| Mazzy & Prebuffy present |
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| ******Mazzy****** Buffy Summers leaned on the kitchen counter in the house she had lived in for seven years of her young adult life. Well actually, considering she was at the end of her life expectancy at the ripe ol� age of 21, she realized she was actually a �senior� in a sense. Such was the life of a vampire slayer, even one who had already died twice, but she still rationalized that the first time didn�t REALLY count because it was only for like a second. Her mind rambled, and that didn�t happen very often except for when she was avoiding having to do something she dreaded. And that�s exactly what she was doing at the moment�major avoidage. She picked up the phone and dialed all but one number before methodically hanging it up and pondering some more on her unusual situation. She was avoiding calling her ex-demon lover boyfriend to ask for his help with her OTHER ex-demon lover. It�s one thing for a vampire slayer to be romantically entangled with one vampire in her lifetime, but two? She knew she was just making herself feel bad about things. There were extenuating circumstances in both cases! Angel had had a soul when she fell in love with him, and Spike. Well, she couldn�t explain the draw. It was energy�fire�passion. He was irresistible, and he was on good behavior�no killing or anything at the time. Almost human. Almost. But she couldn�t conceive of letting herself be with him, so she beat on herself about it, unfortunately, she was doing that psychology thing. Who was it, Freud that came up with that theory? She was projecting or displacing or something. Basically that just meant that Spike was on the receiving end of all her beating up. She blamed him, when she really was blaming herself for feeling so weak. But that was then. He called himself a monster, but he took it like a man. He took her beatings and her abuse and he kept coming back for more. It drove him to the edge and led to that horrendous night when his frustration came out in an attack on her. Buffy shuddered at the memory. She tried to make sense of it all. Never in her wild imagination did she expect that their encounter would motivate him to seek out the grandest gesture�the one thing that might make a difference to her. After months of wondering and waiting for him, he was back and with a soul. Everything should be right. He�s much like a man now, with feelings and love and respect for life and her, but the soul tortures him. Buffy stood up from the counter. Her hair was entwined around her finger�an old habit she had started when she was a kid. She�d gotten over it too, but sometimes, when things were troubling, it made a guest appearance. Buffy knew that there was only one person in the whole world who would have any clue what Spike was going through. There was only one person who could possibly be able to help him and that was Angel�Spike�s grand-sire, his mentor, his rival. Angel knew nothing about Buffy and Spike�s illicit affair. She wasn�t sure how he would react if he ever really found out about it. She couldn�t imagine he would be too happy. Still, there had to be some affection�a bond�something between the two old vampires that would give them common ground. She made up her mind. She wouldn�t tell Angel about her and Spike. There was no point in him knowing, and besides, it was pretty much over, wasn�t it? Decidedly, she approached the phone and dialed the number one last time. And finally, she found the strength not to hang up when it rang, though her heart was beating rapidly. Angel had polished up the swords and other weapons and was carefully putting them away in the cabinet when he heard the phone ring. His hands were quite full at the moment and Fred had been there a minute ago, yet it continued to ring. �Can someone get that?� He lifted the heavy steel sword with the golden handle up with two hands and mounted it properly in the cabinet. It had gotten a good shine, and he was proud to say that it would have given off a perfect reflection had he actually been capable of having one. The phone�s ringing was persistent, and he couldn�t afford to miss the opportunity to pick up some more business. True he�d won a nice bit of money in Vegas, but the A-team had to keep on working. Taxes on the hotel were rising again, and there always seemed to be repairs needed to the place, especially after all the chaos that usually occurred on the main floor. He abandoned his task and ran toward the counter to finally pick up the phone�s hand piece. �Angel Investigations?� There was slight hesitation before the other voice spoke, but he knew in an instant who it was. �Angel?� �Buffy.� Even after all they�d been through and the fact that they agreed they would never be together again, hearing her voice still excited him. He had never loved anyone like Buffy before, and he knew no one would ever again touch his heart again in the same way. Excitement grew to panic as he realized she would only call if she needed something�help at least. �Are you in trouble?� �No, no. It�s not me,� she reassured. �I don�t really know how to say�to tell you this.� �Buffy, you know you can tell me anything.� He breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she was ok. �Can I?� She thought for a moment. �I�m sorry. You�re right. I can. It�s just that, well, this is a hard one to swallow.� �Just tell me, Okay?� �It�s Spike,� she blurted out, almost before he was done speaking. Angel�s eyes rolled up. What evil deed was his boy up to now? He�d found out that Spike was still hanging around Sunnydale, even throwing in with the do-gooders, though God knows what his motives were. Willow had explained a lot of things when she had come to tell him about Buffy�s sacrifice off the tower. She�d told him that Spike tried to save her. That he�d had this behavior modification chip lodged in his brain and was actually trying to play nice. Angel almost couldn�t or wouldn�t believe it. But he realized that maybe he was just jealous that Spike was there trying to save Buffy when he should have been the one. He should�ve saved her. But that was in the past, wasn�t it? �Angel,� she continued, �He has a soul.� �What?� he asked through clenched teeth. He didn�t notice that his body had begun to tense at the mention of Spike�s name. He tried in vain to relax it. Buffy rambled on. �He�s different now, you wouldn�t know him. I know, I didn�t believe it at first, but he�s hurt and he�s trying to make things better and be good.� �What? A soul? How did he? When did he? Why did he?� �All excellent questions. But really you�d have to ask him that yourself. He�s in pain now.� Then she spoke quietly. �I�m sure you must have some understanding of what he�s going through.� Angel shook his head in silent agreement. He remembered what it was like. The torture of suddenly being aware of every evil deed you�ve ever done and regretting it in the same instant. It was worse than hell, and he had known, for he�d been there. Angel had spent a lot of silent time recently. Being unwillingly put underwater for three months gives one ample time to reflect on deeds, evil and good. He�d thought of Buffy quite a bit, how could he not? He thought about upon seeing her for the first time, his unlife finally had some clarity and purpose. He knew it couldn�t be easy for Spike to deal with it; Angel had barely made it. If Buffy thought he might be able to help him, he knew he had to try, for her sake, at least. �Ok, what do you want me to do?� Buffy breathed a sigh of relief on her end of the phone. �Really? Thank you! I don�t know exactly. I think it would just help him to talk to someone who has gone through it. And it�s not like they have demon counselors for this sort of thing.� �Well actually, I�ve found,� he hesitated. �No they probably aren�t equipped to deal with this. I guess I should be lucky I even had Whistler around to get me motivated. It gave me a spark anyway.� Buffy smiled to herself at the choice of Angel�s words, remembering that moment in the church when Spike revealed his true nature to her. Angel interrupted her thought. �I can come there. When do you want me?� �Wait,� she stopped him. �I think it might be better if Spike came to you. You know, he doesn�t need the bad hell-mouthy energy around while he�s trying to deal.� She bit her lower lip, knowing that the plan was easier than it sounded. �Angel, I don�t know if he�s really going to even agree to it, but if I ask him�� �He will? Well Buffy, if that�s the case, you must�ve somehow gotten under his pale-cold skin.� Buffy ignored the comment. Another time, they might be able to have THAT conversation, but not now. She realized there was nothing more for her to say, nothing more that she could say. �Thanks Angel. Bye.� �Wait a minute!� he suddenly remembered. �Now that I think of it, you may be able to do me a favor. It�s about Cordy.� ************ The conversation had gone well, Buffy thought. Not too much of the awkward silence thing. No REAL questions, no personal regrets. No, they would help each other, and things would get better, for all of them. Buffy looked at the window, suddenly realizing that it had grown dark when Willow walked in the door, a small stack of school books in hand. She smiled brightly upon seeing her friend. �Hey Buffy, what�s up?� �Up? Oh, up as in things? As in things that may be new or old or new. Oh! As in News!� �Yeah, that�s generally what I meant.� Willow placed her bag and books on the counter and grabbed a seat. �Are you OK? You seem a little angsty.� Buffy laughed nervously. �No, I mean what do I have to be angsty about? I just spoke to my ex-boyfriend who left me to chase baddies in LA and convinced him to speak to my other new-souly wearing ex-boyfriend so that he could help him out, and on top of that I agreed to let Cordy come stay here with me, even though she doesn�t remember me or you or Sunnydale or any of us �cause she just got back from a stint as a higher being. And well, there�s evil brewing too, but we gotta deal with this stuff first, but no, I�m not angsty. Maybe a little antsy, but angst-free. Living without an ounce of the bad angst-mojo.� �Whoa!� Willow exclaimed with an air of surprise, �Cordy was a higher being? How did that happen?� �You think so too right? I mean, I�ve saved the world a gazillion times, but they take Cordy?� Buffy queried somewhat bitterly. �Anyway, she doesn�t remember a thing. Kinda freaky huh? Angel thinks it might be good for her to spend some time back in her hometown, maybe trigger some stuff for her or whatever.� �Oh Angel thinks so?� Willow said, hinting at something Buffy couldn�t even conceive of, but then she realized she better not trod down that road. She could�ve been wrong when she picked up on the Cordy/Angel vibes she got on her last trip to LA. Willow decided to stick with the surface conversation, smartly leaving the Cordy/Angel thing where it belonged�in the recesses of her imagination. �Well, maybe she should come. It couldn�t hurt. And well, I do actually kind of miss having Miss Non-tact around. It could be a fun distraction.� �I�m all for the fun! And even better, we get to trade Spike in for her. Nice switch, huh?� Buffy sighed. �I gotta go find him and try to convince him to go to LA.� Buffy grabbed a bag, wrote a note for Dawn and took off into the night to seek out her former lover. Willow sat at the counter, snacking on some grapes from the nearby fruit bowl, mouth agape and in awe of the things that could occur from this new chain of events. |
| Note: The following story takes place prior to Buffy season 7 "Selfless" and prior to Angel season 4 "Spin the Bottle". This commences an AU B7/A4 |