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All of Darkness
Part 3
When Buffy woke up, she was in Angel’s bed. Alone. Feeling a very strong and uncomfortable sense of deja vu, she sat up, looking around for him. When she didn’t see him, she began to worry. “Angel?” she called, her voice loud and high with panic. “Angel, where are you?”
He came around the corner, looking about as worried as she felt. “Buffy, what is it? What’s wrong?” He sat on the edge of the bed, next to her, and she threw her arms around him. His arms tightened around her instinctively.
After a moment she pulled away. “Sorry. I was just scared when I woke up and you weren’t here. Deja vu. Sorry if I scared you.” He watched as she rubbed at her eyes with hands that shook visibly. < Deja vu? > he thought. < From when? She hasn't been around here since.....oh > Angel reached out and pulled her close again, stroking her hair.
“I’m sorry, Buffy. I’m so sorry.”
Rupert Giles sat down at his desk and once again went over the mental checklist for the group he always thought of as “his” children.
Oz - on the fringes of the group, certainly, but he was always helpful, and he obviously adored Willow. He’d hardly let her out of his sight since she’d gotten out of the hospital. He would be in senior exams now. No injuries.
Cordelia - she was fine too. She had actually become a much nicer person since she’d started dating Xander. Junior exams for her and the rest of the group.
Xander - broken arm. Not serious. He kept looking guilty whenever anyone mentioned Angel and Buffy. < I’ll have to ask him about that.... >
Willow - she was still in her wheelchair, but the doctors said that she was well enough to take her exams. She was obviously worried about Angel and especially Buffy, but she tried to hide it.
Giles sighed. Once again he’d gotten through the entire list except for the last two names. The two most important names. Where on earth were Buffy and Angel? He couldn’t believe that she wouldn’t have called him if everything was back to normal. The demon was dormant, and Willow seemed to think that the curse had worked. So where was she? He rested his head in his hands, trying to avoid the metal casts on his broken fingers. They would heal in a couple of weeks, and he’d be as good as new. He only wished that he could say the same about everything else that had happened in the past week.
The phone rang beside his ear and jerked Giles out of his reverie. He picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
Buffy’s voice came across the line. “Giles? It’s me.”
Giles let out an enormous sigh of relief. “Thank God. Buffy, where have you been? We’ve all been worried sick about you..... where are you?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call, I just was busy.... I’m in Angel’s apartment.” She answered his next question before he asked it. “And yes, Angel’s here too. Back to his old brooding, guilt-ridden self.”
Giles could here the happiness in her voice even over the phone. The life that had been missing from her for so long was back. He smiled to himself.
“Listen, can we come to the library tonight? Can you make sure everyone’s there? There are a couple problems that still need to be worked out, and I think we may need everyone’s help.”
“What *kind* of problems?” he asked warily.
Buffy sighed. “Let’s see, that fact that I don’t know if the curse on Angel is permanent, or if there’s a happiness clause again. The fact the the police are still after me, I got expelled, and my mom threw me out. *Those* kinds of problems.”
There was silence on the line for a moment. Then Giles took a deep breath. “All right, come by as soon as it gets dark. I’ll try and have everyone here.”
“Thanks Giles. I’ll see you then.”
“And Buffy?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re safe.”
Silence. Then -
“I’m glad you’re safe too, Giles.”
Giles listened to the static for a minute after she hung up. Then he
replaced the receiver and straightened up. The children would be getting out
of exams in a minute, and they would be in to see if Buffy had returned. He
had to be ready to tell them the good news.... and the bad.