All New Angel VO -part 1

All New Angel

Title: All New Angel 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4
Series: Ending, part 1 ; Imagine, part 1
Author: Joey
Feedback: Please :)
Archive: Buffy & Angel Rock!
Summary: Angel returns to Sunnydale after something happened in his life. (takes place two years after Buffy season 4 and Angel season 1, in May 2002)
Spoilers: season 4 of BtvS and season 1 of Ats
Rating: PG-13, like the show
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns all the characters… He's the one :)
Dedication: For Camille (after all, I came up with the idea of this fic in the Jura! :)

Note #1: Even though the fic takes place at the end of season 6, the events in the past aren't all from the show. Consider all the events from season 4 as past but it changes when it comes to season 5. Some stuff is the same but most are slightly different, due to the fact I wrote the story knowing only a few spoilers.
Note #2: Dawn's still there, because Joyce and Buffy decided to keep her with them after the events of season 5. She's now seen as a member of the family and she's completely normal (she only has the memories of the two years she just spent with Buffy and Joyce). Riley left during season 5, and Anya at the end of this very season. Spike went back to Europe after he had several problems with Buffy (due to the fact he had a crush on her) Don't forget that the fic takes place in the future and that a lot has happened, even if not said here.
Note #3: Willow is still going out with Tara (after a break), Giles is with Olivia, but Xander and Buffy are single. Basically, Buffy went out with Riley (1 year), Spike (1 day, not talking about Something Blue), Sean (5 months), David (1 month), and Matthew (2 weeks).
Note #4: The fic is built like a episode of the show: there are 1 intro and 4 parts. The phrases between * are thoughts.
Note #5: The book Willow is referring to is The Little Prince by Antoine de St Exupéry.

********Intro********

Something brought him here. He wouldn't have been able to say what, and that's why he wished he wouldn't meet anyone. So he wouldn't have to explain. He had suddenly left everything behind him. His friends, and especially, his new life. He thought about it from time to time, but never for a long while, as if he knew that wouldn't get him anywhere. The silence of the night might have been oppressive, and yet it made him feel better. After all, he had been a creature of the night for such a long time… The vampire with a soul, they called him. He had always been lonely… and so much happened in one week that he needed to clear his mind, to have peace and quiet. The silent woods were perfect for that. But why did he come back...?

He left the woods. Dawn was getting closer, he could feel it, as if he could still feel the sunbeams before the rising of the sun. His old instincts told him to speed up, but he knew they served no purpose anymore.... He had arrived on the little hill that overhung the town, and he stopped to contemplate the waking city. It was a strange and nostalgic sight, one coming out from the past. In the city he had been living the last three years, sleep didn't exist; always, there were people awake, dying from sadness, cold, or hopelessness, and even him, he didn't rest at night. He watched.

As he was leaving the hilltop, turning his back on the sun, which wouldn't take a long time to appear, he remembered. It was a day just before dawn, like this very day. It was the despair that led him there; it was a harsh meeting that gave him back hope, and it was with snow, and the warmth of the beloved one's hand in his that he went back into town. All that seemed so distant to him now... His life had changed twice since then.

Twice.

He had driven for the greatest part of the night and he was seriously beginning to feel sleepy. He slid into the seat as sunlight made the paint shimmer. Funny coincidence, the sun wasn't a threat anyway. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the seat. He just needed some sleep, a few hours should be okay. And he would have his mind clear, to try to understand why he was there when he knew it was a bad idea.
He fell asleep as the sun rose on his first day back here. Back in Sunnydale.

Buffy opened her eyes to the clock that already showed 7:30am, mentally cursing her sister whose cries reached her bedroom. And to think that she hoped she could sleep late during summer vacation... She really needed to find Dawn a hobby. Quickly. Preferably one that involved silence.

Now awake, she dragged herself out of bed and left the room, still in her pajamas. Her eyes half-closed, she went downstairs and entered the kitchen which was already lighted by the warm sun. Dawn was busy buttering the famous toast, while Joyce was reading the newspaper, a coffee mug in her hand. The latter looked up at Buffy and smiled.

Buffy left her sentence suspended, not able to speak properly since she was still kind of in sleep mode. She took the plastic jug from the table, served herself a glass of milk and drank it immediately. She might as well not play that game so early in the morning.

Once the breakfast was over, she went back to her bedroom to get dressed, more energetic than she had been when she woke up. She finally opted for a pair of jeans and a white slipover. While having a fast look at herself in the mirror, she thought she could have dressed better, at least in a less everyday fashion. She was single now that Matt was gone, after all... but she didn't really want to catch anyone's eye. Not for the moment, not today. The day was supposed to be calm, hanging around with her friends, it wasn't like she was going to meet anyone.

As she was putting on a light blue shirt over her tank top, someone knocked on her door.

Dawn pushed the door open. She was wearing cotton pants and a gray shirt with some sequined Chinese signs, and seemed to be on her way out, with her shoes on and a little orange bag hanging by her side.

- "Nothin' special. I'm going to Giles' with Xander and Will. Why are you asking? What are you doing today?"

- "I'm gonna see my friends too. Probably go shopping, even if Sunnydale isn't exactly the greatest place for that... too bad we're not in Los Angeles. Oh, I'm gonna ask mom if we can go. Didn't you know someone in LA?"

- "Too bad... If only Dad was still living over there... Are you okay?" she asked. "You look kinda.... Is it Matt?"

- "Okay. I'm going then. Say hi to the Scoobys for me. Especially to Willow, huh."

Dawn waved at Buffy and disappeared into the hallway, followed by Buffy a few minutes later, after she crammed two stakes in her bag. She waved at her mom as she crossed the hall, and went out into the sunlit street.

The sound of a horn suddenly awoke him at 9:30, and he blinked sighing. Just five and a half hours of sleep, that was really nothing, now. It was so hard to get used to this new life... the last time, the twenty-four-hour general idea he had was completely different from what he was living at the moment... but of course, she had been with him that day.

The car had heated up, so he opened the window. He leant his elbow on the edge of the door and watched for a moment as the sun lighted his still pale skin. Even now, this sight almost filled him with wonder.

The ringing of his cell phone pulled him out of his thoughts, and he began looking for the little phone. Cordelia had picked it out for him three weeks ago, after he'd finally admitted to losing the first one; she insisted the little nuisance was essential, and somehow he let himself be convinced, if only to escape her lecture. That said, the phone was still very unfamiliar to him, especially since he didn't use it that often. It hadn't occurred to him he could give his number to anyone, so Cordy, Wesley, Gunn and Danny were the only ones who knew it.

- "I told you not to leave!! I should have let Gunn chain you up. He was right. Angel, please tell me you're in LA."

- "But we talked about it!! Angel, you have to come back. Right now. You could have warned us!! What, is this whole thing making you stupid?? We talked about it, all *together*, you were there, remember?? Jeez, we all said it was a bad idea! Angel, you agreed with us."

- "Cordelia, I know. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me, I just... I had to go."

- "No, Cordelia. No. It'd be useless, this my problem. I'll call you back when everything is cleared here, okay? I'll phone you, you know I will."

- "Okay then. But you should have told us. Gunn and Wes are pissed, y'know. And Kate... You said you were gonna tell her. What about Danny? Did you even think about Danny?"

- "Then don't wake him up. You'll tell him I'll be back very soon, that I'm not forgetting him, that... well, y'know, those kind of things. If I can, I'll call back during the day to talk to him. All right?"

He hung up, thoughtful. He remembered that night they spend talking, all of them in his office. Cordelia was right; the question of Sunnydale was discussed, and soon forgotten. Because the answer was so obvious. He said himself that it was nonsense to think about going back there. He could still hear himself saying, "The subject is closed. I don't have any place there."

The phone call Giles had just received from Wesley confused him. In a minute or so, Buffy would be there, and he still hadn't made up his mind about what he was going to tell her. Thinking, he finished his cup of tea. They had had fewer problems than usually at the end of the school year; no invincible demon which could have threatened Buffy's life. Giles was so proud of his Slayer, and of what she had become. Yet he began worrying about her. The Council looked as if they were already considering the option of having soon a new Slayer, but Giles just couldn't get used to this idea. It was unbearable. Even though he knew that someday Buffy just wouldn't be able to develop her strength anymore, and that she'd gradually lose her fighting techniques, he couldn't believe the Council didn't have more faith in their own Slayer. They were already saying Buffy's time had passed, and all that because she was 21. An age most Slayers hadn't even reached. Quentin Travers had phoned him once, to tell him the Council wanted to test the Slayer again, like at her 18th birthday, to see she was still powerful enough. Of course, Giles had refused, still uncomfortable with the memories of the last test, but he knew his refusal wasn't enough to get the idea out of the Council's head, and as Travers never talked to him again about this test, he was wondering what decision they had made. The Council shared lots of information about demons with him, but he usually still felt as though they were hiding things, that was also why he didn't always rely on them. Searching in his books was still the best source of information in his mind. This phone call had reminded him of all that, even though the two things weren't really linked, and Giles tried to dismiss these thoughts.

There was a knock at the door, and Giles went to open it. As he discovered Buffy, Willow and Xander on the doorstep, he had made up his mind. Buffy wouldn't know about the phone call.

He moved out of their way and closed the door after the three young people. They all sat down, and Giles went to put his empty cup into the sank before sitting with them.

- "Oh yeah, I have to tell you," answered Willow. "She had to go to San Francisco to see her brother for a few days, well, not San Fransisco exactly, but it doesn't change anything, I mean not for you. She left yesterday. Kind of. Y'know, family problems. No fun."

- "She wanted to let you know, but she was in rush when she left. She thought it'd be okay, 'cause y'know, it's Monday, and Monday it's training day for Buffy, and the shop's closed so it's not like you needed her and I was supposed to tell you anyway, so she just assumed…"

- "Yeah. I'm having more and more stories to tell with the holidays, which is fun. I'm really liking the job… Even when I'm not with the kids, you know. Even the basic work there is pretty cool… I should think about killing Mrs. Miller soon, y'know, to be head of the library."

- "Okay boss! Then let's talk seriously: any big, bad demon we can take care of??"

- "It seems so," Giles answered calmly. "I had the Council on the phone yesterday morning."

- "Do I really have to make a speech again? Wasn't I clear last time they came for that stupid review?" Buffy asked, looking up and shaking her head. "Giles, please tell me they're not coming."

- "Oh, no, no," Giles reassured her, taking off his glasses. "But they came up with a new idea?"

- "Thanks god, you're here, Xander," Giles said, putting on his glasses. "In fact, they decided to use technology in order to help us in our fight against evil."

- "This unit isn't to fight or a weapon of any kind. Quentin wasn't exactly clear, mais it seems that, thanks to the means they're given, these men are able to gather precise information about the demons around Sunnydale."

- "Eh, they're stealing our research job !" Willow exclaimed. "Aren't they?" Then she saw the look Xander was giving her, and added, "Not that it's a bad thing. Because, y'know, research is long and kinda boring."

- "Giles, what is that all about? They're doing the research job for us now? What next? They hire someone else to slay vampires for me?" bolted Buffy.

- "Of, of course not," answered Giles, taking off his glasses again. "It doesn't mean we won't do research on our own. Quentin is positive that it isn't their purpose, that it's only in aim for better results."

- "What do my results have? They think I'm not making my vampire rate per week?"

- "Buffy, I don't really know what it means so far, there's no need to get worked up. I'm don't think this is a real threat, but we will keep our distances. Keep working and research without asking for help."

- "Maybe they're just trying to be useful this time," Willow noted, trying to be positive.

- "Yeah, right. Let's not talk about it," Buffy answered. "You said there were demons, Giles? Good, I haven't seen any vampire in patrol for the last few days."

- "Indeed, that's the reasen I mentionned the Council. Their team thinks they noticed a little group of strong vampires coming towards us, but they won't be here before a couple of days, and they're only vampires."

- "Buffy's right, they're really the only ones to show up. I went to Willy's," Xander told.

- "Xan! We told you not to go alone. So you won't get beat up by a stocky, fluorescent demon. Not fluorescent in the sense, color fluorescent, just, y'know, shining in the dark."

- "C'mon, I'm not jeoparding my life more at Willy's than in any street here... Anyway, he says something strange happened a week ago, probably not far away. The demons don't really know what it is, so they're cautious. I know, sounds weird. But I guess they're waiting for more information."

- "That's why we don't see them!" Willow exclaimed. "I mean, they're not lively. They must be waiting to know."

- "It must a real big deal if demons start thinking about a fighting attitude. Whatever attitude is hiding during a fight," Buffy said.

- "But he was... well, their master, they were really messed up. I didn't kill any master vampire here," Buffy noticed. "Or if I did, I really didn't mean to."

- "In January it was a bit like this too," Xander recalled. "For like, two weeks we had to go in the woods to find vamps."

Giles, who had stayed silent for the last few minutes, frowned behind his glasses, confused.

- "And what if it was a big bad that was just born? A so big bad even the demons would be scared by it? Like, a new Adam?" Xander suggested.

- "I don't think so. When the demons begin hiding, it's often because something to our advantage happens. If it was to their advantage, they'd likely be more... impassioned," Giles explained.

- "But this time, I'm not gonna look for them in the woods. We're on vacation, I'm resting," Buffy warned, leaning against the couch.

- "Of course I will. Every Monday," Buffy smiled at Giles. "And each afternoon you want me to. I'll be there, don't worry. Have I ever missed a training session?"

- "Hey, obedience's not a strong point of the Buffster", Xander smiled before Buffy glared at him. He just grinned back and turned to Giles. "What are we eating then, G-man?" Xander went on. "You said you'd take care of that."

- "Yes. Actually I ordered pizzas, but we need to get them. The place doesn't deliver anymore. I'm wondering why."

- "I'll go and get them if you want," Buffy said. "'Guess it's at the pizzeria down the street?

- "Yeah, to be sure she won't get lost. Y'know, basically, there is only one straight line. Could be dangerous," Xander noted.

- "Hey, no link here, but I was wondering, why were you training when I passed by the Magic Box with Tara on Friday afternoon?" Willow asked Buffy. "Don't you work at the ice-rink on Friday?"

- "I do. But I had asked for a day off... went shopping with Dawn and we bumped into Giles. So I found myself training a few hours later. Anyway, I guess my boss was in a really good mood the day I asked for this day off, I can't believe he even agreed."

- "Yeah... I'm just so lucky. Why do I always get superiors that hate me? Didn't I get my quota with Snyder? Anyway, I've already begun looking for a job in the newspapers, but I didn't find anything interesting... it sucks."

- "I should work with you at the library, Xan" Buffy went on. "If anyone leaves, don't hesitate, I'm in."

- "Yes, it's amazing how people in this city like to try magic. Besides Olivia is considering moving in and working with me. Since Anya left, it's hard doing all by myself. Even with Tara helping, I mean."

- "Sure, but you don't hate me, unlike my boss," Buffy pointed out. "Don't worry Giles. If you want Olivia working with you, I'll find something else, no big. Well, we should go get the food. Cash please?" she asked turning towards Giles.

He got up to give her some money, and handed it to her. She got up with a smile, taking the bucks, and headed for the front door while Willow took her jacket. She waved at the boys, and went out. Willow caught up, and closed the door. Together, they began walking down the street.

- "Good. She says hi. You should drop by someday, I'm sure she'd be happy to see you guys. Well, overexcited would probably be a more exact term."

- "We could do that this week. Xander doesn't work on Friday, I only do in the morning, and no need to go to college, so it's okay."

- "I still think it's weird the demons are hiding again. I'm sure there are some things going on we're not aware of here..." Willow started. "Did you have strange dreams lately? Like premonitory dreams?"

- "No... I don't think I did. But..." She slightly frowned. "I dreamt about Angel a week ago. It was weird, 'coz, y'know, I don't really think about him anymore."

- "No. I don't know... he just came once this year, and it was in December... y'know, for the big, red, horny demon. Anyway, it's far away now. I think I stopped waiting for his visits, stopped waiting at all. I got used to it. And, y'know, he seems so different now. And I guess I changed too. See what I mean? In three years, so many things happen in a life. I guess we could never have what we had."

- "Exactly. I'm not even sure. See, I moved on. There was Riley, and then Sean. Even Matt... I mean, that's the proof that... I have a life, without him, y'know? I've got my own life. He's got his. But in a way... see, when I'm really sad, he's the one I think about. Always."

- "I know... that's how I feel about Oz. When he left… it's been hard, and I still miss him sometimes, when I hear a song or at the Bronze, y'know. But I try to picture him coming back and I feel like it couldn't work, y'know… Oh, oh! Do you remember that French class when we learned the song about the autumn leaves?"

- "Not really. Listening in French class is one of the things I forgot to do in high school."

- " Well, it was something like, 'Mais la vie sépare ceux qui s'aiment, tout doucement, sans faire de bruit…' That's the idea, isn't it?"

- "Oh, yeah. Hum, basically it's 'But life separates the ones who loved each other, gently, without making noise…" Oh, wait, it's "who love each other'."

- "Yeah, you're right. That's the idea. I wonder whether Xander feels this way or not."

- "Maybe... but Oz came back. After more than six months, so... I don't know. (Pause) With all that talking, we still didn't find what could scare demons."

- "No. Probably nothing to do with Angel. I mean, even if he was coming, that wouldn't put demons in a state."

When he eventually decided to get out of his car and head towards the door at the 1630, he found the door locked. He stayed at the doorstep a few minutes, wondering what he should do, then he went round the house and climbed as discreetly as he could to Buffy's half-open bedroom window, which he opened gently. He managed to get inside with no problem.

The shock was terrible. Not because everything had changed, but precisely because almost nothing had changed. There were still the butterflies on the walls, still the two sunshades decorating the bed, still the same poster representing a dog, still the big mirror, still the same jewelry box, still the little cuddly pig on the bedside rug -what was its name already? Oh yeah, Mr. Gordo. Only the wall had changed, a pale yellow where once blue and white stripes had reigned. It was like suddenly being back in the past, that past he thought faded, lost forever in his subconscious. A soft smell of peach floated in the air, and he could remember smelling it in her hair a day they were together. And that was over three years ago... Everything seemed so unreal, so impossible. Maybe the world didn't change as much as he thought it would. Maybe he still had his place in it...

He stepped further into the room, somewhat filled with wonder. It was her bedroom, her things, and he was again close enough to see it, to touch it. The whole atmosphere in the room was impregnated with Buffy, with her life, with her nature, and it was almost enough to make him happy. He almost forgot his reunion with Buffy would probably be harder than the ones with her bedroom, and it seemed to him that everything was like before, that Buffy would come in and that they would kiss as they would have three years ago. He couldn't have explained why he suddenly felt so optimistic.

He headed towards the desk, on which several written papers lay. 'College,' he thought. Under one of the papers, he caught sight of an envelope, and without knowing why he did it, he took it. It contained a letter, yet there was no stamp on it, and it was neither closed nor sealed. He opened it, and took the letter out. He unfolded it, completely oblivious to the fact that he was violating her privacy, and a strange feeling took over him as he read the first word. "Angel". Him. It was him. This letter, it was supposed to be for him.

"Angel,

It's been dark outside for a long time now. The house is silent, and my bedroom is dark. I'm thinking about you. I'm thinking, you're up, fighting a new demon in the streets of LA. I'm just back from patrolling. I don't know why, I feel it's useless sometimes. How can you go on fighting? I just feel so sick and tired of it sometimes.

I don't even know why I'm writing this letter. It's not the first time I feel the need but I already burnt all the other letters. Yet, I go on writing. I don't know why, this is stupid. Maybe I hope you feel I'm thinking about you.
I'm so sad. There's no real reason. But since I got back from patrolling, I have had that feeling... something blocked in my throat, in my stomach. I'd like to cry but the tears just can't come up. If someone came in and asked me what's wrong, I wouldn't be able to tell them, 'cause I can't say it myself. I guess writing to you isn't the best remedy and it's probably making me feel even worse, but I need to share this sadness. And as always, I think of you. It hurts so much to say that. When you left... it was so hard I'd like to forget, to put all that behind me, to get over it once and for all and never think about it again. But I just can't. Every time, the sadness makes the memories come back.

I can't tell Willow, or Giles, about it. I'd like to. Dawn too, I'd like to tell her. But she doesn't even know who you are. It's ironic, when you see all the efforts she still makes to catch up with the past, to think that she hasn't heard about you… It should have been the first part of my life she should have heard about… But no one told her. Not even me… I just couldn't. When I think that Sean didn't hear once about you either... it sounds so weird. You're such a big part of my life, how can my boyfriend not know about you?

I often think about the time you came and met Riley. It's far away now. But sometimes, I just feel like I should have told you to stay. But I know it's right that I didn't. We don't live in each other's worlds anymore. You said it. You're changing, I guess I am too. But I think a part of me still hopes. You know, that a part of you is still the Angel who I knew, who I'm writing to, who I'm thinking of.

I don't know how to end this letter. Ending is always hard, especially when it comes to us, huh? This time, again, I'm saying to myself I'll post this letter tomorrow. I'd love so much to receive mail from you.

He stayed silent, looking at the words written in front of his eyes. March 2002. Three months, and it was still there. It was still there.

Angel stopped moving and concentrated on overhearing the conversation. Apparently, the person who just came in was neither Joyce nor Buffy, and she was with someone. She didn't seem to want to go upstairs, but Angel considered it was preferable to leave, especially since Buffy's bedroom door was open. He slowly put the letter back on the desk and went out through the window, praying nobody heard him.

Once he was back on the ground, he moved closer to a window and watched for a while the two people in the house. He didn't understand who this brown-haired girl was. She looked around 16 and was obviously familiar with the house. Maybe a cousin of Buffy's?

- "Too bad Kat' had to go back home with James, Dawn was saying, inside the house. ' Hope my mother will be okay for Los Angeles tonight. I think she will. I mean, it's not like we're in danger or anything, there's seven of us."

- "For sure. Oh, Dawn, can we watch Thursday's Friends episode? My mom dragged me to my grandpa's, I couldn't see it... Didn't you say your sister was gonna tape it?"

- "Yeah. Buffy was here on Thursday, so she did. Well, I hope. If she managed to turn the VCR on."

The two friends burst out laughing and left the kitchen with two glasses of orange juice. Outside, Angel was getting confused. So, the little brunette was called Dawn. Buffy talked about her in her letter. And this Dawn was calling Buffy 'sister'? But Buffy didn't have a sister... Or at least she never mentioned one to him. The feeling that he didn't belong here was back, and he went away frowning and thinking.

Once the pizza was finished, Xander suggested they watch 'The Silence Of The Lambs' and they all accepted, including Giles, even though he would have chosen a old Charlie Chaplin if he had the choice. They usually had meetings like this one on Mondays before Buffy and Giles went to train, where they just sat and watched a movie or played a game, if there wasn't any major problems. Which meant these relaxing meetings was seldom on the plans. The phone rang just as Hannibal was going to escape from jail. Willow and Xander startled, Buffy quickly pushed 'pause' and Giles went to answer. He prayed it wasn't Wesley again, and picked up the phone.

- "That's no fun, it stopped us at the best part," Xander exclaimed while Giles was on the phone.

- "I dunno why, but this movie is still making my flesh creep. I've already seen so much worse in real," Willow said.

- "I can't believe you two watched it when you were seven," Buffy noted with a smile.

- "Don't tell me about it," Willow answered. "I thought I was never gonna recover. I could kill you, Xan, for that one."

- "Well, the cassette was lying on the floor, we were alone and bored, I just found something to do, that's all."

Behind them, Giles had just hung up. When they heard the click, they all turned around.

- "In fact, it looks like they're being chased by another group. The Council's unit spotted a Titan, another demon and a human being. The latter escaped from jail in Los Angeles a few months ago, and they didn't identify the second demon yet."

- "Yeah... if he had an ounce of royal blood, he'd tame foxes," Willow said pensively, but nobody caught the reference.

- "A dangerous one. Kind of a Judge. I don't know much about it... it uses magic as much as strength, but I don't know what for. Anyway, it's not good to run into a Titan."

- "Well, here is our big bad to celebrate the end of the school year!! Nice demons, didn't want to break the tradition," Xander commented.

- "I'll make inquiries tonight, on the Titan. Anyway, the group of vampires should arrive in Sunnydale tomorrow night, and the three others not for two days, so we have some time left."

- "Do you want me to help with the searches?" Xander asked. "I have to be at the library from 4 to 6, to tell a story, but I can be back after."

- "Okay. I'll warn Dawn then," Buffy said. "Knowing her, she'd be able to be right where the Titan would arrive. And I'll go patrolling for a little while tonight. See if the vamps got out of their backyard."

- "I'll have a look at my books to see if they mention the Titan, and anyway I'm working at the Sunnydale Press tonight. If there was any slaughter, I'll find it," Willow finished.

- "You have access to that kind of information on a computer meant to work the layout?" Xander asked, raising an eybrow.

- "Not really, but... y'know, I kinda -unintentionnally- decoded some files, and... I came across the archives, information about the papers and the employees, and the whole content of the main computer."

- "When I'll set up my own company, which will make me disgustingly rich, I'll hire you for the security part, Will. I'm surprised nobody has had the idea yet."

- "Yeah, Will is a very useful hidden genius. So Giles, is it okay? We train, then you research and I rest?" Buffy asked.

- "And we are going," Willow said after checking Xander was ready. "To spend the whole afternoon doing nothing. We're very good at that."

Buffy, Willow and Xander all smiled, but behind them Giles mechanically took off his glasses and frowned. Willow and Xander left, throwing a 'Bye Giles!', letting Rupert thinking that the phone was ringing a little too much for him this day, as he headed with Buffy towards the door.