(Note: I'll be using Cage to refer to X, so that no one will confuse the two Xanders. Enjoy! )
Buffy and Cage went to Angel's office to report last night's patrol. She walked in first and stopped, there stood Willow, Giles, Xander, Anya and Faith.
"Buffy, look who came to visit. I was talking to Willow and she didn't even know that you were here," Cordelia said with a huge smile. "I'll leave you alone to talk. We can cancel the meeting. I'm sure Angel will understand. Bye guys, it's good seeing you again."
Buffy walked the rest of the way into the office and sat on the couch; Cage sat beside her. "Well, you showed up, you must have something you wanted to say," she sighed. Cage held her hand, rubbing it soothingly.
"Who's the guy Buffy? Some other vamp your screwing," Xander sneered.
"Yep," she said, grinning at Cage.
"What?" Xander yelped, staring at her in shock. "I can't believe you. You leave your friends high and dry. Pack your sister off to a man she doesn't even know and what, find the nearest dead thing to fuck."
"Of course, that's what I did, Xander. But, as I remember it, said friends and family kicked me out of my own home. That stranger was her father, who should've taken over when I died, and it isn't your business who I fuck." She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Xander, stop it. Buffy, we came here to say that we understand. If you want to come home, you can and we miss you," Willow said, giving her a shy Willow-smile.
"Who's the hottie, Buffy? I bet you get orgasms from him all night long. Xander was sometimes good for two times, but I bet he can do multiple times," Anya said, eyeing Cage from head-to-toe.
"This is Xander Cage, also known as X. He does extreme sports. We met after I left Sunnydale, and yes, we're together. that's all you need to know."
"Buffy, perhaps we behaved rashly when we asked you to leave. That's no reason for you to cut off all communications. We worried about you these past few months not knowing if you were alive or dead. When the house sold and we moved out, we tried to trace you, but to no avail. You can't just walk away from your responsibilities, Buffy. I thought you had outgrown the need to run from your problems. Dawn was heartbroken with you treatment of her; she would barely speak to you father. He won't allow us any contact with her. We don't even know where they're living. How could you do that to that child, Buffy? She doesn't even know that man." Giles' disappointment with Buffy clear in his eyes.
"Does anyone else have anything before I have my say?"
"B, what happened to you? Everyone depended on you. They gave up a big part of their lives for you, and this is how you treat them, like shit," Faith spat, glaring at her sister Slayer.
"My, my, little sister finally made it into the club. Be careful what you wish for because things aren't always what they seem."
"You leave her alone. She doesn't deserve any crap from an ungrateful bitch like you," Xander snarled.
"Watch it, Popeye," Cage growled, his muscles rolled under his shirt at the verbal attack on Buffy.
"It's okay, Cage. He likes to puff himself up as the white knight. The problem is he doesn't tell you how much it'll cost you for his services. Do you know that not once have you, any of you ever apologized to me in all the time that we've known one another. Oh, I forgot. Willow baked cookies for everyone for that 'Will Be Done' spell, and poof all was forgiven, and never again brought up. But, not me, oh no, my mistakes were marched out for display at every opportunity. Didn't matter what I did, or what it cost me in pain or heartache. Just as long as it kept me in line, right, Xander? How many times have you dated some demon that tried to kill you or us? But, that's okay, no problem with that. Oh and my all-time favorite 'Kick his ass.' I just wanted to thank you for that one. So, after, my Mom kicked me out, I was wanted for murder and I had to send Angel to hell with a little help from our resident knight, I left. I went to LA and tried to get my head together, even spent some time in a hell dimension saving some people. Did you know that?"
"Buffy, that isn't fair. You never told us," Willow cried, hating the coldness in Buffy's voice.
"You never asked, all you ever did was attack me. You were pissed because you took over the slaying for that summer. The summer, I should remind you, I would've spent with my father. So, because you chose to play Slayer and found out how hard it was, you decided to take it out on me. Tell me one good reason why I would've told you about Angel returning. Of course, my white knight was Johnny on the spot and brought little sister along to kill the big bad vampire." Buffy glared at Xander with disgust.
He returned her glare with equal heat and said, "He should be dust."
"Oh, and you're the one to decide who should and shouldn't live right, Xander? I forgot that's part of the Scoobies' job, their motto. What about when you tried to rape me, Xander?"
Buffy watched in satisfaction as the belligerent man's face paled to a deathly white
"What?" Anya yelled, jumping up from her seat to glare at her former fiancee.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Xander said, but couldn't meet Buffy's eyes.
"Hyena boy, ring any bells. Don't give me any crap about not remembering. I talked to the other kids and they remembered everything. I let you slide because of our friendship."
"Is this true, Xander?" Anya asked quietly.
She couldn't believe that the man she almost married had tried to rape his friend while under the influence of an animal possession. Anya knew that it only brought out your baser instincts.
"She doesn't know what she's talking about. I don't remember anything," Xander exclaimed fidgeting from foot to foot.
"You're lying. You're doing your wiggle; you always do your wiggle when you lie," Anya accused, turning her back on him.
"Buffy, you're my best friend; I don't want to lose you. We've been through so much together, please can't we work this out," Willow pleaded with tears in her large green eyes.
"Let's look at this friendship, Willow. When Angel left, who was the one who wouldn't leave me alone to grieve and get over him? Who pushed me toward Parker? Then, there was Riley, oh yeah, that was you again. Who was so grief-stricken from the loss of her own boyfriend she did a spell she wasn't ready for? Who didn't tell me when Angel showed up? Who was it that couldn't leave me in heaven? Who OD'd on magic and almost killed me and Dawn? Who chose a girl she barely knew over her best friend? Nope doesn't seem like much of a friendship to me, Willow. Sorry, but I don't need someone like that in my life," Buffy told her firmly.
Willow sobbed in Giles' arms. "That's quite enough, Buffy. You've thrown your tantrum and made everyone feel bad. Willow doesn't deserve such harsh words from you," Giles reprimanded her.
"Fine, how about you, watcher mine; the father I didn't have. We won't go into the Crucitorium. How about Band Candy and Police Cars? Or, I know, when I went to college and you told me good luck that I didn't need a watcher anymore. Of course, you never trained me not to need a watcher, gotta say it was of the interesting. Or, how about when you were a Fyarl Demon and I recognized you by looking in you eyes, but when Faith was in my body you couldn't tell. Oh, my all-time favorite is when you told me to kill my sister. But, then there was your leaving after finding out they ripped me out of heaven because I depended on you too much. That was a good one too, Giles. I'd lost everything, Mom, my life, Heaven and I was too clingy for you. You're so insightful. Then, you show up months later with strange girls that I'm supposed to house and feed, somehow. You don't offer to help in anyway because I'm still supposed to stand on my own, right. You leave again only to bring even more girls until my house is overflowing. Telling me to take charge, be a General and the minute I do, you undermined my every action. With Spike, the vineyard everything and I was right about it all. I didn't ask any of you to join my fight, in fact, I pleaded with you to stay out and you refused. Then, you have the nerve to blame me when you get hurt." Buffy was breathing hard as she glared at them with her fists clenched at her sides.
"What about Dawn, B? What did she do to you? We know our history, but what did little D ever do?"
"She didn't do anything, I love Dawnie. I just took a step back and realized that as much as I love her, I'm not the right person to raise her. She deserves a stable home. Mom gave her that and now Dad will. We've talked it out on the phone. She understands and is starting to adjust. I gave my life for her, do you really think I'd do something that wasn't in her best interest?" Buffy stared at them and they all looked away.
"Big question I have, is what's happening in Sunnydale that you can't handle? What do you need me to come handle?"
"Actually since the Hellmouth's closed. It's been fairly calm. Faith patrols and only stakes one or two a night" Giles answered.
"Oh, it's too slow for Faith. She wants to leave little Sunnyhell, make her way to back to the bright lights of LA? Sorry, I'm not going back. You'll have to find another solution. What happened to Kennedy? She should be able to handle it."
"She went back home. Said it was fun, but there wasn't enough excitement for her in Sunnydale," Willow admitted sadly.
"Sunnydale is your responsibility, Buffy," Giles told her.
"Actually, it isn't. It's the Slayer's and I'm not officially the Slayer any more, Faith is. When she dies, the line passes through her. Whistler told me the Powers have released me from my responsibilities as a reward. That means, I can choose to slay or not. I chose to come and help Angel out and get paid for it," she informed them.
"You just want to be with dead boy," Xander sneered.
"I suggest you shut up. I'm tired of your mouth, and I don't care what you think anymore. Cage and I enjoy the work, and it still allows time for his extreme sports. So, it's all good. If that's all you have to say I know I've heard enough, and we have work to do."
"Buffy, please," Willow pleaded, breaking down into loud sobs.
"Red, she isn't going to listen to you. Don't worry she'll come around."
Faith put her arm around Willow and walked her out with Xander following close behind.
Anya stopped in front of Buffy and hugged her. "I say screw 'em. Keep the hottie, make lots of money and make him give you loads of orgasms," she whispered.
Buffy laughed hugging her back. "I'll miss you, Anya. Come and see me, just don't bring them."
Giles was the last one left. He stood looking at Buffy, rubbing his glasses. "Buffy, I wish you would reconsider and come back with us. I'm going to start up the Watcher's Council again and need to return to England. Matters simply got out of hand and we all made mistakes, but we can get pass this to get back to where we once were."
"That's the problem Giles, after I stopped long enough to look at it all. I didn't like where we were, I didn't like the Buffy I was around you. Friends should support and accept one another, to try to help one another grow. They don't push you down and mold you into what they think that you should be. I like who I've become since I left. I'm not going back to that other girl. I'm sorry, I do care for you and I'll always remember the good times. Eventually, I'll forgive all the hurt but I can't forget it Giles. Good-bye." Buffy kissed his cheek then walked over to Cage and crawled onto his lap.
Giles looked at her with tears in his eyes and walked out, closing the door behind him. He had lost her. How did it come to this? Where did I go wrong? Her words sliced his heart like a knife. Listening to her, he couldn't believe the way that they'd treated her. He walked up to the others, waiting for him in the hall. They looked lost and sad, except for Xander, who still had a stubborn look of denial on his face.
"Do you believe the crap that she said? I say good riddance after everything that we've done for her," Xander started rambling.
"Shut up, boy. You've said quiet enough," Giles said, the Ripper in him showing through.
"What did I do? I said what everyone was thinking." Xander stared at Giles, wide-eyed taking a step back.
"You've never learned how to keep your mouth shut. You went in there an immediately attacked her. The one thing we said we wouldn't do. Your jealousy, when it comes to Buffy, has always overruled any common sense that may reside in your body. We've lost her. She isn't coming back, ever. She told me, she may forgive us one day but she won't ever forget." Giles turned, storming off toward the elevators.
"What does she have to forgive us for? We didn't run away, leave our friends and abandon our sister," Xander said with a set jaw.
Anya slapped him in the head. "Ow. An, what was that for?"
"I thought maybe your brain had a time delay and a nice slap would fix it. Didn't you listen in there, Xander? There were a lot of things you've done, all of you. Things that she 'may' forgive you for someday. If it were me, I wouldn't. I would've called a Vengeance Demon, a long time ago. I don't know how Buffy put up with you for seven years." Anya walked past Xander to join Giles at the elevators.
"Willow, we didn't do anything. We were always good friends to her. We've spent the last seven years helping her and this is the way she thanks us." He looked to the red headed witch for support.
"Xan, stop. We weren't true friends. We hung onto her coattails and she let us. We liked being a part of something, so much that we weren't about to let it go. We tried to control Buffy, pushing her; we didn't let anyone else get close, so that she only had us. We smothered her, and punished her if she got out of line, and now we have to pay for what we've done. It comes back to you, times three. I'm scared what our punishment will be for what we've done to Buffy." Willow sobbed in Faith's arms as Faith walked them toward the elevators.
Xander sullenly followed them. He knew he was right; they had to be wrong. He had never done anything bad to Buffy. He had always been a good friend.
She was just selfish always thinking of herself. Well, what about me?