"That's the thing about magic. There's always consequences. Always!" (Spike, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)
"Maybe you're changing. That could be a good thing." (Angel, ANGEL)
"And He who sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new..." (Revelations 21: 5)
The vampire with a soul called Angel wanted to stake himself.
Because he had just learned that the two people who meant the most to him in the whole world - his 18-year-old son Connor, the miracle child and the woman he loved, Cordelia Chase - had slept together, mere hours after Cordelia had told Angel that she loved him and always would.
< My God, how-? Why? And what if Connor gets Cordy pregnant-?!? >
That thought hit like a lightning bolt in his 249-year-old mind, as the ensouled vamp tried to deal with the concept of his beloved giving birth to his grandchild.
< Things will never be the same, either way, > Angel thought dazedly, as he turned away.
The Champion for the entities known as the Powers That Be didn't know what to do, or even who to talk to about this. Last year of course Angel probably would have instantly confided in the man called Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, and almost certainly benefited from the ex-Watcher's counsel.
But things were different now, and the former Angelus had the definite feeling that the truce with his former friend was still too fragile for any deep and meaningful conversations like this. Besides, the vampire couldn't be sure that Wes wouldn't instantly tell everything to Lilah Morgan, an evil lawyer that the British man was currently sleeping with.
Angel then thought of his associates Charles Gunn and Winifred "Fred" Burkle; but he figured that they just wouldn't understand, and dismissed them from consideration.
The only other person the undead hero could think of talk to, was the anagogic demon known as Lorne. But right now, the vamp didn't want to hear something along the lines of "Angel-cakes, there are plenty of other fish in the sea..." that he was sure the green guy with horns would say.
Face in hands, Angel thought to himself, < This is not happening. Please - somebody, ANYBODY, let this somehow not be happening!! >
In that world of demons and magicks, there were no such things as coincidences.
And little did the vampire know that someone named D'hoffryn, would soon answer his prayers.
The so-called Elder Lord of the Lower Beings was in a foul mood. As D'hoffryn had learned that somehow, some way he had become destined to die very soon - a prophecy written in blood, proclaiming said fact.
The demon had tried everything he could think of to find out the why's and wherefore's of this, but had gotten nowhere. Desperate and with nothing else to lose, D'hoffryn decided to play a wild card; and went where he had no business going.
He entered the realm of the Conduit.
As the lower being materialized in the chamber, he started to speak in his usual regal voice. "Behold D'hoffryn, Lord of Arash-"
The speech was instantly cut short, as he was thrown across the room into a wall. The voices of the Conduit - the gateway to the Powers That Be - rang out, "It is come. The demon has come. Come for what? Answers. Death is certain. Death awaits him."
D'hoffryn got up and looked around, realizing that his customary tactics were not going to work here. "I wish to speak to the Conduit."
"We are the Conduit. We are the gateway, to that which is forever. It wishes to speak to us."
The demon looked around again. "Yes. By the way, would you care to show yourselves? I do hate speaking to empty air."
"We are unseen. Formless. It speaks unknowing. Destroy it. Send it away..."
D'hoffryn said hurriedly, "As you say, I have learned that I have been slated for an early death. The question I harbor is why."
"It speaks falsely. It wishes only to learn how to undo its destiny. The Powers owe you no explanations. Send it away. Kill it..."
Again D'hoffryn was thrown aside, and he realized he had to go for blunt honesty here. "Please. For the moment, all I wish to know is why."
"Its pleas are pointless. Its path is chosen. We will not interfere."
"Chosen?"
The voices seemed to become annoyed. "Obstinate. Unwelcome. It speaks and does not listen."
"Chosen?" D'hoffryn repeated himself.
"It is angry. It is afraid. It knows nothing of the balance. Its actions require balance. Sacrifice is inevitable."
D'hoffryn had an epiphany. "Halfrek and Anyanka..." he murmured, referring to the time not so long ago, when he had killed one of his minions. The demon overlord had sacrificed Halfrek's life and soul in order to restore the lives of twelve UC Sunnydale frat guys - as part of a bargain with the 1100-year-old ex-demon Anya, and Buffy the vampire Slayer.
Obviously, his actions required a higher payment than he had anticipated.
Marshalling all his cunning, the 'justice' demon started to engage in a bargaining session with the Conduit. "Surely there must be something you want? Something I can do for you, or for the Powers - or one of their champions?"
For the first time, the Conduit hesitated. "It speaks of the Champion. The Champion is in despair. Lost. Hopeless."
D'hoffryn smiled inwardly. "Yes, indeed. You speak of balance, and I wish to live. I help you and you help me. What could be fairer than that?"
A bargain was soon struck, however the entities warned him that their actions would come at a price. But after he heard it, D'hoffryn looked only mildly surprised. "Is that all?" he asked, and quickly agreed.
At that moment though, a creature in the shape of a little girl appeared in the room. It was the same being that lived in the White Room, at the Wolfram & Hart law offices in L.A.
"Just what do you people think you're doing here? You're going to cause a lot of chaos and trouble! And while I like the latter, I hate the former..."
She pointed at D'hoffryn. "Time for you to die."
Time seemed to slow down, just like in that movie 'The Matrix'.
As a white blanket of destruction headed for the Lord of the Lower Beings, the power of the Conduit completely blanketed him at the last moment, saving his life.
But a strange side-effect occurred. Something that was almost unforeseeable. Because when that much power and mystical energy were concentrated together in so small a space, a hole was ripped open in the fabric of reality - right where D'hoffryn was standing.
And thus the demon fell through it, and ended up elsewhere in space and time.
In an empty classroom at Sunnydale High School, the former vengeance demon now known as Anya Jenkins and the witch named Willow Rosenberg had just finished a magic ritual. A spell that, unbeknownst to Willow, had opened up a temporal fold but failed to return Anya's necklace - the pendant that would restore her demon powers.
The redheaded Wicca apprentice was suddenly nervous. "That was...w-w-what was that?" she asked nervously, as the girl slowly stood up.
Anya ignored that, looking for her necklace. "Oh, it's not here." She pounded the floor, frustrated. "It's not here!"
At this point, Willow would have made a few choice comments and then soon left. But she never got the chance to do so, as the room was suddenly filled with a bright light - and when it faded, D'hoffryn was there, lost and disoriented.
Willow couldn't help it - she screamed. Then she turned to Anya and yelled, "Run! Demon! Run!"
Anya just looked annoyed and exasperated. "Oh, don't be such a wimp!" Then she turned to her former boss and asked, "D'hoffryn, what are you doing here?"
The demon was still confused. "Anyanka? Is that you?" Then he saw Willow. "And Miss Rosenberg..."
Willow was now almost petrified. "I'm sorry - we didn't mean to summon you! It was all a mistake! Honest!"
"You didn't-" D'hoffryn then stopped and frowned. "You know, you look much younger than when we last met..."
The redhead was now confused. "What? I've never met you before! Uh, and who are you exactly?"
The Lord of the Lower Beings looked at her, not understanding the question. Then he looked again at his former minion and asked, "What is going on here?"
Anya shrugged. "Well, you refused to help me get my power center back - and I told you last night, if you wouldn't help me then by the pestilent gods I would find someone else who would!" Then she snorted. "Not that this amateur has been any good..."
"Hey!" Willow shouted in indignation, forgetting her fear for a moment.
D'hoffryn ignored them, as the two girls started bickering. < What is Anyanka talking about? And why doesn't Miss Rosenberg know me? This is... >
And then all of a sudden, the truth hit him like a freight train.
< The space-time continuum must have ruptured and sent me here, to this place and this era! > It was the only possible explanation. So D'hoffryn decided to test his theory straightaway.
Using his powers, he froze Willow with a quick hand gesture and quickly got Anya's attention. "How do you feel about Xander Harris...Aud?"
Anya stopped fighting with the other girl, feeling momentarily both cold and confused. "Who? I don't understand - your question is pointless, and makes no sense to me. And I haven't been called that name in over a thousand years - so why call me that now?"
< She really doesn't know, > D'hoffryn marvelled. The demon contemplated if he should tell the girl how she had been domesticated then heartbroken by the man in question. But then he thought, < I wonder... >
The lower being materialized a pendant on a necklace in his hand, and held it out for Anya to see. The girl's eyes went wide, as she looked at her former boss. "Okay, who do I have to kill in order to get that?"
D'hoffryn chuckled darkly, as he knew Anya was speaking literally. This version of his former favorite had very little humanity in her yet, and the ancient demon almost started laughing his ass off at the opportunity the Fates had thrown his way.
He wasn't sure what the outcome of his little fancy would be, but the master demon figured it would be worth it to finally get rid of Anya - and hopefully get the real Anyanka back.
< This is the perfect revenge, > the demon with horns and a goatee thought quickly. < I warned you, Anya! You were out. And now, you'll never be... > "No one. Take it if you want it."
Anya wasted no time, grabbing her pendant and putting it on. She was briefly concerned about why her old boss had changed his mind - but didn't much care, as long as all this was on the up and up.
There was a rumble of light and sound, as the 18-year-old human became a vengeance demon again - much, much earlier than she'd been destined to. "Okay, I'm going to find Halfrek to celebrate! I'll see you first thing in the morning, about the backlog of work..." Then the demoness vanished.
D'hoffryn just kept chuckling, as he too disappeared and Willow came out of her magic trance. And thus the residents of Sunnydale embarked on new destinies, without Anya Jenkins in their lives.
History started to change, slowly with every passing day. And events never destined to happen, did so.
For example, the vampire version of Willow Rosenberg that had been summoned by the spell that afternoon was not sent back to her native dimension; as Anya was not there this time around, to tell everyone how it was done. Instead, the vampire Slayer known as Faith volunteered to stake her after the female vamp was captured, as no one else was willing to kill the creature that had Willow's face.
Of course, other things more-or-less stayed the same; the Scooby gang soon found out that Faith had defected to the evil enemy's side, after a sting operation involving Angel and a mage that owed the man called Rupert Giles a favour.
Buffy Summers, the other vampire Slayer still got her temporary psychic power and learned that her mother and Giles had slept together - twice.
The Box of Gavrock was still lost to the Mayor, the Big Bad of the year, who was planning to kill everyone at Graduation after using the Box to ascend into pure demon form.
But then, events definitely started to go differently.
The gang was a picnic table outside the school, just Oz, Willow, Xander and Buffy; and the girls were chattering to each other about their upcoming senior prom. "I have the kick dress," Buffy said excitedly to her redheaded best friend.
Willow looked fascinated. "Ooh, the pink one?"
Buffy nodded, thinking about her boyfriend in this time; the vampire called Angel. "Angel's gonna lose it. But not his soul. He's gonna lose it. His it."
"And for those of us who happen to be confused, please raise your hand," Xander quipped knowingly.
Willow smacked him on the arm. "It's gonna be me and Oz, Buffy and Angel - and who are you going with, anyway?"
Xander looked away. "Nobody, Will. I might not even bother showing up, I don't know..."
The others looked shocked, apart from maybe the poker-faced Oz. "Xander! You have to come!" the blonde Slayer said heatedly.
"Uh, why?"
"Well, because! Because-" Buffy spluttered indignantly.
"She's got a point," Oz added helpfully, in his own monosyllable way.
Xander shrugged, not wanting to admit how desperate and dateless he really was. "Well, whatever - guess I'll see."
Willow looked at him; she had known the guy all her life, but still didn't understand the male mindset. "Is this because you want to avoid Cordelia?" she asked hesitantly.
Xander winced at the mention of his former girlfriend, who had gone out of her way to make life a living hell for him after they had split up. "No, it's not that..."
Buffy decided to change the subject. "Well, you still have to get your tux anyway. Okay?"
"Okay," the boy sighed.
The Slayer then turned to the Wicca. "I wonder what Angel will be wearing..."
Curiously enough, at that moment the souled vampire was talking to Buffy's mother Joyce in his home; and Mrs. Summers soon planted the seeds of Angel's breakup with her daughter within him.
The nightmare Angel had later of Buffy's death after they had gotten married, only fuelled the undead Irishman's intentions to break the blonde girl's heart in two. And so the situation soon came to a head, while the Chosen One and the vampire were in the sewers on a demon hunt.
Angel said roughly, "I'm trying to do what's right here, okay? I'm trying to think with my head instead of my heart."
Buffy looked stunned. "Heart? You have a heart? It isn't even beating!"
"Don't," the vampire sighed.
Buffy looked incredulous, "Don't what? Don't love you? I'm sorry. You know what? I didn't know that I got a choice in that! I'm never gonna change. I can't change. I want my life to be with you."
Angel looked at her, and said the hardest words ever in 246 years. "I don't."
The Slayer couldn't believe it. "You don't want to be with me? I can't believe you're breaking up with me..."
But it had happened, and there was no going back. That night Buffy grieved in pain with only Willow to comfort her, while Angel sat in his mansion staring vaguely at the fireplace.
The next day Xander remembered his promise to the Slayer, and went to hire a tux at the clothes shop known as April Fool's. There he ran into his ex, and soon received his daily helping of Cordy's bile.
"I have nothing, okay? No dresses. No cell phone. No car. Everything's been taken away because Daddy made a little mistake on his taxes. For the last twelve years. Satisfied? Are you a happy Xander now? I'm broke. I can't go to any of the colleges that accepted me. And I can't stay home, because we no longer have one."
Xander was stunned. "Uh, wow."
Cordelia snarled, "Yeah, neat-o. Now you can run along and tell all of your friends how Cordy finally got hers. How she has to work part-time, just to get a lousy prom dress on layaway. And how she has to wear a nametag. Oh, I'm a nametag person. Don't leave that out, the story just wouldn't have the same punch..."
At that moment, the demonic creature known as a hellhound burst through the shop window, surprising the former odd couple. Pushing Cordelia out of the way, Xander grappled with it - but he was no match for its supernatural strength.
Fortunately however, the hellhound had been trained to attack people in formal wear, and so Xander survived when it left him to maul another customer. Later at the library, the gang discovered that the boy named Tucker Wells was responsible for the attack, and he was planning on killing everyone at the prom.
Oz said laconically, "Once again, the Hellmouth puts the special in special occasion."
Willow looked at her boyfriend for a moment. "Wonder if I can take my dress back?"
Buffy, who had been brooding about Angel, suddenly woke up. "Don't you dare."
Willow tried to argue, "But Tucker is going to..."
The Slayer cried out, "No! You guys are going to have a prom. The kind of prom that every teenager should have. I'm going to give everyone there a nice, fun, normal evening - even if I have to kill every single person on the face of the Earth to do it."
Xander looked fearful. "Yay?" he said hesitantly. "Uh, Buff, since I wasn't planning to go, I'm thinking I should be your backup guy in taking care of this hellhound problem?"
Buffy brushed that aside, and quickly started telling the gang what to do as they started on the Tucker-hunt. Then Xander went and got his tux, and met Buffy along with everyone else as she came back to the library that evening. "Buffy, what's the sitch?"
The Slayer grinned. "I got the address. Now, the prom starts in a little while. I want you guys to go on, and I'll catch up with you as soon as I put a lid on this jerk."
The male teenager that had once been referred to as the Zeppo was stunned. "What? No way."
Willow agreed with Xander, "We can't just leave you, Buff."
Giles also put in his two cents, "Buffy, they're right. You need..."
The blonde girl would have none of it. "To see taillights. Hit the door. I have everything under control."
Oz looked concerned. "Buffy, it makes sense to..."
Buffy gave him a Look. "Have. A. Nice. Time."
Willow and Oz gave up and acceded to her wishes, quickly leaving. But Xander stood his ground. "I told you no way, and I meant it!"
Buffy scowled, then sighed. "Fine, you can be the backup plan already. Wait in front of the school entrance in your tux, and if the hellhounds show up? Run for your life, and lead them away from the prom. Okay?"
Xander agreed, and after he left Buffy gave Giles his orders. "I want you at the gym. Keep an eye on everything until I get there."
The ex-Watcher said hesitantly, "I don't have to tell you that you're being rather rash. Finding an address hardly adds up to case closed."
"Look, it's done. I don't want to hear that I can't give everyone else besides me one night of happiness, let them spend tonight of all nights with their honeys..."
Giles got hit by the clue-by-four. "Angel's not taking you, is he?"
Buffy sighed. "Angel's leaving me. And he's leaving town. That's done too."
Later that night, despite all of Buffy's plans, Xander saw action when the hellhounds arrived - courtesy of Tucker's redundancy scheme. The Zeppo yelled and jumped about to get their attention, and then started running when all three demon dogs tried to be the first to get to eat his brain.
Unfortunately he wasn't quick enough, and the hellhounds jumped him just as Buffy showed up. "XANDER!!!"
The Slayer dropped the rearmost hound with a crossbow bolt, just as one of the hellhounds turned around to go after her. She quickly shot that one as well, but the remaining devil dog was still trying to kill her friend.
So, the blonde girl did what any good Slayer would do - she quickly grabbed hold of the demon, and snapped its neck.
Xander just groaned, as she helped him up. "You okay, Xand?" Buffy asked in guilt and concern, berating herself as always for agreeing to let him help.
The guy certainly looked a mess, and he was covered with scratches. But he just said cheerfully, "Yeah! Sure. Good to go here, Buff. Let's get you to the prom now..."
Buffy was uncertain, "You certain?"
"Yeah, I'm right behind you. Go, already..."
As the blonde girl headed off to get changed, Xander followed her - but then he stopped. The 18-year-old boy hesitated at the school entrance and thought, < Why should I bother going to this thing? Not like I have anyone to be with... >
The young Mr. Harris shrugged to himself, and quickly composed a note that he gave to a passing student to give to Giles: GONE TO THE LIBRARY TO GET WITH THE RESEARCHING, G-MAN. XANDER.
And as he walked off towards the gang's inner sanctum, the latent poison from the talons of the hellhound slowly but surely spread throughout Xander's entire body.
At roughly this time Cordelia Chase entered the gym, looking spectacular in her prom dress. She quickly found Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, who at this point in his life was still the Watcher for the Slayer, and greeted him profusely. "Thank you!"
Wes was confused, despite being overwhelmed by her appearance. "May I ask what for, exactly?"
Cordelia grinned. "You know!"
"I, er, really don't..."
At this point Cordelia realized that he hadn't made the final payment on the dress she couldn't afford, and backed off. "Then who...?" the brunette girl started to ask herself. Then it hit her. "Oh my God..."
"Is there a problem?" asked Wesley in concern.
"No, no. Uh, have you seen Xander tonight?"
Wesley said no he hadn't, and Cordelia quickly excused herself. She soon found Giles, who told her where the boy was; and so the head cheerleader quickly tracked him down.
"Xander, what are you doing in here?" Queen C demanded, when she found her ex in the library looking intently at a dusty old book. "Why the hell aren't you at the prom?"
"Good to see you too, Cordy," Xander said without looking up. Then he stared at her and smiled, "It looks great on you."
Cordelia smiled back, briefly looking at her dress. "Well, duh..." But then she got serious. "Thank you, Xander."
He shrugged and said casually, "You're welcome..." before getting back to the ancient tome once more.
Cordelia walked up to him, snatched the book and threw it away. "You didn't answer my question, you dorkhead! Now spill - why?"
Xander said without any malice, "I'm in here, because I don't have any other better place to be."
The brunette girl winced for a moment, then shook her head. "Buffy, Willow and everyone else are looking for you. So you're coming to that dance with me - now!"
So saying, she dragged her ex-boyfriend over to the gym. And as they started dancing, Buffy met Angel on the dance floor. "I never thought you'd come..." she said in surprise.
The souled vampire commented softly, "It's a big night, I didn't want to miss it. It's just tonight. It doesn't mean that I..."
Buffy interrupted him, "I know. I mean, I understand."
Angel straightened his tux and asked her, "Dance with me?"
Buffy nodded her assent, and started swaying gently in his arms as nearby Willow and Oz, plus Xander and Cordelia, danced closely together as well.
Nothing good lasts forever.
All too soon the dance was over, and the events leading up to the Mayor's Ascension came crashing towards their big finale. The Slayer Faith ended up in a coma, and was considered unlikely to ever come out of it.
The Mayor turned into a pure demon on Graduation Day and Buffy led the students against him, like a queen leading her knights into battle. And despite all their losses, the Slayer and her allies eventually triumphed, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
Afterwards Angel and Cordelia left town, as did Wesley since Buffy had quit the Council and he was fired from his job. Xander also left for the summer on his ill-fated road trip, and swore never to tell anyone the exact details of what went on when he'd worked at 'The Fabulous Ladies Night Club' as a male stripper.
Willow and Buffy moved in together as dorm buddies, as a demon-hunting military outfit called the Initiative set up shop in Lowell House of UC Sunnydale. Plus the bleached-blonde vampire called Spike had a real lousy time, coming to the Hellmouth and getting his ass kicked by the blonde Chosen One.
Halloween was lot of fun that year too, with the appearance of Gachnar the fear demon - before Buffy squished him like an ant. Still, the freshman didn't celebrate long as she briefly turned into cave-Slayer, courtesy of some magically cursed beer. And Spike had no reason to celebrate anything either, as he was captured and neutered by the Initiative, with a behavior-modification chip in his brain.
While all this was happening in Sunnydale, Angel had set up his little vampire detective agency in Los Angeles, after meeting up with Cordelia again and also a half-Brachen demon named Allen Francis Doyle.
And it came to pass that Doyle, who received visions from the Powers That Be, informed Angel that Buffy was in danger - so the souled vampire headed back to the Hellmouth at once.
Angel was hiding in the shadows, watching Buffy and Willow talk. The subject of their conversation was Xander Harris, who was at a construction site waiting to get to work while a speech was being made by a UC Sunnydale professor named Gerhardt.
Buffy asked the Wicca, "Can you see what Xander's doing?"
Willow pointed, "He's just standing there, waiting for his cue."
The Slayer smiled, "Is it me, or is Xand doing a very good impression of one of the Village People?"
Her redheaded friend giggled, "Yeah. Very manly."
Buffy laughed, "So much sexier than the outfit from his last job."
Willow sighed, "Oh, I miss those free hot dogs on sticks..."
Soon the speeches were finally over, and Xander and the other construction workers started the ceremonial digging for the UC Sunnydale cultural partnership center. But suddenly the ground broke away from beneath him, and the young man plummeted down into an underground chamber.
Xander groaned to himself, "Uhh! Ow. I'm okay! I'm, uh...I'm okay!" He looked around briefly. "Where am I okay?"
In fact, he had entered the old Sunnydale mission lost in the earthquake of 1812; and even though the Zeppo didn't know it, unleashed a vengeance spirit of the Chumash tribe of Indians, named Hus.
And cranky fellow that he was, Hus gave Xander a bad dose of the syphilis for waking him up.
Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't have been life-threatening; but unfortunately the causative bacterium for the disease called Treponema pallidum also reacted with the latent poison from the hellhound scratch, that the construction worker had gotten six months previously.
The next morning, Xander collapsed alone and started dying.
Angel was stalking Buffy and Willow, and decided to make contact with the redhead after speaking to Rupert Giles about the threat to Buffy's life. He tapped Willow on the shoulder when the Wicca was in a coffee shop, and when she turned around he clapped a hand over her mouth to prevent her calling out to Buffy.
"Oh! Angel - evil! You're all evil again!" Willow said in a garbled voice.
Angel said quickly, "I'm not evil. I'm here to help Buffy." He removed his hand, and let the young woman go.
Willow noticed he wasn't acting at all Angelus-like, and decided he hadn't been too happy since she'd last seen him. "What's going on?"
Angel sighed, "My friend had a vision. Buffy's in danger."
The apprentice witch didn't understand. "So tell her. Help her!"
The vampire looked uncomfortable. "If she sees me, it'll just be worse..."
Willow looked like she was about to say something, when she noticed Oz; and the young man came over to join them. "Oz..."
Angel noticed the musician as well. "Oz? Hi."
"Hey, man. Welcome back," Oz said slowly, keeping his gaze away from Willow.
The vampire immediately noticed the tenseness between the two young people. He looked back and forth and asked, "Is there a problem here? What's up?"
The werewolf looked at him. "Guess you don't know, that we're not together anymore..."
Oz was about to get into his van and leave town after killing the female werewolf named Veruca, when the Anya-less Xander Harris showed up and stopped him.
The young man said angrily, "Where are you going?"
His companion said emotionlessly, "Not sure. Away from here...Sunnydale."
Xander didn't look happy. "I heard what happened from Buffy. Look, Oz, let's get something straight; I don't like you right now, you hurt Willow even worse than I hurt Cordelia by sleeping with that Veruca bitca. But I know my best friend - if you leave now, you'll just hurt Wills more. So you're not leaving!"
The man whose birth certificate read Daniel Osborne said softly, "It's not that simple..." and started to leave anyway.
Xander pulled out a gun, and waggled it in front of the werewolf. "Sure it is. And silver bullets in this thing, so listen up! Have you considered the implications here? I mean if you're gone, I have an open shot at Willow. And by the time you get back, there might not be anything for you to come back to!"
Oz stepped forward, with an inscrutable expression. "That's not gonna happen."
Xander nodded, as he lowered the handgun. "Exactly, 'cause you're not leaving. You're gonna go back in there, get down on your knees and beg Willow for forgiveness..."
The young man paused. "Look, I'm not sayin' everything's gonna be magically okay. For all I know, you two may not get past this and you'll end up gone anyway. But not now. Not like this. So get your shit together, man, and clean up the mess you made." Then Xander walked away.
Oz stared after him, and thought about it for a long time. Then he turned around, and went inside again to find Willow Rosenberg.
Daniel shrugged off the memories of the recent past, and focused on the souled vampire in front of him. "So what's your story?"
Angel sighed, and told him. Eventually he finished up, "It's just...everything's so different now..."
Willow felt it was necessary to change the subject. "Hey, so is Cordelia really working for you in L.A.? 'Cause that's gotta be a special experience. I mean, of all the people you could've hired..."
Angel interrupted the redhead, "Willow, I'm here to protect Buffy. I don't have a whole lot of time for personal stuff."
The apprentice witch shrugged. "Right. Well, how can I-" she briefly looked at Oz, "how can we help?"
The souled vampire started to say, "Well, if you can just tell me..." Then he started looking out the window, and saw Buffy chatting with a man named Riley Finn. "Who's that guy?"
Oz told him, and Angel's heart sank. The former Scourge of Europe could tell that Buffy was starting to move on from him, and even though that was what he'd wanted - Angel hadn't realized it would hurt so much.
The rest of the evening soon went downhill. Hus and a raiding party that he had formed attacked everyone at Giles' house, but Angel did his job and saved the day - without Buffy ever knowing he was there.
Later the ensouled vamp was saying goodbye to the ex-Watcher, when he got a funny look on his face. Giles noticed and asked, "Is there a problem?"
Angel chuckled. "It's just that all evening I've had the feeling that something was missing, and I just now realized what it was."
"What?"
"Xander hasn't been around to call me Deadboy, not even once. And call me crazy, but it just didn't seem like Sunnydale without his insults..." Angel then shook his head, said farewell to the British man and headed back to L.A.
Giles, however, was instantly concerned. During the whole Thanksgiving debacle, everyone had completely forgotten about the boy - but now the ex-Watcher knew something was wrong.
The Slayer and her people soon found Xander in his basement - apparently, his parents hadn't even noticed what had happened to him. They rushed their friend to Sunnydale Memorial hospital, and waited anxiously for news of his condition.
A second year intern named Ben eventually came out, and talked to the gang. "I wish I had better news," the human prison of the hellgod called Glorificus said slowly. "No one can figure out what's up exactly, with your friend. He has a lot of symptoms, that just don't connect..."
"Like what?" asked Willow with great worry.
"Well, there are fading signs of syphilis, and some sort of poison nobody has been able to identify yet. Plus, there are also traces of canine DNA associated with the stuff - has your friend been bitten by a stray dog recently?"
Nobody answered in the affirmative, and Ben sighed. "Well, Mr. Harris has to be put in quarantine and checked out by the CDC, and we don't have the facilities for that here. That's why we're transferring him to L.A. - St. Matthew's hospital, for expert observation. I take it some of you would like to go with him?"
Buffy and Giles volunteered instantly, out of lingering guilt and soon they set out for the City of Angels.
In the offices of Angel Investigations, Cordelia and Doyle were watching their boss prowl around his private room. The Irishman thought the vampire was fine after returning from the Hellmouth, but Cordelia Chase wasn't convinced of that at all.
A bit later they both rushed in, convinced Angel was about to kill himself, even though he was just planning to level his desk with a stake. The dark-haired Irish undead then said with a smirk, "You two thought..."
Cordy was quick to interrupt, "Doyle did. You know how he jumps to conclusions - 'cause you saw Buffy."
The souled vampire tried to explain his feelings. "Look, Buffy will always be a part of me, and that's never going to change. But she's human and I'm - not. And that's also never going to change. We said our goodbyes, so no need to stir any of that up again."
Again the brunette girl didn't buy it for a second. "You don't want to 'stir', but if my ex came to town and was all stalking me in the shadows and then left and didn't even say "hello", I'd be..."
"What?" asked Doyle in concern.
"Well, upset for one thing! I mean Xander Harris was like the poster boy for 'Losers 'R Us', but I kinda doubt he'd sink that low..."
The half-Brachen demon's heart sank, as it always did when his beloved Cordy talked about past and present boyfriends. He was about to say something, when Angel shooed them out of his office.
A few minutes later, a green-skinned Mohra demon with a curved sword and a red jewel in its forehead crashed through the window behind the vampire, and attacked him. After a short battle whereupon the demon was wounded, it ran away, so Angel and Doyle quickly went after it.
The two men soon split up, and Angel eventually found the soldier of darkness. They fought; the vampire was cut by the Mohra's sword, but eventually killed the demon. But as it died, some of its green blood flowed into Angel's red wound.
The feelings he had were indescribable. The inner vampire demon was killed, and Angel's original human physiology was also restored by the so-called 'blood of eternity'.
The man once called Liam stared at himself in disbelief. "I'm alive..."
The reborn human soon arrived back at the office, and needless to say both Doyle and Cordy were stunned at his new situation. Angel's two helpers were all for going out to celebrate, but the ex-vampire wanted to investigate what had happened first.
"I need to know about this. Is this permanent? Am I - am I Joe Normal now? Can I have a normal life? Maybe I should speak to the Powers That Be..."
Doyle was quick to veto that idea. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! That's easier said than done, bud. The Powers That Be don't live in our reality. You have to approach them through channels. Dangerous channels."
Angel looked annoyed. "Yeah, you know what? Let's start approaching!"
The half-demon shrugged, "All right, all right. Maybe we can try the Oracles. But hey, if they turn you into a toad - don't say I didn't warn you..."
Later Angel had entered the 'The Gateway for Lost Souls' and started interrogating the male and female Oracles, who were brother and sister. He learned that his becoming mortal had had nothing to do with the Powers, but still wasn't happy. "My life as a human. I'm not poisoned, or under some spell?"
The female Oracle said, "The Auguries say no. If it has happened, it was meant to be."
The male Oracle added, "From this day, you will live and die as any mortal man."
"Privy to all the attendant pains - and pleasures," the sister injected.
The brother looked at Angel dismissively. "That which we serve, is no longer that which you serve. You are released from your fealty."
As the woman and man walked away form him, Angel asked, "That's it? I'm free?"
There was no reply, apart from the newly restored human being getting blasted out of the temple. Angel landed on top of Doyle, and quickly told him the situation; and the Irishman just congratulated the ex-vamp on his good luck.
The rest of the day, Angel walked around in a semi-daze, letting his two friends take him out in the sunlight to celebrate. The 246-year-old man had a whole new life before him, and didn't know how to begin living it.
Interestingly however, the Powers That Be had something to fix that little problem.
At a restaurant, the half-demon seer was thinking happy thoughts. < I wonder, does this mean I'm off the hook with the Powers? Well, whatever happens from hereon out, at least I'll be able to say good-bye to them bone-crushin', head-wrenchin', mind-numbin' visions... >
Then he half-screamed, half-groaned as blurry pictures of the Mohra demon attacking Angel flashed through his brain.
The former vamp asked concernedly, "Doyle? What is it?"
The man in question looked at his friend, after taking a long gulp of alcohol to dull the pain. "We got trouble..."
After learning that the Mohra demon had regenerated itself and come back bigger, stronger, and angrier than ever, Angel decided to go after it - unable to let it just roam free and kill people. He and Doyle eventually tracked it down to a saline plant in Redondo, despite the danger...
The demon assassin soon attacked them, injuring both of the good guys badly, and Doyle had to revert to his demon form to be strong enough just to keep up. Angel eventually had an epiphany on how to kill the creature, from the passages of a book Doyle had read; "The light of a thousand eyes...the jewel in its forehead! You have to smash the jewel!"
Doyle had no weapon, and even though it was suicide, did the only thing he could to save his friend's life. Angel saw what he was going to do and yelled out, "Doyle! No!"
But it was too late. The spiky-faced Irishman head-butted the Mohra demon, smashing the jewel, even as the evil creature stabbed him with its sword - before it vanished with a scream, in a burst of light.
Mortally wounded, Doyle crawled towards Angel as he resumed his human shape. The ex-vampire grabbed hold of the half-demon's hand as his best friend whispered, "We fought the good fight, right? Made a difference..."
"Yeah," Angel replied softly.
"Take care, man..." the guy muttered, just before he died.
As soon as that happened though, the visions were transferred to the closest other demon - a Karaoke-singing entertainer named Lorne, who was on his way home from an aura reading.
And all the new messenger for the Powers could say was, "Oh, boy..."
At St. Matthew's hospital, Buffy and Giles stepped out of Xander's room to go get the young man some refreshments, when they bumped into a grieving Cordelia.
"Cordy? What are you doing here?" asked Buffy in surprise.
The young brunette quickly told them how Angel was human now, and lying injured in the room down the hall after fighting a demon. In between her tears, the girl also told them how their friend Doyle had died.
Buffy couldn't believe it, as Giles quickly told her why they were here. And so the former cheerleader decided to go see Xander, while Buffy and Giles went to visit Angel.
After the shock of seeing him alive had passed, the Slayer went up to talk to her ex-boyfriend. "Hey..."
Angel looked at her, not sure if he was dreaming. "Buffy?"
The Chosen One smiled through her tears, happy that he would be all right - and furious that she might have lost her former love, and never even known it. "Yeah, you just rest there and get better. Then I'm taking you home..."
Angel tried to say something while Buffy finished up, "...to Sunnydale."
The following months passed by very quickly. More and more things changed, becoming new, different from what they had been and should have been.
Buffy quickly made good on her threat to take Angel home with her, despite the former vampire's misgivings over how he would fit into her life now. Basically, the Slayer just would not take 'no' for an answer - and since the guy still loved her, eventually he caved in to her demands.
The only thing the ex-vamp regretted about leaving L.A. was not being able to persuade Cordelia to accompany them - but the former Queen C was adamant about her decision, there was no way she was going back to the Hellmouth, thankyouverymuch.
Angel soon got a job at Joyce's gallery, since he had some artistic leanings and basically nowhere else to apply to. And despite the middle-aged woman's misgivings about it, Buffy and Angel inevitably started sleeping together again.
This changed the destiny of the man called Riley Finn, a lot.
The bottom line was, the blonde Slayer completely forgot about any romantic feelings she might have had for him, and so they never got together. And when the creatures known as the Gentlemen showed up, he never learned who the Slayer was - as Buffy and Angel took them out, before he ever came into the picture.
Curiously enough, Willow and Oz made up briefly during this time, as they didn't want to die angry at each other - but their basic problems remained unresolved, and so they soon broke up again.
Finally the Big Bad of the year arrived on the scene, courtesy of the Initiative; the cyber-demonoid known as ADAM. But eventually of course, he was no match for the Scoobies, and got his ass kicked but gooood.
Too bad for a woman named Sam that Riley Finn ended up a cyber-demonoid himself, and Angel had to kill him.
Xander Harris was playing pool in the Bronze, as Cordelia Chase walked into the establishment and looked around in nostalgic wonder. < My God, I could swear this place hasn't changed like at all... >
The brunette then spotted her ex-boyfriend, and went up to talk to him. "Xander! Hi..."
The former Zeppo smiled, and greeted her warmly. "Hey, Cordy. When did you get back to town?"
"Last night, I came to visit my mother..."
They talked for a while, before Cordelia spotted a four-month-pregnant Buffy - who was accompanied by Angel, as well as Spike and Faith.
She exclaimed in surprise, "SPIKE!! And that nutcase Faith - when she did get out of her coma? And why isn't Angel-"
Xander clamped a hand around her mouth, and dragged her to a private alcove for them to talk. Cordelia of course hit him for it, "God, cave-man much!?"
The teenager just laughed, "Yeah right, Cor, and you're just as pushy and tactless as you were in high school!" Then he sobered up, "Just not in the mood to talk to them right now, I guess."
The former cheerleader got suspicious, and asked him to explain what had been going on since she'd last seen him. Xander sighed and said, "Back in February I was in the hospital, visiting a temporary work buddy? Didn't have anything better to do, so I paid a little visit to Faith - to make sure she was still vegetating..."
"And?"
"Just my luck she woke up, and forced me to take her somewhere safe. Almost broke my arm, simply to make sure I was paying attention to what she was sayin'," he finished up somewhat bitterly.
"Right, so then what?" asked Cordelia.
"I took her home to the basement, told her what's been happening the last eight months. Then Giles comes around, wants me to help look for her; boom, she has a new hostage. Takes us to his place for whatever money G-man's got, to skip town..."
Xander paused, then continued. "So then Buffy and Angel show up, and we got ourselves a Mexican standoff. Apparently, Buff's just learned at the time that she was pregnant with Liveboy's kid-"
"Big surprise," Cordelia injected drolly, with a roll of her eyes. "Like they'd wait long..."
Xander smiled momentarily, before continuing the story. "Anyway, Buffy was in tears, didn't know what to do - how could she have a baby, and still be the Slayer? No-win situation. That's when Giles offers Faith a deal; since Buffy can't be the Slayer anymore, she takes over..."
"Was he completely nuts or what?!" the young woman demanded instantly.
"Yeah, pretty much my opinion at the time. And you can imagine Willow's reaction! But G-man did have a point, there was no one else - and we couldn't just sink to her level, and kill Faith in cold blood to get another Slayer. Anyway if she agreed, he'd be her Watcher to get the Council off her back..."
Another momentary pause. "And at this point, some asshole Watcher hit team comes in to kidnap and/or kill our favorite rogue Slayer! So what happens next? They get their no-good limey asses taken down, and Faith agrees to give it a try."
"And what about Spike?" asked the brunette girl in apprehension.
Xander smiled in true pleasure. "To quote Captain Peroxide himself, 'Spike had himself a little trip to the vet, and now he doesn't chase the other puppies anymore'. He can't bite anyone; guy can't even hit people! Gotta give it up for that chip in his head...anyway, nowadays, Bleachboy just does whatever the ex-Overbite tells him to do, in return for his blood and beer."
Cordelia knew there was stuff he was leaving out. "Xander? Talk to me about whatever's bothering you."
The 19-year-old boy tried to look confused, but then sighed. "It's just - things have really changed since high school, Cordy. Oz and Willow decided to shack up together during college, and basically forgot all about me. Buffy's been busy with classes, and playing Barbie's dream house with Angel. Giles is always with Faith, Spike finally moved out of my basement apartment-"
"WHAT?!"
"Ah, long story. But I guess what's really bothering me, is that we've all drifted apart. I mean, I don't even go to the Scooby meetings anymore. Remember last year, I was Key Guy against the Mayor? This year, I didn't even take part in the battle against the Big Bad...which was some crazy machine/demon/human hybrid the government created. I just heard afterwards that all the army guys responsible were killed, before it was taken out..."
Cordelia slapped him upside the head, as a not-too-gentle wakeup call. "What are you doing?"
Xander was confused. "Huh?"
"Xander Harris, you are such a dope! I swear, I think you see only what you want to see...I mean, did you honestly think it would always be like high school? That we'd always be together, and save the world every week?"
"No, 'course not! Look, you don't-"
"I don't understand? Oh I do, obviously more than you!"
The young man looked annoyed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Cordy sighed, with no trace of the Champion she would have become present. "We're the normal people Xander, who should try to have a normal life. Okay, if I see a vampire I'm not just going to ignore it - I can't do that now, anymore than you can. But it's not up to me to save the world, or you either! Look, I haven't had it easy ever since I left Sunnydale or Angel left L.A., but I don't regret for one moment leaving the Hellmouth behind..."
By some miracle Xander didn't know what to say, as his companion continued quietly, "Last year after graduation, I told you I couldn't live here anymore - and I asked if you wanted to come with me to L.A. You said no, you had to stay and help, be Buffy's white knight or something..."
Her eyes seemed to bore directly into his. "So, has it been like you thought it'd be? And if not...when you look into the future, what do you see - more and more of what's happened these last few months? Being Donut Boy or whatever, while everyone else moves forward and gets on with their lives?"
There was a big silence, as Cordy took a deep breath. "Look, I kinda owe you for the prom dress, so my invitation from last year is still open here. Like, for you to come to Los Angeles. I'm not saying it'll be easy or everything'll even work out, but it can't be any worse than what you've got staying here..."
Xander thought about it for a long time. And the more he thought about it...the more the dark-haired guy suspected the 19-year-old girl before him actually had a point.
This Anya-less version of Mr. Harris remembered a day during the previous month, after he had been fired from one job at 'Starbucks' and another at a phone sex line operation. He had lain in bed all day undisturbed, and wondered where his life was going.
< If I did leave, what would I really miss? Willow and Oz's fights? Getting so, so tired of them. Angel and Buffy, making doe eyes at each other? Could easily live without. Spike and Faith? Ha, that's a laugh! And Giles doesn't need me, even though for a while there he really was Bored Boy. And what the hell, the dating scene has got to be better in L.A. than around here... >
"Okay. When are we leaving town? Tonight, tomorrow night?" the teenager eventually asked.
Cordelia was shocked for a moment. "What? Just like that, so soon?"
Xander shrugged. "No job to quit. Not a lot to pack either, and my parents won't even notice I'm gone if I don't leave 'em a note. All I need is a few minutes to say good-bye to everyone, so yeah!"
Somewhat to his surprise, Buffy and Willow didn't want him to go - but eventually, Xander talked them around. And thus, the former construction worker started off on his new destiny.
Two years later Cordelia Chase was very nervous, as she headed for 1630 Revello Drive to talk to Willow Rosenberg. In fact she was at her wit's end, and needed to talk to somebody for advice on what to do now - even if it was a somebody the former cheerleader hadn't seen personally since high school.
As she arrived at the residence though, she found the blonde Slayer in the front yard. "Buffy! Hi!"
"Cordelia! I didn't know you were back in town..."
"Just got here, actually. Um, Willow and Oz are staying here with you, Angel and Dawn now, right?"
"Yeah, just temporarily till their own place is ready. Saves 'em a bit on college dorm costs."
The woman who would now never be part-demon nodded. "I see. Oh, how's the baby?"
Buffy smiled, "Connor's great, he's walking and talking. I just wish..." she then choked, and broke off.
Cordy understood. "I heard about Joyce. I'm sorry she died, your mother was a great person..."
Buffy wiped her eyes. "Thanks. It's just that she loved him so much...well, at least Mom got to spend a few months with Connor before she..."
The other woman decided to change the subject. "How's Angel?"
The Slayer started to smile again. "He's good. He took over the gallery after Mom died, remember? He's been busy too, looking after that place and training with Giles to be able to patrol..."
"Yeah. Hey, what about Dawn, how's she doing?"
The blonde woman sighed. "Losing Mom was so rough on her. As well as finding out that..."
At that point, Buffy explained about the Key and everything, much to Cordelia's amazement. "See, Glory was this hellgod, who wanted to use Dawn to destroy the world..."
"Same old, same old?"
"Well, kinda. Anyway Spike, Faith, and me were fighting her this one time? We injured the hellbitch enough that she turned back into this medical intern I knew, Ben. She was hiding in his body, but no one remembered it if they saw it, because of this magic stuff she had going. Fortunately, the mojo didn't affect Spike..."
"So what happened next?"
"He had his shotgun, and, uh, took care of the problem."
Cordy was horrified. "He killed a guy? I thought Spike couldn't do that anymore!"
Buffy grimaced. "Neither did we. He was out for two days from the pain - but lucky for him Faith insisted we get his side of the story, before I introduced him to Mr. Pointy."
The conversation then moved onto other things, such as Cordelia's career and TV show appearances. Buffy said laughingly, "Dawn had this thing about getting a puppy, after we saw the dog licking your face that one episode..."
Cordy brushed that aside. "Buffy? Thanks, but let's face it - I basically don't have an acting career anymore. The series was cancelled after less than one season, and I've done what? One or two commercials since then? God, things are so different now..."
The Slayer gave her a sly smile. "I know. Willow reads the gossip and society columns; we learned last year, that you and Xander started dating again?"
The brunette looked down, and didn't answer.
The Chosen One said in concern, "Cordy...is there something wrong? Maybe I can help..."
Her companion looked unsure. "I came here to talk to Willow about it."
Buffy gestured dismissively, "Oh, she and Oz are probably busy with the make-up sex, I'm sure they'll be ages yet..."
Cordelia couldn't believe it. "Those two broke up and got back together again!? What are they, the Ross and Rachel of the Hellmouth?"
The blonde woman sighed. "We were talking about you and Xander?"
The former actress looked away. "How much do you know of what he's been up to, the last two years?"
Buffy Summers shrugged, "Not that much. I do know Xand eventually got that detective job with Wesley of all people, it was mentioned in that rag..."
Cordelia stared at the other woman, then turned around to leave. "This is a waste of time. You don't know, you don't even have a clue..."
The mother of the young child named Connor stopped her. "Please. Xander's my friend - so you gotta tell me what's going on!"
A few moments later, Cordelia sighed and began to tell her story, after both women sat down on the grass.
"The first night Xander and I arrived in L.A., we were attacked by a bunch of vamps. And believe it or not, a demon saved us! His name's Lorne - he said he'd had a vision of us getting killed, and that he had to stop it..."
She sighed again. "He offered Xand a job as a bartender at his Karaoke bar, till he got on his feet - and that's how he met Wesley again, and got involved in all that craziness."
"Wesley? Craziness?" Buffy was confused. "I don't get what..."
Cordelia interrupted, "Look - Wesley's changed a LOT, Buffy. The uptight Watcher guy you remember? He's dead and gone. You probably wouldn't even recognize Wes, if you saw him now."
"He's changed in what way exactly?"
The brunette briefly closed her eyes. "I met this girl Virginia Bryce, at some society thing? Xander and Wesley were there one time we met up, and I introduce them; bang, she and Wes become an item. Her father, Magnus Bryce - this secret hotshot wizard? He hires Wes and Xander to watch out for his daughter, close to his 50th birthday."
"So?"
"So, it was all a big con. The guy tried to sacrifice his own kid to a demon, for power or riches or whatever. And when it didn't work, the asshole stabbed Wes and shot Virginia! Luckily Xander called the cops and they busted him, but it was too late. Wes survived, Virginia didn't. Wesley hasn't been the same, ever since; he doesn't trust hardly anyone now, and the way he kills things? Majorly scary."
Buffy was shocked. "And Xander works for this guy? You let him..."
Cordy shrugged. "I can't tell Xander how to live his life. And hell, Wes did save my life once too..."
The young woman went on to explain about her demonic pregnancy thanks to the man named Wilson Christopher, who'd been working for something called a Hacksaw Beast in return for money and power. "Lorne had a vision about it, and got this bright idea how to kill the demon and save my life...and Wes disintegrated it into like a million pieces."
Cordy paused for a moment. "But it's different with Xander," she said slowly. "Three days ago, I decided to surprise him - you know, cook a nice romantic dinner..."
The Slayer was surprised. "You cook now?"
The ex-Queen C was annoyed at that crack. "All right, so I had the meal delivered to his apartment. It's the thought that counts! Besides, I did set up the table placings and all..."
She paused, again. "I wait and I wait and I wait. Just as I'm thinking I may as well go home, Xander arrives."
Buffy asked, "And...?"
"It took me about a second, before I had to run for the bathroom and heave."
The blonde guardian of the Hellmouth was concerned. "Why..."
Cordelia answered bluntly, "He was covered head to toe, in like demon gore and blood. Some of it was green, but a lot of it was red - whether it was his or not, I didn't know..."
The brunette woman was in tears now. "The demon fighting thing? Xander's going to become addicted to it Buffy, if he hasn't already! And do you have any idea what the average lifespan of a demon hunter in L.A. is? I try not to listen when he and Wes talk details, but I can't help knowing that the city's crawling with evil things - like icky bloodsuckers! He's gonna get himself killed - and I don't know what to do about it!"
The other woman's eyes went wide. "You guys aren't just dating now, are you?" she asked quietly. "It's a lot more serious..."
Cordy nodded silently. Buffy looked her former classmate in the eye, "Do you love him?"
Again the teary nod. "Yeah."
The Slayer continued hesitantly, "Cordy, uh, I gotta ask - do you see a future with Xander? I mean like, marriage and kids - the whole nine yards sort of thing?"
The 21-year-old former TV star was silent for a long time. Then she said, "Xander Harris was the first guy to ever see the real me, Buffy. I mean I loved him, then I hated him, then I forgot about him - and then we found each other again. Every other eligible bachelor I can think of, if he saw a demon he'd just run like a weasel...and don't laugh, it actually happened once! Not him though...I know Xander would die to protect me. Okay, I guess, yeah - he's the one I'd want to spend the rest of my life with..."
Buffy got up, and started to pace slowly. "I remember when Angel first became human," the blonde said, seemingly lost in the memories. "Acting like he was still a vamp, taking stupid risks and often getting hurt. We had these huge arguments about it..."
Confused by the change in subjects, Cordelia simply asked, "So how'd you get him to stop?"
The Chosen One smiled. "I didn't, I ended up pregnant with Connor. When Angel realized what he had to live for...he calmed down a lot, and we kinda reached a compromise."
Cordy's eyes went wide, as the penny dropped. "Are you seriously suggesting that I-?"
Her companion interrupted her, "Hey, I'm not suggesting anything - I'm just telling you what happened with me, way back when. I don't really have any advice for you, sorry - I'm no Yoda here."
Cordelia got up, and nodded. "I'll think about what you said."
"Cordy..." But it was too late, and she was gone.
Buffy sighed, and went back to checking her garden for more surveillance cameras that might have been placed there by the maniac known as Warren Mears. A man who, along with his two loser friends, had been the so-called Big Bad that year.
Warren soon showed up, brandishing a gun just like he had in the other timeline. But since Xander was gone and Buffy was alone, she easily dodged the bullets - and then the Slayer caught the robot maker, and gleefully knocked him out cold.
The blonde woman subsequently heard Willow screaming, as she started tying up the would-be slayer of the Slayer. Then she saw the redhead come out of the house, covered in blood and ready to butcher Warren, as soon as she saw him and realized who was responsible for murdering Oz.
"I'm gonna kill him!!" the former magic addict screamed.
Fortunately Buffy stopped her from doing so, and just as things looked like they were gonna get ugly - Oz showed up.
"Hey," the werewolf said in that calm, unflustered way. "Guess that bullet wasn't made of silver..."
Willow just screamed for joy as she threw herself into his arms, and a grinning Buffy lugged an unconscious Warren off to jail. "Time for you to join your buddies..."
The human now officially named Liam Summers thanks to Willow's hacking made his way to 'The Gateway For Lost Souls', underneath the City of Angels. It had been a number of years since he'd been there, but the 249-year-old man still remembered the way and precisely where it was.
And after he entered, Angel instantly encountered both the Oracles.
"You again," said the male in annoyance.
The former vampire said slowly, "I come in supplication..." but then gave up the humility act and just threw them a vase as a gift. "Here's a Famille Rose vase. Ching Dynasty. Circa 1811."
"Lovely," said the female appreciatively. "Ask what you will of us."
"There's something we can't fight in Sunnydale," Angel got right to the point. "A shapeshifter, who can be anyone anywhere anytime. A Big Bad who wants to end the whole good versus evil, mortal coil thing. Please, we're desperate for anything here..."
The brother looked disinterested. "We cannot help you with that. What is happening now, was meant to be."
The sister looked at her companion. "No. That was and is not entirely true. This one is living proof, after all."
Angel was confused. "What do you mean?"
"The Mohra demon came to take a warrior from our cause and succeeded," the female said rather cryptically to him.
The male smiled, somewhat cruelly. "Behold what might have been."
Visions of the original history passed through Angel's human brain. Everything, for the last three years.
The man then screamed in horror, "No! NO! It's not true! I didn't become a vampire again! And Darla...she isn't Connor's mother! And I haven't seen Holtz since the 18th century! Buffy didn't die - and I've barely even seen Cordy again since I left L.A.! She's pregnant now with Xander's child, for God's sake!"
The sister Oracle looked vaguely sympathetic. "Calm yourself. What you saw is what was, not what is. And according to the Auguries, all is as it should be."
The male replied in an uncertain tone, "And yet you said otherwise a moment ago?"
"I said as it should be, not meant to be."
Angel butted in with a horrified voice, "How...how did it all change so much? Wh-who's responsible?"
The brother Oracle explained, "The lower being calling himself D'hoffryn. You will meet him soon. There is a debt to be settled, between you and him."
The dark-haired man started to say, "But..."
The male interrupted, "No more will we say. And do not come to us on such a pointless request again." And just as it happened three years before, he banished Angel from the sanctum of the temple.
The 18th century vampire hunter named Daniel Holtz had certainly had what one could call an interesting life.
In 1764, the soulless vampires Darla and Angelus murdered his wife and family; and turned his existence into nothing but a quest for revenge. For years he tracked the demonic duo, but never got the opportunity for true vengeance.
And then he met the ethereal time-shifter demon called Sahjhan.
In 1773 the terrified creature recruited Holtz, to kill Darla and Angel over two centuries in the future - and save his own hide. But even though Sahjhan could be anywhere at any time, he was not omnipotent and didn't find out until too late about D'hoffryn's actions, that altered history that day during 1999.
No longer in any need of Holtz's services, the demon nonetheless woke up the human to basically say, "Ooops". As well as to gloat that Darla was now dust, and Angel had become human.
Then he made a big mistake; Sahjhan laughed right in Holtz's face, over his lost chances for revenge.
It is never a good idea to piss off a man who had spent over seven years fearlessly hunting the terrifying Scourge of Europe, and his deadly paramour.
Holtz dealt swiftly with Sahjhan, trapping his dimensional essence in a Resikhian Urn. Then the human buried the urn deep down in the ocean, and set about trying to find Angel.
The task was almost impossible; all the vampire killer was able to learn from his undead victims was that Angel had left town, back in 1999. But then finally, he struck solid gold...
In the form of the vampires named James and Elisabeth, who were on the payroll for Wolfram & Hart.
Before he had finished torturing them, Holtz learned that Angel had spent some years at a place called the Hellmouth, not that far away in southern California; and after dusting his prisoners, the man headed north of Los Angeles, completely alone in the world.
It seemed that some things truly are inevitable; it came to pass that Holtz got his hands on Angel's son Connor after staking out 1630 Revello Drive, but failed to get away clean like he'd planned.
"Stay back!!" the man from the 18th century yelled to the gang, as he put a gun to Connor's head. "I do not wish to murder the infant, but rest assured if you do not let me leave here with him, he will die!"
Buffy was ready to tear the asshole apart, limb from limb. "You bastard, you hurt my son and I'm gonna...!"
"You'll what, little girl?" Holtz demanded scornfully. "Get that abomination you call a husband to kill me? You are gravely mistaken, if you think that will frighten me..."
Giles tried to reason with the vamp killer, "Mr. Holtz - I know who you are, if not how you got here. I, I know what Angelus and Darla did to you..."
"Oh, they did nothing to me personally, Mr. Giles. But I will have justice for what Angelus did, if not that demon bitch of his..."
"Justice?" Faith said suddenly, sneering at the man. "Come on, pal. Who are you trying to kid here? This is a revenge kick for you, pure and simple. I oughta know - 'cause I used to be just like you!"
"I've heard enough of this childish prattle," Holtz growled, jabbing the gun harder into Connor's head. "Now step aside!"
"Not going to happen, mate," Spike spoke up for the first time. "And this revenge thing you got goin'? Ain't gonna do nothing, but get you killed."
"I have nothing to say to you, hellspawn," the British human scowled at the vampire. "I only regret that I did not have the opportunity to do to you, what I did to Angelus' other offspring..."
"And that was?" Willow asked, terrified of what this lunatic would do to her friend's son. Oz moved closer to her, trying to support and comfort her.
"I don't think that's really important right now," a new voice rang out.
Everyone turned, to see Angel had arrived. Buffy straightaway ran to him and they hugged intensely, to Holtz's disgust. "Hello, Angelus."
Angel let go of his wife, and faced his old nemesis. "Holtz."
The man looked full of hatred. "It's been a long time. For two hundred years, you know, I slept. For two hundred years - I dreamt of nothing but this moment."
The ex-vampire shrugged, mouthing the phrase he remembered from the vision. "Which would explain why you look so well rested."
As Buffy hit him in dismay and exasperation, Holtz scowled again. "Human or otherwise, you haven't changed..."
"Neither have you; apparently, you're still human. Do I need to guess how you managed that?"
The vampire hunter laughed, an ugly sound. "I had nothing left to lose, before making a covenant with a demon. You saw to that. And if a man must consummate a bargain with the Devil, it is worth it for one last chance to seek justice."
"Uh-huh. Newsflash, Holtz; I've been to Hell, and I know for a fact those bargains are never worth it. And justice? I killed your son, what were you planning to do with mine? An eye for an eye? Not something I think God'll forgive you for..."
The hatred bubbled to the surface again. "By whatever black sorcery, Angelus, you managed to become a man again. Perhaps you think this means God has forgiven you - and who knows, you may even be right. It still means nothing; God may forgive you - but I never will! DAMN YOU TO HELL WHERE YOU BELONG!!!"
Losing all self-control, Holtz whipped the gun up and shot Angel in the blink of an eye.
Everything then seemed to happen very slowly.
The first thing to happen was D'hoffryn appearing, raising his arms and saying, "Lekko najine forkahdio!"
The second thing to happen was that a portal to Quor-toth, the darkest of all dark worlds, opened up directly behind Holtz.
The third thing to happen was that Spike and Faith, who were just waiting for their opportunity, grabbed Connor and threw Holtz into the hell dimension, respectively.
The fourth thing to happen was D'hoffryn saying, "Forkahdio najine lekko," as the hole in the air quickly shrank to a pinpoint and disappeared.
Buffy screamed and quickly grabbed Connor from Spike, desperately checking for injuries. When she was satisfied her son was safe and unharmed, the blonde woman almost broke down in tears from the relief.
Giles was supporting the injured Angel, and trying to stop the blood loss from his shoulder. He looked briefly at the lower being, "Er, thank you for your help - and, if I may ask, who are you?"
Willow suddenly gasped. "I remember you!! You're, um..." she wracked her memory, "D'hoffryn, right?"
The master demon nodded. "You have an excellent memory, Miss Rosenberg."
Angel started, despite the pain. "D'hoffryn? I, I've heard of you..."
The creature that had been recruiting vengeance demons for eons nodded. "And I you, Angelus. I owed a debt, so consider it now paid in full."
"Huh?" asked Buffy, who was still holding Connor tightly. The two-year-old child seemed utterly traumatized, and the Slayer was very worried over what all this might have done to him.
D'hoffryn explained briefly, "A bargain was agreed to, in another world. In order to be spared my imminent upcoming death, I agreed to aid the Champion of the Powers exactly one time. You may have been released from your fealty, but I keep my word - so, let us consider the request made in your depths of despair granted."
Then the demon grinned, "And I must say, apart from anything else, I thought you sending that human to Quor-toth did have a certain...supersymmetry."
Angel then realized, "You remember the other timeline too?!" He saw the confused faces of the others and quickly added, "I'll explain later..."
D'hoffryn looked amused. "Don't leave it too long. After all, you're all doomed..."
"WHAT?!" everyone chorused.
The Lord of the Lower Beings sighed, as he looked at Angel. "Did you think a desire to make all things new, would come without a price? You may have created your own little paradise here with the absence of Mr. Harris and Miss Chase, but without Anyanka's help you will most assuredly die..."
A satanic smile covered his features. "From beneath you, it devours. All good things in time..."
D'hoffryn then vanished, leaving the white hats wondering what terrible prospects the immediate future held.