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The Clean Slates Series Chapter 1
Doyle brushed himself down and adjusted his collar. It was a half hearted attempt at making himself slightly more presentable. They would be here any minute now, the remaining Sunnydale warriors, or the Scooby gang, as Cordelia loved to call them.
Sunnydale had fallen, literally, the whole town plunging deep into the earth. From beneath, it really did devour, good and proper, munched it up without a second thought. It was lucky that the town was near enough deserted.
Doyle wondered how many unfortunates had been left behind, how many had been forgotten. The weak, the elderly, the unwanted, how many had shut themselves away behind the safety of their own front doors, wishing and praying that the evil would swallow itself up. Well, it did, and it took those people with it. Would they even be remembered? Did they have friends, family, someone to cherish their memory? It was the worst type of death that Doyle could think of, to die so alone, like it didn’t even matter that they were alive in the first place. What was the point? Perhaps they were better off dead.
Doyle felt a shudder run through his body. It had been a war. Good against evil. Good had prevailed and the world had been saved. There would always be casualties. Yes, a few had died, but wasn’t that a small price to pay to save the world? To Doyle, the silver lining was a bitter one. Who had the right to say that one life was of lesser importance than many? The heart and soul of one, shone just as brightly as the heart and souls of millions.
Doyle sent out a silent prayer to those that hadn’t made it. He hoped they were in a better place.
Now Sunnydale had gone, the Slayer and her friends, or rather the *Slayers* and their friends, were on their way here. Angel had said they could set up base in L.A and he would gladly provide the said base. After all, L.A was as good a place as anywhere. Big city, potentially lots of Slayers to recruit.
Doyle wasn’t sure how long the Scooby gang intended to stay. Perhaps some of them might end up as a permanent fixture, or perhaps the visit would be fleeting one. There was no way to tell.
Who was coming? Doyle tried to remember. A bunch of promoted potentials. Well, that was going to be fun, for a start. Ten hormonally hyper teenagers with new found slayer strengths? Fun. Well, a few years ago, it would have been just the kind of fun Doyle was looking for, but not now. What Doyle wanted and needed now, was a soul mate, an equal, someone to share a box of popcorn with, someone to talk to, someone to make love to, someone to chase the demons away, someone to make his life worth living.
Doyle shook away the feelings, now wasn’t the time for brooding. That was Angel’s job. Doyle heard murmuring in the distance and realised that the gang had arrived.
The room streamed with excited giggling girls and Doyle stood back and watched them. Oh to be that young again. So young that a simple trip to a big city was enough to cause near hysteria. Doyle smiled, let them have their excitement, they deserved it. These girls were children. Children that had been wrenched from their normal lives and thrown into a war against a seemingly unbeatable evil. Was that anyway to live your childhood? These girls were lucky to be alive. Let them still see the world through excitable, innocent eyes. Doyle suspected that they wouldn’t be able to do that forever, not now they were the chosen ones.
Doyle wondered what the others were like, the core group that was. He ticked off a mental list.
Buffy. He had met the Slayer on a few very brief occasions and his impression of her was very mixed. On one hand he saw an arrogant, jumped up little missy that clearly thought she knew everything, but on the other hand he saw a frightened little girl that was just very, very lonely. He wouldn’t judge her. He really didn’t know her. She had just saved the world for Christ’s sakes. How bad could she really be?
Willow. Doyle had met her just the once. The little red head had scampered over from Sunnydale to collect and bring back Faith. She had seemed very sweet, cute even. Doyle had gotten the urge to wrap her up in a big blanket and tuck her up in comfy, cosy bed. Of course there was another side to her. Willow was a big time potentially bad ass Witch. Although it was hard to imagine Willow going all black haired, evil and grrr, Doyle did get a feeling of enormous reigned power surging from within the tiny girl. One to watch perhaps?
Giles. Buffy’s old watcher. Another English guy. Another Weasley? Maybe. Doyle had never met Giles, but he had listened to a few stories from both Angel and Cordelia and it seemed that the ex-watcher was also of mixed character. His normal side was gentle, intelligent and very mild-mannered. But he also had a darker side. A side that no-one apparently wanted to ever witness. A side that no-one wanted to discuss. Doyle was curious. He’d have to do some digging.
Xander. Cordelia had told plenty of stories about her ex-boyfriend. Xander was apparently a geeky kid with terrible taste in clothes and a mouth as wide as an ocean. He had a love of comics and was fiercely loyal to his friends. Xander was the comic relief, the fall guy that took up the rear. It was like looking in a mirror.
Well, that was the core group, but there were others coming too, waifs and strays that had been picked up along the way.
Faith. Doyle had met her fairly recently. Faith was a firecracker with a bad temper and rock hard thighs. Doyle had found out. What a night that had been.
Ex-principle Robin Wood. No-one really new much about this guy, except that he was the son of a slayer, the slayer that Spike had killed. Fun, fun, and more fun.
And speaking of. Spike. A volatile sociopath with violent, possessive tendencies, a hard on for the Slayer, bitterness towards his Grandsire and a general hatred for all those around him. Doyle had the unpleasant experience of meeting Spike back when Angel was first setting up in L.A. The things that Spike had done to Angel made Doyle feel sick and he couldn’t understand why Angel was even entertaining letting Spike stay here. Could it have something to do with fact that Spike was integral in saving the world? Huh. Maybe.
And lastly there was Andrew. Doyle was well aware that Andrew was a little squirt that you needed to be wary of. Andrew had been party to some pretty awful things in his short reign within the Sunnydale evil genius gang, including the death of Tara, Willow’s lover and fellow Wicca. Apparently that was what caused Willow the big bad to surface and nearly destroy the world. Hadn’t Angel mentioned that Xander had been the one to stop her? Not bad for the comic relief. Anyway, the word was, Andrew was a sweet kid, in an irritating, pull off your own arms kind of way. You just had to be on your guard.
Well, that was it. That was the run down. And now it was time to meet them. Doyle could feel a small amount of excitement building in his belly. He had a funny feeling that things were about to change. Perhaps this was a new start for him too.
This fic is on hold for now. Just treat this as a single short story for now and I'll see what happens to mu muse in the furture.
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