Disclaimer: I own nothing. Joss owns all.
Summary: Spike died five years ago during the battle in L.A., and Dawn gives Buffy a book to read. S/B. Set five years post-“Not Fade Away” with no comic book influence. This is way AU but not human AU…you’ll see. Set in New Orleans and Houston.
This fic is based on a challenge set forth on Elysian Fields by Safire called the Big Goodbye.
A few slight changes were made to the challenge to make it more realistic and so I could write it without extensive research. Dawn is not an upper level Watcher (she’s only 23 in the fic), Buffy is 28, and the setting is changed to a place that I’ve actually lived (which helps with the research part). And oops, on re-reading the challenge, I made Buffy initially more sad than angry. She’s a little angry but not pissed, mostly because it’s been five years.
Added an epilogue in honor of the 20 year anniversary of BtVS. 3-11-17
A/N: The beautiful banner is by javajunkie247...thank you! You really captured the essence of the story!
Artists: None
Characters: Angel, Buffy, Dawn, Giles, Original Characters, Spike, Willow
Genres: None
Warnings: Violence
Challenges: The Big Goodbye
Event: 2015 Challenge Month
Completed: Yes Chapters: 11
Word count: 30,146 Hit Count: 13,137 ePub Downloads: 175
Published: October 31, 2015 Updated: March 11, 2017
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1. Chapter One by sandy_s - Likes: 14 Comments: 11 Word Count: 2,175 Hit Count: 2,497 Published: October 31, 2015
2. Chapter Two by sandy_s - Likes: 17 Comments: 10 Word Count: 3,286 Hit Count: 1,203 Published: November 01, 2015
3. Chapter Three by sandy_s - Likes: 14 Comments: 9 Word Count: 3,157 Hit Count: 1,177 Published: November 03, 2015
4. Chapter Four by sandy_s - Likes: 16 Comments: 8 Word Count: 2,114 Hit Count: 1,106 Published: November 07, 2015
5. Chapter Five by sandy_s - Likes: 23 Comments: 11 Word Count: 2,352 Hit Count: 1,035 Published: November 18, 2015
6. Chapter Six by sandy_s - Likes: 17 Comments: 5 Word Count: 2,702 Hit Count: 999 Published: November 25, 2015
7. Chapter Seven by sandy_s - Likes: 18 Comments: 8 Word Count: 2,678 Hit Count: 1,060 Published: December 02, 2015
8. Chapter Eight by sandy_s - Likes: 15 Comments: 8 Word Count: 3,032 Hit Count: 1,067 Published: December 06, 2015
9. Chapter Nine by sandy_s - Likes: 15 Comments: 6 Word Count: 2,467 Hit Count: 906 Published: January 10, 2016
10. Chapter Ten by sandy_s - Likes: 20 Comments: 10 Word Count: 3,398 Hit Count: 987 Published: January 10, 2016
11. Epilogue by sandy_s - Likes: 24 Comments: 14 Word Count: 2,785 Hit Count: 1,100 Published: March 11, 2017