Midnight in the Graveyard of Good and Evil
by Salatina

"Hey, Buff. What's on the menu for the big day tomorrow?" Xander plopped himself down in the seat next to his friend, watching the substance known only as Cafeteria Casserole giggle on his plate.

She smiled at him briefly, but didn't really look up from her lunch as she answered. "Very little. I'm hoping for some non-excitement." Buffy's smile turned strained. "I have bad luck with birthdays."

Xander winced, watching her attempt to suppress the pain that washed across her face as she said it. But, if she wanted to play "make light with the situation," he was perfectly willing to help out. "Well, I don't think we'll be much into the Vegas scene, so the bad luck shouldn't be a problem. Aren't you at least having a party?"

Buffy shook her head, and he saw the pain flash in her eyes again. Parties were bad. The last party hadn't gone so well.

"You should. We don't have to do anything big, it could just be you, me, the Willster, hanging at the Bronze... no surprises this time, promise." He gave her a hopeful smile.

"No. It's okay. It's really just another day." Suddenly remembering something important she had to do somewhere else, she picked up her tray and left.

Xander sighed, picking up his spork dejectedly. So much for convincing Buffy to go out and have fun for her birthday. She wasn't handling the memories as well as he had hoped. Tomorrow was not going to be fun.

Willow spotted her best friend as she entered French, motioning her to a desk right next to her own. Buffy smiled at her, settling her books and fishing around her binder for yesterday's homework. "Hey, Will. Doing okay?"

"Hey, Buffy. Pretty much, yeah. Are you doing anything tomorrow?" The redhead tried to cover the eager look in her eyes.

Buffy smiled again, slightly. "Nice segue, Willow." She sighed as her smile fell. "No, not really. But that's perfectly okay with me, and probably better for the overall health of everyone else in Sunnydale." Her smile reappeared, making it appear as if she was taking the situation lightly.

It was a dry, bitter attempt to joke about past events, and Willow saw it for exactly what it was. She didn't smile in respond, and there was a small crinkle in her brow that indicated she was worried. "You really should get out, do something other than patrol. If you don't want to do anything with Xander or Cordy or Oz and I, at least go see a movie with your mom. Or Faith. Or... Angel." She watched her friend's face for a reaction, and, though Buffy squashed it as quickly as possible, she saw a flicker of something uncomfortable flash through her eyes.

The teacher walked to the front of the room and greeted everyone, indicating that class had begun. Buffy somehow managed never to speak with Willow during the rest of the class, and when it was over the Slayer was out the door before her friend could raise a hand to stop her.

As she looked after the blonde's retreating form, Willow sighed. Tomorrow was not going to be a fun day.

Giles was waiting, bo-staves in hand, when Buffy entered the library after school. She walked quickly but smiled slightly as she approached, which he correctly interpreted to mean that she wasn't in a good mood, but she wasn't necessarily angry with him. Yet.

He tossed her a staff, and she caught it without a word. He backed away from the library table to ensure neither of them hit it when they weren't looking, and crouched down into a fighting stance. Giles was heavily padded and Buffy wore her usual less-than-protective coverings, but he had a suspicion he was going to come out of the mock battle with many more bruises than his Slayer.

And, if her first attacks were any indication, he was right. Even under her fairly heavy onslaught the Watcher held out decently, but he couldn't help but wish Faith had been free this afternoon so she would have been the one training with Buffy. Giles called a halt after an hour or so, wandering over towards his water bottle. She remained where she was, choosing to practice with her staff against imaginary opponents until he rejoined her.

Giles knew they needed to talk, and he knew that she was in no mood to do so. Yet, this was probably the best opportunity he'd have to speak with her. He sighed, and struggled to come up with a way to begin the conversation.

"So... a-are you planning anything... special tomorrow?" She paused her rapid movements only long enough for an unladylike snort.

"As I've already told everyone else, no, I do not have plans. And no, I do not want to do anything." Buffy didn't look towards him as she spoke.

He continued, braving her formidable displeasure. "Honestly, Buffy. It would be good for you to get out and do something." She said nothing. "W-why don't you get together with your father, or go out to dinner with your mother... she hasn't seen much of you lately."

"No. Thank. You. Giles." Each word was punctuated with a swipe of her staff. "I have to patrol. Y'know, blood-sucking fiends, mouth of Hell, ringing any bells?"

That was a flimsy excuse, and they both knew it. Since Faith had arrived, Buffy taking a night off wouldn't have been a big deal. Giles was getting a little concerned. "Buffy..." He paused, straining for another suggestion which might get her to go out and live for her birthday. "Perhaps you could go do something with... Angel."

That stopped her. She turned stiffly around to face him. "Giles, if you don't want to train, I think it's better if I just leave." Buffy roughly returned the staff to its place in the open weapon's case, grabbed her backpack, and hurried out the door.

Giles sighed, twisting around his own staff in his hand. Tomorrow wasn't shaping up to be a fun day.

"Jeez, guys, you really need to get an un-life! This maiming and feeding, every night..." She shook her head with mock disapproval. "People will gossip!"

The lead vampire growled and bore his dirty fangs, which didn't make his extremely ugly game face any prettier. He rushed her, and she snapped a kick to his head, stunning him. Before he could recover, she buried a stake in his chest and he collapsed into dust.

"Next?" Two more vampires faced her, both fairly young and arrogant. One vamp swung his arm out and tried to catch her unaware. The punch connected only with empty air as Buffy twisted away, grabbing the extended limb before he could retract it. She wretched his arm towards her, raised the stake, and another creature was dust.

She felt something hard hit the back of her head, and realized that the other vampire had come around behind her. Buffy hissed under the pain of the blow, but kicked out behind her and heard the satisfying crunch of a kneecap breaking. There was a screech as the vampire fell to the ground, landing with a thud against the grass. The Slayer whirled, intending to stake him while he was down, but he struck out against her legs with the branch he had used to hit her head, and Buffy went down.

The vampire scrambled over to her on his one good leg, bending over her neck for his meal. She was about to kick him where it would hurt the most, but he exploded into dust before she had the chance.

"Yo, B."

Blinking through the rain of ashes, Buffy saw Faith standing over her. The other Slayer held out a hand, offering to help her up. Buffy stood on her own.

"Hello, Faith." Though she was certain she could have defeated the demon on her own, she felt a little obligated to say something to her compatriot. "Thanks."

Faith shook it off. "Not a prob, B. It's what we do."

Wordlessly, they started to walk together through the cemetery. As they strolled, Faith began to hunt out a little conversation.

"I hear you have a birthday tomorrow. Anything cooking?"

Buffy's head swiveled quickly towards her, glaring. "No! And for the last time, I don't want to do anything!"

The other Slayer blinked, holding up her hands defensively. "Whoa. I was just asking..."

The blonde sighed, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry... That's just been a rather hot topic, lately."

"Any particular reason why?"

Buffy shrugged. "I have a bad history with birthdays. The last one in particular."

"What, did you spit cake at the cute guy you invited or something?"

She said nothing for a moment. "Something like that. It just didn't go well." Buffy seemed to be a bit far-off. "A lot of people wound up getting hurt, because of something I did."

It was Faith's turn to pause. "I have a hard time seeing that, Buff," she said quietly. "You're not too into the hurting-people gig."

Buffy looked uncomfortable. "I didn't know what would happen," she admitted. "Until it was too late."

She wanted the whole story, but Faith knew her fellow Slayer was hurting, and knew not to press to hard, otherwise she would get defensive and snappy. "This wouldn't have anything to do with Angel, would it?"

Starting at the name, Buffy nodded weakly. "The night of my birthday was the night we... finally..."

"Screwed?" Faith asked with her usual bluntness.

Slowly becoming accustomed to Faith's manner, Buffy knew not to be offended and nodded. "It...broke the curse that held his soul. He killed a lot of people, and hurt even more."

"B, that doesn't sound like your fault. 'Sides, you did the right thing in the end, huh? Sent him off to Hell and saved the world?" Willow and Xander must have been a little loose with their tongues, Buffy mused.

She winced. "Yeah. It just didn't feel that way at the time."

"But he's back now, right? He's in your life, he loves you, you love him... so what's the problem? You two should go out and do something for your birthday." At Buffy's doubtful look, Faith got exasperated. "It's been a year, B! Maybe you should try a little moving on. I'm told it's actually possible to go out on a date with a guy you like and not get pelvic."

Buffy tried to express how much more complicated the situation was. "I just... Xander and Giles, they would hate me for seeing him. Giles wouldn't tell me outright, but it would kill him to know I'm with the man who killed his girlfriend. And I don't want to do that to him."

Faith turned towards her, slowing slightly. "Way I see it, Buff, Giles wants you to be happy. And so does Xander, once he gets over his whole jealousy deal. They love you. And if you're happier with Angel even though you two aren't sprouting the happies three times a night, I think they might be okay with that.

"While I'm at it, check out their choices for dates! It's not like they have the safest records. Giles dated the gypsy spy who could have stopped this entire thing. Xander follows anything with a skirt, and has chosen to date the woman everybody thought was his worst enemy. Seems to me no one around here has a right to criticize any one else's love life..." Faith observed.

The Slayers came across a couple making out on a bench and quietly moved to avoid them. Neither half of the duo looked up or even seemed to realize there was anyone else in the world.

Watching them somewhat wistfully for a moment, Buffy thought about Faith's short speech. She did have a bit of a point. Angel had the control of steel when he needed it, and she was pretty sure he wanted to keep his soul even more than she did. Memories of Christmas Eve sprang to mind, of standing on top of a hill with Angel as he waited for the dawn. He told her he thought he was weak, that he had to kill himself because he needed to be strong. She saw so much strength in Angel every day that she had a hard time realizing he could think that way about himself. And, as Buffy had said on that hill, everyone had weaknesses. It wasn't a sin to be weak, everyone was.

So, was Angel one of her weaknesses? Or, possibly, was he a strength?

They had reached the end of the graveyard path. Buffy turned to Faith and spoke quietly. "Look, I'm not going home for a while anyway, I might as well finish patrol on my own. Why don't you head back to your apartment and get some sleep."

Faith shrugged, said her farewell, and left Buffy alone with her thoughts.

Jason R. Franklin chose exactly the wrong - or right, depending on how you look at it - moment to rise from his earth-bound coffin and greet the night.

"Hi! This is the un-life welcoming service. Nice to have met you!" The petite blond smiled sweetly as Jason looked down to find a stake protruding from his chest. Oops.

As the dust cleared, someone spoke up behind her.

"Hey." Buffy started, whirling around. She exhaled, relieved, when she saw who it was.

"Hey, Angel." He smiled in his sad way, taking a few steps towards her. He offered her his hand and she clasped it, smiling back at him. They followed the path around the edge of the graveyard, saying very little but enjoying each other's presence.

Coming across an empty bench, Angel sat down and tugged slightly on her hand. Reminded for a moment of the couple she'd seen making out earlier and smiling at the image, Buffy sat next to him and settled herself under his arm. She breathed the night air calmly, admiring the stars and the bright half-moon that gave Angel's face a name-matching glow. Looking up at him that way, she wondered not for the first time if he had any idea how beautiful he was.

After a length of comfortable silence, Angel glanced down at her and smiled. "I love you, you know."

He said it almost casually, but so sincerely that her heart fluttered. "I love you, too."

Leaning down, he kissed her tenderly. She deepened the kiss, relaxing into it and enjoying the simple pleasure in being with him. Reluctantly, they pulled apart when Buffy needed oxygen.

"Happy Birthday," Angel whispered, then kissed her on the forehead.

She looked up at him, confused. "My birthday isn't until tomorrow..."

He smiled. "It is tomorrow, Buffy. It has been for about an hour."

"Oh," she blushed a little. He laughed lightly, and she nestled her head under his chin.

There was more silence for a time, then Angel asked, "So, do you have any plans for today?"

For some odd reason, this seemed to amuse her. When she stopped laughing, she kissed him on the cheek. "Yeah. I was thinking I could drag my hunky boyfriend out to a movie, possibly grab some dinner. Maybe change some bad birthday memories into good ones." She smiled at him, her lips mere inches away from his.

Angel thought it was a good plan, and showed how much he approved by closing the distance between their mouths. Today was going a good day, Buffy decided. A very good day indeed.

~The End~

Tell me how much you hate me.

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