Two Worlds collide

Genre: Drama/Angst/Action/Adventure

Characters: Buffy, Angel, Giles, Wesley, Xander, Cordelia, Oz, Willow, Tara, Anya, the Master, and others.
Summary: An ancient prophecy threatens Buffy's friends and Angel's soul. In another dimention the master prepares to rise again. Old enemies remade, deaths relived and old alliances forged. Angel and Buffy's gangs join up to battle to forces of darkness, but nothing ever runs smoothly. Btvs/Ats crossover. Quite Giles and Wesley centric.
Warnings: Violence, angst, death and drama. Spoilers for up to S4 Buffy and S2 Angel.
Rating: NC - 17

Notes/Time period: The story is based after the end of S4 of Btvs, maybe just into S5 but no Dawn yet and sometime in the middle of S2 of Angel, before Wesley gets shot. It's a complete AU from there onwards. It needs to be noted that the alternate world they cross into is the wish universe.

Feedback: Please please tell me what you think of this, I spent much of my summer on it, though I admit it needs a good beta, tell me if you like/dislike.

Chapter 1: Catastrophe

BANG, BANG!
Two shots resonated through the back alley and then there was silence, the Scooby's stood in shock trying to take in the scene which lay before their eyes. A scuffle of feet and the vampires where gone, the smell of gunpowder lingered in the air and a young Wiccan lay broken on the pavement.

"Willow!" Xander's voice was the first to penetrate the silence, "Oh my God" his strained voice only served to frightened the others into panic, he fell to his knees beside his fallen friend.

"Tara, get back to the Bronze and call for an ambulance" Buffy tried to keep her head, but grief was beginning to take hold.

"I'm on it" she ran back up the alley towards the club. Buffy remained standing. The scene which had just played out before them was all too vivid in her shaken thoughts, as quickly as the vampires had arrived, they had gone. She didn't know how long she had stood there before her thoughts interrupted by Tara's high pitched fearful voice.

"There on there way" Buffy jerked her mind back into reality and what was happening.

"Thanks" she plucked up courage and bent down next to Xander. He was shaking in shock, eyes already stained with tears. The slayer glanced down at her best friend, the sickly pale form strewn on the concrete. Her breathing was shallow and the two bullet wounds within her chest bled profusely, Xander was desperately trying to slow it, with little success. There was silence among the friends once again, too lost in grief to talk, too shocked to conceive what had just happened, the only sound present was Willow's labored breathing. Within minutes, blue and white lights illuminated the small street, the ambulance pulled up and two men briskly got out, hauling their medical bags with them.

"Xander?" Buffy pulled her friend back to let the men work, he almost fell into the slayers arms, his energy suddenly spent.

"What happened?" the medic asked as they set to working on Willow.

"I dunno," Buffy stuttered, "there was a man and a gun, she was shot" Buffy lied through her teeth, knowing for well that any mention of vampires would only end them up on a psyche ward. There was silence again.

"She's loosing a lot of blood we need to get her to hospital" the other medic said under his breath trying to make sure the group didn't hear, "We could loose her" The slayer's ears picked up the sentence, her stomach knotted in fear.

"Is anyone else injured?"

"No" Tara answered this time, "I don't think so" The medics nodded and continued on, they watched on helplessly in a speechless hush. Within a matter of minutes they had Willow in the ambulance.

"There's only room for one more?" The medic held the door open for a second, "Does anyone want to come with us?"

"I'll go" Xander pulled himself to his feet and looked at Buffy, the slayer nodded in agreement.

"I swear" Buffy turned aside with him, out of earshot of the medic, "If I find the bastards who did this I'll do more than just dust them to hell" A faint smile traced across Xander's lips and then he was gone. The ambulance sped off down the street, sirens blaring and lights flashing Tara and Buffy listened until the sirens were no longer heard and they were left on the empty dark street alone once again.

"Tara" The slayer turned to the other figure standing beside her. "Go back to the Bronze, get a taxi to the hospital."

"Uh huh" Tara looked up, bleary tearstained eyes too. "What are you gunna do?" she asked.

"I'm going to see Giles" She sighed, letting herself regain composer once again, "This was no normal vamp attack, he might be able to find out what's going on, I'll meet you back at the hospital in half an hour" And with that she was gone too, taking off at a sprint in the direction of her Watchers house. If anyone knew who these vampires were then Giles would.

>> >>

"How is she?" Giles's concern face met Tara's tear stained eyes in the emergency room. There was a hype of activity around the place, an array of doctors and nurses were rushing this way and that.

"Doctors wont say a lot" Tara sighed trying to look though into the ER.

"Typical" Giles sat down in one of the chairs nearby and took his glasses off. For a moment Tara thought he was going to clean them again but he didn't. "Where's Xander?"

"Xander went to get Coffee, Anyway where's Buffy?"

The watcher stared into space, deep in thought. "Buffy's ringing Angel, I thought he might have some answers, about these vampires"

"Buffy thought you would know what's going on"

"I'm afraid I don't" Giles mumbled replacing his glasses once again, "Somethings going on, it begs the question of this being more than a random attack..." he mumbled on to himself for a moment.

"How is she, did the doctors say anything?" Xander's voice resounded in the busy corridor, the two looked to him. His face was pale, eyes red and Giles thought for a moment that he might collapse on the spot. The Watcher guided him into a seat and he handed out a couple of steaming hot drinks with a shaky hand.

"Are you Miss Rosenberg's cousin?" A doctor appeared nearby.

"Yes" Xander stood almost dropping the remaining contents of his arms. Giles shot Tara look. It had become regular practice for them to suddenly all become related, when someone was in ER. "How is she?" Xander's voice stuttered a little, the doctor pulled him aside and down the corridor a little way. Tara and Giles watched intently for Xander's reaction of the news, but read little from his body language. He turned back to them and gestured for them to come over.

"Doctor?" Giles asked cautiously.

"Your friend is stable" the medic answered, "But unfortunately she is in a deep unconscious state, she's been placed on a ventilator to help her breath for now, we should be able to remove it soon"

"Will she make a full recovery?" Giles asked again.

"It's uncertain. She may not wake, I'm sorry. You can see her if you like, we're about to move her to a private ward in ICU now." The three of them stood dumbstruck for a moment and within minutes Willow was wheeled out on a trolley and they followed down the corridors in silence.

When the nurses had finished milling about and the Willow was made comfortable they were left with their friend. A moment of refection came about them and they remained silent again for a long time. Willow was still, the tubes and wires poking her body this way and that gave a reminder of how bad things had truly become. The door of the small private room suddenly opened and the friends looked up expecting another nurse.

"Buffy" Giles immediately stood up seeing his slayer, "Your hurt" she tried to turn away but her watcher grabbed her by the shoulders taking in the small gash on her forehead.
"What happened" His voice became deadly serious, "tell me what happened?"

"Those vampires, I ran into them" Buffy's eyes began to fill with tears, Giles pulled her over to sit on a nearby chair. She was breathing heavily and shaking slightly.

"Buffy?" Xander cut from across the room, looking to his friend with a worried glare.

"Angel, Cordelier and Wesley were attacked, two days ago" the slayer took a long breath to compose herself, "It was the same vamps that did this to Willow" Buffy looked over to the Wicca's pale still form laid on the bed. "Angel took quiet a beating, thank god there were three of them" She sniffed a little.

"Are they alright?" Giles asked cautiously not wanting to invade the subject. Buffy made eye contact with her Watcher and took another long slow breath. "They nearly killed him Giles" she sobbed, "thank God the others were there"

"He'll be ok though right?" Tara asked. Buffy nodded and wiped her tearstained cheeks.

"He'll live" she smiled slightly, "If that's the right term to use for a vampire."

"We'll work this out" Giles squeezed her shoulder in reassurance, "I'll set to researching, and I'll find out what these vampires want."

"There strong" Buffy looked to the floor, "there stronger than most vamps" she sniffed and pulled herself upright to regain control. "Angel said that there might be something in a book," she hesitated trying to remember her lover's words, "The cortex"

"The Codex" Giles corrected her furrowing his brows in thought again, he stiffened at the thought. Last time he had looked in that book he had read of Buffy death, he did not lightly want to read it again. "I'll take a look" he brushed the hair from her face. "For now you should rest" he turned to the others. "All of you" looking down at Willow's broken body he frowned with worry. "I fear this is more than just a silly vampire gang in town" he turned to go. "We'll meet at mine tomorrow, I may have some answers" And with that the Watcher left.