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The Return (Page 3)
By Little Slayer
little_slayer(at)hotmail.com

Disclaimer: I don’t own him! Uh, her. Or Buffy, Angel, Giles, Willow, Joyce, and everyone else. They’re all in here. I don’t own Angel’s nickname of Peaches. The only thing I own is Mya. She’s mine. I created her. And so I can easily destroy the skanky little…uh, oops. All the Buffyverse people belong to Joss Whedon and anyone else who legally owns them. Anybody who has been either A) mentioned on BtVS, or B) seen on BtVS, I don’t own. I do own a few people but am too tired to name them.

. . .

Chapter Three, The Agreement

“You okay?” Buffy asked. “I’m still not sure why I’m asking, but are you?” Angelus nodded and tossed the bloody stake to Buffy.

“You have bad aim,” he muttered. Slowly, Angelus looked around his surroundings and sighed when Buffy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “What?”

“I could’ve killed you and you’re scolding my aim?” she asked incredulously.

“Sorry Slayer, but right now, dying would probably be better than being here and acting like soul boy,” he grumbled.

“Yes, well, that was you’re arrangement,” Giles said coldly. It unnerved him to be so close to the one responsible for destroying his life.

“I know, I know,” Angelus muttered. “I’ll be good. I can’t believe I just said that.”

“Well, get used to it, ‘cause it’s gonna be a while,” Buffy said. She looked around and let her eyes settle on all of the occupants of the room.

“How much do you hate Mya?” Whistler asked. Buffy raised an eyebrow and bent back, opening a drawer behind the counter and removing a knife.

“There are no words to describe how much I hate that little whore,” Buffy hissed.

“Well, good. ‘Cause the Council’s letting you have full say in her…punishment. You can kill her if you want,” Whistler told her.

“Then I’d be just like her,” Buffy said quietly.

“How’ve you been Buffy?” Drusilla asked after a moment.

“I’ve been in hell for three hundred with the demon responsible for destroying my and my friend’s lives,” Buffy replied.

“That bad, huh?” Spike asked. She shrugged.

“I’ve learned some cool magic and stuff…” Buffy said, letting her voice trail off. “It’s weird. I haven’t been here for so long, but it’s only been six months. I’m so different…”

“And everyone here’s still the same,” Giles said.

“What about you?” Buffy asked suddenly. “What’s your opinion of Mya?” Giles raised his eyebrows in surprise and then thought for a moment as he poured some holy water onto the flame that was emitted from the bowls of oil.

“Well, she sent you to hell and lied to all of us,” Giles said. “I don’t think anyone will be all that happy with her actions.”

“But you don’t hate her, do you? You don’t feel that what she did was unfair and she should be punished, do you?” Buffy asked.

“I never said that, Buffy. I’m still getting adjusted to what she’s done. I do not know what should be done about her,” Giles said, his voice raising at the end of his sentence.

“I never asked what you thought should be done about her,” Buffy said, her tone flat. “I just asked who’s side you’re on. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful for you getting me out of there…I just want to know who my friends are.”

“I’m sorry Buffy, but she’s my Slayer. I have to stick by her actions,” Giles said. Buffy stared at him, no emotions showing on her face.

“And where was that…that loyalty when I was your Slayer?” she asked. “I did everything I could to be the Slayer and still have a life and when that backfired on me, you weren’t like this. You were cold and distant and the only reason you stuck by me was because of your duty.”

“That’s not true,” Giles protested. “I was hurt that you kept things from me, that you didn’t trust me enough to come home.”

“Giles, Buffy, stop it you two,” Drusilla said. “I’m not going to stand here and watch the two of you fight.” Buffy took in a shaky breath and looked at Giles.

“I’m sorry about that Giles, I really am,” Buffy said. “But I need to know. When the time comes, Mya’s going to be punished. And I want to know exactly who I’m going up against.”

“Well, sure as hell not me,” Spike said. “I can’t stand the little twit. She’s so irritating.”

“Same goes with me. Something’s not right in her. I get such an evil vibe from her,” Drusilla said. She moved closer to Buffy and looked at her, frowning. “I told you something was wrong. I knew she couldn’t be trusted.”

“I know,” Buffy said. “I should’ve listened to you.” She slid off the counter-top and gave Drusilla a hug.

“Welcome home, Buffy,” the brunette vampire whispered.

“Hey, don’t I get one too?” Spike asked. Buffy smiled and let go of Dru. She took a step to him and laughed when he gave her a welcoming hug, almost picking her up off her feet.

“Well, Buffy, I’m on your side too,” Whistler said. “Mainly ‘cause that’s who’s side the Council is on and I have to listen to them, but also ‘cause I like you more.”

“Buffy,” Giles started. Buffy’s smile disintegrated from her face and she looked at him. “I’m not choosing sides, not yet. But remember what I told you. You don’t forgive someone because they deserve it, but because they need it.” Buffy nodded.

“I tried to understand why she did it, but there isn’t anything I can think of,” Buffy said. “The vortex wasn’t growing, we could’ve easily caught a vampire and threw him into hell.”

“I know,” Giles said. “And we’ll find out why she did, I promise.” Buffy smiled at Giles and moved to sit at the table.

“I suppose you might want to hear what goes on in hell, huh?” Buffy asked.

“Well, actually, yes,” Giles said. He picked up a book and a pen. “Would you mind if I wrote it down?”

“No, not at all,” Buffy said. “Have a seat, Dead-Boy, we’re going to be here for a while.” Grumbling, Angelus sat down next to Buffy. Spike sat next to him and Dru across from Buffy. Whistler hopped up on the spot where Buffy had sat on the counter and Giles sat down next to Buffy.

“Do you want to start, or should I?” Angelus asked Buffy.

“I will,” she said and looked at Giles. “Well, they guy who runs the area is Crenshaw and for every Hellmouth, there’s an area of hell. The leaders of the areas are determined by…”

. . .

Angel stood there, stunned. He had just watched Buffy have what seemed to be a normal conversation with Angelus, watched her have a heated debate with Giles, and then sit down to describe hell. From what he could hear her say, it was pretty much the same thing as he had experienced. Slowly, Angel walked to the wall and leaned against it. The words Buffy had said ran through his head at a mile a minute. Mya had sent her to hell. His dreams were true. How could he have been so…

“Angel!” a voice called out, disrupting his thoughts. He looked up and saw Xander running down the hall, Oz right behind him.

“Xander? What’ wrong?” Angel asked, getting to his feet. Xander took in a deep breath, but fear was still written all over his face.

“Vampires…Bronze…Cordy…” Xander gasped.

“Huh?” Angel asked.

“There are vamps at the Bronze, lots of them. They’ve got Mya, Willow, and Cordelia along with all of the other people in there. Man, Mya tried to fight them, but she was powerless. Something’s wrong,” Oz explained. Angel nodded and took in a deep breath.

“We need to get Giles and supplies,” Xander said, catching his breath.

“A Slayer would help too,” Angel muttered.

“But Mya’s…” Oz said.

“Not Mya,” Angel said. He walked to the doors and pushed them open. “Buffy.” Oz and Xander quickly followed Angel inside the library. They stopped when they saw Buffy sitting at a table, talking to Giles with Angelus at her side.

“Angel? What’s wrong?” Giles asked. “I thought I told you to come back later.”

“Buffy?” Xander asked. “But…she’s dead.” He stared at Buffy who sat frozen. She looked at them then took in a deep breath.

“Um, not really,” she said quietly. “I’m pretty much alive.”

“Okay, I’m really freaked here, especially since there’s an Angel clone sitting next to you, but Willow’s in trouble so I’m going to put it aside,” Oz said.

“Willow’s in trouble?” Buffy repeated. She got to her feet and the others followed. “Where?”

“The Bronze,” Oz told her.

“Don’t they ever get sick of attacking there?” Buffy asked.

“I guess not,” Angel said. He looked cautiously at Angelus who said nothing but stared back. Buffy walked over to the cage and looked inside.

“Game plan, and quick,” Buffy said.

“How about, we go there and kill the vampires,” Angelus muttered.

“Well, obviously,” Buffy said. “But we can’t just go there, yell ‘Charge!’ and get ourselves killed in the process. That’s generally why a plan is a good idea.”

“I’m not stupid,” Angelus hissed.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Buffy said under her breath. Angelus glared at her.

“Well, if we could somehow get inside and attack from there, we might have more of an advantage,” Angelus said. “Going from the outside risks lives of the hostages.”

“Have they started attacking yet?” Buffy asked.

“No, that’s the weird thing,” Xander said. “No. It’s like they’re waiting for someone.” Xander paused and then continued. “There’s something else. There was this guy that didn’t look like he was there, but he was.” Buffy looked at Xander.

“What’d he look like?” she asked.

“He’s about my height, with long dark hair and really dark eyes. He was wearing a robe a lot like that one,” Xander said and gestured the one Buffy was wearing. “Only it was…”

“Blue,” Buffy said finishing his sentence. “Dark blue.” Xander nodded. “Shit.”

“Are you sure?” Angelus asked. Xander nodded again and Angelus looked at Buffy. “I’m gonna have to agree with you. Shit. This is bad Buffy. How’d he manage to get to the Bronze?”

“Xander said it didn’t look like he was there. Astral projecting, maybe?” Buffy asked. “But I wasn’t able to do it, why would he?”

“He’s a lot older than you.” Angelus said. “And…”

“And what?” Buffy demanded.

“That’s who they left in place of me,” Angelus said.

“What! Are they nuts? That guy is way evil! He’ll probably suck the entire…”

“Who?” Giles asked, interupting her wild banter. Buffy stopped.

“Kelvin. Lord Kelvin. He’s an evil son of a bitch and knows a whole lotta magic. This is probably the last guy you want in charge of the Hellmouth,” Buffy explained.

“But he can’t open it without Crenshaw’s permission,” Angelus said. Buffy nodded.

“Which is why we need to get to the Bronze and find out exactly what he’s up to,” Buffy said. She pulled off the black robe and grabbed a few stakes from the cage, placing them in her clothing. She tossed a few to Angelus and then handed the rest to Drusilla. “We need to be there, now.”

. . .

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