that maybe they should have brought some flowers to put on
the grave or graves.

“Come on pet, I think the streets are empty for a good reason, lets get back to the
car we may as well drive up there.”  Spike pulled Willow out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, k. Car, cemetery, find out if any of the others are still alive, then go
home.”

Cordy was worried about her friend, she had gone through so much heartache, and yet
she was still so strong for Jess. Cordy knew that inside Willow was screaming to get
away from here and all the pain it brought back.  Willow was strong, but just how
strong Cordy didn’t know, she was just hoping that she held it together until this
was all over.

As they got closer to the car Spike and Angel felt a presence neither of them had
felt in a long time.

“Slayer” Hissed Spike.

Angel turned around and saw her, she was older but she still had an air of arrogance
surrounding her.

“Spike, Angel. Oh and look the two biggest whores ever.”

Cordy went to walk up to the Slayer to give her a slap, but was restrained by Angel.

“Not yet, we have to think of Jess and Willow. “

“Okay but I wont wait forever.”

Buffy walked towards 5 of them and sneered.  She stared right at Jess.

“Who’s this Angel? Another poor innocent child you seduced?”

Jess gathered all her courage up and took a step away from her family. She stood her
ground against this creature who she knew had hurt all of them.

“I am Jessica Willa Rosen, and I gather you are the Slayer known as Buffy Summers.”

Willow was full of pride as her daughter stood up to her, she could see the pride
that Spike had for his `daughter`, she could see it in his eyes.

“Jessica Willa Rosen, well what do you know you’re the whores kid. The one my
boyfriend helped to create.”  Buffy spat out the words at the girl.  Her voice filled
with hate and venom, and just a little taste of envy.

Spike had to restrain Jess from lunging at the Slayer, he wanted to kill her himself,
but he knew that it could wait for another day.

“There was no need for that Buffy, she wanted to come and visit her fathers grave.
Have a little respect.”  Angel was struggling with his demon, he could fell it
straining against its restraints.

Buffy moved closer to them.  “Respect, RESPECT.  You tell me to have respect? How
dare you. I lost everything that I held dear.”

That was what broke Willows grip on her anger.

“YOU lost everything?  That’s a FUCKING JOKE,  did you have to leave the place you
had called home for all of your life?  Did you lose the people you considered
friends? Did YOU have to start all over again in a new place?  Did you have any of
this?  Come on Slayer, DID YOU?”

Everyone in the group was amazed at her outburst, especially Buffy  Spike was the
only one who had seen her like this, he had only ever seen her like this once.  And
even then it hadn’t been as bad as this time.

“Willow luv calm down.” Spike tried to put his arm around her to calm her, but this
time it didn’t work.

“Let go of me” Willow hissed through clenched teeth. Spike jumped back, he knew she
was going to blow, and this time she would not stop until all the things that she had
kept to herself for all these years had been said.

Willow stepped away from her family moving nearer to Buffy, who stood there looking
at Willow with a look of terror in her eyes.

“It was always you, you had to have the best of everything. You who thought that the
whole world revolved around you.  I was always the faithful researcher, the one you
always came running to when things went bad.  I ask you this Buffy When were YOU
there for ME?  Did you even see the hurt and pain you caused me?  You always got your
way, you always got what you wanted,  we were always there to pick up the pieces for
you, because you were the Slayer.
We always did what you wanted to do, we always respected you and helped you when you
needed us to.
Just out of interest did you ever thank any of us for the sacrifices we all made?
Did you ever say sorry when you screwed up?
Remember this  Buffy, and learn from it.
We helped you to protect this place, we helped protect you.  Non of us ever put our
safety first no matter what danger it put us in, you were always first with all of
us.
Did you ever think of putting any of us before yourself?”

Buffy stared at Willow, but could not would not forgive her for the one thing that
she did wrong.

Buffy narrowed her eyes. “You have the nerve to try and put the blame on ME, I saved
you from certain death on many occasions.  I am NOT the one who should learn from
your little temper tantrum you bitch.”

Angel could see that this was going no where fast.  And he could see that over the
years Buffy had gotten more sanctimonious  and evil than he had ever thought
possible.
He could see the pain in Jessicas eyes, and the anger in everyone else’s.

“I think you have said enough Buffy, we did not come here to fight with you, we came
here so that Jess could see where her mother grew up and to visit Rileys grave.  Now
let us pass so we can do what we came here to do, then we will be on our way.  And I
promise you this Slayer we will Never come back to this Hell hole.”

Buffy looked at Angel with anger flashing in her eyes.

“I never thought that I would hear myself say this to you but you are the one who
started this whole mess.  If you hadn’t left for LA then we would still be working
together, perhaps even happy together.  But no you had to leave me to deal with it
myself, you had to go away and leave me all on my own.  How could you?”   Buffys
voice was growing soft as she spoke to Angel, he was the only man she had ever truly
loved.

“Fine Buffy if that’s the way you want it then by all means blame me for all this, I
know the truth and so do you.”

Spike who had remained quiet through all of this was preparing to speak.  He looked
directly at Buffy.

“I never really liked you Slayer, I always gave you help when and where I could.  You
have just confirmed everything I have ever thought about you, I always thought that
you were a selfish, self-centered, air headed idiot.  Ah well goes to show you that I
was right all along really.”

Jessica was getting angrier by the second, she could feel the anger welling up inside
her belly.
She was not going to let this bitch speak to her family like this, it was too much
for her.

“Who do you think you are?  How dare you speak to my family like this?  They were
always there for you, but when my mom needed you well you just turned your back on
her.  I thought that you were friends.
It was my idea to come back here, and I would have come on my own to spare my parents
and family all this, but because we have a thing called loyalty they came with me.
What are you some kind of monster?”

Spike put his arm around her, as she buckled and her resolve disappeared and she was
quiet once   more.

“I think you should go back to whatever hole you crawled out of Buffy and leave us to
get on with what brought us here.”  Willow had no fight left in her, she just wanted
to go home and get on with her life with her family.

“Yes go back to your happy lives back in LA and leave me and MY town alone. Go.”

With that Buffy turned her back on the group of five and walked away into the shadows
of Sunnydale.

Spike turned to Willow and saw tears streaming down her face, Jess was in a better
state than Willow so he went to her and drew her into his loving arms.

“We should get moving I don’t want to be here much longer.” Spike could no l9nger
stand to be here, he wanted to leave as soon as he could, he wanted to be at home.

The shocked group walked back to Spikes car, each of them deeply shocked at what had
been said, both to them and by them.
As they pulled up to the cemetery gates they could see that there were a lot more
graves than any of them had thought.
One day Sunnydale would run out of space to bury its inhabitants, one day there would
be no-one left to bury.

“I think its over there near to where all the other initiative graves are.” Willow
said as she pointed to a large group of white headstones.

They reached the headstone for Riley, it said:

Riley Finn

Beloved son of Mary and John
Sweetheart to Buffy

He died as he lived, valiantly
 

“Valiantly my bloody arse”

“Spike please, he did what he thought was the best.”

“Alright luv, I`m sorry.”

“You okay Jess? This was your Father.  He was a good man, but he had his faults just
like the rest of us.”

“I know Mom, thank you all for coming, I think I would like to go home now.”

Angel put his arm around Jess and found Cordys hand and squeezed it.

Willow got up from where she was kneeling.  “Do you think we could go and see if
Giles is still around?  And maybe Xander?”

“Do you think that its wise luv?  Haven’t you been through enough tonight?”

“Nope I want to go see if they are around, and then we can go back.”
 
 

Part 9

As they walked away none of them noticed that Buffy was still nearby, hiding behind a
tree.  She whispered into the cool night air. “I`ll have my revenge on you yet Willow
I`ll make you pay for killing Riley, you just see if I don’t.”

“Where first luv? Do you think we should go to Cordys place and get some rest, or do
you want to go and see The Watcher first?”

“I think that I would like to see if Giles is still living here, then go for a rest.
That is if that is okay with you.”

They all looked at Willow and smiled, they all knew how much it had hurt Willow to
leave Giles and the others, Buffy she had not missed nor had she been sad to leasve
her to rot in this hell hole. And it looked as though she had rotted here, rotted
with her own hatred and venom.

“The Watchers it is then.”

They all got in Spikes car and drove to what was Giles home.  What they saw when they
got there was not the happy safe place that they all associated with Giles at all.

Willow gasped as she saw what had become of the place, the trees were all dead and
burned, the walls were rubble, and there was destuction everywhere.

“Oh my God surely he cant still live here.” Cordy was shocked to see the state of the
place.

They climbed out of the car and picked their way through the rubble. They saw a light
on in what they hoped was still Giles` home.

“I`ll go knock and see if hes still living here, and if not I shall ask where he went
if he has left.” Angel walked ahead of the group towards the door of the apartment.
As he raised his hand to knock on the door it was opened by a haggered looking Giles.

“Oh my God I never thought I would see any of you again. Please all come in Angel.”

Angel looked at Giles and saw the hopelessness of the whole situation, he saw the
pain in the mans eyes, and his face.

“I am not the only one here Giles, Spike, Willow, Cordy and Willow and Spikes
daughter are with me.” Angel waved over his shoulder at his family letting them know
it was okay to come over.

“You have Willow and Spike with you, oh you have no idea how much I have missed them
both.”
Giles came out from inside of the apartment to greet his guests. As soon as Willow
was in reach he hugged her tight in his arms. She returned the hug with as much force
as she could.

“Willow all I can do is say how sorry I am about what happened all those years ago.
Not a day has gone by when I havent thought about you, Spike and your child. I could
never bring myself to call or write. I have regreted that I never helped you , or
told Buffy what a selfish self absorbed person she was.”  Giles was on the verge of
tears as he spoke to Willow.

“Giles please don’t get upset, I`m here now and I am also sorry I could have called
or written. I am just as much at fault over this.”

“We should get inside, there is a new Master Vampire in town, and he he isnt exactly
a friendly chap.”

Willow grabbed Spike and Jessicas hands in her own and gave Jessicas a reassuring
look. She wanted to make sure her daughter felt alright about them being here. Jess
nodded at her Mother and smiled.

They all took seats around Giles` coffee table and marveled about how little his
apartment had changed over the years, the only thing that was different was the
atmosphere somehow it had darkened and had gotten a lot more serious since they had
last been here.

“So Willow tell me all about your daughter, she looks remakably like you, and not her
father I must say.”

Jessica blushed as she watched her mothers mentor watch her, she could see that he
was remembering the days when things were better here, before the new master, and
before Buffy went bad.  She sighed as she thought that maybe it was all her fault.
As if he could read her mind the ex-watcher looked at her.

“Jessica it isnt your fault that all this happened, no one is at fault her, accept
maybe for Buffy. She was too hard on your Mother, your Father now that was a
different matter, she denied that he could have slept with your Mother willingly. She
always thought that it was all Willows fault, and I think that she will untill the
day she dies. But there is only one person I can think of to blame in this whole
episode, and I lay the blame 100% at her feet.”
 

They all looked at him, Willow was about to jump to Buffys defence but Spike stopped
her with a restraining hand on her arm.

“The Watcher is right luv and deep down in your heart you know that.  Buffy was
pissed because you could have what she termed as a `Normal` life, you got away from
here, you had a child and you are happy. She will never be happy, and she will never
believe that you. I think we all saw that earlier tonight.”

Giles turned pale. “Oh my, you saw her? I think it would be best if you all left as
soon as possible, I have no idea what she could do.”

Angel looked at Giles and saw the fear in his eyes, this was bad very bad.
“Giles what is going on? Is there something we should know about?”

“Yes Angel I am afraid there is something, Buffy has a sort of truce with the new
Master, I however have no idea what it is, but from what I have heard it does involve
Jessica, I think that its open season on her, but the rest of you….”

“I think I`m gonna throw up.” With that Giles pointed at the bathroom door and they
all watched as Jess ran towards it.

“We cant leave here without you Giles, we just cant.  Please come back with us, we
will go back tonight. I cant stand to think of you here.” Willow looked at Giles with
big eyes, she was scared for herself and for her family.

“I cant just vanish, Buffy will know where I have gone. You know that she will come
after you.  She wants revenge on you all, I am surprised that she hasn’t come after
you before now.”
Giles met Willows sad eyes with his own. He couldn’t bare the thought of making
Willow sad, but he also knew that if he left Buffy would go off the deep end and do
something very stupid.

“Isnt there another Slayer here Giles?”

“No Angel, there hasn’t been another one the council deemed a new Hell mouth more
dangerous than this one, Buffy hasn’t actively been a Slayer for about seven years
now.”

Angel looked thoughtfully at Willow, Spike and Cordy, there was something about the
way Giles was talking that didn’t fit.

“What happened to Xander Giles?  Did he have the sense to leave here?”

“Xander, dear Xander. No he is still here, but he isnt human anymore.”

Willow knew what this meant. “Xander is the New Master isnt he.” It was more of a
statement than a question.

Giles nodded his head.  “Yes about two weeks after you left he was turned, he has
been the Master here for ten years. He is more ruthless than Angelus was.  He is evil
pure and simple, that is the reason I am still alive.  And the reason that you must
leave as soon as you can.”

“Oh Goddess, I cant believe it, my oldest friend is a Master Vampire.  He was so
angry when he found out about Jess, he would kill all of us as soon as look at us. Oh
Goddess we must go now, before its too late.  Spike get Jess.  Giles please come with
us, if Xander finds out that you have had us here he will kill you as well.  Please.”

“She is right Giles you have to come with us, they wont find us I promise you that.”
Angel was willing to move his whole family out of the country if need be, and there
was no way that he was going to leave Giles here to meet his death by the hands of
someone even worse than Angelus had been.

“Don’t worry Willow we are getting out of here now with Giles even if I have to knock
him unconscious to get him to come.”  Angel smiled at Willow.

Jess walked back into the room where everyone was sat. She looked at Giles her eyes
red from crying. “I know that I have never met you in person before, but please do as
my Mother and my family ask, I would hate to think of you here all alone at the mercy
of Buffy.  Please.”

Giles rose from his seat, he couldn’t even think of hurting this young girl, whom he
already thought of as a friend.

“For you Jess I will leave this God awful town, I don’t even think of this place as
home anymore. Just give me a few moments to gather some of my things and we shall
leave.”  Giles walked up to his bedroom and gathered a few of his most treasured
possession’s  which included a picture of Jenny.

“I am done here, this place is no longer where I want to be. It hasn’t since the day
you left Willow, Spike.” Giles took one last look at his home.

“What about all your books?” Willow asked as he walked towards the door.

“I had the foresight of putting them in storage when Buffy was retired by the
council, in fact in the event of my death they were to come to Angel Investigations,
maybe they can be of some us to me now.” Giles smiled ruefully at his empty
apartment, and walked out of the door.

Willow muttered a protection spell on the apartment as she walked towards Spikes
car.  None of them saw what hit them next.

Buffy launched herself at Willow who screamed in agony, Spike leapt at her in full
game face, no one messed with his mate or family, he fought Buffy with all his
strength.  He couldn’t figure out what had happened to her, she was stronger than he
remembered.

“Angel she’s a bloody Vamp, stake her.”

Willow scrambled to her feet, she carried a stake with her all the time out of habit
more than anything.  She had never in her wildest dreams thought that she would be
staking a Slayer, let alone Buffy, taking careful steps towards her pray she let out
an ear splitting scream as she plunged the stake into Buffys back, straight into her
heart. All that was left of the one time Slayer was a pile of ashes at Willows feet.
She collapsed, and everything went black.

“Oh God Willow.” Spike hugged her body next to his, he couldn’t see any marks on her,
and he couldn’t smell her blood either.

“Spike get her in the car, the rest of you get in as well, we need to leave here as
quickly as we can, with Buffy gone there is no telling what Xander will do, he must
be her sire.”

None of them needed telling twice, they all hurried to Spikes car.  Angel wasted no
time in getting them out of there, with a pissed of Master after them things could
get difficult, they needed to get of town quick.
Within five minutes they were back at Cordys house throwing their bags into the back
of the car.

“Willow luv wake up, we’re on our way home, please wake up.”  Spike looked at Jess as
she cried for her mother. He didn’t know what to do, for the first time in a long
while he was at a loss, Willow wouldn’t wake up.

Suddenly Jess let out a squeal.  “Spike I saw her eyes open.  Come on Mom wake up you
cant bloody leave me, you cant leave us.”

“Don’t ever use that word again Jessica.”  Willow opened her eyes as she berated her
daughter for cursing.

Spike smirked as he looked at his wonderful mate. He knew she hated the language that
he used, but in this instance it could be forgiven.

“What happened Spike?”

“You staked Buffy luv, and then you blacked out, had me worried there for a bit.”

“Are we going home now Angel?”

Yes Willow we are. Home. Yes.”
 

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