Divided Loyalties- Story 3 {BtVS/Supernatural}

4. 'Tis the season

A/N:  Characters aren't mine, some content belongs to Twiz.tv

Buffy grinned when she spotted the black muscle car parked at the curb outside her house and trailed a hand along the trunk. She barely managed to refrain from bolting to the door in her excitement to see the brothers but forced herself to stay calm and her heart to slow. She opened the door and was greeted by the sound of her mother’s laughter and two male voices that made her grin get even bigger.

“Oh Buffy, Sam and Dean are here!” Joyce called to her daughter from the kitchen where she was regaling the Winchester’s with stories about Buffy in her younger years. Buffy entered the kitchen and hugged Sam tightly. Dean met her gaze and she noticed that his smile was only slightly forced but he gave her a hug anyway, holding onto her a moment longer than Sam had.

“We need to talk, princess.” He whispered in her ear and kissed her cheek. He gently clasped her hand in his; leading her into another room so they could talk in private. He looked down at his drink for a long moment, deciding how best to start without causing an argument he didn’t want to have.

“You know, I saw the damnedest thing when Sam and I got in last night,” he started, his voice even. “I was at the store waiting for Sammy and imagine my surprise when I see a certain blonde talking to none other than the vampire I could have sworn I watched her kill a few months ago.” He heard her sharp intake of breath and continued. “Strange thing is, she didn’t even bother to tell me that this guy was back from, oh where was it again...” He pretended to think about it for a moment. “Oh yeah, Hell.” He finally looked up at her, his eyes a steely green. “It’s kinda funny, odd how I’m not laughing.”

She met his gaze and winced when she saw the coldness in his eyes, her heart sinking when she realized that he was right. She hadn’t called or told him or Sam about Angel’s return, she’d been too caught up in everything that she hadn’t thought of it until now when he’d seen it with his own eyes. She frantically tried to think of what to say to ease the anger and hurt in his eyes but he held up a hand to stop her.

“Don’t. Please, I don’t want to fight. I came to spend the holiday with you and your mom and to give Sammy a normal Christmas. Fighting will only ruin it. After that though, we’re going to have some words, got me?” She nodded, and he lowered his hand and took a long pull from his drink. “Is he good again?” He asked, wanting to know that answer above any of the others that crowded his jealous mind.

“Yeah, he’s good now. He doesn’t remember being Angelus or being evil. He’s being haunted by ghosts though; I wanted to ask you about it.” She answered softly and he let out a bark of laughter.

“Ghosts are haunting his ass? Serves him right.” He said his tone hard. “No, before you say anything about helping him the answer is no. Find someone else.” He turned to go back into the kitchen with Joyce and Sam and Buffy sighed.

Christmas music played in the background as Buffy and Sam put the finishing touches on the tree. Dean was watching from the couch, still stewing and Joyce placed another log on the fire, then stood from her crouch and inspected the result.

“There we go.” She said with a satisfied smile at Dean, Buffy and Sam.

“Nothing like a roaring fire to keep away the blistering heat.” Sam joked with a wink at Buffy.

“Oh, come on. It's lovely. Maybe I should turn the air conditioning on.” Joyce continued but Buffy was off in her own world as she and Sam finished trimming the tree. “So, angel's on top again?”

“What?” Buffy turned a startled gaze to her mother and Dean glanced at her, ignoring the look Sam aimed in his direction.

“Angel or star?” Joyce asked, holding up two tree toppers.