Chapter 2

Truth and Disappointments

A/N: Second Chapter of the series. Began writing it two years ago, but I've moved all over the country and have rewritten it almost three times. The chapters might be longer than those before, but this will be a long series. Once again, for those looking happy stories, look elsewhere.

Disclaimer: Property of Joss Whedon and all parties responsible for airing the shows. Other original characters are mine, and some others will be explained as the story goes on.

Feedback: Sure, if you wish.

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London, England

November 2017

Annie cringed under her mother's cold stare.

The principal had been talking for twenty minutes, and with every passing second, Annie sunk deeper into her seat, and her mother's gaze turned colder by the minute.

"...and finally, Annie retaliated by breaking Daniel Glick's nose earlier today." The principal finished. "I believe those are all the atrocities committed by this young lady so far."

Buffy was slowly turning red, both from anger and embarrassment. The principal always chose to punish students in front of all parents, showing all of them what their children did.

'The bloody idiot couldn't wait till later.' Buffy thought. 'He chooses to embarrass me in front of all these harpies.'

No. He had the meetings early on Thursday so every mother in London could stare at Elizabeth Anne Summers and her rebel child. She tried to bore holes in said daughter's head with her eyes, but the infuriating child kept her head up, her eyes daring. Buffy narrowed her eyes and saw a faint tremble in her daughter's eyes. Still, Annie wouldn't yield in front of strangers, but there remained some of the healthy fear every child should have of an angry parent.

"Are you listening to me, Mrs. Summers?" The principal asked. Buffy turned around and noticed everyone staring at her.

"Uh, yeah, she broke Danny Glick's nose and... wait." She looked back at her daughter. "Did you break his nose?"

"Ask him why." Annie answered, as she nodded her head towards a young boy with a bandage on his face, his eyes swollen and a dark patch around them. Buffy cringed and thought the boy resembled a raccoon.

"I'm asking you, young lady. Answer me." Buffy pushed, but Annie simply crossed her arms and sulked.

'Boy, can you brood like your father.' Buffy thought. She sighed and was about to explode when the principal spoke again.

"It seems young Mr. Glick accidentally pushed one of his classmates too hard, causing her to fall off he stairs during recess, prompting our young Ms. Summers to, how did you put it? 'Show the bloody ponce a lesson'?"

"Wait, did you just say she fell off the stairs?" Buffy asked. The principal looked strangely at her.

"Yes, Mr. Glick pushed Susie Storm a bit too hard, she lost her balance and..."

"Wait a minute." Buffy interrupted. "You're giving detention to my daughter for punching a boy who likes to push girls down the stairs?"

"You have to understand, Mrs. Summers..."

"No." Buffy interrupted again as she stood up. "You try to understand. What happened to Susie?"

The principal began turning red as well, not liking being interrupted twice.

"It is not of the matter, Mrs. Summers, please sit down and we can discuss this as adults."

"I am behaving like an adult. What happened to the girl?" Buffy asked again. A young woman in the back of the room stood up.

"She broke her leg and two ribs." The woman said. Both the principal and Buffy turned to look at her.

"Mrs. Storm, please, I'm handling this." The principal said a bit too loud. Buffy felt the old fire rise, but kept her temper.

"Let me get this straight." She said. "Danny Glick pushes Susie down the stairs, young girl breaks her leg and a couple of ribs. My aggressive and soon to be grounded daughter clocks him, and you put her on detention? What about Mr. Two-steps-from-military-school here?"

The principal began a long, boring speech about the right use of corrective measures, causing Buffy to turn and stare at her daughter.

A smirk was firmly placed on Annie's face.

'Dammit, I hate Thursdays.' Buffy thought, lost in the principal's rambles.

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Angel ran towards the tube's exit, heading as fast as he could to Annie's school. He looked at his watch and cursed.

'Forty five minutes late.' He thought. 'Can still reach them in time.'

Taking the stairs four steps at a time, he squinted when the morning sun hit him in the eyes as he left the underground station. Something inside of him jumped, but he chose to ignore it and run, like every other time.

When he turned left in the same intersection his wife had taken earlier in the day, he stopped and sighed. He saw his wife's small car and his daughter leaning on it. He slowly approached her and Annie lifted her head as she felt him get near.

'Shit.' He thought as he saw her face. 'The smirk.'

He stood in front of her and crossed his arms.

"What happened this time?" He asked.

"Ask mum." Annie replied. Angel wished he could still growl.

"I'm asking you. What happened?"

Annie shook her head and scrunched her nose when she smelt the scent permeating her father.

"Could have been here when mum called and you'd know." She replied.

Angel sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"Where's your mother?" He asked. Annie turned away from him and opened the door of her mother's car.

"Ask her yourself." Annie said as she sat on the back seat. "She's right behind you."

'Fucking hell.' Angel thought.

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The ride back to the Council was a quiet one.

No one said a word, not even when Annie began whistling some random tune. Not even when a bobby almost arrested Buffy for reckless driving, and certainly not after she's used some American slang referring to the policeman's mother and a camel. Buffy soon stopped her car in front of the main entrance of the Council. The family stepped out of the car, both Annie and Angel with their hands on their pockets, heads bowed down. It was until that moment when Buffy finally said something.

"Annie. My office. Research. Your grandfather will call you in twenty minutes. Don't even take one step out of my office."

Annie nodded and walked towards the elevators. Buffy turned away and spoke without looking at her husband.

"I know we've been fighting lately." She softly said. "But I needed you back there. If our marriage is over, then at least you could try to be there for her. If you even care anymore."

Buffy began walking behind her daughter, not bothering to look back.

Angel sighed. One month earlier, he might have sought her, taken her arm and forced her to talk. These days, he simply felt too tired of fighting. He shook his head and walked to the stairs, not wanting to share an elevator ride with his estranged wife and rebel daughter.

He dared one last glimpse at his wife's back, hoping she might turn and reward him with a look.

Nothing.

Angel shrugged and took the stairs to his office, knowing he still had too much work to do.

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Upstairs, on level 5, Giles slowly walked to his office, aided by his walking cane. He looked at the wooden crutch, a result of past years' battles, taking his steps carefully.

He began thinking about retirement, a notion that quickly disappeared as he saw his slayer leaning on the wall next to his office. Giles thought she'd grown into a beautiful woman; the proud mother of a marvelous kid, brash and rebel like the mother, but every bit as beautiful and loyal as Buffy.

"Hi, grandpa." Buffy smiled. Giles immediately sensed something amiss, seeing the eyes of the woman he loved as a daughter.

"He didn't arrive." He stated, no question on his voice. Buffy shook her head no, a sad smile on her head.

"I didn't expect him to." She replied.

Giles sighed. He opened the door to his office and ushered her in. Buffy stepped inside, dragging her feet. Contrary to Angel's small office, Giles was large, wide and had windows giving them a splendid view of the whole east side of the city.

The large space inside was by no means a way to intimidate those beneath him or a symbol of his status as the leader of the new Council, but meant to accommodate everything needed in order to command the Council from within. Buffy walked straight to Giles' desk set in one end of the spacious room. There he'd placed his personal computer, a telephone line with a direct link to all the Council's command posts around the globe, his own personal server, a set of printers and every other device necessary in order to keep the Council running displayed at arms' length.

In the middle of the room, stood the War Center, a circular table mimicking the round table of King Arthur and Camelot's myth. The circular table was set with projectors; plasma screens and battle ready stations in every seat, assigned to each leader inside Giles' inner circle of power. At the other end of the room, a gigantic screen was displayed, covering an entire wall, from ceiling to floor. The enormous screen showed a map of the entire globe, where tiny colored dots blinked, signaling the whereabouts of every active slayer and every active watcher in the world.

Buffy looked at the two seats in front of Giles' desk, where he now took his seat, and decided against it. She still felt anxious following her debate with her daughter and her husband, so she walked instead towards the giant screen. She smiled as she found the familiar dots, distinctively colored in order to distinguish them from the slayers and watchers.

"Willow is still in the U.S." She said.

"Wanted to spend some time with her parents." Giles replied. "Been a few years since the last time she saw them."

Buffy nodded, looking at the bright purple dot. Her eyes scanned the whole map until she found the dot colored yellow.

"Good ol' Xander is still in Japan."

"Okinawa, to be more precise." Giles clarified. Both fell silent for a few seconds, knowing the reasons their friend had remained for so long in Asia.

Nothing had been the same after their fight in the wine cellar, fourteen years ago.

Buffy looked anew at the giant screen, staring at the multi colored dots. Out of the old Scooby Gang and what had survived of Angel Investigations, they had devised together a way to magically keep track of them all, coming up with the giant Locator Screen.

Red colored dots signaled active slayers.

Blue colored dots signaled active watchers.

Few had an individually colored dot.

Willow was bright purple, shining in Los Angeles, California, inside the United States of America.

Xander had bright yellow, shining in Okinawa, Japan.

Giles was bright white, inside the Council in London, England.

Faith's dot was colored orange, located in Cleveland, USA.

Dawn had bright green, located in Rome, Italy.

Illyria had a different shade of blue from those of the watchers, and was located somewhere outside Bath, England.

Angel had a gray dot, also within the Council, in London.

Connor had only a black empty circle, blinking inside the Council.

Buffy and Annie had dots colored blood red.

And finally, a completely dark dot blinked; right next to Illyria's blue one.

Buffy kept her eyes riveted on it.

"He's still with her." Buffy said as she turned back to look at Giles. He merely nodded.

"Still don't know why." He replied.

Buffy remained silent, and returned her gaze to the Locator Screen, staring at the yellow dot.

"Xander called?" She asked, changing subjects.

"Yesterday." Giles replied. Buffy turned her head back at him and smiled.

"He didn't forget. Told you."

Giles returned her smile. "Six years." He said.

"Already seven years?" She asked. "Whoa, time really flies. What did he say?"

"Not much. He's not a man of many words." Giles replied.

"Not the same Xander I remember." Buffy said, walking back to Giles' desk and taking a seat in front of him.

"He certainly isn't the same." Giles stated. "Still, he's made me proud."

"Every child does." Buffy replied. "Speaking of proud parents and good children, I need you to come up with something for my infernal offspring to research."

Giles laughed out loud.

"What did she do this time?"

A/N 2: Daniel Glick, or Danny Glick, is named after a character portrayed in Stephen King's Salem's Lot, a novel published back in 1975. If you can, go read it. Excellent story.

Susie Storm, or Susan Storm, is named obviously after the Marvel Comics character The Invisible Woman, of the Fantastic Four.