Part 2

Buffy couldn't accept as true that she was back in Sunnydale, she simply would have more willingly been anywhere else than there. Although at the moment she was looking and acting the complete reverse to her old personality - which she was even now getting used to – you can’t be a blonde for over a decade and not feel weird and wonderful with being a brunette.

Gone was her customary lengthy, straight blonde hair – thanks to the FBI and a hair stylist - substituted for shoulder length mousy brown with a delicate wave. She wore no makeup and the solitary jewellery she had on was the cross that *he* had given her so long ago. Her clothing was like not anything like she would generally wear the clothes she had been dispensed were more or less all jeans, sweaters and t-shirts.

Of course the FBI had tipped it all off when they had picked her brand new characteristics for the assignment, Beth Winters - she was evidently from Seattle and was criminology major. The bureau had figured out that if this was so, she could most likely ask questions with a smaller amount of mistrust. She was on the other hand thankful that she'd managed to get a single dorm room; she didn't want or need to deal with a roommate while she was on assignment.

She sat down on her brand new bed and looked around at the sparingly decorated dorm room and the mammoth pile of untouched text books that were piled on the desk. She heaved a sigh and wondered why she had the part of a assignment that involved homework and coursework; she’d only just passed any of them the first time around.

A knock at the door and interrupted her feeling sorry for herself and when she opened it she found a vivacious blonde standing there, looking at her to some extent expectedly.

"Hi. I'm Jemmie Blake," the blonde said. "I live next door."

Buffy sighed in displeasure, now she had to be forthcoming, "Beth Winters."

"Hey are you okay? You look kinda bummed."

"Just a little homesick," Buffy lied rapidly.

Jemmie smiled at her patronizingly, "I know the feeling. So where are you from?"

"Seattle."

"I'm from Denver. Isn't California a total shock? I mean all that sun..." Jemmie droned on and Buffy tuned her out. After a few minutes she said, "I'll see ya round."

"Bye," Buffy said closing the door as speedily as she could, appreciative that the energetic thing was gone.

She only sought to be left alone to do her mission and then escape back to Washington – home - without being recognized by any person she used to know – that is what she would call a victorious assignment. She climbed into the bed and closed her eyes wondering if things could possibly get any worse.

It was during her Humanities elective, Supernatural Mythology – who would have thought that they’d teach that on a Hellmouth - that terrible happened. She was just sitting in the lecture theatre, blending in with the masses; no one looking at her would think that she was anything but an archetypal college student.

And then all of a sudden *he* walked in and Buffy more or less had a heart attack. It was all so astonishing because it was the middle of the day and the whole room was bathed in sunlight and yet... it was *him*, Angel, the first and solitary individual to ever break her delicate heart.

Buffy sank lower in her chair and tried to be undetectable, hoping that in this considerable sized class that she now looked common enough not to stand out. The possibility was decrease when he scanned the room and he didn’t appear to perceive anything in the area where she was sitting. He started on with the introductory lecture, but this however did not alleviate Buffy's mind and she was a bundle of nervous tension until the class was over.

As soon as the class was completed, Buffy bounded up and just about ran from the classroom, frantic to get away from him and his class. She was just entering the hall when she regrettably she ran into her irritating neighbour.

"Hey Beth," Jennie said light-heartedly. "So you're taking myths too, that’s so cool."

"Yeah," Buffy responded absent-mindedly. She didn't care about anything with the exception of escaping the classrooms surrounding area and getting away from Angel. She in actuality didn't need or want him to recognize her right now, not when she was trying to preserve cover – at least that is what she tried to convince herself of.

Jemmie sighed languorously, "Don't you think the professor is *so* cute? Too bad he's got a girlfriend."

"He does?" Buffy hoped she didn't sound too disconsolate. {So much for, I'll love you forever} she thought acrimoniously, before making her mind up she didn’t essentially care.

"Yeah. She's a complete slut though, you should see how she dresses," Jemmie filled her in; erroneously thinking that she was paying attention in the scandal.

Buffy abruptly aspired that the earth would open up and consume her in one piece. "I have to go," she said on the spur of the moment, "I have another class." She wanted to get away and be alone to gather her thoughts and quite perhaps brood over this most recent piece of unnecessary information.

"What do you have?" Jemmie asked enquiringly. Not at all in the mood to deal with her, Buffy simply handed the girl her schedule. "Cool, we're in the same chem. class."

"Great," Buffy mumbled sarcastically.

Jemmie grabbed hold of Buffy's arm and said, "Let's go."

Buffy allowed herself to be dragged along, merely because it took her a long way away from Angel and his class. It also took her away from the thoughts of what she had just discovered, giving her something else to concentrate on.

As soon as his classes were completed for the day Angel had made his way over to Giles’ home on the outer reaches of Sunnydale, which the older man shared with his wife, Jenny and three young children. He knew that there was going to be a Scooby meeting, as Faith had mentioned it that morning and he had information to contribute to the group – as long as they all thought he hadn’t lost his mind when he told them it.

He burst in and found the old gang, with a small number of exceptions sitting there talking and he couldn’t help but sputter out what he thought he had discovered that day, “Buffy’s back!”

“What?” Willow said not sure that she had heard Angel correctly.

“I walked into my freshman class and she was there, sitting with the students,” Angel replied.

“Are you certain you were not imaging things?” Giles questioned softly.

"Yeah," Faith agreed possessively. She'd continuously lived in the shadow of the all-powerful Buffy and even though they'd never met, she hated her with a blinding passion. Angel was her's, had been her's for a year and no blonde ex-gal pal - love of his life was taking him away from her.

Angel kicked the sofa in frustration, "I'm not crazy or imagining things. It was Buffy, I’m sure of it."

Willow looked at her friend kind-heartedly. "Angel, this girl is what nineteen? Buffy would be twenty eight now. It's doubtful that it's her."

"And why would Buffy disguise herself and hide out in your class?" Xander asked him. He and Angel still weren't the best of friends, but over the years they had learned to endure each other.

"I know that it should be impossible," Angel replied. "But when I entered the room I felt Buffy, when I looked at this girl I saw Buffy." They all looked at him with compassion unmistakable in their eyes, except for Faith who radiated covetousness, but Angel didn't care. "It is Buffy and I'm going to prove it," he told them storming out of the house.

Stirred by Angel's conviction, Willow spoke up. "Maybe he is right."

Giles looked at her sadly, "I wish that he was."

End Part