Title: Finding Her Angel
Author: Cordy's Bitch
Posted: 04-09-2003
Email:
Rating: PG-13
Category: Crossover BtVS, Time Travel
Content: C/A, remnants of B/A & C/X
Summary: To save the future, Cordy must endure the past
Spoilers: Maybe some for the season finales of Season
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution:
Notes:
Feedback:Part 6
For someone so pissed off, Lorne thought Angel seemed pretty cheerful.
Buffy leaned and whispered into the other Angel’s ear. “Is he okay?”
“How do I know?”
“Well, he’s you.”
“So?”
“So don’t you know yourself?”
“Well, that’s a pretty existential question…”
Lorne looked over to where the slayer stood. If it had been anybody else that had done that to Cordy, Angel would’ve taken their head off. As it was, he sat here in the library, sharpening a sword and having way too much fun at it.
They’d gotten back to Sunnydale late. Wesley had been the voice of reason, and Lorne was thankful for that. It was odd enough to have two Angels, but having one that was pissed off and sarcastic wasn’t something Buffy was used to, and it showed. Lorne wasn’t sure she didn’t think he was Angelus.
They sat in the library, waiting. Giles agreed with Wesley. Ethan Rayne would make an offer, and they’d work from there. Gwen stood in the corner, trying not to feel the eyes that were crawling over her. Cordy had the information she needed and she was in this until she got it. Xander couldn’t help but stare.
“You’re Gwen, right?”
Gwen turned to find herself face to face with Willow. “Uh…yeah.”
“I’m Willow,” she said extending her hand.
“I’d shake, but…” She held up her hand and snapped her fingers. A small spark jumped between her fingers.
“Oh…well….oh, isn’t that keen?”
“Keen…yeah…that’s the word for it…” she said dryly.
“Well, just so you know, we’ve got donuts and soda if you want any,” said Willow, motioning over to the table where Xander, Cordelia and Oz sat. Xander looked up, and tried to say hi, but his mouth was full.
“Charming…”
“Yeah…that’s our Xander…”
“He’s a peach…”
The doors burst open and in came Faith, dragging a vampire by the hair. She slammed his head down on the table in front of Xander, forcing him to move his piece of pizza.
“Spill!”
“I don’t know anything…”
Giles walked around the counter and leaned down in the vampire’s ear. “Ethan Rayne. You know the name…”
“What…no…I don’t…I don’t..”
The table jumped off the floor,startling Faith. Angel had crossed the room silently and run his sword through the vampire’s shoulder.
“Say that again,” he said.
“Uh…he’s in a warehouse down by the docks…”
“And the woman…she’s alive?” He twisted the sword for emphasis.
Buffy started to step in, but her Angel reached out and stopped her.
“Yes, yes,” squealed the vampire. “She’s alive, I swear.”
“Good,” said Angel. He turned to Faith. “Stake him.”
Faith smiled. “Gladly.”
As Faith dusted the vampire, Angel walked back into the office. Buffy looked back at her version, and he nodded. She turned and followed the other Angel.
Faith stood back, satisfied with herself. She turned and looked around the room, spotting Gwen in the corner. “Hey, who’s Leather Tuscadero?”
Angel stood in the office, collecting himself.
From behind him came Buffy’s voice. “Who are you?”
He looked back over his shoulder and laughed. “You know who I am.”
“No…I really don’t. The Angel I know doesn’t act like this.”
“The Angel you know doesn’t talk.”
He faced her, finding her eyes burning out at him. “So you do. So talk.”
“About what?”
“You know what about. You’re pissed at me.”
“Wow. And you picked that up all by yourself.”
“Is this why you leave? You turn into some heartless asshole?”
Angel closed his eyes. When he opened them, he said, “I’m sorry if you think I’m heartless. But I’m not going to apologize. I’m going to do what I have to do to get her back. I don’t care if you help me or not, but I’d like to think you would. You owe her that much.”
“I owe her?”
“For doubting her.”
“Angel, she’s a demon. You said so yourself.”
“Well newsflash, Buffy, so am I.”
Buffy pushed her tongue against the back of her teeth, thinking. “I know that. But Cordelia…”
“What, Buffy, what?!” he said, taking a step toward her.
“That can’t be Cordelia.”
“Even though I tell you it is…”
“She acts nothing like Cordelia. She fights, she’s…”
“What? What?!”
Buffy just stared up at him.
“You don’t know, do you? I’m sorry, Buffy, but that’s Cordelia. Beautiful, strong, half-demon Cordelia. And believe me, you don’t want me to start in on why she’s a demon, you won’t like how that story goes…”
Buffy looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry, Angel, it’s just a little much to take.”
“You never liked her.”
“No, I guess I…”
“You never knew her.”
Buffy looked out the window in the office door. “She’s sitting right out there. I go to high school with her. I think I know her.”
“That,” he said, pointing out the door. “That’s not Cordelia. It’s a front. You think she’s a bitch, but inside she cries because you guys are the closest thing to real friends she has and you don’t even like her. If you can get inside the shell…she’s amazing.”
“You obviously think so.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Where am I, in this wonderful future where Cordelia’s so wonderful?”
“You’re here, in Sunnydale.”
“So you just leave…”
“I leave because it’s the right thing to do.”
“And you leave me here all alone…”
“Alone?! Alone…Buffy, you’re not alone. Far from it.”
“So, what….I replace you?”
“I was talking about Xander and Willow…but yes…you move on.”
Buffy shook her head. “It’s…it’s just hard to imagine that…”
“You do…trust me.”
Buffy laughed, trying not to cry. “What…I get me a nice normal guy?”
“For a while…”
“Then what…oh, I know, another vampire with a soul comes along and sweeps me off my feet?”
Angel cocks his head, surprised. “Well, I don’t know if you can call it sweeping….more like hanging on for dear life…”
Buffy blanched. “What…you’re serious?!”
“Yeah, actually. You already know him, it’s Sp—“
“I don’t want to hear it!” She turned and ran out the door.
The other Angel watched as she burst out of the office, and ran out the double doors into the hall. Looking in, he sees his future self sitting at Giles’ desk. He looked to Xander, who nodded and followed Buffy into the hall.
“Proud of yourself?”
Angel looked up to see himself in the doorway. He sighed.
“Buffy’s always had a superiority complex. I’m just not in the mood to put up with it right now. Especially when she’s talking about Cordelia…”
“She means that much to you?”
He thought about his answer. “Yeah, she does. Buffy still means a lot…but…she’s not everything. Not anymore.”
“I can’t imagine.”
Cordy struggled against the ropes binding her hands. No go. The door opened, and Ethan Rayne entered. He took a chair, and straddled it backwards. He reached across and brushed her cheek with his hand. She lurched back.
“You are a beauty…and feisty…”
Cordy grinned. “Oh, you’ve not seen feisty…”
Rayne smiled. “Pardon me if I don’t quiver in my boots.”
“You know what you did? You’ve pissed off Angel. You’ve heard of Angelus, haven’t you? And when he’s done with you…I’m going to start on you…”
Rayne started to laugh. “Oh, you’re amusing…”
Cordy smirked.
“But you know what…you’re apparently special…”
“Gee, thanks…”
“Not four hours after you came into my company, the Mayor got a call. Now do you want to know whom that call was from?”
“Oh, I don’t know…his proctologist?”
“No, dear, no. It was a law firm in Los Angeles. They’re prepared to pay a high price for your pretty little head.”
Cordelia sat back, stunned. “Oh…well, gee that’s swell.”
“Isn’t it?”
Part 7
The bright moonlight cast everything in a monochrome of greys and blacks, making the shadows even more forbidding than usual. The flickering neon sign broke the effect. A stench of stale cigarettes and human wretchedness pervaded his nostrils. He couldn’t imagine her living here. He knocked on the door, and heard her on the other side, her heartbeat accelerating.
“Who’s there?”
“It’s me, Cordelia.”
“Me who?”
“Uh…me Angel.”
She opened the door slowly, and soon one eye peeked out. “What are you doing here?”
“Open the door. We need to talk.”
He could see her thinking about it. “I guess so,” she said. The tinkling of a security chain, and the door opened. “C’mon in.”
Stepping in hesitantly, he looked around the room. Suitcases lined one wall. Next to them lay framed pictures piled haphazardly on the floor. He turned to look at her. She stood with her arms crossed, her long dark hair spilling over her shoulders. Her pajamas looked black in the low light, but reflections as she moved told him they were in fact crimson silk. Her chin was quivering.
“What do you want?”
He stepped toward her and she moved to the side. “Don’t be scared. I just thought with all the …information…we’ve heard in the last few days, you might need to…”
A smug smirk spread across her face. “What I need. Wow. As you can tell, Angel, I need a lot of things.”
If he wasn’t careful, pride was going to take over the conversation. “Don’t you want to know?” he asked.
“Know what? Nobody’s told me anything! Not even me.”
“Oh. Why?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why?! You think I don’t know? This is all about it effects Buffy. No one cares whether or not I get freaked out. Seeing myself like that, knowing…”
“Knowing what?”
She turned away. “Nothing.”
“I’m just as …freaked out as you.”
Looking at him over her shoulder, she asked, “Which one are you?”
“…I’m the one you know.”
“So you disappointed?”
“I don’t understand. Disappointed?”
“Apparently you and Buffy don’t get the fairy tale ending. You get stuck with me.”
“Have you talked to him?”
“What, the new you? No. He was looking at me too weird. Gave me the wiggins.”
“I have.”
“So, he give you the plan on how to stay in Buffylonia?”
“No. No. We talked about you.”
“You mean her. That’s not me.”
“Not yet.”
“Not ever. I mean, did you see her? And I heard what Buffy and Willow were whispering about. She’s half demon. And let me tell you, buster, I’m a hundred percent human woman!”
“I know. I know you’re scared.”
She pursed her lips and he could see the change come over her face. “Don’t…just don’t.”
“It’s all right to be scared. So am I,” he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. He pulled her close, and felt her buckling against him. She finally calmed and looked up at him.
“Why are you here?”
“I needed to find out.”
“Find out what?”
“If he was right about you.”
She stepped back and wiped her eyes, trying not to look at him. She dashed into the bathroom, and he could hear her ripping toilet paper off the roll. “Yeah? So whatcha think?”
“I’m thinking so far, so good.” He sat on the rickety bed, and listened to her sniffle.
“Angel…”
“Cordelia…the other Cordelia…she knew things about me.”
She came out, a long roll of toilet tissue trailing behind her as she wiped her face. “Yeah…”
“Things…things I never told anybody.”
She sat on the bed next to him. “What kind of things?”
“Personal things.”
She looked up at him sideways. “What kind of personal things?”
“She told me …she told me the lullabies my mother used to sing to me…the name I’d wished I’d been able to give a child…”
“You…but I thought…”
“No. Vampires can’t.”
“Then how?”
“I don’t know.”
They sat in silence for a moment before she turned to him again.
“Angel…”
“Connor,” he said.
“What?”
“I’ve always wanted a son named Connor.”
Biting her lip, she said, “That’s a pretty name.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Angel, why'd you tell me that?"
"I don't know. Seemed like the thing to do."
He was amazed as he face broke out in a megawatt smile, the likes of which he’d rarely seen on anyone. But for some reason he got the impression that this was the real Cordelia. Fragile, bright…something hidden behind walls that he was just beginning to see past.
“Did you find out what you came for?" she asked.
“…yeah…I think so.”
“So will you answer me a question?”
“Sure.”
“That other Angel…and Cordelia…are they…?”
He sighed. “Yeah. Yeah, I think so.”
She played with the tissue in her hands, and shyly looked up at him.
“So…how you think that happened?”
He was beginning to get an idea.
The mansion was as he remembered it. Cold, drafty, depressing. He’d never thought about it before, but it was just …cold. He had a fire burning in the fireplace, and he could feel the soft waves of heat licking at his back as he looked out at the moon. He wondered if she could see it.
“You’re here.”
Buffy stood in the doorway, watching him.
“Yeah. I’m here.”
“Should I ask which one you are? Hers or mine?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Guess that answers that question. And enlighten me. It seems like that.”
“I’m sorry for before.”
She stepped into the room and walked toward the fire. “No. I get it. I was attacking your girl.”
“Buffy…”
She quickly faced him. “What happened? How did you go from mine to hers?”
He let the question hang in the air. “Is that what you really want to know?” he said, taking a seat on the couch.
“I want to know why you leave. Why she gets you and I don’t. Is there something wrong with me? Something I can change?”
“No. It’s nothing like that.”
“Then what?”
“I just…Buffy…”
“Tell me.”
“You really want to know. Even though you know you’re going to forget it once we’re gone?”
“Maybe I won’t.”
Angel sighed. “Sit down.”
Taking a seat on the opposite corner of the couch, she stared, waiting.
“In a little while, I start to realize certain things.”
“Certain…like what?”
“You’re only 18 years old.”
“Well, duh. You knew that. Suddenly what, you worry about cradle robbing?”
“No. It’s just that…man, this would be so much easier if…”
“What?”
“I wish I could get the 22 year old version of you and she could tell you all these answers.”
“Well…you can’t.”
“Buffy, I did what you needed. Even though you didn’t like it.”
“And now? I mean, then? She’s okay with you and Cordelia being all…..ugh…I can’t even…”
“She…has her own relationships that I don’t fully understand. Or appreciate, or even like. But they’re hers. And I have to respect that.”
“So what?”
“You remember Spike?”
“What? Yeah, but what does he got to do with…”
“In a few weeks, he’s going to come back to town…and like it or not, he’s going to tell you…tell both of us, the truth. Truth you haven’t been willing to see yet.”
“Spike…is going to tell me the truth? Why do I doubt that?”
Angel slowly smiled. “Because you don’t know him yet.”
“Yet?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t.”
“No.”
“Do you…do you still love me?”
“Yes.”
“Do you love her?”
He didn’t answer.
“Right,” she said.
“It’s not an either/or thing, Buffy.”
“I can’t…”
“You’ll understand in a few years,” he said, standing to stoke the fire.
“You said I’ll forget all this?”
“That’s what Giles told me…”
“God, I hope so.”
He smiled. “I’ll be back.” He walked into the bedroom. Lorne sat in the corner, drinking what he could cobble together of a seabreeze.
“Hey, cupcake.”
“Hey.”
“I couldn’t help but hear…”
“And?”
“And I think you’re right. She doesn’t understand. She can’t. Not yet.”
“I don’t know if I do.”
“Not regretting anything, are you?”
“No. No. I just want to go home. I just…”
“What?”
“I didn’t realize everything had been so …melodramatic.”
“In your life?….Nah….”
The next morning
Holland looked down at his agenda. Merger, merger, chapter 13,…dreary stuff. Then he got to the last item on the list. He looked down the length of the table. “Lindsey? Is this right?”
“Sir?”
“This last item…she’s been sighted? Here? Now?”
“Uh..yes, sir. She was sighted in Caritas two nights ago, and sir…we’ve gotten information that she’s being held by an employee of the mayor of Sunnydale…”
“But our psychics told us she wouldn’t arrive until next year. And that she wouldn’t be fully formed until three years after that.”
“Yes, well. From what our demon resources tell us, she wasn’t fully human. Sir, he was with her.”
“He was?”
“So the time table might be accelerated?”
“Yes.”
“Sir,” said Lilah, hesitantly raising her hand.
“Miss Morgan?”
“Wouldn’t it be…in the best interests of the firm to at least isolate her, after all, she’s supposedly a player in…”
“I know who and what she is. And what she represents for this firm. You say she’s in the custody of a mayor?”
“Yes,” said Lilah, passing a file down the table. “the mayor of Sunnydale…he’s scheduled for ascension in May.”
“Ascension?”
“Yes, he’s not quite to the invulnerability stage.”
“Good, good…so his ego won’t be too large, yet.”
“Hopefully not.”
“Well, make an offer.”
Lindsey smiled. “Already done, sir.”
Part 8
They stood as he entered the room. “Mayor Wilkins, hello,” says Lindsey, extending his hand. “I’m Lindsey McDonald, this is Lilah Morgan. We’re here representing…”
“Wolfram & Hart, I know,” smiled the Mayor, folding his hands across his stomach. “Now what would you big city folks want with a little ol’ civil servant like me?”
“The seer--” started Lilah. Lindsey reached out his hand. She sat back as he leaned forward to do the talking.
“It’s come to our attention,” said Lindsey, “that you have a certain item of some interest.”
“Maybe,” said the Mayor.
“We would be interested in a trade,” said Lindsey.
“A trade?” asked the Mayor. He stood and began to walk around the room. He straightened a picture on the wall. “That’s me and the local Boy Scouts. They’re such troopers,” he grinned.
“I’m sure,” said Lilah.
“So, a trade,” said the Mayor. “Now what could you possibly have that I would want?”
“This,” said Lilah, removing a picture from her briefcase. She handed it to him slowly. He let out a low whistle.
“Boy-howdy…you know just what a little boy wants, don’t ya?”
“One box of Gavrock,” said Lindsey, standing and approaching the Mayor. “Delivered here tonight. We know you’ve been looking for one. This’ll speed up your ascension by what…a month?”
Mayor Wilkins looked up from the picture. “You’ve got yourself a deal, son…”
Giles looked down at the blueprint in front of him, aghast. He looked over to where the two Angels stood in the corner, talking to Lorne. Buffy, Cordelia, and Xander sat at the table, waiting.
“That is your plan?” asked Giles.
“Yes,” said the older Angel.
“Doesn’t it seem a bit…”
“Extreme?” asked Buffy from her seat at the table.
Cordelia sighed. “This from the girl who used a rocket launcher in the mall.”
Buffy winced. Point for Cordelia.
“I just don’t know if something so…direct…will be effective against Ethan,” said Giles.
“Trust me,” said Lorne, “Angelpuss knows what he’s doing.”
“I’m sure that he does,” says Giles.
“I’m just not sure we do,” said Xander.
“When Willow gets here with Gwen and Oz, we’ll be ready to go,” said Buffy.
“What about Faith?” asked one of the Angels. “Isn’t she supposed to…”
“Couldn’t find her,” said Buffy.
“Great,” said Xander. “She’s AWOL.”
“It’s not the first time,” said Buffy.
“No, I’m afraid it’s not,” said Wesley, emerging from the stacks.
“And whose fault is that?” asked Xander.
“It’s Faith’s,” said Buffy. Wesley looked up, surprised that she had come to his defense. “Maybe she’s sick, or something,” continued Buffy.
“Or something,” snarked Cordelia.
Wesley set the book down on the table in front of him and removed his glasses. Buffy almost thought he was going to perform the Giles maneuver. “So,” he started, “let’s see what we know.”
“What’s your big book tell you?” asked Xander.
Before Wesley could answer, a low hum started to pervade the room. Suddenly the space between the table and where Giles stood at the counter appeared to bend and shift. As soon as it began, it was over.
“Okay, what was that?”
“I have no idea,” said Giles.
“The Hellmouth’s not opening, is it?” asked Cordelia.
“No,” said Wesley quietly. “That would be more…”
“Helly,” said Buffy.
“Yes.”
“Angel,” began Giles, walking toward the two vampires.
“YES,” they said simultaneously.
“I’m sorry, uh…future Angel…”
“Yes?”
“You said you were brought to this time through a temporal portal.”
“It wasn’t so much a portal, as I kind of got dizzy, the room began to spin, and suddenly I was somewhere else.”
“The room began to spin?” asked Wesley. “Like what just happened here?”
“I don’t know,” said Angel. “I was on the inside. It didn’t look like that.”
“Great,” says Xander. “What, are we going to have more refugees from ‘This is Your Life’?”
“I hope not,” said Cordelia.
“Me too,” said Buffy. “I don’t think I could take anymore future shock.”
“Are we ready?” asked Angel, looking around the room. Faith had been a no-show, but they still appeared ready.
“Just a second,” said Buffy, handing Xander back a sword. “Just loading up,”
Angel took a moment to calm himself down. They had two vampires, a slayer, and Gwen. The thief stood in the corner, talking to Lorne. Angel smiled to himself as he thought of what her night must have been like.
“How you doing, cutie?” asked Lorne.
“Uh…fine, I guess.”
“Have a nice little slumber party at Willow’s?”
Gwen rolled her eyes. It had been better than she’d expected. She’d actually had fun, listening to Willow go on and on about Buffy, Xander, and high school in general. It had almost seemed normal. But not quite. And she wasn’t about to act like she had enjoyed herself. That just wouldn’t suit the image.
“Oh, we had fun,” said Willow, eavesdropping from where she sat at the table with Cordelia, sharpening stakes. “Until Gwen shorted out the refrigerator.”
“I’m sorry,” said Gwen quietly. “I got hungry.”
“No biggie,” said Willow. “I don’t think anything spoiled.”
Xander attempted to hand Gwen an axe. She looked up at him like he’d grown an extra head. “Thanks…but no,” she said.
“You need to be able to defend yourself.”
“Sorry. I’m not about to play Dungeons & Dragons.”
“Suit yourself,”
Finally, everyone was ready. Even Cordelia had armed herself with a crossbow. Angel led the progression out the double doors. As the doors began to swing close, no one saw what happened in the library. Space again began to warp and bend.
Two figures suddenly appeared. Looking around, the taller looked to his partner and said, “Finally. We just missed them.”
“C’mon, let’s catch up. Before Wesley loses his other arm.”
Cordy heard voices in the hall outside. Voices she recognized. The door opened, and three people walked in . The Mayor and…great.
“Wow, Lilah,” she said. “You look a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you.”
Lilah’s eyes narrowed. “When was that?”
Cordy smiled. “When I shoved a nine inch bone knife through your neck.” Cordy almost laughed. “Well, not me exactly…”
“You saw that in my future?” she asked.
“No, I did that in your future.”
“Enough,” said Lindsey. “When the guards get here with the box, we’ll escort her out.”
“Hey, Lindsey,” said Cordy.
“I don’t think we’ve met,” he said, bending down in front of her. “You know my future, too?”
“Yeah, you sing some James Taylor, get an evil hand, and move back to whatever BFE town you came from.”
Lilah chuckled. “BFE?”
“Yeah,” said Cordy. “Bum Fu-“
“Enough,” said Lindsey. “Mayor, would it be too much trouble to gag her?”
“If you ask nicely.”
“Would you please gag her?”
“Well, that wasn’t so hard,” said the Mayor, signalling to one of his vampire cronies in the hall.
Ethan Rayne walked into the room. “I’m sorry to disturb, but Mayor, I think you’d better come out here…”
“And why is that?”
“The building’s on fire.”
Even with Angel at her side, Buffy had her hands full. The other Angel and Xander had forced their way inside over the flames, leaving Buffy, Angel and the others outside to deal with the guards.
Buffy found herself knocked back into a crate. It shattered beneath her. She was going to have splinters in the morning. The rather large vampire she’d been fighting stalked up to her, smug. She tried to reach for one of the broken pieces. As he reached down to grab her, he exploded into dust.
Buffy looked up at the face of her savior. “Oh…MY …GOD….”
Part 9
Buffy couldn’t believe what she saw. She was looking up…at her own face.
“C’mon,” said the other Buffy, extending her hand. She took it and stood up.
“I don’t understand.”
“Get used to it,” said the other.
Buffy was startled by a voice from behind them. “C’mon, luv, we don’t get in there now, we miss the show.”
She turned to see Spike walking up, an axe in one hand, a sword in the other. He tossed one to the Buffy in front of her, who turned to walk with him. He stopped, and looked back.
“Well, isn’t she a cutie…”
The other Buffy grabbed his arm. “C’mon, you perv.”
“Perv? You don’t know what I was thinking…”
She raised her eyebrows, “Don’t I? Let’s go, that’ll wait till we get home,” she said, turning again to walk into the building. He followed, pleading.
“You promise?”
“Yes…and before you ask, Dawn cut up the cheerleading uniform…”
“Well…damn…”
“That’s what I said.”
They left her standing there, shocked. “I don’t …Am I a…”
Willow walked up next to her, a crossbow in her hand. She hadn’t seen the newcomers.
“What’s wrong, Buffy?”
“Uh…you said only demons could time travel…right?”
“In their own lifetime, yeah. The same two cellular structures can’t exist on the same plane.”
“Huh…Willow, DUCK!”
Willow did as she was told as the vampire who had snuck up behind her turned into dust.
Xander watched as Angel cut a swath through the vampires below. Xander ran up the stairs. The first door he came to was a storage closet. There had to be offices somewhere. He reached for the next door, but it was locked. He was cut short by the voice he heard coming toward him.
“Look’s like Xander’s on the case, pet…”
He looked up to see Spike and Buffy walking toward him. Buffy hardly looked at him, instead addressing the door.
“She in here?”
“That’s what the nose says…”
“Hi, Xander. Step back,” she said, kicking the door open.
“Well, hallelujah, the cavalry’s here,” came Cordy’s voice from somewhere inside.
Spike stepped in and began working on the ropes tying her to the chair.
“Oh…Spike…hey…if you’re here, I guess…”
“Wes got a hold of us,” said Buffy.
“I’m glad he did. Angel here?”
Buffy looked back at Xander. “I don’t know…”
“Uh, yeah,” said Xander, looking back onto the floor of the warehouse. Angel was in the process of ripping the head off a vampire. “He’s here…”
Cordy, wringing her hands from the rope burns, stepped out the door and yelled down.
“HEY!”
Angel looked up, and smiled.
“About time you got here,” said Cordy.
They walked back out on the docks, the warehouse engulfed in flames behind them, to find the other Angel and Buffy finishing off the last of the vampires. Angel could see the other version of himself tense at the sight of Spike.
The younger Angel stepped toward him angrily, “What the HELL do you think you’re…”
The older Buffy stepped in front of Spike. “Don’t even try it.”
Angel, stunned, looked back at the Buffy behind him. She simply shrugged.
“They’re with us,” said Cordy.
Giles was helping Gwen off the ground. He dropped her when he saw the other Buffy. Gwen watched in annoyance as he walked over to see what was happening. Willow stooped to help her.
“What’s going on?” asked Gwen.
“I don’t know,” said Willow. “Let’s go find out.”
They all congregated around. “What is he doing here?” spit Giles.
“It’s okay,” said Cordy. “He’s with us.”
“I don’t understand,” said Xander.
“It’s a long story.”
“Well, you don’t have to go back right now, do you?” asked Willow.
The older Buffy looked at the Angel standing next to her. “I don’t’ guess so.”
As they walked back to the library, Cordelia trailed behind. She had felt like she needed to be there, but had spent most of the time trying not to get killed.
“Hey.”
The future version of herself stood waiting. “Are you coming or not?”
“I..I guess so.”
“Well, come on,” she said.
They lingered behind the others. Cordy saw Angel’s head turn to see where she was. She nodded back in reassurance. He understood. She turned to the girl next to her.
“Listen, I know things are rough right now…”
Ethan Rayne stood next to the Mayor, watching the warehouse burn.
“Well, that was a waste,” said the Mayor. “But another day, another dollar…”
“Yes…I must apologize. I’m afraid when it comes to brute force, I’m rather…”
Wilkins slapped him on the back. “Oh, force, schmorce. Tell me something…”
“Yes?”
“What do you know about candy?”
Later…
Spike watched as Buffy stepped into the house. He could tell that she was nervous by the way that she moved. She looked back at him, and he nodded. “Go ahead,” he whispered. “I’m right here.”
She smiled, and turned back into the house. “Mom,” she said, “I’m home!”
Xander leaned back at the table. “So where did the nouveau versions of Buffy and Spike disappear to?”
Cordy handed Angel a sword. He replaced it in the weapons cabinet. “They said they had an errand to run.”
“Let me get this straight,” said Xander. “In your world, Spike has a soul, too?”
“Yup,” said Angel, not looking back.
“Did he get cursed?” asked Willow.
“No,” said Cordy. “It’s a long story. You can ask him when they get back. I don’t think he’ll tell you, but you can ask him.”
“What do you think they’re doing?” asked Willow.
“Who knows?” said Cordy. “They could be humping like bunnies, for all I know…”
“Eww,” said Xander. “Like that would ever happen…”
Angel and Cordy gave him flat stares. Xander looked quickly between them. Angel simply smiled and nodded.
Xander slammed his head to the table repeatedly. “NO, NO, NO, NO, NO…this is not a good day.”
A few hours later, Spike showed up at the mansion to find Lorne sitting in the main room, playing solitaire. The green demon greeted him warmly. “Willie! Cordy told me you and the puddin’ were here. Care for a game of gin?”
“Actually, came to see what the plan was for getting back.”
“Oh, Cordelicious has the spell all ready to go. We’re just waiting for your honey to get back. Where is she?”
“She had something to do. Should be here later. Where’s Angelus?”
Lorne nodded toward the bedroom. “He and the lady are…busy…”
“Ah,” he said. “then deal me a hand, fine sir…”
“You betcha…”
Lilah and Lindsey hadn’t spoken. The night had been an utter failure. They’d watched the battle from the limousine, and got out when the getting was good. They’d lost the seer, the box…everything.
Lilah finally couldn’t take the silence.
“What are we going to tell Holland?”
“What is there to tell? Are you going to tell him she came from the future…”
“She could’ve been lying…”
“You saw the same thing I did. And unless there’s a whole bunch of twins in Sunnydale…”
“So…we lie.”
“We lie.”
Buffy was startled when she came home to find her mother talking to the weirdo future version of herself. She decided to save her mom the confusion, ran upstairs to her room, and curled up on the bed. She lay there for an hour before there was a knock on the door.
“Go away…”
“It’s me…or you…whatever, let me in.”
“No…”
“Please?”
She quickly stood, opened the door, and without looking, she flopped back down on the bed. She felt the weight shift as the other Buffy sat down next to her.
“What do you want?”
“Just to talk…”
She lifted her head up from the bed to look. The woman sitting on the end of the bed was obviously older, thinner. She had a tired look in her eye.
“Are you a demon?”
“What? No! Why’d you think that?”
“Willow told me humans can’t time travel. Can’t be in two places at the same time. We go boom.”
“Go boom?”
“Go boom.”
“Huh. Well, that’s a hard one to explain.”
“Try.”
“I’m you. But different.”
“Different how?”
“Well…Something happens and you...I was told it was like some kind of cellular tan…”
“But you’re human?”
“Yup.”
“But how’d you know for sure I wouldn’t…”
“Go boom? I didn’t.”
“Oh. That’s reassuring.”
The older woman reached out and brushed a hair out of her face. “I guess this is all kind of confusing, huh?”
“Yeah, first Rambo Cordy shows up like some Sarah Connor from the future all set on getting back HER Angel…then this…”
“I think that’s a mixed movie metaphor, but yeah…I guess this is kind of confusing, isn’t it?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why’s Spike here?”
“Well…Wesley…our Wesley…called us and asked Spike to help. So he did.”
“Wait…called US? Spike lives with you !?”
“Uh…yeah…this is going to be a long night, isn’t it?”
“Yeah…Angel…the other Angel…said he couldn’t explain this…said you could do it better…you got time?”
Buffy sighed. “I’ve guess I’ve got as much time as you need.”
Part 10
She stretched out, luxuriating. She felt like a cat in the sun. Leaning back into the cradle of his arms, she rested her head on his chest. “Mmmm….that was nice.”
“Just nice?” he asked.
“Okay, Angel, it was great. Wonderful. Blissful.”
“Good…Cordy?”
“Yeah?”
“They didn’t hurt you, did they?”
She yawned and said, “No…worst thing about it was when they gagged me.”
Angel laughed. “I can imagine.”
“But after I got that off, I just had to wait. It was no big.”
“I thought Xander said you were tied to a chair.”
“I was.”
“Then how’d you get the gag off ?”
“With my tongue.”
Angel grinned. “You’re good at that.”
“Good at what?”
“Getting things off with your tongue.”
Her head jerked up, and her eyes narrowed. “I cannot believe you just said that.”
“I'm right, aren't I?”
She settled her head back onto its chest. “You know it…Angel?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you get to…you know…talk to yourself?”
“A little. Not much, though. How about you?”
“Yeah. I basically told her everything will be all right.”
He ran his fingers through her hair. The only sound she could hear was her own breathing.
“Angel?”
“I should’ve talked to her. I meant to, just every time I…”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I should’ve made a point of it.”
“What would you have told her?”
He looked down at her, and smiled. “I would’ve thanked her.”
“Thanked her? For what?”
“For the woman she’s going to become.”
She smiled up at him. “You are the biggest sap.”
“I know.”
“Don’t change.”
“I won’t if you won’t.”
“So let me get this straight,” asked Buffy. “You trust Spike?”
“Yes,” said her older counterpart.
“Okay…again, why?”
The older Buffy looked at herself, and sighed. She’d forgotten what it was like. Everything had been so much simpler then. Now. Whatever.
“He …he made it impossible for me not to.”
“So he helps.”
“He helps.”
“And he’s got a soul. Like Angel?”
“Yup,” she said, starting to blush. “Well, not quite like Angel…”
“What’s so funny?”
“He’s uh…” she looked around the room, trying how to best explain this. This was going to be the hardest part for her younger self to understand. But she had asked. “He’s got no happy clause.”
“No happy…then you….EWWW….NO,” she squealed, hopping up from the bed and walking around the room. “Please don’t tell me you just said that….that is so…so not good….why…why are you laughing?”
Buffy was trying to keep a straight face. “Oh, it is so good, you just don’t know…”
Her younger self blinked. “You're a slut, aren’t you? That’s my fate, I’m going to be a slutty slayer…”
“No…no, you’re not…”
“So explain Spike…”
“He loves me. You. Us.”
The other girl stared at her. “You really believe that, don’t you?”
“He’s proven it. Time after time after time after time after…”
Buffy held up her hand. “I get the point.”
“He got his soul back for me.”
That stunned the younger version into silence.
“Yeah…so I tend to believe him.”
“Your life…sounds crazy.”
“Yup. Livin’ the vida loca.”
“What?”
“Never mind. Listen…I know you won’t remember this after I’m gone…but there’s some things you’ve got to remember….”
“What?”
“There’s a lot you’re going to learn in the next few years…but what I wished I had learned earlier was how to forgive,” she said as she stood. She reached out and brushed a hair away from the younger girl’s face. “Once you learn how to forgive…yourself, too…things get a lot easier. Now c’mon…I want you to meet Spike.”
“I’ve already met him.”
“Not really.”
They walked into the mansion to find Lorne and Spike still playing cards. Gwen stood over in one corner. She looked impatient.
Spike looked up and nodded as they came into the room. “Hello, luvs, just finishing off Lorne here. You have a good talk?”
“Yeah,” said the older Buffy. She pointed to Gwen. “What’s her deal?”
“Oh, she’s waiting for the key to Oz,” said Lorne, counting what little money he had left.
“Oh…that’s all.” She looked back at the girl behind her. “Spike…this is me…Me…Spike.”
Spike nodded, a gentle smile on his face. “Hello, Buffy. Pleased to meet you. Again.”
“Hi.”
“See…he doesn’t bite…”
“Slayer…”
“Okay, unless you ask him.”
They looked up to see Angel and Cordelia walking in from the bedroom.
“I take it you’re ready to go?” asked Spike.
“Oh, yeah,” said Cordy. “More than ready.”
Gwen stepped forward from the corner. “Hey…what about me?”
“What about you?” asked one of the Buffys.
“Cordelia promised me some information….”
“Oh, yeah,” said Cordelia. She walked back into the bedroom and came back with a sheet of paper and a pen.
Lorne started on the workings of the spell. “Step into the circle, kiddies.”
The two Buffys hugged, and the older Buffy smiled as the younger exchanged a hesitant moment with Spike. He let her off easy with a handshake.
Cordy handed the piece of paper to Gwen. Gwen studied it for a moment. “What the hell does this mean?”
“Just what it says?”
“Lisa? Lisa what? Lisa Simpson? This is…”
“Trust me,” said Cordelia. “Keep the sheet of paper. When the time comes, you’ll know what it means. C’mon, Lorne,” she said, “let’s get this show on the road.”
“All aboard, sugar…”
Gwen grimaced as the air in front of her began to stretch and warp until it snapped like a rubber band. Looking around the room, she realized she didn’t know where she was. The room was empty save for a blonde girl, who was staring at her like she had just had her head cut off.
“Who are you?”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Does Angel know you’re here?”
“Who the hell’s Angel?”
On the other side of town…
Angel looked through the rain at the motel in front of him. He had come here for a reason but he couldn’t remember what it was. From somewhere in the distance, he heard someone crying. It was a sound he hated to hear. But it was none of his business.
Not yet.
End.