A New Adventure

This story takes place in the Buffyverse--Post-Chosen

"What are we going to do now?" The junior watcher asked. The school bus that had narrowly missed the disaster of Sunnydale bobbled and bounced along the road towards Los Angeles.

"Don't know, Little D. I imagine big sis over there is going to drag us to L.A. to see Dead Boy, and then we're off to Cleveland to fight this new big bad. Whatever we do though, it's gonna be one helluva ride."

Faith watched the teen lean her head against the window, looking forward to see what was going to happen next. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"Where do you think Spike is?" Buffy looked over at a stable Principal Wood. "Do you think he got to go to the place I was a couple years ago? Heaven?"

"You were in heaven?"

"Willow brought me back." She snapped out of her semi-trance long enough to answer that and snapped back into her trance-like state. "Do you think he's okay? I mean he died to save people-to save me. I told him I loved him, and I think it was true… I mean it's not like the love Angel and I had, but it was something. He got is soul back… for me. He went through all that pain and suffering, living in the Hellmouth High basement, trying to redeem himself."

"Buffy, I will never like Spike. He murdered my mother."

"He didn't have a choice!" the slayer protested. "Andrew, Jonathan, Warren... even Willow had a choice."

"He had gone back to his old ways." He blinked his swollen eye a couple times, hoping Buffy would see some part of his point. "Spike, even giving up his life, will never be redeemed of the crimes he committed. At least, not in my eyes." ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"Kennedy, she's gone! She's really gone. She and Joyce and everybody else... She's gone, Kennedy! I can't even visit her!" The new slayer looked into the witch's eyes, spying hurt and anger.

"Willow! Tara will always be with you! She's not gone. You don't need some stone to look at to know she's still there!" [i]Damn, Kenn. She's retreating back into her little hole. It's just like that first 'date'...[/i] Kennedy slowly pressed her lips against the redhead's, and she could instantly feel her girlfriend relax. "Are you going to be okay?" Chocolaty eyes stared into emerald and with that look of assurance, Willow nodded. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"Why was Anya so stupid? She always had to do the stupid thing. She gave her life for a geek freak like you! WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HER?!"

Tears were pouring out of Andrew's eyes, as he kept repeating, "I don't know. I'm sorry. I don't know. I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..."

"Damn it!" He slammed his fist against one of the bus windows, causing it to shadow and cut up his hand.

Vi snapped her head around towards the sound. "Xander, now isn't the time. I need your help with Rona." ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Giles sat behind the books, murmuring to himself, "My books, all of my books, gone. All those texts, gone forever into the bloody crater."

Buffy stood inside of Angel's office at Wolfram and Hart. "Hey, Angel."

"Hey. I, um, want to ask you something."

"Uh-oh. I see emotion on your face. Emotion is a very bad sign, mister," she said playfully. He grinned. "Happy emotion is better than sad. So, shoot."

"I, uh, wanted to know if I could go with you guys to Cleveland. I can help."

"What about Wolfram and Hart?"

"I can run it from there. There's a catch, though." He looked around and whispered, "Wes has to come. Giles asked me. He said you guys needed more watchers. So, can I, uh, come? I can more easily fund you guys… and I've kind of already bought a mansion and training grounds… and kind a martial arts studio…"

Faith burst through the door. "No way, Angel! That's totally wicked. You're so on my good list. When are we leaving?"

The vampire answered, "I've got a jet leaving in an hour. Do you have all of the potentials? Or are they slayers now?"

Buffy informed him, "Slayers, and all but ten or eleven have gone home to defeat whatever evil may lurk there. Will was hoping to find some more slayers in Cleveland, so we'll probably start training at your martial arts center. The Scoobs are gonna have a lot of stuff on their plates these upcoming weeks."

"How many rooms are there in the house?"

Angel sighed at Faith's lack of interest in training. Wasn't she the one who loved slaying? "There are five bedrooms and a large basement. I had cots moved in there last night. Everything should be set."

"Then let's haul ass to the airport. I wanna see this mansion!"

The group slowly entered the mansion, taking in the sight before them. Buffy announced, "Senior Scoobies, pair up and find your room!" Willow and Kennedy quickly darted up the grand staircase, followed by a slow moving Giles and Wes and then a sluggish Andrew and Xander. Angel and Buffy traded secretive glances and made their way up the stairs. "The leftover has to sleep with the girls!"

Robin looked at Dawn and spoke, "Sorry, kiddo."

Faith quickly hopped in. "Whoa! Robin, you and I had a thing, but see, you dissed the Faith. That qualifies to be dumped. Sorry, Wood, you sleep with the girls. I actually hear that there is a pullout couch, though." Faith and Dawn made their way to the last available room. "Damn." It was a suite. "Dead Boy's got some major dough." A big screen TV stood in front of a leather couch with a surround sound system.

Dawn stood in the doorway of the bathroom and called out, "Faith! We got a Jacuzzi tub!"

"Wicked!" she called out from the bedroom. "You should see this bed. It's got to be bigger than a king."

Willow poked her head inside the entrance to the suite and called out, "Yup! They've got a suite too! Guys, isn't this cool? We all have these amazing rooms! The basement is even nice! We've even got a bar near the kitchen!"

Faith asked, "Who's up for drinks? Little D?"

"I'm only sixteen."

"B'll let you have one, and if not, I'll let you have the rest of mine. Red, you know of any decent clubs around here?"

"Faith, I got here the same time you did. I don't know anything about this city other than it's on top of a hellmouth. Wouldn't it be funny if it was on top of the high school?"

Giles entered the room, cleaning his glasses with the tail of his shirt. "Apparently, it is right underneath the library."

Buffy yelled from the dining room, "SENIOR SCOOBY MEETING!!!" Everybody raced down to see what the dining hall was like. "Hey, Giles, I hear they've just opened a new high school. They need teachers, counselors, a librarian, and a principal. We can go check it out tomorrow and apply. I was actually did some quick research on jobs for all of us. Willow, Giles, Robin, and I can get a job at the high school. Kennedy, I bet you could be Willow's assistant or something. Faith, there's a nearby club looking for bouncers. You could kick some human ass, while keeping an eye out for vamps. And Dawn, I bet Giles could use some help in the library. He's going to need help rounding up all of the texts we lost-there's gotta be more copies of some of those."

"Many of my books did have copies. I imagine they won't be too hard to track down with that computer of yours, Willow."

Kennedy added, "Yup. She can do anything." She leaned down and kissed the redhead. "Anything."

Willow asked, "So, Angel, what's for dinner?"

"Uh, well, we can order out. I had sandwiches pre-made to everybody's likes." Dawn was ready to speak up, when he cut her off. "Even peanut-butter and salami." The en-souled vampire turned his attention to the original slayer. "Why does she like peanut-butter and salami?"

"Don't ask me. She said that mom used to make it for her, which is totally eww, but whatever. I like eggplant."

"It's an egg, and it's a plant. It's unnatural, Buffy. I don't see why you eat it. At least salami and peanut-butter are normal things." Angel passed out the sandwiches that had been brought into the room, and Dawn took a gigantic bite out of hers. "Yum."

"Dawn, you like anchovies. How is that natural?" Buffy started on her sandwich, not trying to stuff it all into her mouth like the sixteen year-old watcher. "What's the rush, Willow?" Willow and Kennedy were quickly eating their dinners.

"Tired. Need sleep."

"Need Kennedy," Faith joked. Dawn gave Faith a small punch in the arm. "D, what was that for?"

Buffy answered, "Because you're being an ass."

Faith felt a foot nudge up against hers. She wrapped her own around the junior watchers. "So, uh, I'm not hungry anymore. I'm going to bed."

Xander quickly asked, "Did she just say what I think she said? Faith not hungry? Merciful Zeus! The world is ending! Duck and cover!" He leaned over so far in his chair that he tipped over. "Crap. That hurt."

"Well, I guess we all could use a bit of rest. Good night everybody," Giles said as he headed up towards the bedroom and was followed by Faith and Dawn.

"Night, Buffy!" Willow said as Kennedy started dragging her up to their room.

"If you'll excuse me, I think I've just lost my appetite," Wesley set his sandwich down and headed to his suite.

"Me, uh, too," Robin said, feeling more uncomfortable being the odd wheel with Angel and Buffy. "Night."

"So, uh, Angel, how've you been? Anything exciting happen in L.A., while we were fighting the big bad?" Buffy had taken a sudden interest in her remaining sandwich.

"Other than Cordy trapping my soul and Willow having to restore it, no. I don't consider any of the other events exciting. You have fun fighting The First? Spike make do with my trinket? Where is Captain Peroxide, anyways?"

Tears started welling up in Buffy's eyes. "Angel, he, uh, saved us all. He gave his life to save us."

"Oh... I'm going out. I'll be back before dawn."

"Angel, wait!" The vampire continued on his way, ignoring Buffy's plea. "Damn it!" she screamed as she stormed up to her empty room.

The Senior Scoobies, excluding Angel and Faith, sat in front of the district's superintendent. "Ah, yes. Your resumes are quite… interesting. Miss Rosenberg, I believe we could use somebody with your knowledge in computers. I assume Miss Kennedy is to be your aid?" Willow slowly nodded. "Mr. Wood, I see that you were previously the principal of the Sunnydale High School that recently disappeared with all of Sunnydale. Is that correct?" Robin slowly nodded. "Well, due to the fact that we still need a principal among other staff members-" He glanced over at Buffy, who was twiddling her thumbs. "You're all hired. Principal Wood, welcome to Cleveland High. Counselor Summers, Professor Rosenberg, Assistant Kennedy, Mr. Giles, Miss Summers, and Principal Wood, we're glad to have you here." The superintendent shook everybody's hand and left the newest members of the staff to talk amongst themselves.

Willow announced excitedly, "Guys, we have even more money! I tapped into the Council's bank account, and they were loaded! We can buy cars now!"

Xander called out, "Hummer!"

"Harley!" Kennedy stated.

Giles stepped in, so it wouldn't become a call-out fest. "Yes, yes. We shall all get the car that we wish. Xander shall get his… what was it called? A Hummer?"

"Yep. I gotta be big army guy."

"Yes. Kennedy shall get her motorcycle. I think I'll get another convertible. Something red and shiny… Buffy and Dawn, what will you two get?"

"SUV," Buffy simply said. "Dawn?"

"Convertible... Maybe a Cabrio. Willow?" They continued on with what they would buy with their newfound money. The cars they would purchase were settled, and the Scoobies decided that everybody would get a weekly allowance of twenty dollars. If they wanted, they could get a job, but most of the SITs were too lazy, anyways.

When they arrived back home, Faith was heading down the stairs, dressed in her trademark leather. She called out, "Little D, I'm heading out to check the clubs. You wanna come?" Dawn turned and gave Buffy her best puppy dog eyes. Reluctantly, the older Summers girl nodded. "Wicked. I'll wait down here, while you go change. So, B, you guys get your little jobs?"

Buffy started, "Yeah, well they-"

Faith interrupted, "Sounds great, B. You guys want to go clubbing with Dawn and me?"

Willow and Kennedy quickly replied with an enthusiastic, "Yes!" which was then followed by a couple of "Sures" from the others.

The Senior SITs and the Scoobies were scattered the lame club that was Silver Star. Xander stated the obvious by saying, "This place stinks to high heaven. There are no special lights, no special drinks, and couches that aren't even as comfortable as the ones at The Bronze. The name even sucks. If Anya were here, she'd liven up the place or just make fun of us with all of our moping…" He trailed off, thinking about his lost love.

A familiar dark, handsome figure made their way over to the Scooby Gang, placing a small golden key in each of their hands. "Welcome to your club. This is a congrats on fighting back The First."

"Angel? What's going on?" Buffy asked softly.

"Well, I was out looking for a job for Faith, and I stumbled across this hellhole. They were getting ready to close it down do to lack of interest, so I bought it. I figured we needed a cool club to hang out at after slaying. We're all co-owners of Silver Star… Can we change the name?"

Willow called out, "We can call it The Bronze after The Bronze!"

Somehow, Andrew had sat down without them noticing. "Um, Willow, people knew that place kind of as a death trap. I'm not so sure I'd want to come to a place named after a place where lots of people were held captive, because, you know, that's just kind of scary."

Buffy asked, "Has he been here this entire time? In Cleveland?"

Robin answered, "He's been hanging out in the basement. I think a lot has been going on in that sci-fi brain of his."

Faith offered, "How about The Scythe? I mean, it made all the potentials wicked strong. It at least has meaning to us…" There was a unanimous 'yes' among them. "Little D, wanna dance?" Dawn nodded as the dark slayer pulled her onto the dance floor, followed by Willow and Kennedy, shortly after.

"Those two really have gotten close. You don't think..."

Giles spoke, "Yes, um, well, I must be going right now. I'll be back to help with The Scythe later." The British, former librarian returned his cup to the counter and continued on his way out.

Xander leaned back into the couch, thoughts of Willow and Kennedy or Faith and Dawn swimming around that mind of his. "Pretty girls. Ahhh…" he said absentmindedly. Buffy slapped him on top of his head. "Ouch!"

Angel took at step towards Buffy, holding out his hand. "May I have this dance?"

The doorbell rang, followed by a series of knocks. Andrew called out, "Can somebody get that? It's interrupting my James Bond fest!" The knocking continued on. "Fine, but you guys owe me big time," the former Trio member murmured. A delivery guy stood in the doorway. "May I help you?"

"I have a delivery for a Dawn Summers, a Willow Rosenberg, and an Angel. Oh, there is also an Andrew Wells on the list. Do they all live here?"

"Ooo! Goody! My realistic light sabers have arrived! You know, I hear they're perfect for fun and for training…" The deliveryman stood still, un-amused. "I'll get them." He bellowed at the top of his lungs, "WILLOW! DAWN! ANGEL!" The three came scurrying down from their rooms, wanting to see what was amuck. "Delivery." The four of them signed the clipboard, as men started bringing the new books into the library.

Dawn explained, "We tracked down all of the books last night on the internet."

"And I ordered our cars online, too," Willow added. "What'd you get, Angel?"

He stepped to the side, trying to stay out of the sun's deadly rays. "I don't know. Two packages from Wolfram and Hart, apparently." He read the labels on each. "One says to open immediately, and the other says to give to William the Bloody."

Confused, Willow asked, "But isn't Spike..."

"Dead? I thought so." He opened the first package, and the Champion's amulet fell out, dust swirling from it. "Spike?"

Sure enough, the second souled vampire stood before them. "Bloody hell. That was one hell of a ride." The former friend tried to poke Willow. "Whoa! Look at me! I'm incorporeal. I'm like The First." He lunged at Dawn. "Boo!" The young watcher stood there, just staring at him, arms crossed over her body. "What's that you go there?" Spike grabbed the second package from Angel's grasp. "Well, looky, looky. This little parcel belongs to me. Wait, incorporeal. How did I pick that up?"

Willow informed, "You wanted to grab it, so you did. You used your emotions to make yourself a kind of solid."

"That's all fun, but let's see what I've got here." He quickly opened the package, a bright flash exploding from it. "What in bloody blazes was that?"

Buffy stood at the top of the stairs, staring at the sight before her. "What's goin-No. No. No. No. This can't be happening." She turned and sprinted towards her room.

"Buffy!" Spike called out, running after his love. "BUFFY!" The deliveryman returned to the front door and handed seven keys to Willow, each labeled with the car they belonged to. "There are the keys to your new vehicles. Your new books are still in the boxes and need to be unpacked. Mr. Wells, the ten light sabers you ordered were placed in the basement, like you ordered. Have a bad day." With those last few words of joy, he and his co-workers drove off. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"Buffy? Are you okay?"

"You're not real. You're not real. Go to hell, you bastard!" She threw a punch at him, which connected with his nose. "You're solid. You're not The First."

"Great observation, Miss I-Have-To-Throw-A-Punch-To-Realize-That or is it just Buffy now?"

"Spike? You're alive? How?"

"Don't know." He glanced at the ceiling, while saying, "Somebody up there must like me. Either that or Red pulled some major magic." The slayer pulled him into a fierce hug, tears starting to stream down her face. "Shush. I'm here now."

Angel stood outside the door, listening to the conversation.

The small blonde pulled away, looking into his eyes. "I can't do this. Spike, I care about you, okay. I have feelings for you, but it's not love. You were right. I was just saying that. I love Angel, and I always will… But you are in my heart." Hurt filled is eyes. Crushed, he pulled away and began wandering the mansion. "Crap."

"Willow, why do you need that bloody machine?" Giles asked, watching her set up a brand new computer in the library. He set the cup of tea he had in his hand onto a table and began putting books away onto the shelves. Large labels hang from the ceiling in front of each bookshelf. There was one for demons, vampires, legends/myths, spells, rituals, and etcetera. "Don't you already have one in your room?"

"Well, you can never have too many computers. By the way, have you seen how big this house is? If I try to carry my laptop around all the time, it's sure to get kaplooey, and we can't have that, now can we? Besides, I thought you liked my computer work. It's come in handy before."

"Yes, well, just don't try setting up a... world wide web or whatnot in this mansion."

"You mean a network?"

"Yes. Rumor has it you have handed the keys to The Scythe over to Vi. Is this true?"

"Well, sort of. Andrew is in charge of the financial areas of owning a club. Vi and Rona are decorating the place, and then the Senior Scoobs are going to deal with the alcohol and stuff like that. But yes, the SITs will be taking care of the club. Buffy, Kennedy, Faith, Dawn, Wes, and I were actually going to head over to the new martial arts studio. You want to come?"

"Ah, yes. I actually had all of the equipment and weapons shipped there. It should be quite interesting. What was all that ruckus earlier? Was everything okay?"

"Uh, well, see, Spike is back."

"Bloody hell. Did he attack Andrew? Is that why that stupid boy was bellowing?" Giles pulled off his glasses and began cleaning them. Do British men just get comfort out of cleaning their specks?

Willow explained, "Andrew didn't want to get the door. It turned out to be the UPS guy.. Well, he kind of had a package for Angel... It kind of turned out to be the Champion's amulet. Spike was freed and then became corporeal after a big white flashy thing."

Andrew's voice echoed over a newly placed intercom. "Willow! Buffy! Your girlfriend and your sister are attacking me!" Immediately upon hearing this, Willow and Giles went running towards the basement. Buffy reached the door, just as the watcher and witch got there. "Help!" They quickly shot down the stairs, only to find a light saber battle occurring. Kennedy and Dawn had Andrew cornered and were attacking him with their blue and green light sabers. Faith and the SITs sat on their cots, watching the battle play out. "Buffy, I was supposed to win. I even had the purple light saber. See, Mace Windu was a really strong jedi. He even fought beside Master Yoda in the Clone Wars, which you could care less about. We were just having fun."

Buffy held back a chuckle. "Faith, Dawn, Kennedy, you guys ready to go?" The three of them nodded. "Where's Wesley?"

"Right here," the watcher said, coming down the stairs. "I overheard the call on the intercom. Is everything alright?"

"It is now," Kennedy said, sneaking an arm around Willow's waist.

"It's near perfect," Willow whispered, leaning back to catch her lover's lips.

"So, if you guys are done making out in front of everybody, we should head over to the martial arts center," Dawn announced. She had crossed her arms over her chest, giving her own version of Willow's resolve face. When nobody responded to her announcement, she raised her voice. "Hello! Watcher Summers orders Kennedy, Willow, Buffy, Faith, Wesley, and Giles to report to the outside training grounds. From there we'll head to the center."

Wesley called out, "I'm a senior watcher! You can't-" Dawn's resolve face to the rescue. It was really doing its job. The young, British watcher murmured, "Why don't we just make her head watcher?"

Willow turned towards Buffy, asking, "Where's Xander?"

Buffy quickly glanced around the room. "I think he's in his room. Last I saw, he was staring at his old wedding ring. Poor Xander..."

Andrew whined, "What about me? I was the one who upset him. Why don't I get any sympathy? I was sulking..."

Dawn called out, "Yes, but you aren't anymore, so let's go! Watcher giving orders!"

"Jeez, Dawn," her older sister started. "When did you become so pri-prioritized?" she asked, looking for a confirmation nod from her best friend. Will gave her the nod. "Prioritized," she stated more confidently.

The teen answered, "When I realized I couldn't get you guys to listen to me." Faith snuck behind her and rested her hands on the younger girl's shoulder's, grinning.

"Somebody's wicked stressed," the former rogue whispered. Dawn's cheeks turned a vibrant red, when these words drifted into her ears.

"Okay! What the hell is going on between you two?" Buffy stared at the possible couple. The slayer was scared that Faith would hurt her younger sister. The whole gay thing didn't bother her too much. Hello! Best friend gay! "You've been acting all... couply!"

Kennedy pulled away from her girl and crossed her arms, standing in front of the teen. "So, Slayer's little sis has joined the club. Don't you just hate my innate ability to tell if somebody is gay?" she said with a smirk. Dawn blushed a bit, but quickly regained her composer. "Come talk to us later, if you need somebody to talk to. Faith, you need anybody to talk to?" The last sentence was said with the queen of baby talk voice.

"Nah. I'm too much of a badass; I don't need a pep-talk, K."

Dawn called out again, "Let's go!" Quickly, everybody started filing out.

Buffy and Faith were the last ones to leave. In the hall, with one swift movement, the blonde slayer grabbed the brunette by the collar and slammed her against the wall. "If you dare hurt my sister, I won't be afraid to slide the knife right back into place, and this time, I'll make sure you don't wake up."

"I'm not going to hurt her, B. I can promise you that."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," the smaller woman snapped. She slammed her against the wall harder and let go. "Don't hurt her."

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