What would have happened if the Groosalugg had not shown up at the end of "Waiting in the Wings" and Angel would have gotten out his decleration of love? How would it have changed the outcome of coming events?

Disclaimer: Most of the characters, an all the major characters, were created by Joss Wheadon and the other Buffyverse writers. The copyright on them is owned by their creators and the respective production studios.


Giles sat in his living room, drinking a nice cup of tea while reading a new edition on the crimes of some 17th century sorcerer, who had been banished into some pocket dimension for those. He had to shake his head at some of the parts of the tale. Not only because they were so unbelievable that he was a bit ashamed for a Watcher to have written this, but the claim that some man in a blue box, wearing a rainbow coloured costume, was somehow responsible for the sorcerer meeting his end, was probably the most laughable part of it all. It wasn't the first time Giles had discovered a mention of some eccentric English man travelling in a blue box in one of these books, but this was the most laughable description of the man he had ever read up until now.

The weirdness of it all had nearly caused him to slam the book shut and watch television instead. He knew the other Watchers frowned upon it, a lot of them didn't even own a television set. Giles himself used to look down onto the idea of spending his free time watching television as well, but after losing one's jobs there was only so much free time one could have without finally indulging himself into the world of moving pictures.

After reading through another particularly ludicrous part, he just groaned and got up. Taking his tea with him, he decided to go outside for a moment. It was a beautiful early spring day in Bath, the town he was currently residing in. Just as he was about to leave the room, his phone rang. Worried, Giles looked at his watch. It was just past ten, meaning it was the middle of the night in Sunnydale, but that didn't really matter, considering it's location on a hellmouth.

Hoping that it was just the Council, he picked up the phone. "Rupert Giles," he answered.

"Hello, Giles, Cordelia here," replied a female, American voice.

"Cordelia," Giles asked slowly before realising who it was. "Cordelia," he repeated, now sounding kind of happy. "This is a surprise."

"I know," she answered, trying to sound happy as well, but failing at it.

"To what do I owe this pleasure. I mean, it's the middle of the night in California right now. You still live in Los Angeles, right?"

Cordelia laughed at this. "Yes, I still live in Los Angeles and I still work together with Angel, nothing much changed in that regard," she said.

Giles nodded, even though he knew that she couldn't see him. He wondered what had changed in her life since he last heard of her. He had not talked to Cordelia since she had left Sunnydale nearly three years ago, and the last time he had seen Angel was at Joyce's funeral last year and he had not really talked to him back then. He really had no idea how things were in Los Angeles at the moment, even less than how things were back in Sunnydale.

"Actually, some things have changed, rather dramatically I might add," Cordelia suddenly said, sparking Giles's interest.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, and that's partially why I called you, especially at this time. You see, there's this prophecy that Wes is working on. He doesn't know that I know that he has already translated it. And, you see, I believe there to be something very fishy about the whole thing."

"How so," Giles asked, wondering what kind of explanation Cordelia would give.

"It lines up too perfectly. I mean, I know that most prophecies are vague or just vague enough to leave some room for interpretation because nobody can really predict the future completely accurate. But with this one, everything, and I mean everything, seems to line up just a little bit too well. And that Wolfram & Hart are clearly dabbling in this matter as well, helping things along, is not really easing my suspicion about this."

Giles was surprised. This was actually a very thoughtful and reasonable argument for taking a closer look at a prophecy. "Why do you not tell Wesley? I'm certain that he would understand..."

"No," Cordelia interrupted. "Giles, like I said, a lot of things happened here. The prophecy is kinda... personal. And right now Wesley is a bit paranoid, and I think being the only single in the group causes him to feel left out."

Giles was a bit surprised about this argument. Not about the paranoid part or how the former would feel left out because he was the only single. What he was surprised about, was Wesley being the only single. Did that mean that Angel had a girlfriend? Or did he and Buffy somehow had entered a long distance relationship? Considering how little contact he and Buffy sadly had these days, he supposed it was a possibility.

"Giles, you still there," Cordelia asked when Giles remained quiet for too long.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. Now, Cordelia, if you really believe the prophecy to be false, and you do not want Wesley to take a second look at it, I really don't know how I might be able to help you."

"You could take a look at it yourself," Cordelia said. "I might no longer be rich, but Angel and I would pay for your flight here, and I've got a couch you could sleep on for a night or two, however long it would take for you to check up on this thing," she offered.

Giles was surprised. "Cordelia, I..."

"Please, Giles," Cordelia begged. "This is important, and I mean really important."

Giles sighed. Something about Cordelia's voice told him that this was personal for her, and the truth was that he had to go to California in a few days anyway for Anya and Xander's wedding. "Alright, but maybe I should get a hotel anyway."

"If you want to. I won't have a problem with you staying here, and..." There was a pause that surprised Giles, until he remembered that Cordelia must have had a boyfriend or something even more serious if Wesley was the sole single in their group. She was probably checking up with him if it was okay for Giles to stay at their place. "Dennis says he's okay with it as well."

"And Dennis would be...?"

"My housemate. But don't worry, you won't see him," Cordelia explained, with a slight tease in her voice.

Giles sighed again. "Okay, I'll try to take the next possible flight to Los Angeles."

"Good. Call me if you get here," Cordelia replied and then hung up.

Giles shook his head, and wrote down the number from which she had called, assuming that it had been her home number. Then he headed upstairs to his bedroom, ready to pack. This day was going down a completely different route than he had expected.