August 17 - Moving On
Twisted Shorts August Fic-a-Day Challenge - Day 17
Title: Moving On
Author: hermione2be
Rating: PG/FR13/K+
Crossover: BtVS/Psych
Disclaimer: I do not own any of BtVS/Angel or Psych people, places, or ideas. This fiction is done simply for pleasure and I receive no profit.
Summary: News from home.
Notes: This is approximately three weeks after “Can’t Keep ‘Em Forever” and after “Graduation Day” in Sunnydale. And to mmooch who asked a question worth answering. Sorry for any editing issues, trying to get this in under the wire :)
Seasons: Post “Becoming”/After S1Ep8
Characters: Buffy, Angel, Henry, Shawn, Gus
Word Count: 1794
Angel stopped in front of the house he had seen only twice before. It was a little beach view property with a moderate yard and a chipping white fence. It was just after 8 in the evening. The house was awash with light.
He felt guilty having to come here, but she deserved to know just as much as she deserved to be left to a normal life. He got out of the car and took several deep breaths. As he approached the door there was the detectable scent of woman but it was nearly obscured by the scent of three men. Female laughter floated through an open window.
“So you just said you were George Takei’s assistants and they let you in?” Buffy’s voice came through clearly.
“Shawn can talk his way into anything. I’m more surprised Chief Vick let Lassiter in the delivery room,” an older male voice replied.
Buffy laughed again. “I can just imagine him trying to get Vick to push like he would interrogate a suspect.”
“Considering you have some recent experience with that,” another male replied.
Angel took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“I’ll get it,” Buffy said. There was a slight scuffle before the door opened to reveal her. She wore a pair of jeans and a dark blue shirt. Her blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail. Her face was devoid of makeup. Large hazel eyes stared at him in disbelief as her right hand inched behind her back.
“Beth, who is it?” the older male asked as he came around the corner.
Buffy shook her head slowly, still trying to make sense of it.
“Bu-” Angel started.
A hard kick to the solar plexus sent him flying off the porch and to the center of the yard.
“Stay in the house,” she yelled at the three men before slamming the door and running into the yard.
Angel took shallow breaths to relieve the pain from her kick. Buffy stayed on the bottom step of the porch, watching him and protecting those in the house.
“Buffy,” he wheezed.
“You went to Hell,” she whispered.
He nodded. “The Powers That Be sent me back.”
She swallowed reflexively. “Because of the soul?”
The door cracked open but neither of them looked. Again he nodded. “I still have it.”
“How long?”
“I came back in September.”
Buffy’s breathing shallowed. “I left.”
“I know.” He pushed himself into a sitting position. “I also know you’ve done well for yourself. Opened a training center a couple months ago.”
“How do you know?”
“Your friend came around in December asking questions about you.”
“Henry,” she muttered.
“Yes. I followed him back here, back to you.”
“I never knew…”
Angel got to his feet, slowly, keeping himself as nonthreatening as possible. Aware of the stake in Buffy’s right hand. “I stayed a couple of days, found out how you were doing. And you were…great. You had friends, you had Henry, you were patrolling. I checked in on you a time or two and you always seemed happy.”
“I am,” she admitted. “It took me a long time to…move passed what happened between us.”
“I know. And I would have left it alone, but some things happened last week, you need to know.”
“The graduation,” she surmised. “I got some of it from the paper. A gas line explosion took out the school, pretty good cover.”
“There was a Slayer called after Kendra. She took down the Mayor as he was trying to Ascend, saved some of your classmates.”
“Good for her.”
“She didn’t survive,” he told her. “Giles thinks another Slayer will be called but she may not be sent to the Hellmouth.”
“What was her name?”
“Faith.”
“Did you love her?”
Angel frowned at her. “No.” There was also a touch of guilt. “I love Willow.”
Buffy’s eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. “Oh.”
“I was savage when I was sent back. She helped me find myself again.”
A small smile crossed her lips. “I’m glad.” She ventured down the last step. “How are they?”
“They are…okay. They’ve lost a third Slayer, I don’t know if they will stick around to meet the fourth.”
The door opened behind Buffy and three men came out. An older man Angel recognized as Henry, a younger man who was probably his son, Shawn, and a young black man, Burton Guster, who he’d learned about in his research.
“Are you okay?” Henry asked.
“This is…” Buffy swallowed. “This is an old friend from home. He was just updating me about a few things.”
“Do they not have phones where he’s from?” Shawn asked.
“They didn’t,” Angel told him with a straight face.
Buffy laughed. “Guys, this is Angel. Angel, this is Henry, Shawn, and Gus.”
“Do you greet all your old friends like that?” Gus asked.
“Yes,” Buffy and Angel answered together.
“A handshake or a hug outside of your range of skills?” Shawn asked.
“It’s complicated,” Angel answered.
“I thought he was dead,” Buffy said as she ascended the steps. “I didn’t quite know what I was seeing when he came to the door.”
“So kicking him was your answer?” Henry asked.
“I have…an evil twin,” Angel explained. “We look identical. It’s exactly what I’d hope she’d do if she ever came across him.”
“Well, we’re about to have dessert,” Henry said. “If you want to-”
Buffy placed a hand across his mouth. “No. We can eat dessert out on the porch.”
The three humans looked at her strangely, but Angel nodded. “It’s a nice night.” It hurt a small part of him that she would refuse to let him in, but he understood it. In truth he couldn’t blame her for the caution.
“I’ll go slice up the pie,” Henry said.
“I’ll help,” Gus volunteered and followed him in.
Buffy tucked her stake into the back of her pants and sat on the porch steps.
“How do you know he’s not the evil twin?” Shawn asked, plopping down next to her on the steps. “I mean if they’re identical…”
“The eyes,” she replied. “As different as night and day.”
Angel shifted his stance.
“Why are you here? Obviously Beth didn’t invite you,” Shawn said.
“I’m moving to Los Angeles. I wanted Beth to know, in case she needed anything.”
“What are you going to do there?” Buffy asked.
“What I was brought back to do, help people.” He looked down at his feet. “I’ve thought about getting my P.I. license.”
“You can do that?”
“I have a driver’s license,” he reminded her. “I get what I need.”
She nodded. “Shawn and Gus work as P.I.s. Their company is called Psych.”
“I’m a psychic detective for the SBPD,” Shawn corrected.
“Oh, try it,” Buffy said. “I dare you.”
Shawn glared at her before looking over at Angel for several moments.
“You stayed somewhere new last night. You are consistently late but you freelance, so that’s fine. You work indoors. You had a steak for dinner.”
“Wrong,” Buffy said. “He stayed at the same place he always stays in Santa Barbara since he made it here twenty minutes after sunset. He’s rarely late. He works nights. And he didn’t have a steak he had pork.”
Angel looked at Buffy in surprise.
“Who’s right?” Henry asked as he came out with plates and forks.
“Bu-Beth is.”
“Tell Shawn what he missed,” Henry said.
“Nothing that he could have caught without knowing Angel,” she replied as she took a plate of apple pie and ice cream.
“Why did you think I’m always late?” Angel asked.
“No watch,” Buffy, Shawn, and Henry said as Henry handed him a plate.
Buffy took a bite of the pie. “Which widow baked this for you?” she asked Henry.
Henry scowled in her direction but reluctantly answered, “Mrs. Winthrop.”
Buffy and Shawn laughed.
“Way to go daddy-o!” Shawn crowed.
“Now if only he could find one of them to make ice cream,” Buffy said. “We’d be here for dessert every night.”
“Mm-hm,” Gus agreed.
Angel watched as they bickered and teased. It was a lot like watching her back in Sunnydale with her friends but there was something different. She smiled widely as they joked, she laughed freely and often.
It stunned him as he realized what it was. This was much like the Buffy he saw in LA at Whistler’s urging. She was strong and happy. It wasn’t the preppy thing she put on to get along when the world was too much and she tried to keep everyone else from seeing it. She was actually happy. And it made him a little sad to know that it took running away for her to find that.
Maybe it’s for the best, he thought. He needed to do as he promised, wish her well, and leave.
“I have something for you,” Angel finally said, breaking in on the current round of jokes at Gus’s expense.
All four of them looked at him with interest, as though they had forgotten he stood in the middle of the yard.
“What is it?” Buffy asked.
“Letters. I told Giles I found you a few months ago and I refused to tell him where you were. After the events at the school…he told the others and your mom.”
“You have a letter from my mom?” Buffy whispered.
“Yes. And Willow and Giles.”
Shawn frowned in confusion, then looked back at Henry who shook his head.
“Okay,” Buffy stood and stepped closer to Angel. He pushed a small package into her hand.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “For everything.”
“I don’t need apologies. I just…” she glanced at the porch, “I found something I didn’t know I was missing.”
“You’re still the Slayer,” he reminded her.
“Henry is a retired cop who still gets hooked on cases,” she told him. “I’ve never seen duty with the kind of passion he does. The kind of passion my gifts and powers should be applied with. I think he’s taught me to be a better Slayer.” She smiled. “If it wasn’t for my record, I’d probably become a cop.”
Angel nodded slowly. “If you decide to do that let me know. We’ll find a way to expunge your record.”
“How?”
“Demon underground, we still need financials and papers.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Here.” She pulled a business card from her pocket. “If you need anything.”
“I’ll give you my number as soon as I’m settled.” He handed her the plate. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
And somehow it didn’t hurt as much as it should have, it was putting a period on a chapter that had already been written and forgotten. He returned to his car and stared at the house where Buffy and Shawn were arguing over his uneaten piece of pie.
Title: Moving On
Author: hermione2be
Rating: PG/FR13/K+
Crossover: BtVS/Psych
Disclaimer: I do not own any of BtVS/Angel or Psych people, places, or ideas. This fiction is done simply for pleasure and I receive no profit.
Summary: News from home.
Notes: This is approximately three weeks after “Can’t Keep ‘Em Forever” and after “Graduation Day” in Sunnydale. And to mmooch who asked a question worth answering. Sorry for any editing issues, trying to get this in under the wire :)
Seasons: Post “Becoming”/After S1Ep8
Characters: Buffy, Angel, Henry, Shawn, Gus
Word Count: 1794
Angel stopped in front of the house he had seen only twice before. It was a little beach view property with a moderate yard and a chipping white fence. It was just after 8 in the evening. The house was awash with light.
He felt guilty having to come here, but she deserved to know just as much as she deserved to be left to a normal life. He got out of the car and took several deep breaths. As he approached the door there was the detectable scent of woman but it was nearly obscured by the scent of three men. Female laughter floated through an open window.
“So you just said you were George Takei’s assistants and they let you in?” Buffy’s voice came through clearly.
“Shawn can talk his way into anything. I’m more surprised Chief Vick let Lassiter in the delivery room,” an older male voice replied.
Buffy laughed again. “I can just imagine him trying to get Vick to push like he would interrogate a suspect.”
“Considering you have some recent experience with that,” another male replied.
Angel took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“I’ll get it,” Buffy said. There was a slight scuffle before the door opened to reveal her. She wore a pair of jeans and a dark blue shirt. Her blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail. Her face was devoid of makeup. Large hazel eyes stared at him in disbelief as her right hand inched behind her back.
“Beth, who is it?” the older male asked as he came around the corner.
Buffy shook her head slowly, still trying to make sense of it.
“Bu-” Angel started.
A hard kick to the solar plexus sent him flying off the porch and to the center of the yard.
“Stay in the house,” she yelled at the three men before slamming the door and running into the yard.
Angel took shallow breaths to relieve the pain from her kick. Buffy stayed on the bottom step of the porch, watching him and protecting those in the house.
“Buffy,” he wheezed.
“You went to Hell,” she whispered.
He nodded. “The Powers That Be sent me back.”
She swallowed reflexively. “Because of the soul?”
The door cracked open but neither of them looked. Again he nodded. “I still have it.”
“How long?”
“I came back in September.”
Buffy’s breathing shallowed. “I left.”
“I know.” He pushed himself into a sitting position. “I also know you’ve done well for yourself. Opened a training center a couple months ago.”
“How do you know?”
“Your friend came around in December asking questions about you.”
“Henry,” she muttered.
“Yes. I followed him back here, back to you.”
“I never knew…”
Angel got to his feet, slowly, keeping himself as nonthreatening as possible. Aware of the stake in Buffy’s right hand. “I stayed a couple of days, found out how you were doing. And you were…great. You had friends, you had Henry, you were patrolling. I checked in on you a time or two and you always seemed happy.”
“I am,” she admitted. “It took me a long time to…move passed what happened between us.”
“I know. And I would have left it alone, but some things happened last week, you need to know.”
“The graduation,” she surmised. “I got some of it from the paper. A gas line explosion took out the school, pretty good cover.”
“There was a Slayer called after Kendra. She took down the Mayor as he was trying to Ascend, saved some of your classmates.”
“Good for her.”
“She didn’t survive,” he told her. “Giles thinks another Slayer will be called but she may not be sent to the Hellmouth.”
“What was her name?”
“Faith.”
“Did you love her?”
Angel frowned at her. “No.” There was also a touch of guilt. “I love Willow.”
Buffy’s eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. “Oh.”
“I was savage when I was sent back. She helped me find myself again.”
A small smile crossed her lips. “I’m glad.” She ventured down the last step. “How are they?”
“They are…okay. They’ve lost a third Slayer, I don’t know if they will stick around to meet the fourth.”
The door opened behind Buffy and three men came out. An older man Angel recognized as Henry, a younger man who was probably his son, Shawn, and a young black man, Burton Guster, who he’d learned about in his research.
“Are you okay?” Henry asked.
“This is…” Buffy swallowed. “This is an old friend from home. He was just updating me about a few things.”
“Do they not have phones where he’s from?” Shawn asked.
“They didn’t,” Angel told him with a straight face.
Buffy laughed. “Guys, this is Angel. Angel, this is Henry, Shawn, and Gus.”
“Do you greet all your old friends like that?” Gus asked.
“Yes,” Buffy and Angel answered together.
“A handshake or a hug outside of your range of skills?” Shawn asked.
“It’s complicated,” Angel answered.
“I thought he was dead,” Buffy said as she ascended the steps. “I didn’t quite know what I was seeing when he came to the door.”
“So kicking him was your answer?” Henry asked.
“I have…an evil twin,” Angel explained. “We look identical. It’s exactly what I’d hope she’d do if she ever came across him.”
“Well, we’re about to have dessert,” Henry said. “If you want to-”
Buffy placed a hand across his mouth. “No. We can eat dessert out on the porch.”
The three humans looked at her strangely, but Angel nodded. “It’s a nice night.” It hurt a small part of him that she would refuse to let him in, but he understood it. In truth he couldn’t blame her for the caution.
“I’ll go slice up the pie,” Henry said.
“I’ll help,” Gus volunteered and followed him in.
Buffy tucked her stake into the back of her pants and sat on the porch steps.
“How do you know he’s not the evil twin?” Shawn asked, plopping down next to her on the steps. “I mean if they’re identical…”
“The eyes,” she replied. “As different as night and day.”
Angel shifted his stance.
“Why are you here? Obviously Beth didn’t invite you,” Shawn said.
“I’m moving to Los Angeles. I wanted Beth to know, in case she needed anything.”
“What are you going to do there?” Buffy asked.
“What I was brought back to do, help people.” He looked down at his feet. “I’ve thought about getting my P.I. license.”
“You can do that?”
“I have a driver’s license,” he reminded her. “I get what I need.”
She nodded. “Shawn and Gus work as P.I.s. Their company is called Psych.”
“I’m a psychic detective for the SBPD,” Shawn corrected.
“Oh, try it,” Buffy said. “I dare you.”
Shawn glared at her before looking over at Angel for several moments.
“You stayed somewhere new last night. You are consistently late but you freelance, so that’s fine. You work indoors. You had a steak for dinner.”
“Wrong,” Buffy said. “He stayed at the same place he always stays in Santa Barbara since he made it here twenty minutes after sunset. He’s rarely late. He works nights. And he didn’t have a steak he had pork.”
Angel looked at Buffy in surprise.
“Who’s right?” Henry asked as he came out with plates and forks.
“Bu-Beth is.”
“Tell Shawn what he missed,” Henry said.
“Nothing that he could have caught without knowing Angel,” she replied as she took a plate of apple pie and ice cream.
“Why did you think I’m always late?” Angel asked.
“No watch,” Buffy, Shawn, and Henry said as Henry handed him a plate.
Buffy took a bite of the pie. “Which widow baked this for you?” she asked Henry.
Henry scowled in her direction but reluctantly answered, “Mrs. Winthrop.”
Buffy and Shawn laughed.
“Way to go daddy-o!” Shawn crowed.
“Now if only he could find one of them to make ice cream,” Buffy said. “We’d be here for dessert every night.”
“Mm-hm,” Gus agreed.
Angel watched as they bickered and teased. It was a lot like watching her back in Sunnydale with her friends but there was something different. She smiled widely as they joked, she laughed freely and often.
It stunned him as he realized what it was. This was much like the Buffy he saw in LA at Whistler’s urging. She was strong and happy. It wasn’t the preppy thing she put on to get along when the world was too much and she tried to keep everyone else from seeing it. She was actually happy. And it made him a little sad to know that it took running away for her to find that.
Maybe it’s for the best, he thought. He needed to do as he promised, wish her well, and leave.
“I have something for you,” Angel finally said, breaking in on the current round of jokes at Gus’s expense.
All four of them looked at him with interest, as though they had forgotten he stood in the middle of the yard.
“What is it?” Buffy asked.
“Letters. I told Giles I found you a few months ago and I refused to tell him where you were. After the events at the school…he told the others and your mom.”
“You have a letter from my mom?” Buffy whispered.
“Yes. And Willow and Giles.”
Shawn frowned in confusion, then looked back at Henry who shook his head.
“Okay,” Buffy stood and stepped closer to Angel. He pushed a small package into her hand.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “For everything.”
“I don’t need apologies. I just…” she glanced at the porch, “I found something I didn’t know I was missing.”
“You’re still the Slayer,” he reminded her.
“Henry is a retired cop who still gets hooked on cases,” she told him. “I’ve never seen duty with the kind of passion he does. The kind of passion my gifts and powers should be applied with. I think he’s taught me to be a better Slayer.” She smiled. “If it wasn’t for my record, I’d probably become a cop.”
Angel nodded slowly. “If you decide to do that let me know. We’ll find a way to expunge your record.”
“How?”
“Demon underground, we still need financials and papers.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Here.” She pulled a business card from her pocket. “If you need anything.”
“I’ll give you my number as soon as I’m settled.” He handed her the plate. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
And somehow it didn’t hurt as much as it should have, it was putting a period on a chapter that had already been written and forgotten. He returned to his car and stared at the house where Buffy and Shawn were arguing over his uneaten piece of pie.