Strange Place to Live:
Coming Home
by Cynamin

"A new moon leads me to
woods of dreams and I follow
A new world waits for me
my dream, my way"
~China Roses
Enya

Monday Afternoon

Angel smiled, silently reveling in the feeling of sunlight all around him. The doctors had finally released him from the hospital, having found no cause for his "sudden heart attack" as they called it. Doctor Baker insisted that he see a heart specialist and would not let Angel leave until he agreed. Angel did so, knowing that was better than enlightening the doctor that his heart had not beat in almost 250 years. Now he was finally out of the hospital, and free to see what *life* had in store for him. For the moment, however, he was content just to stand here in the sunlight.

A small tug on his arm drew his attention. Buffy smiled at him. "Come on, Angel, let's get going."

Angel followed her silently for a moment. Buffy had come to pick him up today as soon as the doctors said he could leave. She insisted on driving him home, and he wasn't inclined to argue.

A couple of minutes (and several sharp turns that had Angel reflecting that perhaps the 'immortal' part of being a vampire wasn't so bad) later, Angel finally asked, "Buffy, where are we going?"

She turned to smile at him mischievously. "You'll see," she said.

Though it looked remarkably different in the daytime, gradually Angel began to recognize where they were. Of course, there wasn't much to Sunnydale, so a familiar landmark was all it took for him to get his bearings. So, when Buffy pulled up in front of the mansion he was only slightly surprised.

Not that Angel had any clue where else he could stay. And the mansion was where he'd last lived in Sunnydale. He'd even left some of his things behind here. But he supposed that he'd assumed that someone else would have taken up residence since he'd left. Besides, the mansion. . . .

Buffy opened the front door and Angel followed slowly behind her. Something was different about this place, something he couldn't quite figure out . . . until he stepped into the sunlit interior.

Inside, he hardly recognized the place. The decrepit, worn, long abandoned mansion had been scrubbed and cleaned until it looked almost new. The damage caused by various residents and visitors who had their battles within - broken windows and various other things hastily repaired or covered up - while not completely repaired were well on their way. There were other changes as well. Glimpsed through a doorway he could see a bit of the kitchen, enough to see appliances that, though not new, were new to here. The various methods he'd taken to protect himself from the sunlight had been removed, leaving the mansion warm and inviting.

So amazed was he at the change in the place, Angel did not at first notice the presence of more people in the mansion. That is, until . . . .

"Surprise!" yelled Willow, Oz, and Xander springing up from behind the couch along with Giles. A moment later, Mrs. Summers appeared from the kitchen, carrying a large tray of food. "Anyone for cake?" she said with a small smile.

Angel stood just inside the door, staring at them all in shock. They'd done all this for him? He turned to Buffy, who simply smiled, then reached up and kissed him. "Welcome home."

The Hunter continued in pursuit of his prey. He had found it's hiding place, followed it to its lair. He had followed the Slayer. Now, it was time to meet her face to face.

The End

Hey, you don't think I'd leave it there, do you? Continues in Book Two: Demon Hunter.

Go here for more of Cynamin's stories.

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