The Fallen Slayer {1}

Mother Dearest

SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA

Angel was alive.

Not Angelus...Angel.

Willow was still completely flabbergasted by that little detail. Not only did it mean that her spell had worked...but it meant that there was a very strong chance that Buffy had to kill Angel, not Angelus.

No wonder she had a breakdown, went catatonic then disappeared off the face of the planet for four months.

Her shocked horror-filled eyes had still yet to move away from the chained up quivering form in the corner. When Xander and Giles had shown up at her house at 3 am and then dragged her to the mansion, finding out that Angel was back was not what she ever would have expected.

She just couldn't believe he was alive.

Buffy had sent him to hell yet here he was alive and well...well more accurately he was crazy but still alive.

The thought of her best friend caused her to falter, her heart starting to hammer painfully against her chest.


How the hell were they going to tell Buffy?


"What are we supposed to do?"


At her question, Giles sighed and started cleaning his glasses as he attempted to think. 

"After spending God knows how long in a hell dimension, who knows what it's done to him."

"I'd say we kill him." Xander added offhandedly as he glared at the previously presumed dead vampire.

"Xander!" Willow exclaimed in shock at his words, glowering at him in disappointment.

Xander had probably had the hardest time trying to separate Angel and Angelus.

As much as Willow wanted to scold him for jumping straight onto the murder train, given that Giles whose literal girlfriend had been murdered by Angelus had yet to even suggest it, her mind was still focused on Buffy.

Buffy had spent almost 10 months trying to come to terms with everything that had happened.

And finally after losing not just Angel but her mother and pretty much being abandoned by her father...Buffy was happy again.


"What about Buffy?" She whispered so as not to draw Angel's attention "How are we supposed to tell her that he's back."

"We are not going to tell her." Giles announced, "At least not until we know who we are dealing with, Angel or a rabid animal."

"So what? We are just gonna wait around and see if he kills someone?" Xander exclaimed in fury  "I say we deal with him now. If he goes evil we won't be able to stop him, then Buffy will have to kill him all over again."


Giles groaned as he paced back and forth, this was a very delicate situation they were in right now "We keep him locked up. Keep him weak. Until we know what we are dealing with, Buffy does not find out. If we tell her now and she has to kill him again, well, I don't think we will get her back this time."

At that moment the ferial Angel finally stopped growling as his body went still.

Completely ridged.

Turning his head, the Scoobies couldn't help but gulp as he looked up at them with watery eyes.



"Buffy."

**

MYSTIC FALLS, VIRGINIA

After a slay-heavy night in the town over, a very exhausted Buffy-Anne Summers tossed her weapons bag through her bedroom window, before
climbing inside with a sigh.

Shutting the window behind her, Buffy grunted before dropping face-first onto her soft comforter.

Hell-bent on catching a couple of hours of sleep before undoubtedly Elena came barging in to demand she got her lazy butt out of bed.

Sure enough, fate was not on her side.

The second she closed her eyes, her alarm clock started beeping loudly on the nightstand.

Without meaning, Buffy slammed her fist down on the alarm clock with too much force causing the piece of metal to shatter into tiny pieces.

Buffy groaned at the sight of it. That was the third alarm clock she had destroyed this month.

"No." She whispered in annoyance before reburying her face into the pillow.

Jenna was going to kill her.