Title: Death and Scoobs
Author: Goldy
Disclaimer: Yes there mine. Hehe, just joking. They really aren’t, I’m just borrowing em’
Synopsis: Next in what I’m calling the ‘Death’ series, where Buffy and Angel need to face the scoobies. Hence the title.
Spoilers: Not many in this one. Some for the first two in the series and probably others for S6 and ‘The Gift.’
A/N: This one ends in another cliffanger. Don’t you all love me? Anyway, I really wanted to get it out before I left for Montreal so I couldn’t help it! Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to all you lovely Americans!
A/N 2: This one is done in third person narration, which is different from the other two. I was originally going to do it from Dawn’s POV, but there were lots of different conversations I wanted to have.
Feedback: Yes! Feed that monster! Take a break from the turkey and stuffing to write a few kind words… please….
Rating: G

“Did I miss anything?” Dawn passed the new bag of chips that she got from the kitchen to Xander, and plopped down next to him.

Xander opened up the bag without turning away from the window, took a handful and shoved them in his mouth and passed the bag to Anya. “Nope. Still holding hands, and not saying anything.”

Anya looked at the chips in disdain. “Do you have any idea how much artificial flavouring goes into these?”

Xander drew his eyes away from the window long enough to glare at Anya. “Yes, but that’s what makes this junk food.”

Anya shrugged and shoveled a few chips in her mouth and passed the bag to Willow. “You know, they are kind of cute together.”

 “NO! They are *not* cute. Every time those two get together they put the world in mortal danger.” Xander argued.

 “I think it’s kinda romantic.” Dawn offered, with a mouthful of chips.

 “And sexy,” Anya added.

 “Did anyone else not hear the world in mortal danger part?” Xander snapped.

 “Oh, look! Movement!” Willow cried excitedly.

 “Yeah, Angel’s moving his hand…. Ewww!” Xander exclaimed.

Dawn frowned. “Was that with tongue?”

“See! Told you it was sexy.”

 “Dawn, maybe you should go to bed,” Willow said.

“Oh, no way! This is better than American Pie.”

“You saw American Pie???” Willow gasped.

 “That’s a good movie!”

 “Xander!”

 “But *not* appropriate for someone your age.” Xander quickly added.

 “Please! Whenever anyone says that something is inappropriate, it’s practically an *invitation.*” Dawn muttered huffily.

Anya patted Dawn awkwardly on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, that was the *only* movie that Xander took me to this summer.”

 “Hey!”

“Oh, that helps,” Dawn mumbled.

 “Guys! They just broke away for air!” Willow cut in forcefully.

Xander, Anya, and Dawn focused their attention back to the street. “Wow, they can really go at it.”

 “Dawn!”

 “Sorry.”

Giles came down the stairs to find the foursome still sitting in front of the window watching the couple that had been standing out on the street for the past hour. “Perhaps, it would be wise to leave Buffy and Angel to their own affairs in private.”

“Is that slang for mind your own business?” Xander asked.

Giles glared. “Buffy has just been through a very traumatic experience, and Angel may be the only one that can get through to her. What you are doing right now is an incredible betrayal to Buffy.”

 “He’s right,” Tara added coming down the stairs behind Giles. “I wouldn’t ever want to know that my friends were spying on me. Especially if they had just resurrected me from the dead and I was having a life-changing conversation with the person I loved.”

“Yeah, when you put it that way, you guys just don’t seem like very good friends.”

“Buffy?” Willow’s eyes widened when she saw her friend in the doorway with Angel right behind her.

“The one and only,” Buffy answered. She glanced over at where her friends and sister were sitting. “So, how was my acting?”

Dawn looked at the ground guiltily, “I’m sorry.”

Buffy pursed her lips. “I’m not blaming you.”

 Xander and Willow exchanged guilty glances. “Sorry, Buffy. We didn’t have any right to do that.” Xander finally said.

“No, you didn’t have any right,” Angel cut in forcefully, resting a comforting hand on Buffy’s shoulder.

 “Yeah, but you never talk to us anymore Buffy. The only way to know what was going on was to watch you!” Willow defended.

“Maybe I don’t talk to you because it isn’t any of your business.” Buffy didn’t even blink when Willow gave her a hurt look. “Dawn, I want you to pack your stuff. We’re moving out.”

”What???” Dawn screeched. “All we did was watch you and Angel get a little smoochie a couple of times! It doesn’t mean we need move out!”

 “Pack your stuff,” Buffy repeated, with a slight edge to her voice. “*Now.*” Dawn glared at her and stomped off up the stairs.

Willow looked at her best friend in shock. “Yeah, Buffy. It’s not like we killed you or anything. What’s with the moving?”

Angel let out a growl behind Buffy, and she grasped his hand silently saying that she would handle it. “This doesn’t have anything to do with what you guys just did.”

“Is it because of the money?” Anya asked, “because I still think that if you charged for the slaying, you could pay off your bills *and* still have money left over for weekly food shopping.”

“Buffy, have you really thought this through? Do you know where you are going to live? How you’re going to buy a new place? How you’re going to provide for Dawn?” Xander said, his voice getting louder with each word.

“Maybe you guys should just hear what Buffy has to say,” Tara put in, with a glance at Willow.

Buffy closed her eyes, willing the gods to give her strength. She was so tired of this. Always having to face the whole gang with every single decision that she made. This time *they* were the ones that did wrong and *she* was still on the wrong end of the firing squad. But this time she didn’t care what they thought. This time it didn’t matter what they said. This time things were different.

Gripping Angel’s hand like a lifeline, Buffy faced her best friends. “Yes, I’ve thought this through. I’ve decided that I can’t go on living in Sunnydale. It’s a little hard for me walking around the place that I’ve died. I’m going to sell this house and Dawn and I are going to move to LA,” Buffy paused and took a deep breath. “With Angel. I guess, I’ll work there with him, but we haven’t really gotten past the part where I move in.”

There was dead quiet in the Summer’s living room as those closest to the slayer digested this information. Finally Giles was the one to break the silence. “If I may, Buffy, I’d like to suggest that you give it a bit more time. I understand that you have been through a traumatic experience, but the slayer is needed here, on the Hellmouth. You could very well be putting the world in grave danger by leaving.”

Buffy bit her lip and shook her head. “Giles I can’t stay here any longer. It’s like you said about England and then coming back. If I stay here any longer, I’m going to kill myself.”

“Kill yourself? As in knife through the heart kill or metaphorical kill?” Anya asked.

 “When you said you haven’t thought past the moving in part, does that mean the moving in with Angel part?” Xander demanded.

“Buffy, how could you do this to me? I finally got you back! Do you have *any* idea what I had to do, to get you back to this world?” Willow yelled.

“Shut up!!!” Buffy shouted. Everyone froze and calmed down. Buffy felt tears spring up in her eyes and she leaned against Angel, who wrapped her up in his arms trying to give her as much strength as possible.

He kissed the top of her head and whispered in her ear, “Do you want me to take it from here?” Buffy gave a little nod and suppressed a sob.

Angel’s eyes shot daggers at the group sitting in front of him.” How dare you say what you had to give up to get her back,” he said bitterly. “Tell me, with all that resurrection magic you had going, did any of you think of seeing whether or not Buffy was in hell? Or were you too intent on getting her back for yourself, that you completely dismissed the idea that for the *first* time in her life she was somewhere where she was *truly* happy? Did you even consider for a moment what it would do to your best friend to be sucked out of heaven?”

There was another shocked silence as the people in the room digested what this new information entailed. “No, we never considered that possibility,” Tara finally said softly.

Willow took a step back in surprise. “You… you were in heaven, Buffy?”

Buffy didn’t have the strength but to nod, leaning more into Angel’s embrace. Giles took a step towards her. “Dear, lord. Buffy I’m so sorry, I never had any idea.”
       
Buffy held out her hand. “Don’t. You weren’t involved in bringing me back, but don’t make things worse.”

Giles stepped back with a tortured expression. “Of course.”

Buffy bit her lip so hard that she drew blood. “I… I’m going to go talk to Dawn.” She turned and ran up the stairs, running as fast as she could away from the confrontation.

Angel found himself left alone with the questioning eyes of Buffy’s closest friends. He swallowed painfully, not sure whether he should thank them, or rip off their heads for resurrecting Buffy.

Willow sat down against the couch as if she had been flung by an invisible hand. “My god, she must hate me.” Willow looked up at Angel, her eyes glassy. “Does she hate me?”

Angel gave her a hard look. He wanted to ask why she was only asking about her self, rather than the state of being of her friend. It was sad to see someone as bright as Willow fall to the temptation of magic. “She doesn’t hate you. She’s just lost and confused. Give her time.” Angel said guardedly.

Willow nodded. “I could do a spell. One that would make her forget where she had been….”

 “NO!” everyone in the room immediately cried.

 “Willow if you take that away from her, you would be taking away her most cherished memory,” Angel explained, trying to keep his voice calm and level. “It might make her miserable, but she wouldn’t want to lose it.”

“And how do you know her so well suddenly? Where were *you* when she jumped off that tower, huh? You can’t just come back two years later and stake a claim on her!” Xander yelled advancing on Angel.

“Now you’re mad at me for leaving?” Angel demanded.

“Not mad. I think that it was the best choice that you have ever made. What I *am* mad about is the fact that you have been out of her life for two years and act as if you’ve been there for everything that she has been through!”

“For someone that *has* been in her life for two years, you certainly don’t know her very well at all, or you would have known that someone like Buffy couldn’t possibly be in a hell dimension!”

“That’s enough!” Giles yelled, taking a step between the two men. Xander and Angel continued to glare at each other, but backed away cautiously. Giles took a deep calming breath. “Angel, may I please speak to you in the kitchen?”

Angel looked at the watcher suspiciously before nodding. He waved towards it, “After you.”

Xander, Anya, Willow, and Tara were left alone in the living room. Tara looked at Willow huddled over on the couch. “We shouldn’t have done that spell.”

Anya cautiously raised her hand. “Can I say something?”

 “Not like what I say has ever stopped you before,” Willow snapped.

“What are you going to do? Ruin my life like you did Buffy’s?”

“Guys, can we concentrate on the big picture here?” Xander asked, annoyed. “Arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

“Oh, you mean like how you not-argued with Angel?” Willow pointed out with false cheerfulness.

“Everyone, just shut up!” Tara yelled. “Xander’s right, arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

There was moment of silence before Xander said. “You’re right, Willow, I shouldn’t have taken that out on Angel. I acted before I thought.”

Willow sighed and looked at Anya. “What did you want to say?”

Anya glared at her. “Only that we shouldn’t be focused on what we did, but on a way to help Buffy.”

Xander coughed.

Anya rolled her eyes. “And I’m sorry that I said you ruined Buffy’s life. I should have said that *we* ruined Buffy’s life.”

“Anya’s right.” Tara said. “Well, at least on the way to help Buffy part.”

“Yeah, so anyone have any ideas?” Xander asked.

There was silence.

********************
Buffy found Dawn in her room, sitting on the floor, and leaning against her bed with her arms folded over her chest. Buffy waited in the doorway, waiting to see if Dawn would come out of pout mode, or if she would have to deal with her the way that she found her.

Finally, since it was obvious that Dawn wasn’t going to acknowledge her big sis’ presence Buffy gave a tentative knock. “Can I come in?”

Dawn didn’t say anything.

Buffy sighed. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Buffy walked into Dawn’s room and took a seat next to her on the floor.

 “Are you and Angel back together?”

Buffy gave Dawn a quick amused glance. “No. Yes. No… I don’t know. Maybe.”

“What kind of answer is that?” Dawn said.

Buffy shrugged. “The only one that I know how to give.”

“Are we going to live with him?”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t know if he’s your boyfriend? You know what happens next don’t you? He uses you *and* cheats on you, and then says it’s because you were never really ‘going out.’”

Buffy laughed. “Cause that’s *such* an Angel thing to do.”

“Will you guys sleep in the same room?”

“Dawn!”

 “I just want to know why we need to leave everyone we love if you don’t even know why you’re going to live with him.” Dawn muttered.

“I do know why I’m going to live with him, Dawnie. I love him, and he understands me better than anyone else can. And I need that. I need him to get through this. I don’t know if that makes him my boyfriend, but I do know that he still has the happiness clause, and that means we still need to be careful around each other.”

Dawn snorted. “Like how you were frenching against his car before?”

Buffy raised her eyebrows. “When did you get so interested in my love life?”

Shrugging Dawn said, “I don’t know.”

Buffy smiled and fiddled with a lock of Dawn’s hair. “I know you’ve been through so much, Dawn. You lost both me and mom in a short amount of time, and I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for you. But I need you now Dawn, please come with me to LA.”

Dawn looked down at the floor. “Angel used to make you cry so much. I hated seeing you cry like that, and I never understood why.”

“I thought you liked Angel.”

 “I do like him. I just didn’t like seeing him hurt you. Then, when he left, I never understood why, because I thought that true love was supposed to conquer all.”

“Maybe it does. Maybe Angel and I are being given a second chance.”

“You never cried over Riley. Except when he left.”

Buffy looked at her hands. “I know.”

“Did you love him?”

“I… I don’t know. Not the way I love Angel. And I certainly don’t have any feelings for him anymore. It hurt when he left because I didn’t understand it, but I think that it’s better this way.”

“I liked Riley,” Dawn said softly. “He was nice to me.”

“He really was the perfect guy,” Buffy added.

“Yeah.”

“But not for me.”

“I know,” Dawn sighed.

”I don’t want to move you away from all your friends.”

 Dawn gave a little smile. “Everyone here thinks I’m some kind of a freak.”

 “That sounds familiar,” Buffy mumbled bitterly. “Want me to beat them up?”

 “Okay. I’ll pack my stuff.”

  Buffy smiled. “Thanks.”

***************

“I should have known.” Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes wearily. “She dropped so many hints…”

 “You couldn’t have known. I didn’t, until she told me.” Angel protested.

Giles frowned darkly. “No, I should have known what a spell like that would have entailed. Willow can’t go around using magic like that without disastrous consequences.”

 “I don’t think we’ve even seen the worst of it.”

“I’m afraid that you may be right.”

“I’ll take care of her, Giles.” Angel said firmly.

“I have no doubt that you will. I just don’t know if anyone can.”

 “I’d do anything if it meant keeping her safe.”

Giles sighed. “I know, Angel. I must admit that I’m not thrilled with the fact that you and Buffy will be living together, but perhaps it is for the best. It might be the only to hold on to her.”

Angel swallowed hard. “I’ll be careful.”

“I’m sure you will be.”

“But you still don’t trust me.”

“I trust you, but when it comes to Buffy, you don’t always have the best judgment.”

“I know. I’m worried that on day I’ll wake up and see her… and it will hit me that she is really here and that she’s really alive. And that will be enough to… to…”

“Give you a true moment of happiness?” Giles finished wearily.

Angel nodded. “But I can’t leave her alone now, either.”

 “No, you can’t.”

“Hey.” Giles and Angel looked up to find Buffy standing in the doorway. She gave them a little smile. “I wasn’t listening, don’t worry. Angel, can I talk to you?”

“Of course.” Angel followed Buffy, who left the house and went to stand on the deck out in front.

Giles watched them go, not bothering to hide the tears that had sprung up in his eyes. Things were as bad as they had ever been for his Sunnydale family, and the worst was yet to come.

**************

Once slayer and vampire were safely outside, and away from preying eyes, Buffy immediately curled up against Angel. He wrapped his arms around her, trying not to think about what he’d said to Giles. He *was* worried that one day just seeing Buffy *would* give him a true moment of happiness.

“Dawn’s packing,” Buffy informed him.

“What about you? Don’t you need to pack?”

Buffy shrugged. “I guess. But I don’t really want to. I want to get all new stuff, and just sort of start all over again, you know?”

“Maybe that’s how you feel now, but in a couple of years you’ll want all of the stuff you left behind. Pictures of your mom, old baby toys, old homework assignments…” Angel said.

“Yeah, probably.”

“What’s wrong?” Angel asked gently.

“I’ve been thinking about mom a lot lately. I can’t help but wonder if she would be proud of me. I think her greatest fear was always that I’d die before her, but she beat me only by a couple of months. And now I’m back… and I don’t know what she would think of me.” Buffy admitted.

“Buffy your mom loves you and what she *really* wanted was for you to get the most out of life that you possibly could. She just wanted you to be happy, and I don’t think that there is anything you could have done that wouldn’t make her proud of you.”

Buffy sniffled. “You’re right, I guess. Although, she was never all that approving of our relationship.”

“No, it wasn’t that. She wanted you to be in a lasting relationship where you were happy. I couldn’t give you that.” Angel said.

“And now?”

“Now? I don’t know. I don’t even know what this is. I just know that I love you and I’m going to be here for you.”

“Are you going to use me, cheat on me, and then toss me out on my butt afterwards?”

Angel looked shocked. “Buffy! How could you even think that? I would *never* do that to you.”

Buffy sighed in relief and snuggled closer to him. “I know.”

“I should hope so,” Angel grumbled. “I don’t offer my home to just anyone you know.”

Buffy giggled and then silenced abruptly. “What are we going to do?”

Angel pressed a kiss to the top of Buffy’s head. “The best we can.”

****************

There was still complete silence in the Summers’ living room when Xander got his idea. He was surprised that no one had thought about it until now. “We want to find a way to make Buffy’s life better right? Help her like living again?”

Willow, Tara, and Anya all gave him weird looks. “Yes, that was the *whole* point of this conversation,” his fiancee told him. “Weren’t you listening?”

”Thank you, hon,” Xander snapped. “Anyway, I have an idea.” The three girls looked at him expectantly. “Why don’t we take out the clause in Angel’s curse?”

Willow’s eyes widened. “I could do that. It shouldn’t be that hard.”

 Xander nodded. “I mean, after all, we did raise the dead.”

  “We shouldn’t use more magic.” Tara protested. “These powers should be left alone.”

Willow shook her head. “No, this is exactly what Buffy needs! What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t give her this gift?”

“Willow you are using too much magic.” Tara warned.

Willow was about to protest when Buffy and Angel came through the front door. Neither of them looked particularly happy, and Willow had a few guesses as to why. But she could fix this problem. Xander stood beside her and Willow smiled gratefully.        

Angel looked at Xander wearily, apparently looking to see if he was going to get more animosity from the young man. “Sorry about what I said before,” Xander said haltingly. He couldn’t really be sorry, but he had talked without thinking and he shouldn’t have said some of those things.

“No problem. It’s all in the past.” Angel said with just as little enthusiasm.

Buffy raised her eyebrows. “What did I miss?”

“A show of male dominance,” Anya filled in helpfully.

Buffy nodded. “Gee, so disappointed that I missed it…”

Willow took a step forward. “We were talking about what we could do to help you adjust to life again, and Xander thought about fixing the loophole in Angel’s curse. I can do that Buffy. I’m way strong enough to fix a little gypsy curse.”

Buffy’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious? You can fix Angel’s curse? That’s amazing, Will! Thank you so much!” Buffy surprised Willow with a quick hug. She released her and looked at Angel. “This is so great!”

Angel looked away. “Thank you Willow and… Xander. I can’t tell you how much this means to me, but I can’t let you do that.”

Buffy stared at him in shock. “You’re just joking right? You’re not actually considering not taking this, are you? Angel, this is the answer to all of our problems.”

 “I know.” Angel said gravely looking away from her.

“Then, why?”

“It’s too easy this way, Buffy. I can’t just take this…”

“Yes, you can.”

 “NO!” Angel yelled.

Buffy backed up and shook her head. “I can’t believe this.” Without another word the slayer turned and fled off into the night.

 

TBC

 

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