Changing Time

Disclaimer: Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and any other related characters of the two series are property of Joss Whedon. I do not own anything.

Summary: Angel receives two unexpected visitors who reveal a much larger conspiracy going on in the world around him.

Rating: Some language. Beware.

Notes: Set during post Buffy Season 7 and during Angel Season 5. I just wrote this for fun. It was inspired by the Illyria episode, with Angel calling Giles. I hope you like it. Just so you know Fred is not Illyria in this story. ______________________________________________________________________

Part I

She looked up quietly into her older brother's young face. He was very tall, but she bent her head back so that she could look at him. He seemed deeply concentrated on another matter; thinking so intently that he was staring off into space. He finally caught her glance and turned and smiled at her. He had a very warm smile. She shook his hand, indicating to him to bend down. He kneeled before her and looked at her sweetly. "Yes?" he asked gently.

"Are we done yet? I'm tired." Her brother smiled at her and took her into his arms. He stood up, his sister's head now resting on his shoulder, her small arms draped around his neck. He replied soothingly, "Just stay awake a little while longer. We're almost done." The elevator music was beginning to annoy him; it was some stupid techno song that kept repeating itself. It was making him feel uneasy. He tried to block it out, he had to stay focused. He looked over at his companion, she stood with her arms crossed around her chest; calm, patient, focused and determined.

The elevator was quickly approaching the floor they were going to.

"Alexa?" he said to his small sister.

She looked up at him with very tired eyes, "Yeah?" she replied.

"We're about to get off at our floor, I just wanted to tell you, that you might see some things that might scare you. But, I don't want you to be afraid, because they won't hurt you. Kimberly and I won't let anything happen to you. Okay?" The girl shook her head, "Okay," she said innocently. Kimberly looked at him worriedly, but she respected his judgment. She wasn't sure if this was the correct choice of action to bring Alexa here after everything that had happened to her. They were after all walking into a den of evil. But, she knew that Angel had to be involved in the matter at hand. And if it meant going into Wolfram and Hart to talk to him, then it had to be done. The elevator ping was soon heard and they got out of the elevator. All around them, there was noise and telephones ringing, people talking and computers being worked on. They walked forward scanning the area; no one seemed to take notice of them. It was very bright in the hallway and there were hundreds of lawyers and paralegals. He turned and Kimberly followed him. They crossed the path from the elevator, past the grand stair case, heading toward the office of the President of Wolfram and Hart. "Excuse me!" a young, cheery, annoying voice called after them.

Harmony had been working diligently on Angel's schedule all morning. Appointments had to be altered, plans changed, new appointments scheduled and appointments made for other days. She caught herself thinking back to how she never did this much work when she was in high school. The answer was obviously no: she hardly did any work in high school. This was the hardest she had ever worked in her life: alive and dead. She was picking up the phone when she saw two teenagers casually stroll past her desk heading for Angel's office. "Excuse me!" she said standing up. The two teenagers stopped abruptly, turning around and looked at her with far away looks; stares that seemed to be full of wisdom and knowledge. The male teenager scared her more than the girl. In the boy's arms sat a small little girl, no older than five. Harmony could see that she was tired; her head had snuggled close to the boy's shoulder.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked.

The teenaged girl responded: "We're here to see Angel." The girl was straight and to the point. Harmony was almost knocked down by her words.

"Well, I don't see two teenagers with a kid with an appointment to see Angel here on my appointment pad. You better have a good excuse or I call security."

"You need not concern yourself with that," the boy's deep voice said emotionlessly, "We're here to see him." The boy began to walk forward, flanked by his companion. Harmony pressed the secret security button under her desk and then jumped over her desk and raced after the two teenagers to stop them from walking straight into Angel's office. With vampire induced speed, she raced past the fast walking teenagers and stood in front of them with her hands extended, barricading them from taking another step closer. "Hey, I don't know who you guys think you are, but you are not walking in there!" The two teenagers looked at her weirdly and then chuckled to each other. "Do you really think you could stop us?" the girl asked with a laugh. Harmony was insulted. "There's something you ought to know you little punks!" Harmony said with anger rising in her voice as she changed her face to its vampire form. The little girl turned away in fear, burying her head deep into the boy's shoulder.

Harmony looked into both of the teens faces, and she knew that they were unafraid of the change in her face. They just looked at her as if she was normal and nothing had happened. The scene was starting to cause people to stop and look at what was happening. She soon heard the rushing feet of the alerted guards. She smiled and put her hands on her waist, "If I can't stop you, then they will." The armed security guards suddenly appeared on the balconies and in the lobby, all with .45s and small machine guns armed and loaded and locked onto their targets. "Hey, it's just a bunch of kids!" one of them stated. Harmony smiled ear to ear at the two teenagers; she was pleased with herself. The boy and the girl looked around, analyzing what was going on around them. "Now, you can either leave, or you can surrender." Harmony stated.

The boy looked at Kimberly, "How are your skills these days, Kim?" She smiled at him, placing both her hands on her waist, "Never better Matt." The boy hugged his sister tightly, keeping her close to him. "This is useless, but if need be, do you think you could take them all?" Kimberly smiled at him with confidence, "It's been awhile since I've taken on so many soldiers. But all in all…I think I can take them." The boy looked back at Harmony with his piercing blue eagle like eyes. Harmony looked back at him, he was totally unafraid and so was his girlfriend. "Well, we know our course, Kim," she shook her head in agreement, "We can't go back and we have to see Angel." He looked at Harmony, "I don't want to disturb the peace. What are the terms if we surrender?" Harmony smiled at the thought of victory: "You still leave," she stated forcefully.

"My companion and I will not leave. I don't care what's going on right now, but we're seeing Angel," the boy replied determined. Harmony smiled, she loved a fight, "Whatever!" she said unconcerned and uncaring. She turned to the captain of the guards and nodded to him. The captain waved his hand and members of his team began to advance forward.

The little girl's grip tightened around his neck, "I'm scared!" she said. The boy cooed to her, "Shah, it's going to be alright, nothing is going to happen to you. I promise." He looked out of the corner of his eyes to Kimberly. "Don't you worry, Matt, I can take theses guys, you just take care of Alexa. Keep her safe." The boy shook his head. "I'm sorry I can't help. You would be done quicker if I was helping. Just be careful. I'd take out the guys at the top if I were you." Kimberly winked at him. The guards advanced to them slowly unsure of what these two intruders were going to do. They were just a bunch of kids who were being really stupid, they thought. The girl smiled and then suddenly rushed forward. She leapt into the air and struck the first guard across the face with a kick. She cart wheeled and shoved both feet into the face of another guard. She flipped onto her feet and crashed her hand into the face of the next guard. Two guards rushed her and she jumped and kicked them both in the face with her feet. Harmony was in shock, the girl had stopped the first set of five guards. The very best trained were now lying on the floor unconscious. Another set of guards advanced forward and again the girl rushed them, knocking the gun out of the lead guard's hand and kicked him halfway across the room. A spin kick easily disarmed the second and she did the same thing again to the remaining guards. It was now hand to hand; the guards surrounded her, circling her. She studied them intently, waiting for them to make the first move; two rushed her from the sides. She spun and kicked one in the face, performed a leap frog over his head, spun and kicked him out of the way. She blocked two hits from the second guard and then punched him in the face. The other two rushed her and she jumped and kicked them both in the heads. One went down, the other disoriented. She ran toward him kicked him in the chest and in the same motion used him to jump into the air and onto the second level.

Harmony was in disbelief, she couldn't believe what she was witnessing. She thought Buffy was good, but the stunts this girl was pulling off were incredible. She soon heard the struggle from upstairs, guns going off, other guards falling down from the balcony and crashing onto the floor. She noticed that the boy was still standing before her, unmoving, watching his friend intently; his arms bound fast around the little girl. The boy caught her gaze as she pointed at him and the other guards started to advance toward him. With the initial gun shots that were fired from the second balcony, the guards started to open fire at him. He ran, ducking and dodging bullets that were flying and whizzing past him. His sister was frightened and screaming. He jumped and dove for cover under Harmony's desk. The bullets started to whiz past the desk, passing threw it, saw dust spraying everywhere. The guards moved in closer. They had the boy cornered.

Angel had been first disturbed by Harmony's piercing voice and thought originally that it was just some person who didn't have an appointment and just wanted to see him unexpectedly. He thought that Harmony could handle it until he heard the rushing feet of the guards and then the fighting and the gun shots. "What the Hell is going on out there?" he thought. Apparently, what ever the situation was had now gotten way too out of hand. He got up from his desk and grabbed a sword from the wall and marched to the doors. As he opened them, he saw the guards advancing toward Harmony's desk while Harmony was cheering them on. He grabbed her arm and turned her around, and came face to face with her vampire face. "What is going on here?" he demanded. She was about to answer when a large scream was heard from above on the second level. The scream was so loud that the windows of the different offices shattered and people had to cover their ears because of the pitch. Angel was concerned about the windows that protected him and Harmony from the sun and quickly looked up, there didn't seem to be any damage done to them.

Angel looked back at the scene and then saw a girl, with two falcon like wings on her back fly down from the second floor and attack the remaining guards. She was agile and quickly took two guards down. Two had guns trained on her, but out of no where, she produced two swords and cut the guns in half. She jumped and split kicked the guards. She ran forward toward the last guard, cut his gun in half and with the hilt of her sword punched him in the face. There was one more guard who had advanced around the desk, but he soon went crashing into the Wolfram and Hart insignia on the wall and then landed unconscious. The hallway was now a wreck, littered with spent bullets, guards lying on the floor, blood and broken glass. The cleaning crew was going to have a field day Angel thought. He picked his sword up again and surveyed the situation. The girl turned and looked at him and smiled at him. "Ah, you're just the man we wanted to see." Kimberly spun her swords around in a circle and then sheathed the swords at her sides.

There was movement behind Harmony's desk and the boy stood up, shaken, but alive. He seemed to be talking to someone and Angel realized he was holding a little girl. Angel turned with his own vampire face and stared angrily at Harmony. "What?" she yelled, sounding scared. Angel shouted at her through clenched teeth, "He was holding a child! He was holding a child and you allowed them to fire at him! You allowed them to fire at him with bullets while he was holding a child!"

"I thought they were hostile! I mean, look what they did to the hallway!" Harmony protested.

"He was holding a child!" Angel shouted again. Wesley, Gunn, Fred and Spike soon rushed into the hallway, Wesley with two hand guns, Gunn with a sword, Fred holding an axe, Spike also with a sword. "What happened?" Wesley called out. Angel's vampire face faded back to his normal features, "I'm talking to you later!" he said to Harmony whose face had also returned to normal. She held both of her hands, and bowed her head sadly, a frown on her face. She felt like a child who had been scolded by her mother. Angel walked forward, looking at the two teenagers before him. The girl's wings were gone, and she looked at him with interest; her hands on her waist. The boy was still talking to the girl, trying to calm her down. "Didn't you just have wings?" he began as he looked at the girl

"Angel!" Fred called out, "What happened?" Angel was shaken from his line of questioning and looked up at Fred, "A misunderstanding I think." Angel looked back to the two teenagers, they seemed to be unhurt, the little girl in the boy's arms seemed to be calming down; tears rolled down both her cheeks as the boy comforted her. "Nobody is hurt are they?" asked Angel, his first question all but forgotten. The boy shook his head no. The boy looked up at Angel, his stare seemed to be like arrows, piecing through him, like he was looking straight into his soul. "So, I understand you two wanted to see me," Angel said. The girl shook her head yes. Fred walked down the stairs and stood by Angel's side.

She saw that there were two teenagers standing with him in the center of the whole episode that just took place. The boy teenager was tall about as tall as Spike, with dark golden blonde hair and pale white skin, like he hadn't been in the sun much. He had dashing dark blue eyes, his very stare seemed to look into anything and find the truth hidden there. The girl had dark skin and her hair was tied in dread locks. The boy walked forward and handed the little girl he was holding to her. The little girl looked frightened and scared. She seemed to long for the boy's embrace again. "Please, check my sister and my friend just in case." Fred was over taken by his manner; she didn't hear someone like him that often. Fred nodded her head and she and the girl walked away. Kim looked at her hands, they were bloody a little, some cuts and bruises, nothing some band aids could take care of. She talked to Alexa the whole way to keep her calm while she was in Fred's arms.

"Who are you guys?" Angel asked. Wesley and Gunn had now taken up positions near him. Spike stood a little farther away surveying the scene, "Yea, and what happened to the wings she was just sprouting?" Spike asked.

"Friends!" the boy stated bluntly in answer to Angel's question. "Follow me into my office!" Angel said to his companions and the boy. "Everything is still a little hostile out here." They turned and walked into his office. Angel replaced the sword onto the wall and sat down. The boy took the left seat that faced Angel's desk while Spike stood near the boy, guarding against any eventuality. Gunn looked out the window while Wesley took up a position next to Angel's desk. "Who are you?" Angel asked. The boy tilted his head, "My name is Matthew."

"Why did you two come through here like that?"

"What just happened moments ago was not our intention. We came here seeking you and I am afraid that things got out of hand." Spike took out a cigarette. "What's the deal with the wings?" he asked lighting the cigarette.

"Why are you here?" asked Wesley. Spike let out an annoyed breath because his one question was still not being answered. Matthew was about to respond to both questions when the doors opened and Fred entered with Kim who was holding Alexa's hand. Spike put out the cigarette and let out another annoyed breath and crossed his arms across his chest.

"How is she?" asked Matthew.

Fred smiled. "She is okay and so is your friend. There is nothing wrong with your sister, but your friend only has a few cuts and bruises but nothing too bad." Alexa let go of Kimberly's hand and rushed to Matthew. He quickly got up from his chair and picked her up into a hug. Fred smiled sweetly as she walked up to Wesley and put her arm around his waist. Kimberly sat down and Matthew sat Alexa down in his seat; kneeling down next to her. "You didn't answer the questions." Gunn reminded the teenager in front of him. Matthew looked at Gunn and then back to Angel. He saw Spike out of the corner of his eye, awaiting a response. Angel sat patiently waiting for an explanation.

Matthew looked to Kimberly with questioning eyes.

"Tell them, Matt." She said insistently. He let out a breath and looked at Spike and then to Angel. "We're angels, Angel once known as Angelus and Spike once known as William the Bloody."

Kimberly slapped him across his arm. "How many times do I have to tell you not to use titles? Just call them by their given names. The ones they have now!" All eyes were on the two teenagers. They chuckled to themselves a little at how the boy's companion was trying to teach him. Angel and Spike did not laugh at anything; they were very intent on discerning the truth of the situation.

"Come again?" asked Spike.

"We're angels." Matthew repeated. "I don't think I need to show you proof of that."

"Agreed!" Angel replied. "Why are you here?" he asked again.

"I have recently found out that my sister, though she is very young, is a Slayer."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" asked Wesley.

"Some months ago, she was waking up with terrible and explicit nightmares. The dreams wouldn't let her rest. I concluded that she was a potential and now, because of the battle with The First in Sunnydale, Alexa's slayer powers were activated." Angel looked at the little girl. "Alexa?" Angel asked. The little girl looked at him. "What kind of dreams do you have?" The little girl looked at her brother. "It's alright Alexa, you can tell him," Matthew said reassuringly. The girl looked back at him with tired sad eyes.

"Very bad dreams; they are always very dark and very, very scary dreams! There always dark and I see people dying and monsters killing stuff and people. And there's always this girl, trying to fight them. Sometimes she dies. Sometimes, I think it's me." The girl's eyes were clouded with tears and she hugged her older brother. Angel was convinced and he looked to Spike and Wesley. "What do you guys say?"

"She's definitely a Slayer!" Spike responded immediately. "I can smell it."

"If the dreams are this powerful to shake her like this then yes I agree, she is a Slayer. But, more testing would have to be done." Angel smiled as he heard the Watcher in Wesley's reasoning. Angel shook his head in agreement; he like Spike could also smell the scent of the girl.

"Okay, what do you need from me?" Angel asked Matthew.

"I know you knew the Slayer from Sunnydale, and from what my sources say her Watcher is now in control of the Watcher's Council. I need you to contact them. I don't have the resources to take care of my sister. The best thing I can do for her is to get her to someplace where they can take care of her."

"What do your parents have to say about all this?" asked Fred. Matthew reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a newspaper. He unraveled it and spread it out on Angel's desk, pointing at an article. Angel picked up the paper and began to read the headline: "Family Found Murdered." He turned his eyes to the subtitle, "Oldest son and youngest daughter missing." Angel looked at the article and the picture and then looked at Matthew. "This is your family?" he asked. Matthew shook his head: yes. Angel continued reading: "A small suburban family was found dead yesterday in their home. Police are baffled as to how the murders took place. No weapons or answers have been found as to how the family was murdered nor was there anything stolen." Angel stopped reading.

"What happened to them?" Angel asked.

"Vampires." Matthew responded.

Angel put the paper down, "I can easily get in contact with Rupert Giles, the man now in control of the Watcher's Council. But, I don't know how well a call from me would be received."

"Yeah, we're not on their Christmas card list anymore." Spike interjected.

"We'll try and help you as best we can." Angel assured Matthew. The little girl yawned. "Do you guys have a place to stay tonight?" Angel asked.

"No, we don't." Kimberly replied.

Angel stood up. "You're welcomed to stay with me."

Matthew picked Alexa up. "I hope we will not be a problem." Angel smiled at Matthew. "No, you won't, I'm glad to do it." Angel directed them toward the elevator that led to his apartment. "Still helping the helpless." Angel muttered to himself under his breath. Matthew turned. "But, there is still one more thing I must tell you." The phones started ringing. "A little later. Let's get you guys settled first." Angel said.

"But, it is of great importance," Kimberly interjected.

"Can it wait?" Angel asked Matthew.

"No, if I don't tell you now, more slayers could die." Angel stared at Matthew.

"Here, I'll take Alexa." Kimberly offered. Matthew handed Alexa to her and Wesley showed them the way to Angel's apartment. The others looked at Matthew. "What do you have to tell me?" asked Angel.

"We've only learned of it in the last month or so. But, someone has been disclosing the locations of Slayers all over the world to vampires and other demons. My source is unsure how the information is being disclosed, or who it is that is disclosing it, but the situation with my sister is not the first. If you check local newspapers, national newspapers, even global newspapers, there are strange deaths everywhere. All of them young girls between the ages of six and sixteen and getting younger." Angel looked at Matthew seriously. "You must get in contact with Buffy and her friends soon." Matthew said pleadingly.

Angel shook his head. "Harmony!" he called. She walked into his office, a questioning look on her face, "Yea?" she replied. Angel turned to her. "Cancel all of my appointments for the rest of the day."

******

Angel was lost deep in his thoughts, he and his friends had been working on the situation of the Slayers since Matthew had told them. Indeed it was true, there were many girls turning up dead across the country and the world. Wesley was busy searching his books while Gunn was calling every supernatural prophet in the world to find out what was going on.

It was still early in the day, but Matthew had put his sister to bed, she was exhausted. She was afraid to go to sleep. Matthew stayed with her until she fell asleep. Angel smiled at the site he saw of Matthew comforting his sister to sleep. Holding her hand, it reminded him of when he used to talk with his little sister all those years ago in Ireland. That big teenager unafraid to act like a big brother. Angel knew right then and there that he had to do something about the Slayer situation.

******

He leaned back into the chair, staring at his cell phone. He had all the information he needed; all he had to do was make the call. Matthew had come all the way to him to seek help for his sister. Why did he find himself unable to do this little thing for him? To help him now? He could tell that he was very honest, he had answered every one of their questions right off the bat with the absolute truth. Why was he having so much trouble dialing the number?

"Are you going to pick up that phone anytime during the night?" asked Spike.

"I will, I'm just thinking."

"About what, Angel? About what they might say? Come on mate, there used to be a time that you never cared about what people used to think. Why've you gotten this way?"

"I don't know…maybe I just don't want to hear their condemnation," Angel replied reluctantly, "I always try to help them and whenever I ask for help its like I'm asking them to restore my soul or something?"

Spike sighed, "I got that too. They think they are all so smart, but you know they always needed a little help. But, you know when I had something to add that would help them and they didn't even bother to listen, I still said it. Always wanted to kill Xander, he would never shut up."

Angel laughed, "I know what you mean."

Spike shot up from where he was sitting, "There, that's what I mean. Why should we take their shit like that? I mean, if it weren't for bloody us, they would have died years ago." Angel smiled at Spike. Even though at first they didn't trust one another when he showed up in L.A. as a ghost, they had wound up becoming, dare he say it, some what like friends, like their old times.

"So, pick up that phone mate. Don't listen to anything in there voices, that little girl upstairs needs your help. You tell 'em what you need and tell them to get their winy asses over here. Tell them about this situation." Angel shook his head, still staring at the cell phone.

"Or is it her?" Spike asked. Angel tightened his fist, "Don't go there Spike!" Spike pointed at him, "There! There! Every time I try to bring her up, you scamper away like you're a hurt child." Angel banged his fist on the desk. "STOP SPIKE!" Spike was silent for a second and then spoke slowly, "Remember that time when I came back, after Dru left me?" Angel shook his head,

"Yeah."

"And I told you two that you would always be together, that you were made for each other."

"Yes!" Angel replied annoyed.

"Well, it still stands mate!" Angel looked at Spike through the corner of his eyes, "What?" Spike sat down annoyed that he had to go through this.

"Look Angel, I had been with Buffy before Sunnydale went down the drain. I have to admit, I don't know why I was drawn to her; I just was. There was something about her; I can't place my finger on it. That stupid chip in my head actually made me think for once in my undead life."

"That's a first!" Angel joked.

"Let me finish you, Git! My point is, even when I slept with her, I knew it was you she was thinking of. Do you have any idea how jealous I am of you?" Angel looked at Spike weirdly. The thought of him and Buffy together was repulsive to him. And he wanted to beat Spike every time he thought about it. But, that he was actually making sense annoyed him even more because he regarded Spike as a child. Plus, the thought of Spike being jealous of him was equally more repulsive. What was even more disturbing to Angel was that he was the one jealous of Spike. He got be with Buffy. He didn't like the thought, but Spike had gotten to be with her. Something that Angel was not allowed and couldn't ever do again.

"What are you getting at Spike?"

Spike sighed, annoyed, "That no matter how far she had grown or how far you were away from her, she still loved you. No matter what I did, I knew she still loved you. I tried to comfort her that night before we fought The First. She told me I gave her strength, but I knew it wasn't enough to keep her going. Whatever strength I gave her wasn't enough. It wasn't until she saw you that she was ready and beyond determined to defeat The First."

Angel stared off in the distance, "I know she didn't love me, Angel. I don't know why I fell for her or why she slept with me. I think she saw me as a supplement, I was you, but I wasn't. I don't want that. And if that's how she's going to treat me, then forget her."

Spike picked up the cell phone and handed it to Angel, "Now you dial that number, mate, and get the Scooby gang over here. And tell Willow I said hi." Spike smiled and walked out of the office.

Was it true? Did Buffy still love him after all of this time? Could she? Of course you moping dummy, why do you think you were so damn jealous whenever you saw her with another guy? He would have to reflect on that later. He clicked into the call list and found Giles' number. Spike was right, he couldn't relent. Matthew's sister's future was on the line. Damn all their feelings, their help was needed. He clicked the send button and waited for a response. What ever happened, he would take it from there.