Wesley grinned, “Well I’m doing well here and thriving although something big is happening and I’m not quite sure what it is. We have a meeting today to figure it out. How are you doing Buffy?” Buffy sighed, “I’m ok. It’s hard…things are different. I’m different. I’ve grown up and I guess growing up is hard.” Wesley nodded with concern in his eyes, “Anyone special in your life?” Buffy shook her head, “No, first Angel was there, then Riley but he left, then Spike…” She trailed off refusing to let the tears fall, “He died and I just…” Wesley finished the statement for her totally understanding after losing Fred, “It’s not the same looking at anyone else.” Buffy glanced up at him surprised by how well he stated that and nodded. Wesley volunteered, “I loved Fred and she died. It hasn’t been the same either for me. Most days I wish I had died with her and other times I spend lost in memories of what we lost. Life is just too short sometimes. It’s not the same without her here.” Buffy nodded, “I understand that totally. Life is emptier, lonelier and sometimes downright depressing. Dawn keeps me going and reminds me everyday that there’s a happier world out there somewhere. She reminds me that there is life and not only death and a reason to keep fighting the good fight.”
Wesley nodded, lost in thought. Buffy had no idea he was debating within his mind on telling her that Spike was still alive. This was not the girl Angel seemed to believe Buffy was. Perhaps Angel didn’t know her as well as he thought or perhaps this was Buffy’s way of moving on. Either way, Wesley decided it was not his place to say a word. His past few relationships hadn’t gone well at all with both ending in death. He would just let them figure things out for themselves. He was sure with Buffy hanging around, she was bound to run into the blond vampire eventually even if Spike was intentionally avoiding her. His mind was brought back to the topic at hand, Dawn. “You are lucky to have her.” Buffy nodded in agreement, “Can I ask a question? Your contracts? How do they work?”
Wesley frowned as he stood up throwing both of the garbage away to walk with her, “Our souls are permanently signed into this law firm. It means when we die, we won’t really die. We will be forever haunting this place.” Buffy frowned as he pushed one in the elevator, “Why would you agree to that?” Wesley shrugged, “There wasn’t much else for me to do. Everyone seemed to think it was a great idea and that we could fight the good fight while within an evil law firm. Plus I have access to every prophecy there ever was and that is a tremendous advantage.” Buffy nodded as the elevator sounded again. Wesley turned to her and said, “If you ever need anything while you are here, press 14. I’m the second door from the elevator. Gunn is the first. Take care Buffy and hopefully I’ll see you again during your stay.” Buffy smiled and waved turning to see Angel watching her.
She walked carefully over to sit down, waiting for Angel to say something about her limping but he said nothing and just continued to stare at her. “Did you eat?” Buffy nodded, “Wesley put it on his card.” Angel said nothing more as he shuffled through some papers. He then glanced up at Buffy, “So what are your plans for while you are here? Got anything special you’d like to do?” Buffy nodded, “Well I’d like to talk to you again today if that’s at all possible.” Given the look on Buffy’s face, it was obvious what she wanted to talk about and she knew Angel understood as he commented, “I have an appointment at noon and then I have something to do with the gang later on, then…I’m not sure. I have to make myself available, but what about tonight? What do you say we go on a drive somewhere, just the two of us.” Buffy agreed and Angel smiled. “So what will you do with your day? I’m really sorry I can’t show you around. It’s just…busy around here.”
Buffy understood and didn’t want to say much more, “Can I have Troy if he’s not busy? I have to go to a Magic Shop for Willow and pick up a few items she ordered to save on shipping but I’m not sure how some of that stuff will pass on the plane ride back and Dawn wanted…” Angel cut her off, “You can use my plane if and when you go back Buffy. Might as well put it to good use. So you won’t be around here today?” At her head shake, Buffy could have sworn he let out a sigh in relief but she figured it was just him trying to calm his nerves for his meeting he had in a few. “I’ll call Troy and he can take you around today. He should be back from his appointment already. You can use him for the day and I’ll have him bring you back to your place so you can change into something a little nicer but not too fancy and we will swing by to pick you up. That sound ok with you?” Buffy nodded in agreement and watched Angel make his phone call. When he was finished he led her to the elevator outside his office and pushed a number to go down, “The elevator in my office only goes from my room to the car lot. It won’t help you much.” Buffy didn’t say anything but, “See you later Angel” as she stepped into the elevator disappearing from his sight.
Buffy sat in the limo surrounded by boxes and bags yet again. She had stopped at the Magic Shop Willow had ordered her supplies from and was given 8 large boxes and 2 smaller ones. There was no way she could carry that on the plane on the way home. She was allowed two suitcases and one carry on. She had already one suitcase and one carry on and one of these boxes was almost the size of a suitcase much less 8 large and 2 small ones. She sighed as she held the two books Dawn had requested in her hand. One she had expected, a book written by a demon teaching all sorts of languages he had encountered, but the second was a surprise. The second was an unpublished book that Dawn had specifically ordered. It was on the Genealogy of the Pratt family dated all the way back into the early 1700s. She flipped through the book looking for William Pratt’s name. She knew why Dawn was doing this. She had been searching for any and every piece of information she could find about Spike’s original identity before he had died since Buffy had turned down the resurrection spell. Dawn had been determined to figure out whom William had been and if it would have been Spike or another being brought back if the spell had been performed. She opened the page to where the 1800’s were described. She flipped and flipped looking for the name Anne to pop out with a son named William. She sighed as in 1854 she saw what she was looking for.
She traced the name Anne Pratt(Carasole) married to William Pratt, then followed the lines down to Mary Anne Pratt and William Pratt Jr. Spike’s father had died in a war in the 1860s so Spike didn’t remember much about him. He killed Anne, his mother after he was turned. Mary Anne was already married by the time William was sired and her date of death was listed as 1927. The death of Anne and William was never listed since their bodies were never found. She knew why this was as well. Anne had been dusted by Spike after she had gone crazy after her siring. She was dying from some kind of sickness and Spike had turned her to save her and to give her eternal life. Unfortunately when the demon took her over, she wasn’t herself. Spike had no choice but to dust her. Spike of course was William so his body was lost in the Hellmouth last year. Buffy flipped the page to read over the small description of the Pratt family that included her Spike. They were in a trading and vineyard business. They had a factory in England that sold wine and the name she still recognized. Buffy wondered if Spike knew it still existed but figured he did. So Spike was from a rich background. It figures he would have been seeing how he was all prim and proper. He had shared his poetry with her sometimes when she was mostly asleep. Spike would read them to her choosing the ones that were less violent.
She smiled as she thought of a poetic Spike with brown curls and his vivid blue eyes. He would have been adorable and she wondered for a brief moment if she would have liked him back then. She sighed knowing she would have probably been Cecily all over again because she was such a bitch sometimes. Buffy knew it but couldn’t help herself. She stopped her thoughts as she heard the limo stop and saw Troy open the door to her hotel. She watched as he took out a cart from the back of the limo and helped to set up the boxes on it to take them up to her room. She allowed him to carry those while she still held onto the books in her hand. As they set the boxes inside the door she asked, “Can you take me back to Angel? I’d like to see him before I get dressed for tonight’s excursion. Would you mind?” Troy shrugged knowing he had been told by Angel to take Buffy ANYWHERE she wanted to go and if she wanted to go back to Wolfram and Hart, who was he to stop her.
Troy rode the elevator with Buffy and helped her back into the limo, noticing her limp was getting better. She sat in the backseat, glancing around, thinking she really wanted to talk to Angel again. She sat quietly lost in thought as Troy opened the door helping her out. Buffy walked with Tory inside where she ran into Wesley. She smiled to Troy and followed Wesley who looked nervous. Buffy asked, “Can I talk to you?” Wesley nodded and called to Troy then turned back to Buffy, “Hungry?” Buffy nodded. She was a little bit and figured it would give them an excuse to talk outside the law offices. Troy helped both of them into the back of the limo and followed the directions Wesley had given him. In the back of the limo Buffy primped her skirt and Wesley caught a glance of her bruise. He frowned asking, “Can I see that? That looks bad.” Buffy frowned but obliged. Wesley told the limo driver to make a stop at a CVS so he could fix her up before they went to eat. Buffy felt awkward but hopeful that since he knew a lot about wounds, perhaps it would hurt less if it was taken care of.