We Happy Few: Priorities
by Sibling
When Buffy and Spike came downstairs, Dawn was starting on her second stack of blueberry pancakes, and Willow was finishing a plate of chocolate-chip.

Tara grinned at them from the stove. "Hey guys, what'll it be? Plain, chocolate-chip, or blueberry?"

"You know me Tara, anything chocolate is of the good," Buffy chimed in.

Spike pursed his lips as he thought. "A couple blueberry, Glinda. Please."

Tara beamed at Spike as he added the "magic word." She found herself wishing for the millionth time that she'd struck up a friendship with the vampire a long time ago. It wasn't just the nagging feeling that she might've been able to spare Buffy and Spike some of the grief they'd put each other through this past winter; she also regretted the simple fact that she'd known him for well over a year before really "getting to know him."

The events of the past year and a half, including Buffy's death -- even if she had been brought back -- had reinforced something Tara had always believed: time was precious, because you never knew how much you had left. That went double if you lived in Sunnydale, and triple if you were a member of the Scooby Gang. So she had begun to adopt a simple philosophy of never having to say, "I wish I'd done something sooner."

It was why she'd taken that fateful walk to Spike's crypt over a month ago. It was why she'd allowed herself to fall so quickly back into Willow's embraces.

She hadn't regretted either action for a moment.

And that was part of the reason why she was busy making comfort food this morning. She didn't really believe that a few star-shaped chocolate chip pancakes would solve the upcoming awkwardness with the crew from L.A. . . . but every little bit helped. Especially if the little bits are chocolatey, she thought.

After she filled Buffy and Spike's "orders," she made some blueberry pancakes for herself, and sat down to eat with the group. There was a moment or two of awkward silence, until Spike broke the tension by retrieving his morning mug of blood from the microwave and, after a moment's thought, poured it over his pancakes in place of syrup.

"Um, eww?" Buffy commented, with a grimace.

Spike snorted. "Luv, I have the exact same reaction when you pour a gallon of maple syrup on top of those chocolate chip pancakes. With all that sugar running through your system, I'm surprised you're not bouncin' off the bloody walls." Then he grinned, and leered at her a little. "Besides, all that energy'll just be wasted this morning. You should save some for tonight."

Buffy blushed bright red, as she always did when he did this to her. Spike winked at Tara, who smiled back; the vampire was a tease after her own heart. In fact . . . oh, why do I always have the urge to try to keep up with him? "Willow?"

The redhead turned to her, and before she could say anything, Tara leaned over and kissed her, making sure to do a thorough job of it. Then she pulled away a little and said, "Mmmmm . . . Willow, chocolate, and maple syrup. The sweetest kiss ever."

Willow turned as red as her hair. Dawn giggled. And Spike made a little gesture with his index finger as if to say, "one point for you." They'd been bringing out the best -- and the worst -- in each other for the past month now. Until Spike came along, Tara had never realized how much fun it was making Willow blush in front of everybody. Or how much tension could be erased by a good public smooch.

"Willow, we've taken up with a couple of shameless exhibitionists," Buffy commented.

"Yeah. Aren't we the luckiest couple of girls on the planet?" Willow sighed, with a grin on her still-flaming face.

"You'd better believe it, Red," finished Spike, as he dug into his pancakes. "Hmmm, not bad. I've got to remember to try this more often."

* * *

Dawn went with Buffy to the shop, while Willow went to class and Tara went to work. Spike said he'd be along later; he said he had some weapons maintenance and other odd jobs to do around the house. However, Dawn knew -- and was sure Buffy knew as well -- that he just didn't want to be around when Buffy called Angel.

When Buffy and Dawn got to the shop, Giles and Rachel were already there, carefully opening a FedEx package.

The Englishman looked up, with an excited look Buffy hadn't seen in years. "Buffy, Dawn! Look at this! For once the Council took one of my warnings seriously, and they sent !Kannl's book overnight!" He looked down in wonder as the last protective wrappings came off the ancient leather-bound book. "The Council almost never lets one of their rare volumes be taken from the library complex, much less out of the country . . . "

Dawn piped up, "Why shouldn't they listen to you, and give you everything you ask for? You trained the best Slayer anyone's ever heard of," here she laid a hand on Buffy's shoulder, "and you were the one who found the newest Slayer," and here she posed dramatically for a moment, "when they were all running around in circles. I say, woo-hoo Giles!"

Giles looked a little embarrassed. "Well, um. . . " He took off his glasses and began to clean them. "I'm, uh, sure that . . . the Council simply recognized the severity of the situation and-"

Rachel, who had already begun examining the book, looked up at him. "Oh, don't be so humble, Rupert!" As the Watcher blinked at her, she continued, " I've dealt with your Council myself, remember? They're insufferably superior, and more stubborn than stones. Quentin Travers in particular is so pig-headed I'm surprised he doesn't have a snout and a tail! If you got them to stop sitting around on their traditions and actually do something, then as Dawn put it, woo-hoo!" And she smiled at him.

Much stuttering from Giles followed. Dawn didn't know if it was the speech or the smile. But the smile definitely looked promising. Double woo-hoo, Giles!

* * *

Giles and Rachel, having been with Dawn the previous night, already knew about her vision. Giles volunteered to be the one to call Angel, but Buffy stopped him.

"Giles, no matter who calls Angel, there'll be some weird feelings all 'round. But if I call, at least they'll be sure to know it's serious. I haven't exactly gone out of my way to keep in contact lately . . . " she finished guiltily.

"Well, I might as well get this over with." And with that, she sat down behind the counter and dialed the number she knew by heart, even if she'd only used it once or twice.

"Hello . . . Angel Investigations. We . . . help . . . the hopeless."

Buffy was surprised at the voice at the other end of the line. The ever-lively Cordelia Chase sounded like she should be saying, "We are the hopeless." "Cordelia?"

"Buffy?" She heard a groan over the line. "Buffy, I'm sure you're calling about some big Hellmouthy thing, but Angel can't deal with anything more right now, we've got-"

"Cordelia, please, would you just listen? This is important. We need-"

"Buffy, he can't right now! You don't understand . . . we've . . . lost . . ." Cordelia's voice trailed off.

"What's going on, Cordy? What's happened?"

She heard the woman at the other end sigh. "It's . . . a long story, Buffy. I wish I didn't have to be the one to tell it, but Angel's in no condition to talk right now. So I'll fill you in, and then you've gotta promise to leave him alone!"

"I can't promise that, Cordy. But please tell me what's going on."

* * *

Every eye in the magic shop turned to Buffy at the phone as she squeaked, "He what?"

Giles started to say something, but Buffy angrily waved him off.

"I can't believe he'd do such a stupid thing! And with her!"

Then Buffy stopped ranting, and whispered, "What? You're kidding me, right?"

"Oh. Wow. A prophecy. Yeah, it figures."

"Connor. That's . . . nice." No one could understand why tears came to Buffy's eyes as she whispered the name.

"You know you could've called on me for help, right? I mean-"

"Mm-hm, okay. I get it, go on."

Then Buffy turned totally white, and looked like she was going to faint. Dawn rushed over to see if she needed support, but Buffy ignored her. "Oh my God, no! Why? How?"

"Is Angel-"

"Oh. So is Wesley-"

"Oh. Oh God! Is he all right?"

"What? Oh, Cordy I can't believe he . . . yeah, I can understand he was mad, but . . . . "

Then she seemed to get control of herself again, and said, "Well, lucky for you we have a Watcher up here in Sunnydale, too. Yeah, he's right here. So pack up everything you think he'll need, down to the last dusty book, and get on up here now!"

Giles looked at Buffy in surprise; she waved him off again.

"Yes, yes, I'm serious! Please, Cordelia, I want to help!"

Then after a moment, she added, more calmly, "Oh, but remember to bring at least two other people. I understand there's a man named Gunn that works with you? And a woman, short like me with long brown hair, called . . . Fred? Yes, we need them up here, too."

"Yes, Cordelia, we need all of you up here. I'm sorry if it puts Angel Investigations out of business for a while, but it doesn't sound like you're up to taking many cases right now anyway. Right now, the Scooby Gang is taking your case! I'll explain about why we need the others later. But I promise you, Connor will be the number-one priority!"

"No, Cordelia, thank you. For telling me the truth, and letting me help."

"Okay, we'll see you in a few hours. You know where to come, the magic shop in town?"

"Yeah. Bye."

As she hung up the phone, Buffy covered her face with her hands, but everyone could see the tears running down her cheeks.

* * *

Buffy was still trying to pull herself together when Giles asked angrily, "What's gotten into you, Buffy? You know what we're facing -- you can't just promise that I'll drop everything and start-"

"Giles." Her voice sounded flat, dead. She felt the same way inside.

"Yes?"

"He has . . . a son."

"Who?"

"Angel." She lifted her face and looked at the Watcher. "He has a son. A little baby named Connor."

Giles tried the usual cleaning-glasses routine, but his hands fumbled and he dropped them. "B-b-but that's impossible!"

She chuckled bitterly. "Tell me about it. But there was a little indiscretion with Darla-" Giles choked on that little bit of information, but Buffy ignored him, "-a mysterious prophecy, and poof! A little baby boy with Angel's eyes."

There was a time when I would've given anything to be the mother of that baby . . .

She had to brace herself to say the next bit. "And he's been kidnapped into a Hell dimension."

She heard Dawn and Rachel gasp, and Giles paled. "Good Lord . . . "

Oh, look, I managed to get through to Mr. Stuffy British Guy. She pounced. "Giles, I can't turn my back on this. It would be bad enough if it were just any innocent little baby . . . but Angel's son?" She shook her head desperately. "I can't, I won't just stand by and not help him get his son back!"

"You said something about Wesley? Why can't he do whatever research is necessary?"

Buffy sighed. "I didn't get the whole story, but there was some mixup with the prophecy, and Wesley panicked, kidnapped the baby, and ran off with him. But he ran into a trap, and to get Connor away from him, the bad guys . . . " she shuddered. "they cut his throat, Giles! He nearly died!"

Giles unconsciously touched his own throat, and swallowed heavily.

"He still might die; he's going to be in the hospital for days, and Angel's so furious he actually tried to kill Wesley himself! And he doesn't have anyone else who can do the research to help him get his son back. He needs us, Giles!"

The Englishman frowned. "I know, Buffy, but still . . ." Then he bent to retrieve his glasses, and started wiping them absently. "Buffy, you said there was a prophecy regarding this child?"

"Uh-huh. I'm guessing some pretty major stuff, from what Cordelia was saying, but she didn't mention any books by name."

He put his glasses back on. "I'll take a look at Angel's books when they get here. Maybe we'd have to rescue this child anyway, as part of our current task."

His calm and detachment only irritated Buffy, and she gritted her teeth in frustration. "Can't you for once put sacred duty aside and just do what's right?"

Giles glared at her. "And just what is right? Putting the whole world at risk to save one child?"

Buffy felt like screaming, Yes! That's what makes us different from the demons! She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with Giles again. Giles had been willing to see Dawn killed to save the world . . . but Buffy couldn't make that kind of choice anymore. Not after Acathla. I will not be forced into making a choice between saving the world and saving the people I care about! If being the Slayer means anything at all, it means protecting the innocent, like Dawn . . . and Connor.

I once had to send Angel to Hell. Now I can make amends for that, by helping him get his son out.

But she took a deep breath, and tried to get a grip on her temper. Losing it would only make Giles more stubborn -- she'd learned that lesson the hard way more than once. She thought quickly, and decided to change tactics. Emotional arguments aren't going to cut it, so I have to give him some logic to chew on.

"Giles, until Rachel translates that book for you, we're all just spinning our wheels anyway. There's been no sign of a major bad guy since Drusilla, and every prophecy you've checked out has been a dead end. So we're not putting the world at risk." Then she sighed, and added, "And who knows, maybe you're right -- maybe Connor's involved in all this.

"Besides," she said as her face fell, "from what Cordelia was saying, Angel's in no shape to help us out right now. He may be a complete basket case until we get his son back."

Giles frowned. At least he's thinking it over.

And then Rachel spoke up, and Buffy could've hugged her. "She's right, Giles. It'll take me some time to get this book translated -- there's no index, and no table of contents. I'm going to have to read it from cover to cover, making notes along the way, and that'll take a few days, at least."

Giles finally nodded. "All right, Buffy. I'll try. I can't promise I'll be able to help Angel find Connor. But I'll try."

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