The Way We Were: Part 2
by TC McGonigle
THE WAY WE WERE
by T. C. McGonigle


Buffy and the rest of the Scooby gang belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and the WB, I'm only borrowing them for my own twisted purposes.



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Part Two

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Buffy opened the front door to her house and poked her head inside. "Mom? Mom, are you home?" Buffy waited for a response. Her mother should be at the gallery, but who knew if the gallery hours were the same now. Who knew if her mother even owned a gallery now. The silent stillness of the house convinced her that Joyce wasn't home. Buffy opened the front door all the way and walked in. "Coast's clear, Oz, come on in."

Oz walked in behind Buffy. He shut the front door. "I think we left the coffee house just in time. That waitress was about to call the truancy police."

"I know." Buffy led the way into the kitchen. "I don't know how you did it these last few days, Oz. I can't stand to be. . . ."

"Buffy?" Giles stood in the kitchen doorway. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Oh, yes, but, uh, Oz and I have a special project we have to work on. . . and we need to be here. We have permission." Buffy shifted from left to right foot and back again. It was so disconcerting to actually have Giles in her home that lying with ease was not possible. "What are you doing home G. . .Dad?"

"I forgot my lucky pen." Giles searched through the junk drawer. "I know I left it out here last night. You didn't take it, did you, Buffy?"

"No, no lucky pens in my possession."

"Ah, here it is!" Giles held up a regular looking blue Papermate. "Can't go to my agents' and sign publishing contracts without my lucky pen. Bye, kids, don't work too hard." Giles bustled out the back door.

"That was freaky," Oz commented once the door closed. "How could he tell that was his lucky pen?"

"I have no idea." Buffy sat down heavily on a kitchen chair. "Has anyone given even the tiniest sign that they think things are out of wack?"

"Nope, everyone loves the new them." Oz cast Buffy a wary glance. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know if its my place to ask you this. . . I don't know you too well, Buffy, but I've gotta ask. What happened the night you disappeared? Could it have caused this?"

"Spike and Drusilla!" Buffy yelled. She jumped up out of her seat. "They did this!"

"I don't think so." Oz shook his head. "I forgot to tell you this earlier, but I've got to show you something." Oz switched the small television on the kitchen counter on. "I found this by accident yesterday." Oz flipped through the channels until he found the right one.

"Wheel. . . Of. . . Fortune!" blared out from the set, "And from sunny Sunnydale, here are the stars of our show, Spike and Drusilla!"

"Hello, all. A nice hand for the lovely Dru." Spike grinned out at them. "And now, let's meet our contestants."

"Shut it off, please." Buffy looked sick. "This is getting too weird for me. Cordy isn't out there staking Pat and Vanna, is she?"

"Not as far as I know." Oz shrugged. He sat down at the kitchen table. "Buffy. . . ."

"The vortex opened." Buffy sighed and continued in an emotionless monotone, "Angel got his soul back. I killed him. The vortex closed. I freaked. I bailed. I came back to wacky world."

"Look. . . ." Oz scratched his head. "I'm sorry, Buffy. Do you think the vortex could have caused this?"

"I don't think so." Buffy stuffed the events of that night away into the back of her mind. It was surreal. She had killed Angel. Ran him through like a vampire shish kabob. The last thing she had expected when she had returned home was facing him. "If the vortex had caused this, then it would have happened right away, not months later."

"I'm out of ideas then." Oz shrugged. "Sorry, about making you talk about it."

"Oz, there's one thing you're going to have to do so we can work together." Buffy smiled. "Stop apologizing."

"You got it." Oz answered her smile with one of his own. He didn't know Buffy that well, but he knew that Willow trusted her. Sure, she had been ticked when Buffy took off, but Oz knew that if their situations had been reversed, Buffy would be the one Willow trusted.

"You know what our problem is, Oz? Lack of plan and research materials. Usually when things get weird, Giles can explain or at least look it up in some book." Buffy rested her chin in her hands and stared forlornly at the table.

"Or get Willow to look it up on the Internet." Oz sighed and stared out the kitchen window. "Willow looked so cute when she was researching. Her nose would crinkle right at the bridge and her lips would purse. I doubt she even remembers how to turn on a computer now."

"But Xander would." Buffy looked up. "Xander and Willow have swapped personalities, so that would make Xander computer guy." Buffy grinned with excitement. They were all still a team, they had just switched roles. The only tricky part would be explaining why Buffy-with-a-Cordelia-personality would want them to investigate weird happenings that they didn't remember happening. Buffy lost her smile. "And Angel is Cordy's watcher."

"What do you want to do?"

"You talk to Xander. Tell him you have to write a paper on curses and spells that switch personalities or souls or whatever. I'll talk to Angel."

"You sure? I can talk to Angel."

"No. I have to talk to him. It's not like he remembers that I sent him to hell."

"Okay. We have plan. And most of it depends on Xander."

"With Willow knowledge." Buffy stood up and glanced at her watch. "Okay, if Xander is also following Willow's schedule, then he'll be in the computer lab right now. And Angel should be in the library. Let's meet on the front steps of the school after we've finished talking to them."


* * *
Buffy stood outside the library and stared at the doors. What was she going to say to him? What could she say? Angel wouldn't know her as his Buffy. To him she would just be a vain, shrill annoyance. But, annoying or not, she needed his help. Buffy pushed open the doors and walked into the library. It was time to put Plan A into motion.

"Angel?" Buffy called into the empty room. She walked up to the upper level of the library. "Angel, it's me, Buffy. I. . . ."

"I know who you are, Buffy." Angel stepped suddenly from behind the stacks.

"I need your help," Buffy finished her sentence. She found it hard to look at him. He was so alive. She wanted to touch him and feel the strange warmth of his skin. She wanted to kiss his lips that were no longer cold. Buffy stopped her thoughts right there and focused on a point behind Angel's shoulder.

"How can I help you, Buffy?" Angel closed the book he had been reading and waited patiently for her to answer.

"I. . . I just wanted to know how the vampire slayage is going. Anything major strange I should know about? Prepare for?"

"That's all?" Angel blinked. "You've never taken an interest in matters of the supernatural before, Buffy."

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Buffy licked her lips. She knew what she had to say, she just couldn't stand to have Angel think of her as a fluffy headed moron. But a vampire slayer had to do what a vampire slayer had to do. . . . Buffy pasted on a bright, fake smile, showing as many of the pearly whites as possible. "Well, I was

just thinking. . . if you weren't doing anything icky important this weekend. . . ." Buffy gave Angel a coyly seductive look and quirked her half smile, the one the boys liked.

Angel reached out and grabbed Buffy's arm. He pulled her deep into the stacks where no one could see them. He pressed her up against the wall. "Buffy," he breathed. His fingers lightly caressed her cheek before his mouth descended upon hers.

Buffy wrapped her arms around him, reveling in the sensations of warm lips and a pounding heart. She responded to the deepening embrace, allowing herself to forget everything for the moment.

Angel wrenched himself away from her suddenly. "We can't do this. Not here, Buffy. You're a student. I'm faculty." Angel punctuated each statement with light, fluttering kisses down her neck. Buffy sighed. So much for Plan A. She wasn't getting any useful information out of Angel this way. Time to think of a Plan B. Angel nibbled gently on Buffy's ear. She liked Plan A.



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