First things first.
This story and it's characters belong to Joss Whedon, not DrTaylor.
Now, a word about this story. I would caution you to turn back if you can't handle paradoxes. In fact, if Terminator makes no sense to you, don't bother with this story. In fact, unless you understand every paradox in the Star Trek universe, don't bother with this story.
That said, I'm pretty proud of it.
It was just what the Powers had waited for.
Thousands of years of careful planning, and millions of warriors later, the pieces were all in place.
In the higher planes, the Five waited and watched as the world unfolded. They were beyond time, but they were also beyond the pain they had experienced in their lives. Powerless to influence individual events, they could only shift the currents, the flow of events as they steered the people they needed into the places they would have to be.
Sometimes the people surprised them. The Five Powers that Be had never thought of turning all the Potentials at once. That had never been in the plan.
But it suited their needs quite well.
And so they waited, and used Angel to manipulate Wolfram and Hart. And the Wolf, Ram, and Hart took the bait. And so they handed their power to Angel, and the Five waited.
And when Angel was lost, they woke Cordelia.
Cordelia's body was ruined, and so would never work again. But the Powers were able to give her thoughts substance and return her to her friends to pass along the visions to the one who was to be left behind. After all, there was only one vision left.
And Angel understood.
It took him two months to infiltrate the Cirlce – fifty-seven years less than three of the Powers had bet. Of course, when you have no possessions, all bets are meaningless. But the one who arrived First loved being a bookie.
Each of the Powers get one chance – one time when they can walk the Earth.
All the pieces are in place. And today is the day.
