Future Childe
by Ariel Dawn

Summery: In which Buffy meets one of her stalkers and Spike breaks a promise.

Disclaimer: Yes, I am the creator of all things Buffy...sadly only in dreams.

Author’s note: Thanks to all my reviewers! Quotes from Episodes What’s my Line Parts 1 and 2.
__________________________________________
Chapter 7: You’re who?

Buffy woke up in a hotel bed, alone. *He’s really gotta stop doing that!* thought Buffy. Buffy smiled as she thought of her vampire lover between her legs the night before. Reluctantly Buffy got up and got dressed. She felt sated and sore in all the right places. Too bad she didn’t have an extra set of clothes with her. Suddenly Buffy knew something was wrong. She rolled across the bed, just as an axe hit the bed where she was putting her socks back on.

“You must be number two!” said Buffy as she looked at the girl with long back braids.

The girl swung the axe at Buffy, who ducked and grabbed the room’s curtains, pulling them over the girl’s head. Buffy landed a kick to her opponent's head. The girl quickly scrambled out from under the curtain and held the axe up, ready to attack again.

“Thanks for the wakeup, but I'll stick with my clock radio.”

The girl swung the axe again this time Buffy caught it. Buffy’s opponent pulled her down and slammed her into the wall, pushing the axe into her chest. Pushing the axe up away from her Buffy was flipped over, landing on her back.

“Come on, don't make me do the chick fight thing,” said Buffy.

“Chick fight?”

“You know...”

Buff let go of the axe and dug her nails into the other girl’s hand. Buffy grabbed the girl’s arm and rolled her over and away. They both scrambled to their feet. Buffy kicked the axe out of the girl’s hands. The girl kicked out twice, blocked each time by Buffy. Buffy ducked a swing to her head and swung back at the girl. Unfortunately the girl grabbed Buffy’s arm and flipped the slayer over onto floor. Buffy kicked into the girl’s face, making her opponent hit the floor. A roundhouse to the girl’s face again sent the Caribbean chick to the floor, but she got up again.

“Who are you?” asked the girl.

“Who am I? You attacked me! Who, the hell, are you?!”

“I am Kendra! De Vampire Slayer!”

*You have got to be kidding me!*

“Okay, one more time. You're the who?!” asked Buffy

“I'm de Slayer.”

“Nice cover story. But here's a tip: you might wanna try it on someone who's not the real Slayer.”

“Ya can't stop me! Even if ya kill me, anodder Slayer will be sent to take me place.”

“Could you stop with the Slayer thing? I'm the damn Slayer!”

“Nonsense! Dere is but one, and I am she.”

“Okay, a scenario.” Buffy held up her hand, “You back off, I'll back off, but you promise not to go all wiggy until we can go to my Watcher and figure this out.”

“Wiggy?”

“You know. No kick-o, no fight-o?”

After a moment Kendra relaxed and crossed her arms. Buffy relaxed a bit too.

“I accept your scenario.”

“So. You were sent here?”

“Yes, by my Watcher.”

“To do what, exactly?”

“To do my duty. I am here to kill vampires.”
__________________________________________

Getting Kendra to the Library was no small task. Especially since Buffy was pretty sure that there were still two more assassins looking for her and the fact that Kendra was wicked conspicuous.

Giles was pacing.

“And your Watcher is, i-is Sam Zabuto, you say?” said Giles.

“Yes, sir.”

“We've never met, but he, he's, he's very well-respected.”

“What, so he's a real guy? As in non-fictional?” asked Buffy.

“And you are called...?” Asked Giles.

“I am de Vampire Slayer.”

“We got that part, hon. He means your name.” said Buffy annoyed.

“Oh. Dey call me Kendra. I have no last name, sir.”

“Can you say 'stuck in the 80's'?”

“Buffy, please. Uh, there's obviously some, some misunderstanding here.” explained Giles.

Just then Willow came bouncing into the library with a smile on her face.

“Hey!’ Willow greeted happily.

“Identify yourself!” ordered Kendra.

Willow’s smile faded to a frown.

“Back off, pink ranger! This is my friend.”

“Friend?” questioned Kendra puzzled.

“Yeah. As in person you hang with? Amigo?”

“I don't understand.”

“You try. I'm tapped.” Buffy said to Giles as she sat down with a huff.

“Uh-uh, Kendra, uh, there are a-a-a few people, uh, ci-civilians if you like, who, who know Buffy's identity. Willow is one of them, a-a- and they also, um, spend time together, uh, socially.” explained Giles.

“And you allow dis, sir?”

“Well, uh...”

“But de Slayer must work in secret for security.”

“Of course, uh, but, uh, with Buffy, however, it-it's, um, some flexibility is required.”

Buffy gave Giles a look. *No one controls me.*

“Why?”

Buffy could tell that Willow was majorly confused.

“Hi, guys. W-what's goin' on?” said Willow as she sat down across from Buffy.

“Apparently there's been a really big mix-up.” began Buffy.

“Uh, it seems somehow that, uh, another Slayer has been sent to Sunnydale.” continued Giles.

“Is that even possible? I mean, two Slayers at the same time?” asked Willow.

“Not to my knowledge. Um, th-the new Slayer is only called after the previous Slayer has died. Uh... Oh, good Lord! You were dead, Buffy.” said Giles in an epiphany.

“I was only gone for a minute.”

“Clearly it doesn't matter how long you were gone. You were physically dead! Thus causing the activation of the, the next Slayer.” said Giles nodding in Kendra’s direction.

“She died?”

“Just a little.” protested Buffy.

“She drowned, but she was revived.” explained Giles.

“So there really are two of them!” exclaimed Willow.

“It would seem so. This is completely unprecedented! I'm quite flummoxed.” declared Giles as he sat down.

“What's the flum? It's a mistake, she isn't supposed to be here, she goes home! Look, no offence, I really don't mean this personally, but I'm not dead, and frankly having you around creeps me out just a little bit.” said Buffy.

“I cannot just leave. I was sent here for a reason. Mr. Zabuto said all de signs indicate dat a very dark power is about to rise in Sunnydale.” said Kendra.

“And what's your great plan for finding this dark power? You just gonna attack people randomly till you find a bad one?” said Buffy.

“Of course not.”

“Then why the hell did you attack me?”

“I tought you were a vampire.”

“Oh, a swing and a miss for the rookie.”

“I had good reason to tink you were. Did I not see you huggin’ a vampire? What you did with dat other one!!!”

“Buffy would never do that! Oh. Except for that sometimes you do that. But only with Angel. Right?” asked Willow. “Other one?” Willow looked questioningly at Buffy. “Did Spike thrall you again?”

Buffy avoided.

“Yes! Right. Look, you saw me with Angel, and he is a vampire, but he's good,” observed Buffy.

“Angel? You mean Angelus? I've read about him. He is a monster.”

“No, no, no, he's, he's good now.” said Giles. “Buffy, tell me about the thrall, were you able to fight it, like we had discussed?”

“Giles! Kinda talking about something else right now,” said Buffy.

“Angel’s a good guy. Really!” added Willow.

“He had a gypsy curse.” explained Buffy.

“He has a what?” asked Kendra

“Y'know what, just trust me on this one, okay? He's on the home team now.” *Good Grief,* thought Buffy, *please let her go home.*

“I cannot believe you. He looked to me just like anodder animal when I...” Kendra trailed off.

“When you what? What did you do to him?”

“I...”

“What did you do?!”
__________________________________________

Spike entered Dru’s bedroom happy as a clam. He leaned on to her bed and stroked his sire’s hair to wake her.

“I was dreaming,” she moaned.

“Of what, pet?”

“We were in Paris. You had a branding iron.”

“I brought you something.”

Spike went over to the stairs and picked up Angel.

“And there were worms in my baguette.”

“Your sire, my sweet.” said Spike dumping Angel on the floor. Spike had picked up Angel from Willy, snitch and bar keep. Spike really couldn’t really believe his luck when Willy told him that his poof of a grandsire had been locked up in Willy’s back room and left for the sun to kill him. He had thought that he would meet up with Buffy, who would have an argument with him about the use of Angel in a ritual that would kill him. As far as Spike was concerned Angel owed Dru.

“My Angel?”

“The one and only. Now all we need's the full moon tonight, and he will die, and you will be fully restored.”

Spike kissed her on her forehead.

Drusilla looked down to Angel all tied up and gagged.

“Spike, let me have him. Hmm? Until the moon,” asked Drusilla.

“Alright, you can play, but don't kill him. He mustn't die till the ritual.” Spike smiled.

“Bring him to me.”

Spike picked Angel up from the floor and forced him over to Drusilla. She grabbed him by the chin and looked him in the eye.

“You've been a very bad daddy.”

Dru gave Angel a slap across the face. Spike could tell that she was looking forward to exacting revenge for countless crimes Angelus did to her over the centuries.
__________________________________________
Buffy rolled her eyes at Cordelia, as the cheerleader fled the room in search of a shower. A bug, a meal worm was in her hair and she has to shower. Compared to demon goo, not so bad.

“You and bug people, Xander. What's up with that?” noted Buffy.

“No, but this dude was completely different than praying mantis lady. He was a man of bugs, not a man who was a bug.”

Xander slammed his text book on the mealworm and sat down. *Does this mean that there are icky worms all over my house? Mom is gonna kill me.*

“The, uh, the-the-the important thing is everybody's alright. Still, it's quite apparent that we're under serious attack.” informed Giles.

“These Taraka are definitely serious. Fortunately for me, so is Kendra.” said Buffy. *Ok, I’ll concede a point to Kendra for keeping me alive, but she’s still in the way minuses with locking up Angel and then losing him.*

“And, uh, I fear the worst is still to come. I've, I-I've discovered the remaining keys to Drusilla's cure. The, uh, the ritual requires that, the presence of her sire, and it must take place in a church on the night of the new moon.”

*That’s where Angel is,* Buffy thought. Kendra and she had gone to Willy’s to find Angel and save him from being crispy critter. Fortunately for Kendra, he was not there. *Family reunion, I wonder if they’d take photos* Buffy laughed to herself.

“The new moon. But that is tonight.” stated Kendra.

“Exactly. And I-I'm sure the assassins were here to kill Buffy before she could put a stop to things,” noted Giles.

“They need Drusilla's sire. Angel. He's Drusilla's sire,” stated Buffy matter of factly.

“Man, that guy got major neck in his day!” joked Xander.

Willow gave Xander a hard slap on the shoulder.

“Will this ritual kill him?” asked Buffy. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear the answer but she had asked it anyway.

“Yes, I'm afraid it will.” said Giles.

“We need to find this church. We need to find where this ritual is gonna take place!“ said Buffy.

“Agreed, and we must work quickly. We have five hours before sundown.” said Giles with urgency.

“Don't worry, Buffy, we'll save Angel.” said Willow as she opened up her laptop.

“Angel? But our priority is to stop Drusilla!” exclaimed Kendra

“Angel's our friend! Except I don't like him.” said Xander.

“Look, you've got your priorities, and I've got mine. Right now they mesh. So, are you gonna help me, or are you gonna get out of my way?” said Buffy in total general mode. As much as Buffy wanted to cure Drusilla, there was no way she was going to let Spike kill Angel. Angel was her friend. An annoying, condescending, brooding friend, but still a friend. *And it was the principle of the thing. Dru sent assassins after me!*

“I'm wit you.” said Kendra.

“Good. 'Cause I've had it. Spike isn’t going to know what hit him. If he thinks he can toy with my friends, just because Angel’s his grandsire, he’s got another thing coming.”
__________________________________________

It was time. He hated to interrupt Dru‘s pretty torture session after all she hadn’t had such fun since Prague.

“That's it, then. Off to church.”

Dru stood up from her place next to Angel “It makes pretty colours.”

“Pft! I'll see him die soon enough. I've never been much for the pre-show.” Spike reached down to untie Angel’s bonds.

“Too bad. That's what Drusilla likes best, as I recall.” sneered Angel.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Ask her. She knows what I mean.”

Drusilla stood behind Spike back from fetching Miss Edith.

“Well?” Spike asked his Sire.

“Shhh! Grrrruff! Bad dog.” Dru directed to Angel.

“You shoulda let me talk to him, Dru. Sounds like your boy could use some pointers. She likes to be teased.” continued Angel.

“Keep your hole shut!” shouted Spike as he stood over his grandsire.

“Take care of her, Spike. The way she touched me just now? I can tell when she's not satisfied.” taunted Angel.

“Then you might want to talk to the lads that have the care of seeing to her then. But then some one as perceptive as you would have figured that out long ago. But I’ll let you in on my little secret just before you kick it Peaches. Wanna see your face when I tell you who I’ve been screwin’ instead.”

“Spike, the moon is rising. It's time.” interrupted Dru.

“Too bad, Angelus. Looks like you go the hard way. Along with the rest of this miserable town.”
__________________________________________

She was Willy the snitch’s prisoner. Buffy couldn’t believe it, well actually she could, hadn’t she sorta thought Willy would do this? Buffy walked into the church behind Willy, followed closely by minions and the two assassins. Didn’t matter anyway, all she wanted to do was see her lover and have a nice heart to heart. And if it meant that Willy would betray her then, whatever.

“It's payday, pal. I got your Slayer.” exclaimed Willy.

Buffy looked at her lover, he was angry at being interrupted. He strode up the aisle of the church towards them.

“Are you tripping?! You bring her here?! Now?!”

“You said you wanted her,” explained Willy.

Buffy looked over to see Angel and Drusilla tied together at the altar.

“I wanted her occupied, pinhead! Away from all this, busy, so she wouldn’t come looking for Angel here.”

“Now, that's not what I heard. Word was there was a bounty on her dead or alive,” stated Willy.

“You heard wrong, Willy.”

“Angel,” Buffy whispered.

“Yeah. It bugs me, too, seeing him like that. Another five minutes, though, and Angel will be dead, so... I forebear. Don't feel too bad for Angel, He was a right nasty bugger when he was with us. Good riddance I think.“

Spike leaned in closer to her ear.

“You shouldn’t have come here, Goldilocks, this doesn’t concern you.”

“He’s my friend Spike.”

“Oh I forgot, your friends and family are off limits. He was my family first pet.”

The door to the church burst open at that moment. Kendra back flipped kicking into some minions’ heads, who fell down, pushing Spike and Buffy down. Buffy took Spike’s hand while they were on the floor.

“You promised,” she whispered.

Buffy stood up letting go of Spike’s hand. Kendra was instantly there by her side and ready to fight.

“Who the hell is this?!” asked Spike.

Kendra grabbed Spike by the shirt.

“It's your lucky day, Spike,” said Buffy.

“Two Slayers!” said Kendra as she decked him.

“No waiting!” said Buffy as she struck him.

Spike fell to the ground but quickly got up.

“And right now, I’m really mad at you Spike,” said Buffy.

Buffy broke off to fight the police woman, leaving Kendra with Spike. She fought off the police woman, thinking that possibly it wasn’t a good idea to leave Spike and Kendra fighting.

While fighting off officer testosterone, Buffy paid keen attention to Spike and Kendra’s fight.

“Switch!” yelled Buffy.

Buffy bent over and Kendra rolled over her back to face the cop. Buffy faced Spike.

“I'd rather be fightin' you anyway,” he said

“Mutual.” She blocked his thrust, then kicked him in the face and again in the gut. He doubled over and fell to the floor. “Actually I’d rather be doing something else right now with you, but you had to go and kidnap my friend! Someone’s not going to be getting any for a good long time.“

Buffy blocked a punch from Spike, and another, but then he landed punches to her stomach and face. She blocked his next swing and held his arm while she punched him twice in the face. She grabbed his coat and pulled him around and threw him over several pews and into the wall.

Spike growled as he stood back up and saw Willy trying to sneak out of the church. He rushed over and grabbed him by the back of the neck.

“Where are you going?” Spike asked the barkeep.

Buffy rushed over to the altar and pulled the dagger out of Angel and Drusilla's hands.

“Spike!” Dru cried weakly.

Buffy was untying the pair of vampires as fast as she could. Suddenly Spike was there helping her.

“Happy family!” whispered Dru.

“Yes pet, our bloody happy family,“ said Spike as he untied the bonds.

“Baby such a pretty fighter, did you like my little test baby? Will you come and have tea and cakes with Miss Edith now?” rambled Dru.

“I’d like that, Drusilla,” Buffy smiled, hoisting Angel up.

Spike took a torch from its wall hanger and threw it into a pile of old drapes, setting them ablaze.

“Distraction, Goldilocks, you get the poofter out of here safe,”

“Yes Spike,” Buffy smiled sweetly.

“You will be my childe,”

“And you will be my Sire,”

“Teach you the ways of our line,”

“And add glory to the name Aurelius.”

“Sorry, baby. Gotta go,” said Spike as he lifted Dru into his arms carried her down the aisle. “Hope that was enough.”

Buffy struggled to help Angel up. *God he’s heavy.* Suddenly Kendra was next to her. Kendra grabbed the censer from the altar. She swung it around her head by its chain a few times before launching it at Spike. It struck him in the back of the head, and he stumbled into the church organ. The keyboard console collapsed under his weight.

“I'm good!” declared the Slayer.

Buffy looked on with horror as the organ’s massive pipes collapsed onto Spike and Drusilla. *NO!* Buffy screamed internally.

“Get him out of here!“ ordered Buffy, thrusting Angel into Kendra and Giles direction.

Kendra and Giles supported the Vampire out of the church. Buffy turned back to the flaming organ.

“Buffy!“ shouted Willow, “ We have to get out of here! The whole place is on fire!“

“No!” Buffy said silently. Buffy walked up to the wrecked organ and began to root through the mess.

“Buffy!” shouted Willow again. “You slayed him! Spike’s toast! Let’s get out of here!” Willow forcibly pulled Buffy out of the church.
__________________________________________

That night Buffy cried herself to sleep. Spike was gone, dust under the rubble. She wasn’t going to school the next day. Willow would just think she was taking care of Angel. So would the others. Buffy let the tears flow freely down her face, as she clutched Mr Gordo tightly. She had nothing of his except the marks on her neck to remember him by.
__________________________________________

Back in the church the fire had burned itself out. From under the rubble Drusilla pulled Spike out.

“Don't worry, dear heart.” Dru says as she pulls him off the floor. “I'll see that you get strong again. Like me!” Slowly she carried him from the charred remains of the church.
__________________________________________

tbc...
 

Future Childe
by Ariel Dawn

Summery: Buffy grieves, and Angel makes a move.

Disclaimer: Not mine...you know the drill.

Author’s note: Thanks to my reviewers. *I love you guys!* Quotes from the episodes Ted and Bad Eggs.
__________________________________________
Chapter 8: Grieving

Buffy’s friends forced her out of her self imposed mourning period. Not that they understood anything at all. They were walking ahead of her, down her street clearly talking about something extremely fascinating, but all she could think about was him. And how she would never see him again.

“Buffy,” came Xander’s voice.

“Huh?”

“Who was the real power? The Captain, or Tennille?” asked Xander.

“Ummm... Who are these people?”

“The Captain and Tennille? Boy, somebody was raised in a culture-free environment!”

“I'm sorry. I was just...”

“Thinking?” suggested Willow

“No, not thinking. Having a lot of non-thoughts. Things have been too quiet around here.”

“Yeah, with Spike and Drusilla out of the way, we've really been ridin' the mellow, and I am really jinxing the hell out of us by saying that.” said Xander.

“Yeah, but we'll let you off this time.” said Buffy trying to be happy.

*Spike and Dru were gone. Spike was gone. I will not cry. I will not cry.*

“So, we're pretty sure that there're not more Tarakan assassins coming our way?” asked Willow as the trio of friends turned towards Buffy’s house.

“The contract's off.”

“How is Angel? Pretend I care,” said Xander.

“Getting better. I think.”

“And you're loving playing nursemaid?” said willow all suggestive like.

“Huh? I‘m not Angel’s nursemaid,” Buffy protested. In fact Buffy had only been over to see how he was doing once since the Church. “You know what, I’m feeling really tired, how about I catch you guys later ok?”
__________________________________________

To get away from Ted and the Ted Praising mom, Buffy decided it was time to see Angel again. Something was really off about Ted, her mother’s new boyfriend, of course no one would believe her. *Spike would. He’d also offer to eat him for me,* she thought pleasantly.

“So mom's like, 'Do you think Ted will like this?' and 'This is Ted's favourite show,' and 'Ted's teaching me computers,' and 'Ted said the funniest thing,' and I'm like, 'That's really great, Mom,' and then she said I was being sarcastic, which I was, but I'm sorry if I don't wanna talk about Ted all the time,” said Buffy as she changed his bandages.

“So, you gonna talk about something else at some point?”

“I'm sorry. I just have so much to deal with, I don't need some new guy in my life.”

“No, but maybe your mom does.”

“Well, sure, if you're gonna use wisdom.”

“Loneliness is about the scariest thing there is.”

“And don’t I know it. Okay, so my mom needs a guy in her life. Does it have to be Ted?“

“Do you have somebody else in mind? There's a guy out there that would satisfy you?“

“My dad? Yeah, okay, that's not gonna happen. How about you? You’re old-er and unattached. Or, maybe, Giles? Fine, fine, I'll give Ted a chance. I'll play mini-golf, and I'll smile and curtsy and be the dutiful daughter. Do I have to like him?”

“No, you don’t. But give him a chance, for your mom’s sake.”

“Yes, Sire” said Buffy playfully, until she realized exactly what she said. *Crap, crap, Crap!*

“Buffy, it’s ok,” said Angel, “I’m ok with the occasional references to the fact that I drink blood and don’t have a reflection.”

“I just thought, maybe, Sire, that word. You lost your childer Angel, doesn’t that make you feel something?” said Buffy increasingly sad.

“Yes, but I think of it as, I lost them a long time ago. When I got my soul. I realized I could never be with them anymore, wasn’t really part of the family.”

“Oh, so nothing then?”

“There’s not nothing. Why are you asking about this?”

“No reason,” said Buffy defensively.

“Yes, there is a reason, Buffy.” Angel pulled back her hair with his uninjured hand to expose her bite marks. “These are Spike’s.”

Buffy flinched.

“Don’t deny it Buffy. I’m not stupid.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? Well except for the talking over my head conversation with Giles about the thrall”

“The first time I met you, I knew you were marked Buffy. It’s like you had “Spike’s property” tattooed on your neck. Exactly what was I going to say? I had hoped that he would leave you alone.”

“He was going to turn me.” Buffy whimpered, tears welling up in her eyes.

“You fell in love with your murderer.”

Buffy stared hard at Angel.

“Dru did the same with me you know, even though I did horrible things to her and her family.”

“I just miss him so much! If only he hadn’t taken you! If I had only stopped Kendra! I let him die!” The tears were now rolling down her face.

“No! Buffy look, it’s not your fault, just that it’s not your fault that I got hurt. Truth be told if Dru had just asked me to heal her I would have done it no questions asked. They were my family.”

Angel gathered Buffy into his arms.

“Spike!” she sobbed into Angel’s chest.
__________________________________________

Buffy sat with her mom on the porch. Ted, the robot, diary reading horrible thing, was gone. Her mom was back to the single parent-ness.

“Do you wanna rent a movie tonight?” asked her mom.

“Sounds like fun.”

“Just nothing with horror in it. Or romance. Or men.”

“I guess we're 'Thelma and Louise'ing it again.”

“Mm-hm. Good call. I still think he's gonna jump out at me. Especially after what the police found in his house. It's just too horrible.”

“I wouldn't worry. He's not coming back,” said Buffy confidently.

“I wish I could be so sure.”

“Trust me. He's on the scrap heap. Of life.”

“Whatever happened to your boyfriend, you know, the one that you spent hours and hours on the phone with? What was his name again?”

“Spike,” Buffy whispered.

“You should invite him over for dinner some night.”

Buffy’s eyes started to tear up again.

“Oh Buffy, I‘m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Joyce gathered Buffy into her arms.

“I guess we are both doomed to singleton for a while longer.”
__________________________________________

Angel had drawn her a picture of Spike. Leather coat, black nail polish and all. Buffy sat on her bed and looked at it from across the room. Gingerly her hand went to the scars on her neck.

“You promised me you would come back for me.”

Buffy lay back on her bed and cried. She felt like someone had ripped out her insides. Her sobs rocked her body.
__________________________________________

Only Giles could be elated that there were Country-fied vampires after her. It gave him something to research, now that the well of ‘Buffy is under thrall’ reasons to research had dried up. It didn’t however take two seconds for Buffy to offer to ditch class to research the vamps in question.

“Buffy! How come you weren't in class?” asked Willow as she and Xander headed into the library.

“Vampire issues. Did Mr. Whitmore notice I was tardy?”

“I think the word you're searching for is 'absent',” said Xander.

“Tardy people show.”

“Right.”

“And, yes, he did notice, so he wanted me to give you this.” said Willow, as she handed her an egg.

*An egg?*

“As far as punishments go this is fairly abstract,” said Buffy, puzzling over the object.

“No, it's your baby!” said Willow happily.

“Okay, I get it even less.”

“Well, you know, it's the whole 'sex leads to responsibility' thing, which I personally don't get. You gotta take care of the egg. It's a baby. You gotta keep it safe and teach it Christian values,” explained Xander.

“My egg is Jewish,” Willow reproached Xander

“Then teach it that Dreidel song.”

“I can't do this! I can't take care of things! I killed my Giga Pet. Literally, I sat on it and it broke,” protested Buffy.

Buffy quickly put down her egg and backed away from it.

“You'll do fine!” said Willow, trying to bolster her friend’s confidence in egg sitting.

“Yeah, the only thing that stresses me is when do we tell them that they're adopted?” joked Xander.

“I'll just lay that one off on my partner.” *ah crap* “Who'd I get?”

“Well, there were an uneven number of students, and you didn't show, so...”

“I'm a single mother?” said Buffy shocked and appalled.

“No man of her own,” agreed Xander.

“Do you know what this says about me? That I am doomed to lead my mother's life! How deeply scary is that?”

“How 'bout this: it says nothing, it means nothing, this whole egg experiment thing is completely pointless!” confronted Xander.

“Success!” exclaimed Giles from the cage. “At last. Your playmate is a fellow of repute, it seems,” said Giles as he made to lay the book on Buffy’s egg.

Eggbert! Buffy snatched her egg child away from being smushed.

“That's, um, Lyle Gorch, and that one's his brother, Tector. They're from Abilene. They, uh, they made their reputation by massacring an entire Mexican village in 1886,” explained Giles, before cleaning his glasses.

“Friendly little demons,” interjected Buffy.

“That was before they became vampires,” continued Giles.

“B-but, um, the good news is that they're... not amongst the great thinkers of our times. I doubt if they're up to much. They're probably just drawn here by the, uh, Hellmouth's energy,” said Giles as he put his glasses back on.

“'Nuff said! I propose Buffy slays 'em. All in favour?” said Xander as he raised his hand.

Willow raised her hand too. “Aye!” she agreed.

“I-I don't think you should underestimate them. I mean, y-you may need to have some help if, if, if, if...” GIles paused. “Why do you all have eggs?”

“Hey, maybe you can have Angel help you find the Gorches,” suggested Willow happily.

“Yes! Yes, yes, that's not a bad idea. Strength in numbers,” advised Giles.

“Oh, right. I see a lotta hunting getting done in that scenario,” snarked Xander.

“Please. Like Angel and I are just helpless slaves to passion. Grow up!”
__________________________________________

In the park on Patrol, Buffy couldn’t even bear to look at her vampire companion.

“Buffy, I think you should know, that I don’t think Dru is dead. I can feel her still,” offered Angel.

“But you don’t feel Spike, is this what you have been afraid to tell me all night?”

“Pretty much.”

Buffy sniffed.

“It’s not going to bring him back, you know, me thinking about him all the time. I don’t even know how this all happened really. I mean I only saw him three times when I was in LA.”

“When were you in LA?”

“Before I moved here, I met him before I became a slayer. He left me three days before I was called.”

“Oh. You were under thrall.”

“Huh? Are you trying to make me mad at you?”

“No, you just said that you didn’t know how it happened.”

“So you are saying that everything I feel about him, is the result of some vampire hypno thingy?”

“No, I’m saying that I started out that way. I’m not saying that the feelings you have aren’t real Buffy.”

They walked on for a while.

“Buffy? Do you still want to be turned? I mean do you have some sort of death wish? Is that why you agreed to be turned?”

“NO! I didn’t agree to be turned Angel. I agreed to spend the rest of my life, or unlife with the man I fell in love with. I didn’t know he was a vampire when we were in LA Angel. He was the first man I ever fell in love with, I will always love him.”

“Ya, I understand that. And I wouldn’t ask you to not love him.”

“You want to know if I’ll be able to move on. Maybe, someday.”
__________________________________________

Buffy, Xander and Willow all snuck into the Library waiting to surprise Giles. Sure enough, completely absorbed in reshelving Giles stumbled upon them.

“Oh! Why are you three hanging about? Don't you have classes to go to?” Not exactly the reaction that Buffy was looking for. Why did Giles have to be stuffy when he was surprised too?

“Teen health got cancelled.” explained Willow.

“Mr. Whitmore's out. Couldn't find an egg sitter or something,” continued Xander inanely.

“Well, then, can you give me a hand?” asked Giles hoping for help with the terrible reshelving.

Buffy and Willow answered in the negative together.

“Sure!” answers Xander curiously upbeat and began shelving books with gusto.

“How did the, um... hunt go last night, Buffy?” asked Giles.

“No go.”

“Uh, 'no', 'no' you didn't go, or, or, or you were unsuccessful?”

“No Gorches.”

“Apparently Buffy has decided the problem with the English language is all those pesky words. You... Angel... big... smoochies?” patronized Xander.

“Shut... up.”

“I-it's true, Buffy, you and Willow do seem a little sluggish. Are you quite sure everything's alright?” asked Giles.

“Maybe something we ate,” offered Willow.

“Or perhaps it's the burden of parenthood. Notice how seriously you two have taken this egg thing.” Buffy and Willow held their baskets protectively. “While I, in turn, have, uh, well, chosen a more balanced approach.” Xander took his egg out of his pocket and started tossing it around.

“Xander, maybe you shouldn't...” trailed off Willow.

“That's exactly what I'm talking about. You can't stress over every little thing! A child picks up on that. Which is a one-way ticket to neurotic city.” Xander continued to toss his egg, but ends up missing the catch. The group watched as the egg hit the group, but failed to break.

“It didn't break!” exclaimed Willow, “How come it didn't break?”

“Which is another secret to conscientious egg care: pot of scalding water and about eight minutes.”

“You boiled your young?”

“Yeah! I know it sounds cruel, but sometimes you gotta be cruel to be kind! I mean, you can bet that little Xander here is thick skinned now.”

Xander picked up his egg.

“Technically that would be cheating, yes?” said Giles as he reached up to put a book up on a shelf.

“No! It's like a short cut. You know, when you run a race?”

“That would also be cheating,” noted Buffy.

“You should be ashamed,” said Willow disapprovingly.

“I suppose there is a sort of... Machiavellian ingenuity to your transgression,” offered Giles.

“I resent that! Or possibly thank you.”

Just then Cordelia walked into the library.

“Figures you three would all be hanging in the dungeon while something major's going on at Sunnydale High,” noted the cheerleader.

“And what would that be, Cordelia? Barrette Appreciation Day?” said Xander returning to shelving books.

“Mr. Whitmore didn't show today.” said Cordelia like it was news.

“That news is of the past.” said Buffy.

“He's missing? Presumed dead?” said Cordy.

“Presumed by whom?” asked Giles.

“Well, me!”

“I think we should give him a few hours before we give up on him completely.” said Giles.

“Well, I think we should look around, don't you Xander?”

“It can wait,” said Xander shaking his head.

“Well, his body could fall out of a closet somewhere,” offered Cordy. “So we should check some closets to see if he's in a closet?”

Xander suddenly pointed at her. “You're right. There could be a closet. Let's go.” Xander pointed at Buffy and Willow as he came down the stairs. “You guys look for more clues. We'll meet back here.” Xander led Cordelia by the arm out of the library.

“We'll get right on it,” said Buffy unenthusiastically.

“Are they getting weirder? Have you noticed the weirdness of them?” asked Willow.

“They're weird. Should I have guilt about not looking for Mr. Whitmore?” asked Buffy.

“I-I'd rather you conserve your strength for hunting the Gorches,” instructed the watcher.

“I'll be fine by tonight. Maybe I'll sweep the cemetery?”

“Well, be careful, i-i-if you're still feeling a little sluggish.”

“No worries.”

“And Angel's helping you, right?” asked Willow.

“He does what he can.”
__________________________________________

In the cemetery that night Angel had shown up for patrol again. Buffy liked it. Now that Angel knew her secret. She now had someone to commiserate about Spike with. They had a connection. Engaged in a deep period of talking and grieving, Angel reached over to hold Buffy’s hand while they walked.

“Ahh... As much as I hate to say this, we should really go kill bad guys.” said Buffy finally as she looked down at their clasped hands.

“It's late. You should really get home. Hmm?”

“What about the Gorches?”

“I'll hunt.”

“Really? You'd do that?”

“Not like I have an early day tomorrow.”

“True. I still have to go home and fill out my egg diary.”

“Your what?”

“Oh, I told you, that faux parenting gig we're doing at school. Like I'm really planning to have kids anytime soon. Uh, maybe someday, in the future, when I'm done having a life, now that I’m not going to be turned, but... right now kids would be just a little too much to deal with.”

“I wouldn't know. I don't... Well, you know, I, I can't.”

“Oh. Yeah, I knew that. I figured there were all sorts of things vampires couldn't do. You know, like work for the Telephone Company, or volunteer for the Red Cross.”

“So you don't think about the future?”

“No.”

“Never?”

“No.”

“You really don't care what happens a year from now? Five years from now?”

“Angel, up until a few weeks ago, my future was finish high school, get turned by Vampire boyfriend. I really hadn’t thought much further than the next two years.”

“He was gonna let you live for two more years?”

“On my 19th Birthday. And I realise, just how stupid was I? I mean, I don’t want to die! But with him...I didn’t care if I was gonna have a pulse, or a soul, or be able to walk in the sun. I just wanted to be with him.” Buffy sniffed. “Bloody Hell, I’m crying again!”
__________________________________________

Buffy lay on her bed, her legs kicking in the air. She was grounded. *Grounded. Grounded was definitely better than being the minion of a Bezor.* Buffy stared at the paper in front of her. Angel had suggested writing a letter to Spike. Even though he’d never read it, there was something comforting about putting her feelings on paper. Once the grounding was over, maybe she’d take it to the church. When she was ready to let go, but right now, she didn’t think she’d ever be ready.

tbc...
 

Future Childe
by Ariel Dawn

Summery: It’s Buffy’s Seventeenth birthday...

Disclaimer: So many other people own Buffy, I really can’t compete with them.

Author’s note: Ok, you’ve read the summery and you’re thinking, is Buffy gonna...you know...with Angel? Please don’t hurt me, this is the way my brain laid out the story...It gets better...I promise. Quotes from the episodes Surprise and Innocence. Once again I thank my reviewers, please be kind! Warning: Angel bashing.
__________________________________________
Chapter 9: Big Mistake

Buffy rushed to Angel’s apartment. She just had to make sure he was ok. Dreams like that.... So not of the good. *He’ll probably think I’m some sort of kid, afraid of my dreams. Spike wouldn’t think I was a kid,* she thought as Angel opened the door.

“Hey. Is everything okay?”

“That's what I was gonna ask you. You're okay, right?”

“Sure. I-I'm fine,” he moved back to invite her in. “What's up?”

Buffy walked in and put down her school bag. *And he’s not wearing a shirt,* she noted.

“Um... I-I had this... dream that Drusilla ....

“What happened?” he asked as he put on a shirt.

“She killed you. Right in front of me.”

“It was just a dream. It wasn't real.”

“But it felt so real.”

Angel grabbed her hand and held it tenderly. “It wasn't. I'm right here.”

“Angel, th-this happened before. The dreams that I had about the Master, they came true.”

“Still, not every dream you have comes true. I mean, what else did you dream last night? Can you remember?”

She‘d been caught. He was always right. *Hate that about him.* “I dreamt... I dreamt that Giles and I opened an office supply warehouse in Vegas.”

“See my point?”

“Yeah, I-I do, but... what if Drusilla wants vengeance?”

“We'll deal.”

“W-w-what if she is...” Buffy is cut off as Angel smashed his lips to her. Buffy pushed away from him instantly.

*Oh my god, oh my god. Angel kissed me.*

“I'm sorry. I, um... I-I have to go to school.” She turned and quickly headed for the door.

“I know,” said Angel. He followed her, took her arm, turned her around and kissed her again passionately.

Once again Buffy pushed him off.

“Stop! Please. I can’t do this Angel.” she whimpered, looking at the floor. “Not yet.“
__________________________________________

*Angel, kissed me, twice. And I said yet....YET.* Did this mean that she wanted to someday? Seriously needed Best friend time.

Buffy found Willow walking in the quad at lunch time.

“Quick, Willow, need girl chat. Like now!“

“Buffy? What happened?“

“Ok, so I had this dream, but the dreams not important...well it is but it isn’t. I dreamt that Drusilla killed Angel, right in front of my eyes, and you were going on about how hippos steal pants or something...“

“You said the dream wasn’t important.“

“Right, so this morning I went to Angel’s apartment to check to see if he was ok, cause the dream freaked me out. And while I was there, he kissed me, twice. And I said I can’t do this Angel, not yet.“

“Implying that you could someday.“

“Yes! Do you see the problem?“

Willow had confused face on, “No.“

“Ahhhh!“ Buffy was frustrated.

“Haven’t you been kissing Angel for like months now?“

“NO!“

“Huh?“

“Willow, How can I want to do anything with Angel, it’s Angel!“

“How can you not want to do anything with Angel? It’s Angel, you love him, you have smoochies in graveyards... I don’t understand, and frankly you’re freaking me out here.“

With some difficulty Buffy then clued in that Willow didn’t know about Spike.

“Oh God! Willow, I’m sorry, please forgive me, but it was all a ruse, a smoke screen. I couldn’t let anyone know who my boyfriend was. And now that he’s gone, Angel wants to make a move on me. I’m grieving here Willow!“

“Whoa! hold on! Boyfriend, who’s not Angel? Huh? Since when?“

“Since I lived in LA.“

“But you were all over Angel when you first moved here.“

“He came to find me in October.“

“And now he’s gone, he dumped you?“

“No, he’s...“ Buffy brushed her tears away. “He’s dead Willow.“

“Oh my god Buffy!, I’m so sorry.“

“Need help Willow, what should I do about Angel?“

“What do you wanna do?”

“I don't know. I... I mean, S-William is dead, I don’t want to move on, but is it unhealthy to stay like this forever?“

“How long ago was it?“ said Willow as they sat on a bench.

“Two months”

“Well that’s not long enough to properly grieve, Buffy. Tell Mr Broody to back off.”

“It’s not like I want him, really, it’s just, I miss being physical with someone.”

“Physical?” Willow gulped.

“Yep,”

“Wow”

“You have no idea, but hey, speaking of 'wow' potential, there's Oz over there. What are we thinking, any spark-age?”

Willow smiles. “He's nice. Hey, I like his hands.”

“Mm. A fixation on insignificant detail is a definite crush sign.”

“Oh, I don't know, though. I mean, he is a senior.”

“You think he's too old 'cause he's a senior? Please. My boyfriend had a centennial.”

“Angel’s your boyfriend now...after all that?“

“No! Angel’s not my boyfriend.“

“But you said...wait, was William a Vamp?“

“Not answering that, right now anyway, I promise I will have a full blown girls night, dishing all my secrets, with tubs of Ben and jerry’s. It’s just too painful right now. But back to Oz, you can't spend the rest of your life waiting for Xander to wake up and smell the hottie. Make a move. Do the talking thing.”

“Well, what if the talking thing becomes the awkward-silence thing?”

“Well, you won't know until you try.” said Buffy as she walked away leaving Willow with questions.
__________________________________________

When Spike had opened his eyes regaining consciousness from being pinned beneath an organ Dru had been ecstatic. She wanted a party naturally, to celebrate. Spike had just rolled his eyes at that. Why have a party when all he could do was roll around in a stupid wheel chair. He couldn’t even leave the factory, unless the minions were out with him. Dru enjoyed being the mother hen.

“I have your package.” said Dalton, presenting Spike with a large wooden box.

“Just put it on the table... near the other gifts.” Dru always had to have presents. But this present had him worried.

“Are you dead set on this, pet? Wouldn't you rather have your party in Vienna?” asked Spike of his Sire who was pushing his chair forward.

“But the invitations are sent.”

“Yeah. It's just I've had it with this place. Nothing ever comes off like it's supposed to.” They could take Buffy and go.

“My gatherings are always perfect. Remember Spain?” Dru crouched down to look him in the eye “Hey... The bulls?”

“I remember, sweet. But Sunnydale's cursed for us. Angel and that other Slayer see to that.”

“Shhh... I've got good games for everyone.” Dru licked his cheek “You'll see.”

Spike watched as Dru walked over to a table and inspected the roses and other red flowers that had been assembled for the party.

“These flowers... are wrong.” moaned Drusilla “They're all... wrong! I can't abide them!” Dru began to scream and rip up the flowers which had been so right until just now.

“Let's try something different with the flowers then,” said Spike in a calming voice.

Dru’s eyes flick over her childe, then to the presents on a nearby table.

“Can I open one? Can I?”

Spike smiled at her. She was a child, even after 150 or so years.

“Can I? Ooo...”

“Just a peek, love.”

She excitedly reached for the latch on one of them.

“They're for the party.”

He wheeled himself over to her.

“Do you like it, pet?”

“It reeks of death.” She sighed and knelt in front of Spike. “This will be the best party ever.”

“Why is that?”

“Because...” She stood back up and leaned toward the box. “It will be the last.”

*The last huh?* Spike didn’t like how this party was coming together. And he really wanted to see Buffy. God knows what she was thinking right now. He hadn’t seen in her two months. Granted that he was bedridden/unconscious for a large part of those two months. *Angelus better be keeping his paws to himself.*
__________________________________________

This birthday sucked. Attacked by vamps, Dru’s minions were assembling some sort of icky destructo judge person, and now Angel was all ‘let me take the arm to the ends of the earth.’ Some birthday fun. Buffy popped another bite of cake into her mouth. The truth was that Buffy was not a little conflicted about Angel leaving. Sure there was the added bonus to his leaving that he would gone and hence not trying to mack on her. But she would miss her friend.
__________________________________________

Buffy followed Angel to a ship that would take him to Asia.

“ I should go the rest of the way alone,” he said reluctantly.

“Okay.”

“But I'll be back. I will.”

“When? Six months, a year? You don't know how long it's gonna take or if we'll even...” she trailed off looking down.

“Hey...” Angel raised her chin so he could look in her eyes. “If we'll even what?”

“Well, if you haven't noticed, someone pretty much always wants us dead.”

“Don't say that. We'll be fine.”

“We don't know that.”

“We can't know, Buffy. Nobody can. That's just the deal.” Angel reached into his pocket. “I have something for you. For your birthday. I... I was gonna give it to you earlier, but...” Angel held out the ring for her inspection.

“It's beautiful. But I can’t wear your ring Angel. I can’t, it’s too soon.”

Angel continued on ignoring her protests “My people, before I was changed, they exchanged this as a sign of devotion. It's a claddagh ring. The hands represent friendship, the crown represents loyalty... and the heart... Well, you know... Wear it with the heart pointing towards you. It means you belong to somebody. Like this.” Held his hand out and showed her his own ring.

“Put it on.” He took the ring from her and slipped it onto her finger.

Buffy looked down at the ring, the heart was pointing in, her heart was taken, she knew that. But it wasn’t the man that gave her the ring to whom her heart belonged.

“Maybe when you get back...” said Buffy.

“Sounds like a good plan.”

Buffy drew him into her arms. They hugged for several moments.

“Buffy... I... “ started Angel, before two vampires suddenly jumped at them from some cargo netting.

One pulled Buffy off of Angel and threw her back. Buffy rolled to her feet. The vampire swung at her, but missed. She grabbed him and started pummelling his gut. Buffy ducked a swing, lifted herself up on the dock railing and kicked her assailant in the chest with both feet, sending him staggering back into the gangplank. She ran after him and grabbed him by the back of the shirt and hair. The minion growled. Out of the corner of her eye Buffy saw Dru’s minion, the one she had fought for the box the first time dropped out of the cargo netting run over to the box, grabbed it and started to run.

“Angel! The box!” Buffy called.

Buffy's attacker shook free of her and shoved her into a stack of crates. The minion tried a roundhouse kick, but she ducked it and he hit the crates instead. She went to grab for him, but he punched her in the face. Buffy's opponent grabbed her by the jacket and roared as he swung her around, over the railing and into the water.

“Buffy!” shouted Angel as he jumped over the railing after her.
__________________________________________

Angel carried Buffy into his apartment. She was soaking wet, he was soaking wet.

“Angel, you can put me down you know.“ Angel lets her down and takes off his jacket.

“You're shaking like a leaf.”

“Cold.”

“Let me get you something.”

Angel walked over to an armoire and took out some things for Buffy to wear.

“Put these on. Get under the covers, just to warm up.”

Buffy took the clothes from him and walked over to his bed. Sitting down on the bed she looked up at him wondering if he was going to keep looking at her while she changed.

After a moment he faced away to give her privacy.

“Sorry.”

With freezing fingers and sore muscles Buffy removed her top shirt and winced at the pain.

“What?” asked Angel concerned.

*He probably smells the blood,* she thought.

“Oh, um... It's okay. I just have a cut or something.”

“Can I... Lemme see.”

Buffy clutched her shirt to her chest. Good idea? Bad idea?

“Okay.” she whispered.

Angel turned around and sat down on the bed behind her. He gently touched her back and looked at the cut.

“It's already closed. You're fine.”

Buffy leaned back into him and cuddled her face to his. He put his arms around her.

“You almost went away today.”

“We both did.”

“Angel...” sobbed Buffy, “I feel like I lost you... Everyone leaves me, I don‘t want you to dust, I can‘t lose you like I did Spike.”

“Shhh. I... “ he trailed off.

Buffy turned around to look at him.

“You what?”

“I love you. I try not to, but I can't stop.”

Buffy touched his face tenderly. She knew she didn’t return his feelings, but she wanted the feelings of loneliness to stop.

“Make me feel, Angel, I’m tired of being numb.“
__________________________________________

Buffy woke up to find that Angel was not in the apartment. *Par for the course,* she thought. She had been asleep for about an hour. Time to get back to Giles and the Scoobies. She just didn’t want to think about what she had just done. She had had sex with Angel. Not Spike, Angel. She felt awful. She had betrayed Spike, the memory of Spike. Buffy bolted out of the apartment, she needed a shower, she felt so dirty.
__________________________________________

Buffy walked into the Library dressed in dry clothes. Fun times being rescued by Angel from drowning, Angel wasn‘t there either. *Wonder where he is? Really need to talk to him. Big mistake.*

“ Xander...” warned Willow.

“And she cries?” continued Xander with his fascinating story.

“What happened?” asked Giles.

“Dru's guys ambushed us. They got the box.”

“Where's Angel?” asked Giles.

“Uh, no clue. I lost track of him when I went to get dry clothes”

“And you needed clothes because...” asked Xander.

“We got wet. Giles, what do we know?”

“The more I study the Judge, the less I like him. His touch can literally burn the humanity out of you. A true creature of evil can survive the process. No human ever has.”

“What's the problem? We send Cordy to fight this guy, and we go for pizza.” smiled Xander

“Can this guy be stopped? Without an army?”

“Um, 'no weapon forged can kill him.' Not very encouraging. If we could only stop them from assembling him,” advised Giles

“We need to find his weak spots, and we need to figure out where they'd be keeping him.”

“This could take time.”
__________________________________________

The party was in full swing when Dalton returned with the box.

“Look what I have for you, ducks,” announced Spike to his Sire who was bobbing her head to the music that filled the factory.

Drusilla smiled and stepped over to him.

“Ahh... The best is saved for last.” Drusilla took the box from him and handed it to minions, who place the box in its place with the others.

As soon as all the pieces are in place, a bright light began to emanate from the cracks in the boxes. The Judge, a blue horned demon stepped out and gazed at the party goers.

“He's perfect, my darling,” Dru gushed. “Just what I wanted.”

The judge takes a moment to gain his balance. He pointed at Drusilla.

“You!”

“Ho, ho, ho. What's that, mate?” said Spike putting himself between Dru and the Judge.

“You two stink of humanity. You share affection and jealousy.”

“Yeah. What of it? Do I have to remind you that we're the ones who brought you here?” said Spike tapping the Judge’s armour.

“Would you like a party favour?” asked Dru offering her guests to him.

The Judge took in the whole assemblage of guests before letting his eyes rest on Dalton.

“This one is full of feeling. He reads. Bring him to me.”

Minions grabbed the poor Dalton.

“What's with the bringing? I thought you could just zap people,“ asked Spike from his wheel chair.

“My full strength will return in time. Until then... I need contact.”

The Judge stepped over to Dalton.

“No. No! NO!” screamed Dalton, looking to Spike for reprieve.

The Judge put his hand on Dalton's chest, and the poor minion began smoke. Drusilla watched with excitement in her eyes. The Judge's hand began to burn into Dalton, who quickly combusted, disappearing in a flash of flame and smoke.

“Do it again! Do it again!” giggled Drusilla gleefully.
__________________________________________

The party didn’t last long after the guests realised that the guest of honour was going to try to kill them all. What had started out to be a promising night, now was boring as hell. Even the judge was being contemplative and dire, sitting by himself.

“What's Big Blue up to anyway? He just sits there.” Spike asked Dru wheeling into the middle of the room.

“I am preparing.” answered the smurf.

Spike rolled his eyes. “Yeah. It's interesting to me that 'preparing' looks a great bit like sitting on your ass. When do we destroy the world already?”

“My strength grows, and with every life I take it will increase further,” stated the judge.

“So let's take some. I'm bored.”

The sound of Drusilla’s moaning filled the cavernous room.

“Dru?” asked Spike worried.

Spike turned his chair around just as Drusilla collapsed to the floor and began to cry.

“Angel...” moaned Drusilla.

“Dru? What is it? Dru! Darling... Do you see something?”

Suddenly she stopped crying and faced him with a deliciously evil smile. She took his hand and walked over to a table where she laid down.

“Are we feeling better, then?” asked Spike.

“I'm naming all the stars.” said his sire.

“You can't see the stars, love. That's the ceiling. Also, it's day.”

“I can see them. But I've named them all the same name. And there's terrible confusion.”

“Did you see any further? Do you know what happens to Angel?” asked Spike.

“Well,” comes a voice from the doorway, Angel’s voice, “he moves to New York and tries to fulfill that Broadway dream. It's tough sledding, but one day he's working in the chorus when the big star twists her ankle.”

“You don't give up, do you? Actually, why did it take you so long to show up?” said Spike as he spun in his chair to face his grand sire.

“As long as there's injustice in the world, as long as scum like you is walking... well, rolling the streets... I'll be around,” said Angel as he slowly walked over. “Look over your shoulder. I'll be there.”

“Uh, yeah. Angel, um... look over your shoulder,” said Spike gleefully.

Angel turned around as the Judge put his hand on his chest.

“Hurts, doesn't it?” said Spike.

“Well, you know, it kinda itches a little,” responded Angel.

“Don't just stand there. Burn him,” Spike ordered the judge.

“Gee, maybe he's broken,” taunted Angel.

“What the hell is going on?” asked Spike.

“This one... cannot be burnt. He is clean,” declared the judge as he removed his hand from Angel’s chest.

“Clean? You mean, he's...” trailed off Spike.

“There's no humanity in him,” said the Judge with finality.

“I couldn't have said it better myself,” said Angelus.

“Angel,” breathed Dru with realisation.

“Yeah, baby. I'm back.”

“Is it really true?” asked Spike.

“It's really true,” Angelus laughed.

“You've come home,” noted Dru.

“No more of this 'I've got a soul' crap?” said Spike as he followed Angelus around the room.

“What can I say, hmm? I was going through a phase.” Angelus lit a cigarette

“This is great! This is so great!” said Spike enthused.

“Everything in my head is singing! We're family again. We'll feed. Grrr. And we'll play.” said Dru as she walked on tables, only to be taken down by her sire.

“I've got to tell you, it made me sick to my stomach seeing you chase after the Slayer,” said Spike, wanting no more than to bash his grandsire for smelling like Buffy.

Angelus growled and grabbed Spike by the shirt. Then he kissed him on the forehead and stepped back. Spike burst out laughing.

“How did this happen?” asked Dru.

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you.”

“Oh, who cares? What matters is now he's back!” said Spike.

“Psst. We're going to destroy the world. Want to come?” whispered Dru.

“Yeah. Destroying the world. Great. I'm really more interested in the Slayer.”

Spike perked up at that. “Well, she's in the world, so that should work out. But she’s mine Angelus, you’ve no mark on her.”

“Give me tonight. Hmm?” Spike felt that Angelus was ignoring him.

“What do you mean?”

“Lay low for a night. I guarantee you by the time you go public she won't be anything resembling a threat.”

“You've really got a yen to hurt this girl, haven't you? She wasn’t a threat before Angelus. It’s her bloody watcher calling the shots and your soulful alter ego. You stay away from her.“

“Maybe she can’t stay away from me? She made me feel like a human being. That's not the kind of thing you just forgive.”
__________________________________________

Buffy was starting to get frantic. She couldn’t find Angel anywhere. Visions from her dreams were flooding her mind, how Drusilla killed him. What if he had been captured? Buffy had even beat up Willy a couple of times to find out where Angel was. She shouldn’t have waited for him in the library last night. She shouldn’t have gone home for fresh clothes. They weren’t closer to finding out about the Judge’s weaknesses and were really sure that he had been fully assembled. Buffy headed back to his apartment again, just in case he had gone home.

Entering the apartment she could feel Angel tinglies. She let out a sigh of relief. The bed had been made and some clothes had been laid out on it. Buffy turned to face the direction that the tinglies were coming from.

“Angel!” she said happily.

“Hey!”

Buffy gave her, friend? Lover? a hug.

“Oh, my God! I was so worried!”

“I didn't mean to frighten you.”

“Where did you go?”

“Been around.”

“Ohhh. Oh, my God! I was freaking out! You just disappeared.”

“What? I took off,” he said nonchalantly as he heads to the bed for his shirt.

“But you didn't say anything. You just left.”

“Yeah. Like I really wanted to stick around after that.”

“What?”

“You got a lot to learn about men, kiddo. Although I guess you proved that last night.”

Buffy erupted into laughter. “What are you saying? Are you telling me that I was bad? That’s a laugh. You may have been fucking for over two hundred years, but I know when I’m getting the really short end of that stick.“

“Let's not make an issue out of it, okay? In fact, let's not talk about it at all. It happened.”

“I agree, it was a mistake. A fucking huge mistake.”

“Lighten up. It was a good time. It doesn't mean like we have to make a big deal.”

“Again, me with the agreement. I just think that after your whole, ‘I can’t help myself, I love you,’ speech last night, I might have had to break your heart. Too bad you don’t have one. Well it’s been a trip Angel, I’d like to say it was a good fuck, but I really can’t,” said Buffy turning to leave. As she passed the door way she turned to look at Angel once more. “Oh, and Angel, two words... G Spot...look it up.”
__________________________________________
tbc...

 

Future Childe
by Ariel Dawn

Summery: In which Buffy confronts Angelus and tells Willow about Spike.

Disclaimer: Joss owns Buffy, I just own the entire series on DVD.

Author’s note: In penance for the nastiness of the last chapter I’m putting up a second chapter today. I hope that this placates my reviewers. Have I mentioned how sorry about the whole ickiness of the last chapter? Quotes from the episode Innocence.
__________________________________________
Chapter 10 : Friends Tell

Buffy returned to the school only to hear commotion in the hallway.

“Don't do that!” shouted Xander.

“Oh, I think I do that.” said Angel.

“Angel...” whispered Willow.

Buffy could tell something was off. Hell she could tell that something was off since she left Angel’s apartment, when her feeling of glee from her g spot comment dissipated.

“He's not Angel anymore. Are you?” said Miss Calendar.

“Wrong. I am Angel. At last!”

“Oh, my God,” breathed Xander.

“I got a message for Buffy,” said Angelus.

Buffy walked out behind the vampire. “Why don't you give it to me yourself?” she said putting her hands on her hips.

Angelus spun around with Willow, gripped by the neck, to face her.

“Well, it's not really the kind of message you tell. It sort of involves finding the bodies of all your friends.”

Willow yelped as Angelus tightened his grip on her throat.

“This can't be you.”

“Gee, we already covered that subject.”

“Leave Willow alone, and deal with me. She‘s not the one that thinks you have a small dick.”

“But she's so cute and helpless,” said Angel pinching Willow’s cheek “Angel as you knew him, Angel your boyfriend is dead. You're all gonna join him.”

“You were never my boyfriend Angelus! You were a convenient fuck, nothing more.”

Xander took that moment to shove a cross into Angelus' face from behind. The vampire reeled back and dropped Willow. Angelus turned to exit the building, as he reached where Buffy was standing, he grabbed her by her shoulders.

“Things are about to get very interesting.” he whispered, then kissed her hard. He shoved Buffy into the wall and he backed out the door.

“Buffy, you okay?” asked Xander.

*Oh yeah, I’m good Xander, I just fucked Angel’s soul out of him. Damn I must be really good in bed.*
__________________________________________

Back in the library Giles paced.

“And we're absolutely certain that, that Angel has reverted to his former self?”

“Yeah, uh, we're all certain. Anyone not feeling certain here?” declared Xander.

“Giles, you wouldn't have believed him. He was so... He came here to kill us.” said Willow.

“What are we gonna do?” asked Cordelia.

“I'm leaning towards blind panic myself,” said Giles.

“Rupert, don't talk like that. The kids,” chastised Miss Calendar.

“I'm sorry. It's just that things are bad enough with the Judge here. Angel crossing over to the other side... I-I-I wasn't prepared for that.”

“None of us were.”

Buffy looked on at the exchange without seeing. She had done this to Angel, people were going to die because she had a moment of weakness and had had sex with the wrong vampire.

“Are you okay?” asked Willow coming to sit beside her.

“I should've known.” she laughed, “When I saw him at his apartment, he was different. The things he said...”

“What things?” asked Giles.

“It's private,” said Buffy glaring at her watcher.

“But you didn't know he had turned bad?” asked Miss Calendar.

Willow looked at Miss Calendar with suspicion. “How did you?”

“What?”

“Well, you knew. You told me to get away from him.”

“Well, I saw his face.”

“If only we knew how it happened,” said Giles as he sat down on the table.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, something set it off. Some, some, uh, event must've triggered his transformation. Well, if anyone would know, Buffy, it-it should be you,” said Giles

“I don't...think it’s important how he turned, just that it’s done and now Angelus, scourge of Europe is out there right now... probably with Drusilla and the Judge, planning the destruction of humanity,” whispered Buffy.

“I merely ask, for curiosity, closure, find out when exactly it happened,” continued the watcher.

“You really aren’t going to let this go? are you? Trust me, you don’t want to know.” Buffy left the library.
__________________________________________

“You should've seen her face. It was priceless.” Angelus hopped up on a platform as he told his childer his tale. “I'll never forget it.”

“So you didn't kill her then.” asked Spike.

“Of course not.”

“And sadly it appears that she failed to kill you,” said Spike elated that the grandsire hadn’t killed Buffy.

“You don't want to kill her, do you?” asked Dru as she poked her doll’s eyes out “You want to hurt her. Just like you hurt me.”

“Nobody knows me like you do, Dru.”

“She'd better not get in our way,” said Spike.

“Don't worry about it.”

“I do.” *I worry about her, it’s insane but I do.*

“Spike, my boy, you really don't get it! Do you? You tried to kill her, but you couldn't. Look at you. You're a wreck! She's stronger than any Slayer you've ever faced. Force won't get it done. You gotta work from the inside. To kill this girl... you have to love her.”

Spike rolled his eyes at his grandsire. *The poofter was telling him how to kill Buffy? Thought I was doing a pretty good job of that you bleedin’ ponce...* thought Spike.
__________________________________________

After a brilliant nap, Buffy, refreshed and angry, marched straight to Ms. Calendar's classroom. The woman knew! She knew that Angel would go evil! She knew, and she didn’t tell anyone.

“Oh, Buffy.” said Giles trying to get her attention.

Buffy walked right past Giles and straight to the computer teacher. Gripping Miss Calendar by the throat Buffy pushed the teacher into the desk.

“Buffy!” shouted Giles as he tried to pull Buffy off of Miss Calendar.

“What do you know?!” shouted Buffy.

“Should I get the principal?” asked a student.

“No, I-I-I'll deal with this. Y-y-you're, you're all dismissed!” Giles told the class.

Buffy let go of the teacher as the other students left the room.

“Did you do it? Did you change him?”

“For God's sake, calm down!” said Giles.

“Did you know this was gonna happen?”

“You can't go around accusing everybody...”

“I didn't know... exactly. I was told...”trailed off Miss Calendar. “Oh, God. I was sent here to watch you. They told me to keep you and Angel apart. They never told me what would happen.”

“Jenny!”

“I'm sorry, Rupert. Angel was supposed to pay for what he did to my people.”

“And me? What was I supposed to be paying for?”

“I didn't know what would happen until after. I swear I would've told you.”

“So it was me. I did it.”

“I think so. I mean, if you...”

“I don't understand.” said Giles impatiently.

“The curse. If Angel achieved true happiness, even just a moment of... He would lose his soul.” explained Miss Calendar.

“W-w-w-h-h-how do you know you were responsible f-for...” stammered Giles.

Buffy gave him a look. Giles took off his glasses.

“Oh,” said the watcher uncomfortably.

“If there is anything that...” trailed off Miss Calendar.

“Curse him again.”

“No, I-I can't. I mean, those magicks are long lost even to my people.”

“You did it once. It might not be too late to save him.”

“It can't be done. I can't help you.”

“Then take me to someone who can.” Buffy demanded.
__________________________________________

Buffy followed Miss Calendar to some skeezy hotel in the middle of nowhere. Buffy was seriously beginning to doubt Miss Calendar’s word here. *I mean who would live here?*

The three entered a room. Buffy gasped. There on the bed was a body, a human body, horribly mutilated.

“Oh, my god” gasped Miss Calendar.

Despite being extremely angry with her computer teacher, Buffy couldn’t help but feel bad about the death of the woman’s uncle.

The wall above the dead man was covered in blood written words. WAS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO, dripped down the wall. Angel was taunting her.

“He's doing this deliberately, Buffy. He's trying to make it harder for you.” said Giles

“He's only making it easier. I know what I have to do.”

“What?”

“Kill him.”
__________________________________________

Wasn’t much to do, while waiting for the judge to power up. Wasn’t much to do while sitting in a wheelchair either. Angelus was making his presence known to the minions, asserting his authority over everyone in the Factory. Essentially that meant that Spike was lower in the chain of command now. The minion’s were Dru’s as the elder Master, Spike only ruled them because Dru was too loony to do exactly what she was supposed to do as Master. Now Angelus was Lording it over him. Good news was that if he wanted to, Spike could just up and leave, Dru wouldn’t want her childe around to distract her from her daddy. The only problem was the fucking wheelchair.

“I am ready,” announced the smurf.

“About time,” said Spike. Dru gave him a little wave. “Have fun.”

Angelus bent down to whisper in Spike’s ear. “Too bad you can't come with, huh? I'll be thinkin' of you.”

“I won't be in this chair forever,” said Spike with a warning.

Angelus took Drusilla's hand and they started out after the Judge.

“What happens if the slayer shows up?” asked Spike, wanting to hear that he wouldn’t hurt her, but of course that was asking too much. This was Angelus after all.

“I'm gonna give her a kiss.” Angelus answered him. Then the Elder Vampire turned to the Judge, “Don't you look spiffy!”

“Spiffy?”

Spike watched as Drusilla and Angelus and the blue one left the factory. He just hoped that Buffy protected herself.
__________________________________________

Back in the library, Xander and Oz lifted the results of their own expedition onto Giles’ desk.

“Happy Birthday, Buffy. I hope you like the colour.” said Xander stepping back from the large crate.

*Truly the best present anyone had ever gotten me,* she thought.

“Giles, we go to the factory first, but they might not be there. They're on the offensive. We need to figure out where they'd go.”

Giles lifted a crowbar up and smashed it down on the lock of the crate.

“Agreed,” said the watcher as he opened the crate.

“This is good.” Buffy noted while looking at her new present. Rocket launcher. *I like boys who give me weapons.*

From the door way Buffy heard an unwelcome voice. “Do you, uh... Is there something I can do?” asked Miss Calendar.

“Get out,” Buffy snapped.

“I-I just want to help,” stammered the computer teacher.

“She just said get out,” said Giles without even looking at the woman.

“Do you want me to show you how to use it?” asked Xander.

“Yes, I do.”
__________________________________________

Buffy, Giles, Xander, Willow, Cordy and Oz entered the factory cautiously only to find that it was deserted. Buffy was kinda shocked that no one had questioned her how she knew where Dru’s lair was, but she was glad that she didn’t have to get into it.

“I knew it.”

“We haven't a bead on where they would go?” Giles asked the group.

“I don't know, uh... somewhere crowded, I guess. I mean, the Judge needs bodies, right?”

“The Bronze?” Willow offered.

“It's closed tonight,” stated Xander.

“There's not a lot of choices in Sunnydale. It's not like people are gonna line up to get massacred,” said Cordelia flippantly.

“Uh, guys? If I were gonna line up, I know where I'd go,” suggested Oz.

Spike watched as the super friends group discussed where the Judge was likely to be, looking for all those people to feed off of. He so desperately wanted to take Buffy and carry her off to some foreign land away from all of this. But as it was, he was stuck in the chair, and with Angelus breathing down his neck. As the group left his home Spike silently wished Buffy luck, and hoped that he’d see her again soon.
__________________________________________

Buffy stepped out of the elevator with purpose. Sure this was akin to world savage, but Buffy was more intent on using her new toy, and sticking something wooden in a certain vampire’s chest.

“Everybody keep back. Damage control only. Take out any lesser vamps if you can. I'll handle the Judge,” ordered General Buffy.
__________________________________________

And Buffy liked her new toy. As the smoke from the weapon billowed up and away from her she handed the rocket launcher back to Xander.

“Best present ever.”

“Knew you'd like it.”

“Do you think he's dead?” asked Willow, referring to the multitude of Judge parts that were lying all over the mall.

“We can't be sure. Pick up the pieces and keep them separate.”

Buffy left the mundane picking up of pieces to her friends. She had a stake with Angelus’s name on it. Following where she last saw him, Buffy turned a corner, only to be assaulted by the sprinkler system. *Crap!* Suddenly Buffy got hit from behind and she fell backwards.

“You know what the worst part was, huh? Pretending that I loved you. If I'd known how easily you'd give it up, I wouldn't have even bothered,” said Angelus.

“That doesn't work anymore. You're not Angel,” Buffy noted as she got up. “But you know, it sounds like you having more issues with the fact that you loved me, I never said I was in love with you.”

Angelus snorted. “You'd like to think that I‘m not your simpering Angel, wouldn't you? It doesn't matter. The important thing is you made me the man I am today!” Angelus gave her an evil grin.

*God, I’m really starting to hate him!* thought the Slayer. So she kicked him in the face. He blocked her next swing and punched her in the face and in the gut. He grabbed her and swung her around to throw her, but she kept her footing. He kicked her in the face and this time she fell to the floor.

Angelus grabbed Buffy as she tried to get up and heaved her over onto her back again. She rolled around to her feet and came at him. She swung at him, but he blocked and hit her instead. He followed up with a backhand punch and she hit the floor again.

“Not quittin' on me already, are ya? Come on, Buffy. You know you want it, huh?”

She leapt up and kicked him in the face. He arched backward and then snapped forward. Buffy kneed him in the chin and then delivered a series of punches to his gut. She ended with a punch to his face. He wasn't fazed, and lunged at her. She grabbed his arm and diverted him into a display case. He crashed through the glass, but immediately straightened back up, breaking the top pane and the frame of the case as well. She kicked him in the face and again in the chest, and he staggered backward into a potted tree. She pulled out a stake and stood ready to finish the job. Angelus straightened up and faced her. Buffy didn't move, but instead lowered the stake and just stared at him.

“You can't do it. You can't kill me.”

*Fucking asshole!* Her anger bubbled to the surface and she kicked him extremely hard in the crotch. Angelus grabbed his groin and moaned in extreme pain. He collapsed to his knees. Buffy turned her back on him and walks away.

“Give me time.”

Buffy walked away without looking back. *Give me time, Angelus, I’ll work my way up to it soon.*
__________________________________________

Giles drove her home afterwards.

“It's not over. I-I-I suppose you know that. He'll come after you, particularly. His profile, uh, well, he... he's likely to strike out at the things that made him the most human,” advised the watcher.

“You must be so disappointed in me.”

“No. No, no, I'm not.”

“But this is all my fault.”

“No. I don't believe it is. Do you want me to wag my finger at you and tell you that you acted rashly? You did. A-and I can. I know that you loved him. And... he... has proven more than once that he loved you. You couldn't have known what would happen. The coming months a-are gonna, are gonna be hard... I, I suspect on all of us, but... if it's guilt you're looking for, Buffy, I'm, I'm not your man. All you will get from me is, is my support. And my respect.”

Buffy smiled. But it was hard, she hadn’t loved Angel, that way. She had used him to feel something, and now everyone was paying for it. Giles might not be disappointed with her, but she certainly was with herself. It was almost enough to swear off sex forever. Almost.
__________________________________________

Willow and Buffy walked outside at school, having yet another boy talk. Or rather, an Oz talk. Buffy was trying to be supportive, but with everything that was going on in her own life, it was hard to give Willow all the attention that a best friend deserved.

“Nowhere. I mean, he said he was gonna wait until I was ready, but I'm ready. Honest. I'm good to go here,” complained Willow, about Oz.

“Well, I think it's nice that he's not just being an animal.”

“It is nice. He's great. We have a lot of fun. But I want smoochies!”

“Have you dropped any hints?”

“I've dropped anvils.”

“Ah, he'll come around. What guy could resist your wily Willow charms?”

“At last count, all of them. Maybe more.”

“Well, none of them know a thing. They all get an 'F' in Willow.”

“But I want Oz to get an 'A', and, oh, one of those gold stars.”

They sat down on a bench.

“He will.”

“Well, he better hurry. I don't want to be the only girl in school without a real boyfriend“

*Like me,* thought Buffy sadly.

“Oh, I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't even be talking about... Do you want me to go away?”

“I wish you wouldn't.”

“How are you holding up anyway?”

“I'm holding. I was going on two minutes there without thinking about William.”

“Well, there you go.” said Willow cheerfully.

“Except I shouldn’t. I feel guilty. I should never have slept with Angel. I knew that like two seconds after it was over. Like I betrayed William. I just wanted to feel something that wasn’t pain and misery.”

“Buffy you didn’t know what would happen. You’d ... you know...with William, how did you know that doing...that... would make Angel lose his soul?”

“Doesn’t matter, Will, I did it. He was my friend and I used him. I used him and for a brief moment I forgot about the one person I loved with ever fibre of my being.”

“Tell me about him”

“You won’t like it Will.”

“I already know he’s a vamp, or was...what can be worst than that?”

“Souless, blood drinking vampire? Something I’m supposed to kill?”

“But you looked past all that and fell in love, it’s romantic.”

“I didn’t know he was a Vamp when I first met him.”

“Huh?”

“I wasn’t the slayer then.”

“Oh, so this was in LA? Weren’t you like fifteen then?”

“Yep, fifteen and in love with a hundred and seventeen year old vamp.”

“How old did you think he was?”

“I don’t know, twenty five or so.”

“Buffy! Jailbait!”

“I didn’t care, I just loved him so much. Probably because of thrall, but even after I knew he was a vamp I didn’t care. He made me whole.”

“Oh Buffy. How did he go?” asked Willow afraid to approach the subject.

“Kendra dropped an organ on him,” Buffy sniffed and looked at Willow expectantly.

“Wait...organ... William is Spike? William the Bloody was your boyfriend? This whole time?”

Buffy nodded, as she wiped the tears that were staining her face away.

“But he was trying to kill you! At parent teacher night, when Ford sold you out to him, in the church! I don’t understand.”

“It was a put on, for the minions. Spike came to town to cure Drusilla, his sire, and to kill the slayer. He didn’t know it was me. He thought I was still in LA. He promised not to kill anyone that I was friends with or my family. As long as you smelled like me, even a little bit, he wasn’t going to kill any of you.”

“That’s why you didn’t stake him on Halloween. Xander said you let him go,” said Willow, trying to make sense of it all.

“I couldn’t Willow. And I couldn’t tell anyone. He was supposed to cure Dru, he didn’t want anyone to know. He made me keep it a secret.”

“So all those times we were talking about Angel, you meant Spike.“

Buffy nodded again.

“Willow, I’m so sorry that I’ve kept this from you.“

“I don’t know what to say to that Buffy. I thought you were my friend. Friends tell.“

“I’m so very sorry. I didn’t tell you about him when I first came to Sunnydale, because I thought you would think I was loony for still being in love with a man I thought ten years older than me, for a year and a half after he left me to take care of his mother in Prague. And after he came back I just found myself getting deeper and deeper into the lie.“

“I’m hurt, Buffy. But I think I understand...maybe. I just need a little time for this all to sink in.“

“Fair enough,“
__________________________________________
Buffy missed Spike. She missed their after Buffy’s weird weekly coffee dates at the IHOP. The whole thing with Oz being a werewolf was just one such event that would have made a great conversation topic. She could just imagine all the things he’d say to make her laugh, how he’d offer to eat that Cain guy for her and how come they never went to make out point?

Buffy took another look at the letter in her hand. She had written it to Spike a while ago, at Angel’s suggestion. She’d been there for an hour, still contemplating leaving the letter. It seemed that this was her last connection with Spike, he was gone. Maybe she had to accept his loss and move on. It was just so hard. Buffy felt the tears well up in her eyes again.

Buffy deposited the Letter back in to her pocket and left the church. She wasn’t ready yet. She didn’t know if she was ever gonna be ready.
__________________________________________

tbc...

 

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