NOTE : This story is set within an alternate Buffyverse. Faith has stayed with the Scooby gang and is Buffy's secret girlfriend. Dawn is now nineteen and at college. Willow and Tara are still together.
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"Would you like me to give you a lift home, Buffy?" Giles was turning out the lights in the Magic Shop as he spoke.
"No, that's okay. I think I'll just swing through Restfield on my way home."
As he climbed into his car, he gave her a fatherly look, "You've done enough patrolling for one night. Go home and get some rest."
Buffy waited until her Watcher had driven off. "Not much chance of rest, with some of the dreams I've been having, lately." Sighing, she turned to head for the cemetery. That was when a shadow detached itself from the alleyway by the side of the shop.
"Buffy."
She didn't need to see his handsome features to recognise him. His voice could still send thrills of excitement through her. "Angel!"
He stepped into the light, concern written all over his face. "Cordelia had a vision. A very powerful demon is about to be released in Sunnydale and I figured you might need my help."
She cast him a frosty glare. "We've not seen each other for so long and that's your opening line? No, 'Gee, it's nice to see you, Buffy. You're looking great. How've you been?' You think because you're over two hundred and fifty years old that you don't need to have social skills?"
His face showed confusion and he began to say something, but she cut him off. "And what makes you think I need your help, anyway? I've managed just fine all this time. You're the one who decided it would be better for us if you just left and went to brood in L.A.!"
As she began to walk away, he snatched hold of her elbow. Anger filled his voice when he spoke, "You know why I left! And I haven't been brooding in L.A. I've helped a lot of people through the agency."
"Yeah? Well give yourself a good pat on the back! You get to play at this, while I don't have a choice!" She yanked her arm from his grasp and strode down the pavement. He followed after her, his long black duster flapping behind him.
"Play at this? Don't be so childish!"
As the words left his mouth, she whirled on him, "Childish! Childish! You didn't seem to think I was a child when you seduced me on my birthday! Or was that the point?"
Her fury made him back up a pace. "What? No! You know that's not what it was about. We were in love." He paused before he continued, "Look, Buffy. This thing that Cordelia saw is really bad. She said that you would need our help. I'm sorry that my arrival has upset you, but we need to work together on this. Can we do that?"
For a long moment, she was silent. "Were?" she finally managed to croak. Letting out a long sigh, she shrugged and began to walk slowly in the direction of her home. "Okay, you'd better come back with me and we'll compare notes."
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When Buffy opened the front door, Faith was walking out of the kitchen with a bottle of beer in her hand.
"Popcorn made me thirsty, Bee. Want one?"
The blonde shook her head and stepped to the side to reveal Angel. She watched the look on Faith's face as she saw the vampire. It was easy to spot the doubt that hit her girlfriend when she saw the former lovers together. It was only there for a second before she covered it with her usual cocky bravado, but it was there.
"Hi, Angel. Got any neck, lately?"
He was still standing outside on the porch, but he gave her a small smile, "Faith."
Buffy swung the door wider as she turned to him. "Come in and take a seat. I'm just going to visit the little girl's room. It's been a long night and I haven't had a chance to go."
Faith wagged the beer bottle at her, "Too much info, Bee. You just lost some of that feminine mystery. Now, lover boy is gonna realise that you're flesh and blood like the rest of us, and not some sort of erotic goddess." With that, the brunette Slayer disappeared back into the living room and settled down to watch the next slice of MTV.
Buffy gave Angel an apologetic half-smile, "Be back in a mo."
As she vanished up the stairs, Angel strolled into the front room and leant against the doorway. "So, are you living here, now?"
Faith crunched the last of her popcorn. "Nah. Buffy wanted me to stay for a couple of weeks while my shoulder healed, but I'm just here on babysitting duty. You know how overprotective of Dawn Bee is."
A slight smile crossed his face as he glanced over his shoulder at the stairway, "Oh yeah. I forgot about little Dawnie. I'll have to make a point of saying hi to her." He looked at Faith with a stare that seemed to penetrate right through her, "She must have grown into quite the young woman by now."
"I suppose so."
They waited for Buffy in silence as Christina Aguilera gyrated to her latest single on the screen.
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Giles was wearily making his way up the stairs to bed when a knock sounded at his door. He walked over to his weapon chest and took out a wooden stake, slipped it into the back of his trousers and went to open the door. He was surprised at who stood there, "Wesley?"
"Hello, old chap," said his fellow Watcher, but his words lacked their usual bounce. Giles could tell that something was very wrong. The Englishman looked like he hadn't slept for days.
"Wes, what's wrong?"
Before the man could reply, Cordelia appeared from behind him and pushed her way past the two men and into Giles' apartment. "That's great. You two play twenty questions while I stand outside in the dark and freeze my butt off. I wouldn't want you to have to show me any of your famous English good manners and invite a lady inside."
Giles worked his mouth for a moment and then belatedly said, "Of course, how rude of me. Please come in and make yourselves at home."
Wesley stepped across the threshold and shut the door behind him. Cordelia dropped her purse onto the sofa, walked into the kitchen and began to search the cupboards, "Giles, where do you keep the cups? I could really use a hot drink."
A little flustered, the Watcher looked to Wesley, who sank down onto a chair with a sigh. He seemed pale and very tired. Cordy tapped on the breakfast bar to get his attention, "Giles?"
"Huh?"
"Cups?"
"Cups? Oh, yes. Allow me." He walked around the counter and flicked on the kettle as he began to remove three cups from the shelf. While Cordelia went to sit on the sofa, he fussed about making the tea.
"How are things working out in L.A.?"
Wesley and Cordelia exchanged a look before he turned to Giles, "Not good. Cordelia has received a vision that foretells of the rise of Mobadon. He's a..."
Giles interrupted as he carefully filled the cups with hot water, "A demon of vast magical powers, trapped in a dimensional vortex for the last one thousand years. Yes, I know."
"Oh. I, ah, see. How?"
Adding the milk to the tea, Giles explained about Buffy's earlier encounter with the disciples. By the time he had finished, they were all sitting down and sipping at their drinks. "So, you see," he finished, "Mobadon won't be able to rise."
"That's not what my vision had to say about it. The image was quite clear. Mobadon's disciples will free him and he will make Buffy suffer for getting in the way. And that may not even be the worst of it," she added, glancing hesitantly at Wesley. He sighed and lowered his gaze to the floor.
Giles was puzzled, "What could be worse than that?"
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Buffy sat next to Faith on the sofa and looked at Angel in the chair opposite. "So, this demon is still gonna get loose?"