This is going to be a one-shot episode rewrite.
Today is the first anniversary of when I first started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so there will be a little cameo of me in the end.
Angel lovers, do yourselves a favor and avoid this fic because this isn't going to be kind to him.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Buffy wasn't usually one to trust her intuition, but she saw the pain in Cordelia's eyes as she walked out of The Bronze and decided to follow her out into the alley.
"Hey, Cordelia?" Buffy asked. "Wait up."
Cordelia turned around and scoffed. "Did Xander send you to beg for him? Because if he did-"
Buffy put up her hands defensively. "I'm a free agent, I promise. I just wanted to see how you are."
Cordelia frowned and said sarcastically, "Never been better."
"No - hey... I was just going to say - if there's anything I can do...If you need anything-" Buffy tried to take a step closer, only for Cordelia to push Buffy aside.
"You know what I need? To be rid of Xander and all things Xander - like his spooky entourage."
The brunette turned on her heels and began to walk away.
"Please. Cordelia. I know what it's like to be hurt by someone. Hurt so much - you think you're not going to make it."
The pain in Buffy's voice was obvious. She turned around and saw Buffy with a sad smile on her face.
"The only thing that helped? I told my friends how I felt. And it got a little better. Come back inside, please? O-or we can have hot chocolate in my house."
"I think the idea of hot chocolate would be nice," Cordelia said. "And I kind of want to be somewhere quiet right now."
Buffy nodded and walked with Cordelia to her car. The two girls went to Buffy's house and continued their conversation over hot chocolate.
###
The next day, Anya found Cordelia waving goodbye to Buffy as the Slayer went off to another class.
"Since when did you start hanging out with Buffy?" Anya asked.
"Since last night," Cordelia asked. "Funny thing about women. It seems like when it comes to being dumped, we will always choose each other over the guys, even if Xander is her friend."
"Really…"
"Yeah. Buffy and I started laughing about stupid stuff that our exes did to look cool. And she told me some embarrassing stuff about Xander. But after I left, I realized that I've been asking myself a lot this last week 'Why me?' but then, when Buffy told me about everything she went through with Angel, I realized that I got off easy! Xander didn't turn into a serial killer and started screwing Willow behind my back. Xander didn't put up this act of being all mysterious only to give the minimal amount of help. And Xander never needed that much hair gel!"
"Maybe you should give this to Buffy," Anya said. She took off her necklace and slipped it onto Cordelia's neck. "It could cheer her up."
"Actually, I kind of like it."
"Oh good! I got that for you. Consider it a thank you gift for helping me get used to this place."
"Thanks, Anya."
The two girls headed off to class and passed by Buffy and Willow, who were standing by their lockers.
"I think that if you and Oz were meant to be, Willow, you two will be able to work things out," Buffy said. "He'll forgive you. I had to forgive Angel after all. It's something soul mates do."
A raging fire quickly filled Cordelia as she stormed towards Buffy. "No way in this Hellmouth is Angel your soulmate, Buffy! I cannot believe how blind you are! I wish that your real soul mate could've come to Sunnydale because you have no idea what real love actually is!"
All of a sudden, Anya's face distorted into a hideous demonic visage, "Done!"
For a short moment, Cordelia and Buffy didn't notice Anya's sudden transformation since they had to go off to class.
As Cordelia walked into her class, she was surprised to see Jenny Calendar standing at the front of the class. What surprised her even more was the sight of Xander as he went to Cordelia and gave her an affectionate hug.
"Miss Calendar? Xander?" Cordelia asked. "What's going on here?"
"Well today, you're gonna be learning about word processing," Miss Calendar said.
Cordelia decided to keep her surprise to herself, but used the time in the computer lab to make sure she wasn't having some kind of Back to the Future experience. It was still December 8, 1998, but Miss Calendar was still alive and Xander wasn't mad at her.
After class, Cordelia went to the library with Xander and stood in surprise at two more things: Giles and Miss Calendar kissing in front of everyone and a bleach blonde vampire sitting with Buffy at the table.
"Spike?!" Cordelia asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm just here for the food, really," Spike said, putting his feet on the table.
Buffy giggled. "Cordelia, you know that Spike comes here to help us out with the latest Hellmouth activity."
Cordelia's eyes widened in realization. "Oh yeah."
"It's cool, Cordy," Xander said. "You're still new to the gang."
Cordelia nodded in agreement. "Yeah."
The Scooby Gang went right into meeting mode, with Giles asking Spike about the latest vampire activity. Later on, Buffy and Spike went off to patrol while Willow went to Miss Calendar's house to train with magic. Xander asked Cordelia if they were up for a night at the movies.
"Maybe," Cordelia said. "I kind of wanted to ask Giles about something first."
"What is it, Cordelia?" Giles asked.
"Um...I don't know how to ask you this, but how is it that Spike is here and Miss Calendar is alive?"
"Miss Calendar has always been alive, Cordy," Xander said.
Cordelia took a deep breath. "Okay. This is gonna sound uber-weird, but where I came from, Jenny was dead and Spike was trying to get Drusilla back."
"Well that's impossible," Giles said. "Drusilla died in Prague. Spike came here to help Buffy out."
"But he's an evil vampire."
"That's what I thought at first," Xander said. "Then Miss Calendar came and told us about how her ancestors cursed Spike and his friends with their souls."
"Spike decided to get his soul anchored and helped Drusilla reform herself," Giles said. "The two of them worked together to help whatever Slayers they could find. Tragically, a mob of demon hunters staked Drusilla in Prague a few years ago."
"What about Darla and Angel?"
"Darla went back to the Master in order for him to remove her soul," Giles said. "Once that happened, she got Angel, and he lost his soul."
"Thankfully, Miss Calendar was able to curse Angel with his soul again," Xander said. "And Spike staked Darla as soon as he saw her at the Bronze in order to prove himself to us. Unfortunately, we couldn't save Jesse from being turned."
"I guess Jesse was always meant to die no matter what reality he's in," Cordelia said.
"But you said that this didn't happen where you came from?" Giles asked. He took a good look at the necklace and then went to the shelves.
"Well that's the thing," Cordelia said. "I was talking with this girl named Anya and she gave me this necklace. Then all of a sudden I made this wish..."
"Ah ha!" Giles said. "Anya, or rather Anyanka, is a vengeance demon. That necklace gave you the power of making one wish that would give her power to wreak vengeance. I guess your wish created some sort of alternate reality..."
Cordelia's eyes widened in realization. "Because I felt vengeance towards Angel! Whatever happened to him anyway?"
"After Jenny cursed him with his soul again," Giles said. "Angel is still lurking somewhere in Sunnydale. He sometimes helps us in fights, but he mostly broods."
"Like that's anything new." Cordelia laughed. "I think I'd like to go to the movies now."
Xander nodded in agreement. Giles decided to follow Buffy and Spike on their patrol.
"What exactly did you wish for anyway?" Xander asked as he and Cordelia left the library.
"Well back in my reality, Buffy and Angel had a total Romeo and Juliet complex, so I wished that Buffy's real soul mate came to Sunnydale."
The voices of Cordelia and Xander faded as Angel walked into the library, his eyes flashing gold with anger.
###
Restfield Cemetery
Buffy felt a familiar tingle on her neck and turned around to find Angel.
"What do you want?" Buffy asked.
"Buffy, none of this is real," Angel said. "I knew you were never supposed to love him!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I heard in the library. Your friend Cordelia made this wish that your real soul mate would come to Sunnydale. I came the same time as Spike did!"
"And yet the first thing Spike did when he came to town was stake that stupid girlfriend of yours."
"I didn't have my soul when we first met, I know. But even then, my demon wanted you as much as I do now."
"Oh please! You only like me because I look like Darla."
"That's not true! The Powers told me that I was supposed to help you."
"Spike has his soul anchored already. I think I'm good."
"No. Spike has you under some kind of thrall. I know that Dru had it and she could've easily taught you how."
Before Spike could get a word in, Angel staked him through the shoulder. He was about to take out the stake and go right for the heart, when Buffy pushed him off of Spike.
"Stay away from my boyfriend!" Buffy said. She pulled the stake out of Spike's shoulder and drove it into Angel's chest only to miss and hit just above the heart. However, the damage was good enough to send Angel running for the hills.
Buffy turned to Spike and took a look at the wound on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine," Spike said. "You could've aimed a little better."
"Shut up, Spike! You're hurt!"
"It'll heal, trust me."
Buffy threw her arm around Spike's shoulder and walked with him to his crypt. As soon as they went inside, Buffy shut the door behind her.
"I don't care about what Angel said," Buffy said. "I just know that I don't ever want to lose you."
She pulled him by the collar of his duster and kissed him passionately. As she let go of the kiss, Spike pushed Buffy against the wall, running his fingers through her hair as he trailed kisses down from her hair to her neck.
"I'm gonna make sure the ponce knows exactly who you belong to," Spike said.
Spike's fangs pierced Buffy's neck and Buffy cried out in ecstasy as he drank. The wound on Spike's shoulder quickly healed as Buffy's blood combined with his vampiric healing abilities.
"You're mine!" Spike declared as he finished sucking Buffy's blood.
"Yes!" Buffy said. "I'm yours, all yours!" Buffy began biting Spike's neck at the scar Drusilla made. Although her teeth were blunt, she used her Slayer strength to pierce his skin.
"Mine!" Buffy said as she licked the blood that dripped from his neck.
"Yours!" Spike moaned.
Unbeknownst to the two blondes, Anya was standing outside of the crypt. A devious smile spread over her face when all of a sudden, she was gone.
###
Anya opened her eyes and found herself in D'Hoffryn's dimension.
"I'm quite disappointed in you," D'Hoffryn said. He showed the images of Willow practicing magic in front of Oz, Jenny and Giles going out for dinner, and Buffy and Spike in the heat of passion in Spike's bedroom.
"But my wish did cause chaos!" Anya said with a whine. "A Slayer is now mated to a master vampire! And look at what a supposedly good vampire is doing to Xander and Cordelia!"
D'Hoffryn watched as the image he displayed changed to show Angel, who managed to get the stake out of his chest. He stumbled into the streets of Sunnydale and saw Xander and Cordelia leaving the movie theatre.
Cordelia gasped in shock as the dark-haired vampire attacked her, tugging at her necklace. He felt himself being pushed off by Xander. Cordelia took a stake out of her purse and was about to toss it to Xander only for Angel to knock it aside. Angel managed to break the necklace away from Cordelia's neck and ran off before Xander could have a chance to stake him.
"Ah, but you could've done so much better," D'Hoffryn said. "I might let this Angel break your necklace and have you suffer the consequences."
"No way, Hoffy! I want a deal."
"Oh?"
"If you can let Cordelia, Buffy, Spike, and me retain the memories of this alternate reality, I can promise you a greater vengeance. A Slayer's vengeance!" Anya said. "She will be filled with such anger for Angelus. And believe me, that vampire deserves to have some vengeance wreaked on him."
D'Hoffryn stroked his beard and nodded. "Alright." He snapped his fingers and granted Anya a new necklace. "I should tell you, though, that Buffy and Spike will have their memories retained anyway, if what you said about them claiming each other was true."
"It is, D'Hoffryn."
"Then the deal is made." D'Hoffryn snapped his fingers just as Angel struck Anya's necklace with a rock.
###
All of a sudden, Cordelia and Buffy were back by the lockers. To their surprise, Anya still stood near her, wearing her necklace.
"Woah! Major headache!" Cordelia said.
"Ugh! Me too!" Buffy said.
"That would be the memories of what happened coming back to you," Anya said. She pointed out the scar on Buffy's neck. "The claim is still in effect, just as I hoped."
Buffy looked at the scar on her neck and almost broke out into a happy dance, but then she remembered Angel's actions.
"I cannot believe that overly gelled, pompous jerkface!" Buffy said. "Not to sound blunt, but I was in the middle of having the best sex of my life!"
Anya smiled. "Thank God I had a failsafe on this."
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.
"D'Hoffryn, that's my boss, was very mad that I didn't create any real vengeance from Cordy's wish, so I made a deal with him when Angel planned on breaking my necklace. Since there's more vengeance coming from you than Cordelia right now, the power of the wish is all yours."
Anya slipped her necklace onto Buffy. "D'Hoffryn has sadly limited my powers so that I can't create alternative timelines, but feel free to wish anything else about Angel. I always wanted to grant the wish of a Slayer."
Buffy smiled. "Thanks, Anya. I know exactly what to wish for." She put her hands on her hips and said, "I wish that Angel was back in that hell dimension I sent him to and that I never have to see his broody, possessive face again for as long as I live!"
Anya's face distorted into its true demonic form. "Done!" Anya declared. "And I threw in some bonus gifts for you, as well."
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.
Over in Angel's mansion, Angel found himself taken by a powerful light. He closed his eyes and shielded himself from the light. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself at an abandoned hotel. He immediately recognized it and was about to run out the door when his mind was suddenly plagued with visions.
He saw flashes of Spike returning to Sunnydale and getting back together with Buffy. He started hearing whispers that said "She will never love you again. You were never worthy of the Slayer."
Angel ran up the stairs and hid in a hotel room, but the Thesulac demon followed him with an evil grin.
Back in Sunnydale, The Scooby Gang were giving Anya a "welcome to the gang" party at the Bronze, laughing it up about the punishment Anya decided to give Angel. Oz was performing on stage with Willow cheering him on from the wings. Everyone else, however, was enjoying sodas at the bar. Buffy and Cordelia were talking about the latest movie when Buffy's vampire senses tingled. She turned to look at the door as Spike walked in.
"Spike!" Buffy jumped down from her barstool and ran into the arms of the bleach blonde vampire, showering him with kisses.
Spike held his Slayer close to him and said, "Funny story. I was on my way to Brazil when I woke up this morning and had the worst headache and the best dream I ever had in my life."
Buffy giggled. "Funny thing. I did too."
"Are you sure your boss isn't gonna dock points for this?" Cordelia asked.
Anya shook her head. "Angel's torment is vengeance enough," she said. "He'll be cursed to always see the highlights of Buffy's future without him and my old friend, a Thesulac demon, will be there to make sure he never feels happy again."
"I feel a high five coming on!" Xander said. He gave Cordelia a high five, but it went unnoticed by Anya. Her eyes instead went to Buffy and Spike, who were sharing an intimate slow dance, and to the lonely Watcher, who stood at a distance and felt left out amongst the crowd of teenagers. Feeling the sadness emanating from him, Anya got off from her barstool and approached him.
"You're Giles, right?" Anya asked.
Giles looked up and saw that the vengeance demon took on an older appearance. Instead of looking like a teenager, she looked like someone more his age, with long blonde hair and more womanly curves.
"Yes. Who are you?"
"I'm Anyanka, patron saint of scorned women. I don't usually do this, but I can't stand hearing your sadness, so do you want to dance?"
Giles was taken aback at how forward the young woman was, but as the song changed to one he was more familiar with, he took Anya up on her offer, not even noticing Buffy and Spike leaving the Bronze to pick up where they left off.
Snippets of the future…
1999
Buffy was able to prevent Faith from going down a dark path by sending her, Wesley, and Amy to Los Angeles. Anya, now acting as the Scooby Gang's "demon liaison," picked up the cries of vengeance from a woman named Winifred Burkle. Faith and Amy, with the help of a empath demon named Lorne, were able to rescue the scientist from Pylea and the three girls set up shop in Los Angeles as private investigators. Eventually, they recruited a vampire hunter named Gunn, who hit it off with Faith, and a half-Lachen demon named Doyle who grew fond of Amy. Fred and Wesley fell in love at first sight and were inseparable as soon as they left Pylea.
When Buffy was close to her 18th birthday, Anya informed Giles about the true purpose of the Cruciamentum. Taking advantage of Giles's anger, she prompted Giles to wish for a better Council. With that wish, Giles became Head Watcher, Quentin Travers suffered a tragic fate, and the other Watchers established locations at other Hellmouths and large cities. Giles, however, chose to stay in Sunnydale.
Giles found a great asset in Anya, as she provided more information than most of the Watchers Diaries ever did. By the end of the year, Anya and Giles fell in love and were dancing with each other during Buffy's prom.
While they still had to wait for the Mayor's ascension in order to completely defeat him, the LA team known as "L.A. Slayers Inc" was able to help the Scooby Gang take down the mayor. Instead of blowing up the high school, Buffy and Faith lured the Mayor to Angel's old mansion and the two of them enjoyed blowing the place up.
Over the summer, Spike and Buffy made their marriage official in the eyes of their friends and family. Cordelia was Buffy's maid of honor. Willow caught the bouquet, but told everyone that she and Oz planned on waiting until after college to marry. The deputy mayor took over running Sunnydale, but Lydia Chalmers acted as his handler to make sure that he wouldn't pick up where Mayor Wilkins left off.
2000
With the high school intact, Giles took over as the principal of the school. Anya heard word that a man named Robin Wood was heading to Sunnydale, but the demon hunter died while he was staying in Cleveland.
Anya took over as the school librarian while Cordelia worked as a secretary and event planner. Xander started working in Sunnydale's department of city planning as a construction worker. Jonathan and his friend Andrew were also hired to work for the school. Andrew became in charge of the AV Club while Jonathan assisted Anya in the library.
Buffy, Spike, Willow, and Oz, on the other hand, enrolled in UC Sunnydale. The Scooby Gang found the Gem of Amara over the summer and, with a little glamour spell, Spike was able to join the others and was often found with Buffy studying poetry. It was also through a poetry class that Buffy and Spike met a witch named Tara, who became a great asset to the team by helping Willow hone her magic skills without becoming addicted to the power behind it. Willow and Tara also created a potion that helped Oz turn into a werewolf at will and be more aware of himself in "wolf mode."
The Scooby Gang faced off against the Initiative when it tried to take Spike and Oz into their labs, but they weren't much of a problem thanks to Anya and Spike handling the demon side of things. At the end of the year, Giles and Anya tied the knot in a double ceremony with Cordelia and Xander.
2001
The real major problem in the lives of the Scooby Gang came in the form of a Hell Goddess name Glory.
Buffy found herself pregnant with a baby that, according to an order of monks, was destined to become The Key. Buffy found herself able to teleport anywhere and developed her own magical powers. With Tara's help, Buffy was able to handle her magic powers without things going haywire. Buffy also discovered a scythe that was kept by the Guardians for her to use in defeating the Hell Goddess.
Tara moved into the Summers residence as Dawn's official nanny and magic tutor, since all the powers Buffy had originated from Dawn. She also helped take care of Joyce as she recovered from her brain tumor.
While Buffy was out beating up a robot and taking care of Warren, Spike detected an aneurysm from Joyce and was able to save her before it burst in her head. She spent the rest of the year going out with Brian, whom she married a year later.
Anya discovered Glory's secret and Spike took care of Ben easily once Buffy beat Glory and used the scythe in an attempt to behead her. Although Buffy felt sad for Ben's loss, the birth of her baby, which she named Dawn, made up for things.
After that, things were pretty much as normal as things ever were in Sunnydale. Although the Scooby Gang was called to help LA Slayers Inc take down the senior partners of Wolfram and Hart, Buffy's main priority was protecting the Sunnydale Hellmouth.
Eventually, Willow and Tara combined their magic with the power of Buffy's scythe to expand the Slayer line, going only to those who would use the Slayer powers for good. Because of the claim, Buffy gained Spike's immortality and she became in charge of helping the next generation of Slayers come into their own.
October 25, 2013
In a dark alleyway somewhere in Houston, Texas, a petite dark-haired girl wandered alone. All of a sudden, a female vampire with long, brown hair and golden eyes came from out of nowhere and started to attack. It roared at the dark-haired girl and attacked her.
The dark haired girl fought off the vampire as best as she could, but the vampire had her cornered as memories of the person the vampire used to be flashed in her mind…
"Kennedy…" the dark haired girl said.
All of a sudden, she was filled with a magical burst of strength, which she used to push the vampire away from her. She saw a wooden chair lying amongst the trash. She grabbed a leg, broke it off from the chair, and staked the vampire before it had a chance to get back up.
As the vampire turned to dust, the newly made Slayer heard soft clapping coming from behind her. She turned around and smiled as she saw Buffy, Spike, and Dawn.
"That was totally awesome!" Dawn said.
"We knew you had it in you," Buffy said.
"It's time for you to start your real training," Spike said.
Anne-Marie Saunders, who was known as "Sunny" to her friends, smiled at the three of them and went with them to begin her training.
This fic was based on a fic challenge prompt from Elysian Fields. Happy Buffyversary to me! The best present you guys could give me would be a nice review, so please go ahead! I am so glad that I became a part of this fandom because it helped me with so many things. But that's another story.