Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel
The Chronomancer
Episode 1
Times long past
Part 1
Then:
The figure found him-self shrouded in shadows again. How long has it been since he was locked away in this dank hellhole. Five years or was it four? He couldn't tell anymore. Not that it mattered since his prison was timeless. Those insufferable Watchers exiled him here years ago and why what was his crime? Did he attempt to plunge the world into hell, or was it a mindless spree of carnage and blood lust, No his crime was one of the oldest in history. He fell in love; unfortunately he fell in love with a Slayer. Yes a Slayer a young woman who was blessed with extraordinary strength and reflexes chosen to fight against the vampires, demons, etc, etc. The Watchers were always pompous and controlling but this was just a little overkill for falling in love. But no they feared that he would become a corrupting influence on their precious Slayer. And finally when he attempted to use magic to remove the corruptive influence they banished him to limbo. Or if it wasn't limbo it was somewhere close enough. To make matters worse the guardian of his prison was a Mozart fan. It was a struggle to maintain his sanity while hearing the same composition over and over again. Suddenly he heard a scream coming from the guardhouse just before the walls to his cell exploded. Had his beloved come to rescue him? He doubted it she was hesitant to love him the same way he loved her.
"Oh great what backwater dimension did I end up in this time." The female sounding voice said. She seemed annoyed and the fact that she left his guard a beaten and bloody wreck, he thought it best to stay concealed in the shadows. "Hey you, yeah you the guy trying to hide in the corner, I know you're there." Cautiously he stepped out of the shadows. "That's better." She said walking towards him. "There's no point in hiding it smells like you haven't showered in years."
"I haven't" the figure answered unsure how to react.
"Look I'm kind of lost and you look like you would enjoy getting out of here."
"That's correct."
"Well you show me the way out of this little hole in hell and I'll let you live to do whatever."
"Sounds fair, follow me." The figure and the mysterious woman made their way to the guardhouse. Stepping inside the figure opened a small wooden cabinet and pulled out a bag of assorted magic goodies and a wooden scepter with a crystal hourglass attached to the top.
"Very pretty, but can it get us out of here?"
"No not us." The figure said before disappearing.
"That son of a bitch," The hell god in mortal form cursed.
Sunnydale Now:
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Willow asked Buffy.
"No but let's get this done anyway." The Slayer responded. They were both standing outside the old decrepit building for ten minutes. It was about 3:45 but despite the fact that the sun was out she was terrified. Buffy swallowed hard as she prepared to face an enemy almost as frightening as Glory.
"Wil you know that this could be very painful. The ghouls in there specialize in torture. They especially enjoy hearing the screams of small children." Willow gripped Buffy outstretched hand and walked into the building with her. The red-haired witch was disappointed in herself. For all her knowledge of magic she couldn't find a spell that would make this any easier for her friend. Opening the door they saw at least five people sitting in the small room. Each one of them had a look of fear on their face. Why couldn't this be a vampire's nest? She thought as she approached the reception desk.
"Yes can I help you?" A short woman with a pointy nose asked the slayer and her companion.
" Summers, I have an appointment for a drilling."
"Oh yes Miss Summers have a seat please the doctor will be with you shortly."
Los Angeles Now:
"I don't understand it; he must have had some enchantment done on himself." The frustrated former boss of Angel Investigations blurted out to Cordelia from under the blanket. Cordelia just sighed.
"Yep he's sneaky that way." She wished that it was nightfall so he could drive himself around she was starting to get annoyed with her former employers new obsession.
"I mean my hand eye coordination is five times better then any human and yet somehow he always beats me.
"You know Angel maybe just maybe Wesley is just a better darts player than you." Cordelia responded tiring of his whining. She suddenly pulled the car over as she began feeling one of her visions coming on. Angel quickly pulled her under the blankets before she rammed her head into the steering wheel. She wracked in pain as visions of Sunnydale and the old vamp dusting gang filled her head. Oh no not again, she thought to herself. No this is different more urgent and more powerful then a spooky Tonto. "Angel we have to get everyone together and then we have to go back to Sunnydale."
"It's not another ghost again is it?" he asked. But he was only answered with silence.
"Ahem." Looking up from the blanket they saw a police officer with a note pad in his hand.
"Is there a problem officer?" Cordelia asked the balding going into his sixties police man in front of her.
"Yes you can say there's a problem I don't see a just married sign on the back of your car."
"Yeah' so,"
"So that's the only reason I can see to let you and your boyfriend fornicate in a public street." Cordelia blushed as the cop handed her a ticket.
Xander and Anya just finished making love when they heard Giles come into the magic shop.
"Oh shit." Xander cursed, as he quickly got dressed. His girlfriend Anya somehow was already almost completely dressed. "You know we really should stop doing this in the training room." He said as he zipped up. The arms of his ex demon lover grabbed his waist.
'Well you're a carpenter can't you make us our own balancing beam?" Anya asked hugging him from behind. Xander sighed he loved Anya he really did, but sometimes he couldn't tell when she was kidding and when she was being bluntly serious.
"Hello Buffy is that you? I thought you were going to the dentists today." Xander and Anya went to the front to greet Anya's employer.
"Hey Giles we were just..."
"Checking the balancing beam, it seemed kind of unsteady during Buffy's last work out." Xander interjected before Anya let Giles know that Anya was balancing on him.
"You needed my employee to check the balancing beam?" Giles asked taking his glasses off to clean them. He was giving them the {tell me another one look}.
"It's been really slow all day. The only person who came in wanted some hog wart." Anya said shrugging. Giles just shook his head and went to check the shelves when the phone rang.
"Anya, get that please." He went to the magic books hoping to find some more information on Glory. It had been only a week since he returned from his meeting with the Watchers. They were less than helpful, which really didn't surprise Giles.
"Giles its Angel he says it's important."
"Hello Giles." The vampire detective spoke in the receiver.
"Angel." Giles responded dryly.
"I don't have much time to talk. We're on our way to Sunnydale, we need to get everyone together."
"What no let's hide out in the shadows and play guardian vampire?" Giles said sarcastically.
"No," Angel said silently; remembering the last time he had to come to Sunnydale. It wasn't to fight any evil it was to be there for Buffy when Joyce died. But Giles didn't know that. "Cordelia is predicting something big. And it involves all of us."
"You're coming all this way for a fashion crisis." Anya and Xander were both wondering what was going on as he talked to Angel.
"I'm serious Giles! Oh now what? Ouch, Gunn can you watch the speed bumps please. Look I got to go. Just get everyone ready to talk." The phone went dead. Giles hung up the receiver.
"Giles what's wrong?" Xander asked.
"They're coming here. Angel says something big is coming to Sunnydale."
"Are you sure about this Cordelia?" Wesley asked the only female member of Angel Investigations. "This vision seems even more vague than usual."
"It was also more urgent than most of my visions. Like the whole world depended on this one."
"You sure your just not feeling home sick?" Gunn interjected.
"Yeah I want to go home to the mystical focus point for the super natural." Cordelia said pinching the bridge of her nose. "Look guys The PTB want us there so step on it."
"Relax we should be there in about two hours just in time for sun down."
"I hope so." Angel muttered to himself' Nobody could hear him anyway since he had to ride in the trunk of his car.
The sun was setting as the small tear in the fabric of reality opened causing the figure to fall into a garbage dumpster.
"Well that went well." He muttered to himself as he climbed out of the bin. He looked around to find himself in an alleyway behind some nightclub. Shaking his head he realized that he needed a quick change of clothes and a shower before the Watchers sent their hunters after him. Looking across the street he found a costume shop. "No point in complaining." He crossed the street and picked the lock like a pro. He quickly checked for a security system. Finding no sign of a silent alarm he quietly looked in the back. Opening one door he found a small bathroom fully stocked with toilet paper, a face cloth and plenty of soap. After a quick but long needed bath the stranger looked over the costumes. He settled for a Phantom of the Opera costume. Strangely enough this seems almost proper and then very quickly emptied the cash register. "Much better," The Phantom said departing with no one the wiser.
"Are you all right?" Willow asked the recently drilled Buffy "I know that this is probably going to be painful."
"I'm fine Will your salve is working fine." Buffy responded knowing full well that the witch was referring to the upcoming meeting. Willow let it drop and left to find some useful witch stuff.
"She's concerned we all are." Xander said approaching the Slayer.
"I know, how about you are you going to be okay with Cordelia here?"
"I'm fine it's Anya I'm concerned about." He said quickly looking at the capitalist ex-demon. She was counting the money in the till as they were preparing to close up. "Having my ex here might cause some friction."
"Some friction, you'll be lucky if you get out alive." Both Buffy and Xander smiled.
"Okay I think I got it. Angel is Buffy's ex and he's also good vampire who turns bad if he has sex." Tara said reviewing the notes given to her by Dawn.
"That's right." Dawn said checking the name off her note pad.
"Cordelia is Xander's ex who works for Angel."
"Yep"
"And Wesley is an ex Watcher turned Rouge Demon Hunter turned employee of Angel."
"Very good you passed the Angel's crew test." Dawn said putting a three out of three on her note pad.
"They're here." Giles called as he went to answer the door.
The figure watched, as four people exited a black Cadillac parked in front of the magic shop he planned to loot. He watched as an attractive woman in her twenties stepped out and knocked on the door. Beside her were a young Afro-American and a stuck up Caucasian with dark hair and glasses. And finally a handsome young man who looked a lot like, Angelus. The figure thought not too fondly as he watched the vampire nervously enter the magic shop. Pulling out the bag of magic stuff he stole from his captors. Come on I know it's in here somewhere. I knew him too well to believe he didn't do secret cell checks. Ah here it is. A small brown wooden box was removed from the bag. Opening the box the Phantom quickly took a small vial of liquid out of the box and drank a small sip. He wasn't surprised when he slowly faded away into invisibility. He quietly sneaked into the building and sat down into an empty chair. The room was filled with even more people. Mostly young people a nervous young man with black hair who seemed to be watching both the young woman he saw come in and another one who was clutching his arm rather tightly. With them were a red head and a blonde who despite their appearances radiated with magical power. The phantom then saw a young girl traipse after them she was about sixteen with dark brown hair. This is Angelus's new brood when did he start going after young recruits? He thought wondering how he was going to kill all of them. Then she entered, her hair was styled differently then he remembered but it was she. She was at least eighteen by now but this was his beloved Slayer Buffy Summers. This should be interesting. The phantom thought preparing to help the Slayer take down Angelus's group.
"Is everybody here?" she asked. She seemed tense as she looked at the group that was gathered around the table.
"Yeah everybody's here." The nervous young man responded "one big happy reunion."
"Ahem" the young black man cleared his throat. The stuck up English man stood up.
"Oh right, how forgetful of me. Everybody this is Charles Gunn, Gunn this is everybody." The phantom was confused as he watched the young black man being introduced to the Slayer and everybody else. He then stopped at two of the young woman. "I'm sorry I don't believe I've had the pleasure."
"I'm Anya Xander's girl friend, the love of his life." She said hugging his arm aggressively.
"This is Tara." The little girl said introducing the shy blonde. What's going on here? She should have taken out at least half of them by now. The phantom thought as he watched instead as the Slayer and the others greeted Angelus's brood like allies.
"Buffy" Angelus said rather quietly.
"Angel" Buffy responded in kind. They looked at each other like old lovers not hated enemies. I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore the figure thought surprised by the sight before him. He stepped out of his chair and walked towards the books.
"Oh yes Charles Gunn this is Rupert Giles." Hearing this, the stranger almost stumbled. He turned to see the very familiar figure of Rupert Giles shaking hands with the young black man. All right now I know I'm not in Kansas any more. I must have taken a wrong turn in the reality stream. I killed that arrogant putz a long time ago. As he thought this he heard the door jingle.
"Spike?" reacted a surprised Angelus.
"Oh bloody hell this is all I need." The platinum blonde individual muttered. He looked like he's seen better days. His hair was messed up; he had two black eyes and seemed to walk with a limp. Finally a scramble started as the group of young people seemed to calm down Angelus.
"It's all right he's on are side sort of." The red head said blocking off the young woman in Angelus's company. The black-haired young man was blocking Angelus.
"You're kidding right? This is Spike were talking about?"
"Yeah well he's kind of undergone a change last year."
"Don't tell me he has a soul."
"No not a soul more like a chip."
"A what," To both the stranger and Angelus's surprise the teenager ran towards Spike like he was her big brother.
"It's okay he doesn't bite anymore." She said putting herself in front of Spike.
"Oh come on I can still kill." The blonde said, as he looked at the ceiling "Just not people."
"I'm sorry run that by us one more time." Angelus's woman interjected.
"He has a chip in his head that keeps him from killing humans." Rupert said obviously eager to get things underway.
"Please don't tell me you called this poof because of Glory."
"No Spike according to Angel we have a major threat coming to Sunnydale." Rupert sighed.
"So what else is new?" Spike said as he sat down in one of the chairs.
"Who's Glory?" The stuck up English man asked.
"Just the threat to the world for this year, How about you?" the redhead asked
"A law firm from hell two years running." He responded.
"You guys have the same enemy as last year? Isn't that against the rules or something?" the shy blonde interjected. They all looked at her. "What I can't try a joke once in a while?" they all shook their heads and sat down.
Giles watched as the young people and Wesley sat down. He couldn't help but smile despite the impending danger this was indeed a reunion. Cordelia stood up.
"All right this is what I know from my vision. Something big is coming this way. I don't know what though. My vision was kind of vague."
"I'm sorry your vision?" Buffy interjected finding it hard to believe how much Cordelia changed. She wasn't the same shallow clothes obsessed airhead that she once was. She seemed more focused and driven.
"Cordelia is connected to the Power's That Be. She's a seer." Wesley sighed. "Before we continue perhaps we should update each other on what's happening." He suggested.
'Ah yes an update on each others current situation might be a good idea." Giles agreed. "Do you want to go first or should we?"
This was better then the stranger could have hoped. He listened very carefully to stories of invincible blondes hunting keys and lawyers from hell resurrecting old vampire girl friends. As he listened a plan began to formulate in his head. He watched as Giles put the Watcher journals away.
"Well that was a very interesting re cap" Spike snidely remarked "But I have two important questions to ask." He turned to Cordelia. "One what is this big threat that has us here all assembled like the knights of the bloody oval table?"
"I'm not sure my visions tend to be very vague from time to time." She said a sigh escaping her lips. "All I know for sure is what ever it was it didn't seem to involve a blonde bitch from hell. It was more like the threat was directed at all of us."
"All right that wasn't helpful at all and my second question is "Who the bloody hell smells like bathroom soap?" he looked at Angel. "Oh don't tell me you don't smell it either."
"Just trying to be polite," The vampire detective muttered. Hearing this, the stranger was about to depart before the blonde vampire could track him down. Then he withdrew the strange scepter and muttered some strange words. Everybody froze at that moment. The stranger cautiously walked up to the Slayer
"Soon my love very soon," He then started looking through Giles notebooks. He ripped a piece of paper out of it and made a magical item grocery list.
Mask of Chamelos.
Horn of Rosaka.
Spirt binding chains.
Mists of showing
When he was finished looting the store he then started writing down names and dates from the Watcher's journals. "Oh this is going to be good." The mysterious figure said before using the scepter to disappear. With the strangers disappearance everyone continued his or her actions unaware of ever being frozen.
"Spike, just forget about the smell of liquid soap will you?" Giles said pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.
The mysterious figure sat down in the abandoned warehouse with a bag of stuff he looted from the magic box along with his own magic goodies.
"Now let's see what else I have here. Elixir of Sarfo good for causing mystic flame, basic ingredients for lighting the mists oh what have we here, Spectacles of Morphius. That sick kravos demon was looking in my dreams. Still these will come in handy." An hour later the phantom had everything set up "Mysts of all seeing I command you show me the whereabouts of Riley Finn and the lycanthrope know as Oz." He watched as the green mists rose from the brassier and split in two. One showed a young soldier in a far off jungle blasting the hell out of some demon he never saw before. He was in his early twenties with brown hair and a boyish face. The other showed a young man with spikey orange hair in Tibet meditating while another monk was listening to some music on headphones. "Oh well beggars can't be choosers." He took a small horn from the bag. It was made from some kind of marble with mystic writings all over it. After blowing into it he waited for about a minute.
"Something I can do for you?" the little yellow demon asked. The demon was small it came up to The Phantom's knee. Its head was almost feline in appearance complete with matching tail.
"Yes Rosaka I want you to go forth and summon these two young men back here. Don't tell them why just make them think something dreadful is going to happen."
"My fee?" the demon said holding out his spindly hand.
"Ah yes I'm afraid I don't have a virgin right now. But I can give you a small town's worth when you get back."
"Hey man this is the nineties I don't do the virgin thing anymore."
"Then what do you want?"
"You got any money?"
"You're kidding me."
"Nope I get more virgins with money and the Internet then I would with
chains and sleeping powder. The Phantom shook his head as he gave the demon two hundred dollars.
"Thanks, when do you want them here?"
"The sooner the better,"
"Big plans huh,"
"You might say that." The demon disappeared leaving the Phantom looking at names and dates on a piece of paper.
Part 3
It was a very uncomfortable night. Because of old alliance's relationships and enemies Angel's crew was separated and took residence in different locations. Everyone including Spike was reluctant to let Buffy and Angel spend the night together. So everyone agreed to a hat draw for the four guests sleeping quarters. Not surprisingly Spike didn't offer a room to anybody. Angel drew Willow's name and because of her status as a lesbian no one really objected. Things were at risk of going hairy when Cordelia drew Anya's name. Xander quickly suggested letting Cordy draw last. Wesley drew Buffy's name. Sensing the need for cooperation Buffy agreed Wesley could stay in the Summers's guest room. Gunn drew Tara's name but put it back after seeing Tara's discomfort. And after Cordelia drew Anya's name again Xander panicked.
"Okay listen I'll take Gunn and Giles will take Cordelia problem solved."
"Excuse me." Giles interjected.
"Oh come on Giles it'll only be a couple of nights." Xander pleaded. Giles
put his hand to his forehead.
"Oh very well," He sighed.
That was two hours ago and Gunn was still uncomfortable. It wasn't the coach Gunn had slept on far worse. And Xander was an okay guy who didn't ask too many questions. In fact it was kind of cool hearing about the stuff that went down in Sunnydale. (His favorite had to be the, I was split in two stories) It was a suspicious Anya spending the night. Gunn was finding it hard relax as Anya kept telling him how happy they were together. And finally when everyone went to sleep Gunn could still hear in over amorous Anya trying to seduce Xander despite the house guest. It got worse because she succeeded. Years of vampire hunting had made Charles Gunn a light sleeper. And the one thing no man could sleep through was the sound of two lovers getting it on.
Cordelia was also having a hard time as Giles kept asking her questions about her vision and how about seer hood in general. But he was a good host he set up a spare room for her, served her tea and crumpets (though she couldn't believe that he actually had crumpets in America) and allowed her to shower first. What was keeping her awake was the conversation she had with the former librarian. She was sipping some tea when he asked the one question she wasn't expecting.
"Are you okay with them?" Giles asked with a voice of genuine concern. She nearly spit out her tea. In all the time she knew him and helped with the research she never truly felt like she belonged with them. After they broke up she taunted Xander with the idea that he was the most useless member of the group. Part of the reason was she was still upset with him for cheating on her. But the other reason cut even deeper. He wasn't the most useless part of the group she was. When push came to shove Xander would do what ever he had to. Weather it is get involved with a vampire brawl, help steal; a rocket launcher or simply be there to comfort one of the group he was there. She on the other hand doubted she could be that selfless. At first she tried to continue helping the Scooby's as he termed them. But after awhile she just felt like a burden. Perhaps that was one of the reason she thought she loved Wesley. And out of all of them the least one she felt connected to was Giles. After all he was the stuffy old librarian who desperately needed a fashion do-over,
"Yeah they're an okay group of guys."
"I meant the visions." He asked a concerned look on his face. "You weren't born a seer. According to what you've told us it was transferred to you."
"So?" Cordelia asked trying to put up a brave front.
"So are you feeling any pain our discomfort from these visions. Buffy told us that Doyle was half demon. You however are fully human so I'm just worried about what they are doing to you." Cordelia was surprised how Giles was acting. He's certainly changed from when I last saw him. But then again haven't we all. She was surprised when she stepped into the magic shop and saw him wearing a completely tweed free shirt and blue jeans. But this more concerned less stuck up Giles was a little hard to swallow.
"Cordelia,"
"Huh? Oh sorry," She said snapping out of her daze. "I was just thinking how we've all changed in the past two years."
"Yes I noticed that to." Giles said refilling his teacup.
"Really how," she was curious about Giles assessment of the Angel Investigations crew.
"Well for one thing Wesley has really loosened up. He doesn't have the by the book attitude that he used to have. I mean I don't think the council would approve of, one of their own working with Angel."
"Like you did?" Her question caused to raise an eye at her. "I think that the council might just be a little too stuffy. I mean your methods helped Buffy survive for this long. And Wesley has become an excellent leader. Don't tell him I said that."
"Our little secret," Giles said with a smile. "But also I'm pleasantly surprised how you have changed. If you excuse for saying so when you first joined our group you were well…"
"A self-obsessed valley girl bitch."
"More our less," Giles said as a little smile formed on Cordelia's face. "Except the part about self obsessed, I mean you didn't have to stay with Angel and Doyle." She just shrugged unsure how to answer. "But to let you in on a little secret of my own I have been keeping in touch with Wesley since Buffy told me he was in LA." This confession caught Cordelia by surprise.
"What? He never told us about that."
"I know. At first it was just to compare notes. And soon it became a weekly thing between two Watchers turned Rouge Demon Hunters." Giles took a sip of tea allowing Cordelia digest what she was being told.
"How much did he tell you?"
"At first it was just about business, what threat to the world we fought etc, etc. Then we actually started talking about the people we work with. Including Angel having to sing at a karaoke bar?"
"Yep and he's as bad as Wesley's says." He chuckled a little while hearing this.
"Anyway I told him how Willow was progressing with her magic. And he told me how Cordelia Chase had become an invaluable part of the team. At first I thought that he was just being polite to his ex-girl friend. But now I see you have indeed changed and if I may say so, this change suits you." She could feel a flush in her cheeks as the stuffy English librarian from her high school days was going mushy. She walked up to where he was sitting and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you Giles." She said and prepared for bed without answering his question.
Angel on the other hand was actually enjoying his time with Willow. They must have reminisced for hours about the good old days. In fact she actually watched in amazement as Angel was smiling.
"You had to sing?" Willow asked she was also having a good time.
"Yeah a couple of times, I think I'm getting better at it." Willow was having a hard time picturing Mr. Brood singing in public. She watched as the vampire was socializing with her like an old friend instead of her best friend's demon ex-lover.
"How about you, Last I heard your on your way to becoming an accomplished witch. How's that coming along?
"A spell here a spell there but I think that I'm almost ready for my own broomstick." She looked at the vampire and grinned. "In fact if you're willing there's a spell I could use your help with."
An hour and several candlesticks later Willow and Angel were ready.
"So were going to try and contact The Powers That Be? I don't know Willow they tend to be very choosy with whom they talk to."
"Oh come on they speak through Cordelia Chase. And she's not even the seventeenth person I would try to make a seer." Angel couldn't help but grin. Despite all that happened in the past couple of years old rivalries always lasted longer then the enemies themselves. They sat and joined hands. The candles were set in a triangular formation. He was amazed at how confident she was. It was only four years ago she was a shy insecure girl who could barely speak to a boy and now she was trying to contact The Powers. He listened and concentrated. Basically why Willow needed him for was his Latin. He still had a couple hundred years more practice then she did.
"We call upon the Power's That Be. We need to know more about the threat you warned your mortal link of. Send us a sign if you can help us." A bright blue flash filled the room knocking both Willow and Angel on the floor away from each other. Something fell on the table breaking it. Willow felt her head for any injuries.
"You've got to be kidding me." She heard Angel say. Wiping the hair from her eyes she saw Angel talking to the ceiling as a confused Riley Finn rose to his feet.
"Sorry about the mess." Buffy said as she opened the door to the guestroom. Wesley took a look inside. Most of the room was filled with cardboard boxes. "It's mom's stuff." She said quietly.
"I heard about what happened to your mother. I'm sorry." Wesley said in a stoic manner. He never had the opportunity to meet the Slayer's mother. But from what he heard she was quite a woman even William the Bloody respected her. She was about to say something when she heard a scream coming from Dawn's room.
"Glory," She said and they both took off to the source of the scream. Wesley withdrew a dagger from a sheath in his trousers. And Buffy prepared to go toe to toe with the evil blonde bitch from hell. But instead of seeing there familiar blonde nemesis they instead saw Dawn with a light green glow around her and trying to keep her quiet was a spikey haired young man in a brown robe.
"Oz," Buffy said in disbelief as Willow's former paramour was in Dawn's bedroom.
"Hey Buffy, Wesley," Oz said out of breath he then collapsed along with Dawn.
In the abandoned warehouse The Phantom watched as all the players were assembled.
"This is going to be fun." The figure said eagerly rubbing his hands together. He then put on the strange mask he stole from The Magic Box and placed it on his face. The mask itself didn't look all that impressive just a plain brown mask with a rune carved onto the forehead. But when it was placed on the stranger's face it tingled as is features slowly started to change. "Not the most handsome disguise I've ever seen but it should work.
Riley blinked he was a little confused about his location. He turned and saw Angel. Taking an active combat stance he pulled out what looked like a small tazer.
"Angel." He said it as a direct challenge.
"Whoa Rambo I'm not here to fight I'm one of the good guys remember?" Angel said.
"Riley?" hearing his name Riley turned to see Willow on the floor hair slightly messed up and out of breath.
"One of the good guys huh?" He said turning towards Angel again. But Angel already used his reflexes to kick the device out of Riley's hands. Thinking quickly Riley jumped back and kicked a piece of table up towards Angel's chest. The vampire quickly blocked only to have his knees taken out from under him.
"Look I'm trying to be polite here." Angel said as he struggled with Riley. "But if you don't get off me I'm going to have to make this really embarrassing for you.
"Boys knock it off damn it." Willow shouted surprising both of them.
"He started it." Angel said rolling Riley off of him.
"Yeah well I'm finishing it right now. This is my dorm room and I would like to keep it in one piece if possible." Both the guys could tell that Willow was serious. They quickly stood up and started glaring at each other.
"Geez Buffy was right you're both like children around each other.
"Are not," They said in unison. Willow gave them a hairy eyebrow second only to Giles himself.
"All right, then now Riley what do you remember before appearing here?" Willow asked as Angel tried straightening the room up as much as he could.
"I was in Malay; my unit was informed of a zombie infestation, when I was taken aside by a little yellow demon. He told me that the world was in major peril and that I and one other were specifically needed in Sunnydale. Next thing I know I'm on what's left of your table with the King of Pain here."
"Well Combat Ken can you describe the demon?" Angel asked returning to the group.
"Small like an imp, kind of feline in appearance big bulging red eyes," Riley said in standard military manner.
"Rosaka," Angel muttered.
"I'm sorry Rosaka the virgin thief?" Angel looked at Willow in surprise.
"What you think that only preying mantis ladies used the name? I must have spent at least an hour in the library researching creatures that either wanted to sleep with, sacrifice, or eat virgins." Willow explained remembering Miss French. She was amused at Angel's reaction. Angel started pacing.
"Rosaka doesn't get involved with any of things of his own choice. He's simply a retrieval demon."
"Meaning,"
"Meaning that someone summoned him here, we better get in touch with the others tell them that whatever the threat is it's probably already here."
"Wait." Riley blurted out. "Don't tell Buffy I'm here."
"What?" Angel said slightly amused were Willow was shocked.
"I don't think it would be tactically sound if Buffy knew I was here." Riley said lowering his head.
"Meaning your afraid to see her again. Why? What happened between you two?" Angel asked. He knew why he had to hide from Buffy last time but the fact that Riley didn't want to see her made him suspicious.
"That's none of your business." Riley said becoming over defensive in Angel's eyes.
"Alright both of you knock it off." Willow shouted tiring of the testosterone fog filling her home. "Riley you better have a good way to stay out of sight Angel why don't you go for a blood walk or something."
"But…"
"Go." One look at her determined face and Angel knew that there would be no point arguing. He slammed the door and walked out onto the dorm yards. Willow waited until he was gone. "Don't say a word Riley Finn. What you did hurt Buffy really hurt her. Do you remember what I said would happen if you hurt her."
"You said you would beat me to death with a shovel." Riley said quietly. The out right ferocity of Willow was down right scary.
"Well since then I've been getting better with my magic's. I'm half tempted to make you beat yourself to death with one instead." A look of pure shock appeared on his face as Willow walked past him. "Remember a vague disclaimer is nobody's friend." She said as she went to the kitchen.
He found himself lying on the couch with a cold towel around his head.
"Where…"
"You're in the Summers home." Wesley said keeping Oz from rising to quickly. "Do you remember what happened?"
"I was in Tibet meditating trying to make peace with my wolf, when I was approached by this demon." Oz stopped to catch his breath. "He told me something major was going down in Sunnydale. And I and one other were needed here."
"This demon what did it look like?"
"Short yellow with red bulging eyes and a long tail, He grabbed my hand and the next thing I know I'm here."
"Rosaka," Wesley murmured.
"Who," Dawn asked giving Wesley another cold cloth. She helped Wesley lie Oz back down.
"Dawn get your sister." The only teenager in the house took off looking for her sister. Oz was still having a hard time moving. Teleporting all this way must have taken a lot out of him. Wesley mused his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Cautiously Wesley looked in the peephole to find a familiar figure looking around his surroundings. He opened the door surprised to find The Host in Sunnydale.
"Hey Wes, do you know were I can get a decent sea breeze in this town?"
Part 4
The next day the whole crew assembled at the Magic Box. Buffy couldn't help but wonder what was going on. There were three new people with them now. The first was Oz who was trying to keep a respectable distance from Willow and Tara. She noticed that Willow was occasionally looking at the former man in her life. The other two were unfamiliar to her. She knew that one of them wasn't human. The green skin and little red horns were a dead give away. But she had to admit he dressed nice for a demon even if he did talk like a Vegas entertainer. The other one was completely concealed in black. He looked like in extra in one of those really bad ninja movies from the 80's. Even his face was concealed in a full dark cowl including his eyes. When introductions were made he remained silent. The demon known as The Host explained that he didn't speak.
"You know the whole vow of silence deal." Everyone but Angel and Spike just shrugged it off. Strangely enough both Angel and Spike seemed annoyed with Tall Dark and Silent. Wesley called everyone's attention to the table.
"I'm afraid we don't have much time." The former Watcher spoke. "If what Oz told us is true then the threat is already here. I suggest that we pay attention to The Host he has quite an interesting story to tell." Wesley sat down and let The Host take the table
"Alright kids this is the low down." The demon said rising. "The threat that the big guys are sending us to fight is called the Chronomancer."
"Chronomancer sounds familiar? Giles muttered.
"This guy practices chronomancy, are to put it in simpler terms he plays with time."
"Excuse me plays with time are we talking time travel." Xander butted in.
"More like time control." Anya interrupted. "Chronomancy deals with time travel but it also allows the person to alter the events making parallel dimensions. Other tricks include bringing someone from the past into the future and even changing a person's age, gender, preferences."
"Couldn't have put it better cup cake," The Host said. "Now apparently this Chronomancer is here in Sunnydale. And he's already sent agents to different time lines."
"But what does that have to do with all of us?" Cordelia asked. As a response to her questions The Host pulled out a bag and carefully placed a lot of magical looking items on the table. But what caught there attention was the sheets of paper he was handing out to everybody.
"The answer to your question is he already has begun altering the past. In fact he's been doing it for a while now.
"So all this magic stuff..." Dawn asked looking a little too closely at the items for Buffy's liking.
"All these items are going to send you back so you can stop him."
"Excuse isn't time travel dangerous?" Gunn asked
"Extremely dangerous Charles that's why I have some good news and some bad news, so which do you want first?"
"The bad news," The group almost said in unison
"Well first of all I'm going to need the Key." He looked at Dawn who was being shielded by her big sister.
"No way," Buffy said giving The Host a killing glare.
"Sorry Buff but there's no other way. I need a dimensional conduit and your sister's it." He pulled a long length of chain from the bag. "The Chronomancer,s already doing damage as we speak. We really don't have time to waste."
"Buffy it's okay, really," Dawn said stepping in front of her sister. Buffy watched as her little sister bravely went towards the demon.
"What do I have to do?" she asked showing no sign of fear.
"Nothing much Pooky just sit in the middle while the rest forms a circle around you." Buffy watched proudly as Dawn sat in the middle of circle that the others began to form around her. She was the last to join in sitting next to Willow. She watched as the green demon started drawing a symbol formation in the space that the others allowed him. Then he drew lines from each of them leading to Dawn. Next he started sprinkling blue sand on the lines. Finally he took the length of chain and started wrapping around each one's wrist.
"You mentioned that there was more bad news." Giles interjected.
"Afraid so; the Chronomancer has put up a chaos barrier around his gate."
"Meaning," Wesley asked almost impatiently. He was worried about the threat. I've never heard the Host so grim this must be a dire threat indeed.
"Meaning he's opened seven time gates and I can only send teams of two to each location. And to make things worse I don't know which two will end up in which time periods."
"What your telling us is we have no idea where were going to end up or with who?" Gunn blurted out.
"Actually it's more like when you'll end up. At least it's only within a four-year period."
"Anything else we should know about before we leap Al." Xander asked.
"Well the good news is that The Powers That Be were able to leave you a description of your tasks once you get there. By the way try your best not to alter the past. It tends to really screw things up. Oh yeah if you get your ticket punched the travel spell I'm casting will cremate your remains."
Before any of them could react to this news he smashed something on the floor and the building was filled with a loud scream coming from Dawn. Green energy flowed from her and towards everybody around her. And in the next instant everybody was gone. The Host smiled as he put his hands on his face. He removed his face and was replaced by the Phantom. He simply looked at the circle and smiled.
Part 5
Dawn blinked the pain was finally over. She had no idea what The Host did but it burned like hell. She looked around to find herself in the Bronze. Nobody seemed to notice her instead all there eyes were on a familiar redhead dressed in a leather bustier.
"Willow?" she asked out loud.
"Dawn?" she heard Willow reply only it was from behind her. She turned to see another Willow. But this one was wearing what she was wearing before the trip. "What are you staring a..?" her question fell silent as the image of her vampire doppelganger was approaching one of her henchmen.
Oz found himself in a basement of some kind. He heard a noise behind him. Quickly he turned using his wolf instincts to guide him around the dark basement. His nose caught a familiar aroma.
"Willow?" he whispered. No not Willow her shampoo's apple scented this one is more like lilacs. Oz looked until he found Tara lying in a laundry hamper. Oz could feel the wolf in him growling at the one who had stolen his mate. "Down boy," Oz whispered as he approached the new lover in his old one's life. The closer he got to her the more the wolf wanted out. His approach was interrupted by the familiar figure of Angel reaching into the fuse box and cutting the power.
The ringing of a school bell let Wesley and the Silent One as he referred to the darkly garbed stranger know it was safe to come out.
"All clear," He whispered as they left the janitor supply closet. From the look of the building they were in Sunnydale High before the mayor destroyed it. But aside from that Wesley couldn't tell how far they traveled or what their purpose was here. "Wait before we continue it might be advisable to remove your stealth garb and dress more appropriately." The figure hunched his shoulders. "Oh I see that's all you have alright then you stay here while I find something a little more suitable for you to wear. Or at least a little less conspicuous," The darkly clad Riley watched as the unfamiliar figure took off.
Giles looked to see Charles Gunn checking out their surroundings.
"Where are we?" The Watcher asked his traveling companion.
"The former Angel Investigations before it was blown up." Gunn replied only having seen the building twice in his life. There sight seeing was cut short by the sound of the elevator rising. Quickly they ran into Angel's office. An unfamiliar young man stepped into the room.
"Hello anybody here?" he called out. The two time travelers stay quiet as he approached the office. The figure quietly walked into the office and stopped. From their hiding place behind the desk Giles and Gunn could see the young man's shoes. He pulled a book from on top the filing cabinet and starting reading it. He paced back and forth across the desk. He then walked out closing the door behind him.
"That was a close one." Gunn whispered to Giles. The Englishman just nodded in agreement. They waited until they heard the elevator go down. Quickly they ran to the office door, only to be stopped in their tracks by a crossbow wielding Doyle.
"Now perhaps the two would like to explain what you're doing in my boss's office?"
It had been a very long time since Anya had found herself in church. But she didn't know what was worse being in a church held hostage by a brood of vampires or being in a church held hostage by a brood of vampires with her boyfriends ex sitting right next to her.
"Well this is interesting." Cordelia said assessing the situation they were in. "I'm assuming this is part of your past, I don't recall having any vampire's holding a church hostage in broad daylight."
"Too much for you to handle," Anya snapped back giving Cordelia an evil eye.
"Well if you have any bright ideas I would love to hear one." Cordelia responded. She started looking for a weapon against their vampire captors. Anya was also looking around.
"You know this is a nice looking church, I wouldn't mind marrying Xander here one day. Of course I don't know how many of my friends could attend this being a church and all."
"Uh huh"
I mean after all me and Xander are perfectly happy together. And I'm never felt afraid to show my affection for him and when where alone well the man is just a berserker in the sack."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Cordelia said as she gave up searching for a weapon. Anya turned to face her.
"Like you don't know; oh I'm sure you're only here because the Powers That Be wanted you here, and that you didn't come here to see Xander."
"You're kidding me right? Where trapped in a church surrounded by vampires in a scenario that played out sometime in the last two years; and you think I'm here because of Xander?"
"Ahem" The two ladies looked up to see one of the vampires standing above them.
"Yes can we help you?" Anya asked the vampire angrily.
"Quiet." Cordelia whispered to her pew mate.
"I think it would be wise to listen to your friend." The vampire said glowering at Anya.
"My friend, you think she's my friend? Listen buddy I wouldn't be friends with this badly dressed, want to be boyfriend stealing bitch if my life depended on it."
"Excuse me what did you call me?" Cordelia asked grabbing Anya's shoulder.
"A bitch," Anya replied brushing Cordelia hand of her shoulder. And in front of the vampires she stood up.
"Nobody calls me badly dressed and gets away with it." And before Anya could stop her Cordelia pushed her into the vampire. Surprised the vampire toppled over. Anya quickly stood up and slapped her rival. Cordelia responded by grabbing Anya's hair and pulling her close.
"Okay so we have them distracted so what's the plan?" Cordelia whispered.
"Plan," Anya responded as she pulled on Cordelia's hair.
The first thing Buffy noticed was the smell. Whenever she was the place had an antiseptic smell. She felt a hand on her shoulder and before she could react Spike pulled her to her feet.
"Come on Slayer this is no time to lie down on the job." The platinum vampire said lifting her to her feet.
"Where are we?" she asked. It was a small room all white. There were medical instruments strewn all over the table.
"Sunnydale hospital, and let me tell you something luv, they are having a really bad week. There have been over a hundred deaths this past week." He said scoping out the area.
"We need to find out when this was I don't remember this many deaths in a week before." They both exited the room and quickly headed to the morgue. In all the years she had been a Slayer she wasn't ready for the amount of corpses lying on the cots. Lifting one of the blankets she saw the cause of death immediately.
"Vampires," She said grimly still unaware of what year she was in. Turning around she saw Spike was no longer in the morgue with her. "Spike," She whispered "Oh I don't have time for this." She muttered. "Spike damn it were the hell are you?" Her search was interrupted when three people burst into the morgue with crosses and wooden stakes. She recognized two immediately, one was Larry, the other was an even grungier looking Oz.
"Oz,"
"Oh great a welcoming committee," The third said pulling out a crossbow.
"Hey whoa watch where you're pointing that thing. Oz, tell your girlfriend that I'm a friend."
"I'm sorry have we met?" the young man asked looking at her suspiciously.
"Oz it me Buffy, you know Willow's best friend, The Slayer.
"I'm sorry did you say you're The Slayer?" Larry interjected.
"Yeah that's right."
"But she also said that she was Willow's friend." Oz said pulling a machete from a sheath on his leg. "Would that be Willow Rosenberg?"
"Uh, yeah so,"
"You really expect us to believe the Slayer would be friends with the top vampire bitch in town?" The girl asked aiming the crossbow.
"What are you talking about my friends aren't vampires."
"Hey what's the bloody ruckus out here?" Spike asked stepping out. In his hands was a bag of blood, which was also all over his mouth.
"Great." Buffy muttered as the three of them began advancing on her and Spike.
"Xander, Xander wake up." Xander felt the gentle slapping of his face he looked up to see Angel staring down at him.
"Angel?" he said wiping his eyes. It was night as Xander could tell from the lack of the sun. The vampire helped him up.
"From the looks of things were in Sunnydale?"
"How can you be sure?" Xander said standing up.
"Simple that Giles house," Angel said pointing to the building only a couple of inches away from them. On closer inspection Xander realized that they were in Giles's back yard. They cautiously looked into the front to see Giles exit the door with a present under his arm.
"Hey that wrapping looks familiar." Xander said pointing at the wrapped box.
"All right we know that we're in the past, and from the look of Giles car I'm guessing this was after I left."
"Right so this is either last year or a couple of months ago."
"Only one way to find out," The detective said opening Giles window. But before Xander could follow him the vampire jumped down landing on him.
"Get down."
"What's wrong?"
"Spike's in there." He heard Xander moan.
"What, this is definitely last year." Xander saw a puzzled expression on Angel's face. "Last year me' and Giles were forced to adopt Spike. This must have been before Olivia showed up."
"Not a good year for either of you huh," Angel asked while wondering what they were going to do next.
"Nope not really, Giles was going through his mid-life crises and I was trapped in my parents basement with no idea what I was going to do with my life."
"Sounds rough, I know what it's like when you suddenly have no direction in your life." The vampire said putting a hand on Xander's shoulder.
"Forget direction I had no life. I was starting to regret ever being born." A sudden look of clarity filled Xander's face. "Birthday I know what today is its Buffy's birthday."
"Are you sure?" Angel said helping Xander up.
"Positive, Giles must be on his way to Buffy's birthday party." As he said this Angel went into brood mode. "Hey man I'm sorry I didn't mean..."
"Is there anything specific about this day that you remember?" Angel said interrupting Xander."
"Besides Ethan Rayne turning Giles into a demon, nope nothing else springs to mind."
"And when does that happen?"
"Not until tomorrow night. Why? Do you think that's why we were sent here?" Xander asked following Angel out of Giles's yard.
"Maybe, unfortunately The Powers are never clear with their messages but it's worth checking out."
"Well that might be a problem. First of all some of the guests were members of a top-secret government demon hunting task force. Second I was there, and third you weren't."
"Your point,"
"I'm not sure that it would be a good idea interrupting the past like this. We don't know how are actions will affect our time line." These words stopped Angel. Is this really Xander talking? I've never heard him sound so serious. Or seem so mature.
He turned to face his former rival for Buffy's affection. Angel always regarded Xander as just a sidekick. A boy who was willing to take crazy risks to help his friends fight the many evils they faced. There were even times he felt his relationship with Buffy threatened by Xander. After all, the boy was human and wouldn't lose his soul if he had sex. But now he wasn't seeing a boy sidekick with puppy love for The Slayer. Instead he was seeing a confident young man who was more like a big brother to Buffy now. He still would risk his life countless times for her and the others but now it seemed that it was more then just loyalty that would make him take these risks. Now it was more like he had a sense of purpose in his life.
"I understand your concerns Xander. But the Host said that The Chronomancer has already begun manipulating time. Maybe he plans on recruiting demon Giles as a personal attack against Buffy."
"I guess that makes sense. Hey didn't he also say that we would somehow be informed about our purpose here?" Xander said looking around.
"That's sounds like a good cue as any." A familiar voice said prompting Angel to turn around. Both men turned to see a man dressed like he was still in the thirties.
"Whistler," Angel said sounding broodier then usual
TBC
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