Timeline: Before Angel goes see the Oracles the second time in I Will Remember You. Alternative end for the crossover.
Genre: Fluff/Romance.
Pairing: Buffy/Angel. What else?
Summary: Some B/A fans, which know the future, meet Angel in his way to see the Oracles and prevent him to do a stupidity.
Disclaimer: I'll never have money enough to pay whatever price Joss Whedon may ask for 'BTVS' and 'ATS' copyrights. But I own the characters of Karenelle, Elle, Andrea, Mary, Daniel and Johnny and myself.
Author's Notes: I needed therapy after watching another re-run of IWRY – finally I managed to record it, YAY ME. This is the result.
Dedication: To Karenelle Dugray, who's writing a cute BRUCAS story: The Reuniting Song. And to my friends who let me turn them into characters,
Fan's Love by Isabella Summers
Angel looked at the sleeping form of Buffy. A little smile played on the corner of her lips and she seemed sated and calm.
His heart broke when he thought of what he was going to do, but it would shatter if he couldn't help her. He was useless for her as a man; she would worry with him and never focus completely on the battle she needed to fight.
The former vampire dressed a dark-gray sweater and buttoned his pants. With a brief kiss on her forehead, he left.
Isabella, Karenelle, Elle, Johnny, Andrea, Daniel and Mary were hanging around the Santa Monica pier, happily enjoying the morning sun, killing time before the movie session's beginning and talking about their plans after Christmas. Karenelle was distracted looking at the beach when she noticed a broody, tall dark handsome man walking towards the abandoned post office. When the sun glimmered on his features, she recognized him instantly.
"Oh, my God!" She breathed in shock.
"What? Karen, what's the problem?" Elle said. Noiselessly, Karenelle pointed the man and Isabella yelled happily:
"Oh, look, there is Angel!".
"Nah, you're dreaming!" Daniel said jealously. Johnny nodded in support. However, the girls didn't listen to them; they were busy running to reach the handsome vampire.
"Oh, boy. Come on, Dan, let's stop them." Johnny sighed.
The for-now-former vampire was so deep in his thoughts he didn't hear the voices calling him until he felt someone pushing on his sweater. He looked behind him to see five girls and two boys. The girls were staring at him with wide eyes and the boys were panting, probably by the run.
"It's true!" One of the girls – Elle – said. "He's Angel!"
"Oh, boy." Another one – Karenelle – said. A third one – Isabella – looked around and said:
"Wait a minute..." Realization dawned in the girl's eyes. "Oh, boy... Folks... Excuse me, Angel..." She stepped forward and supported a hand on his chest. Angel raised an eyebrow at her shock "Oh, shit! This is 'I Will Remember You'!" She exclaimed.
The other kids gasped in shock. A girl started to cry and another one put her arms around her shoulders to comfort her.
"Do I know you?" Angel asked politely. The girl who had felt her heartbeat took his hand and made him sit on a bench.
"You don't know us, but we know you. And you're not going to see the Oracles, foolish former vampire." She scolded him severely. "By the way, I'm Isabella and those are my friends Karenelle, Daniel, John, Mary, Andrea and Elle".
"Nice to meet you", he said. "How do you know about the Oracles?"
"Oh, we just do." The boy Isabella had introduced as Daniel said.
"Now you're listening to us!" The girl called Mary said.
"We know what you're going to ask to them. And we know their answer." Andrea said while consoling Elle."And it will be...?" Angel asked eagerly.
"They'll say the slayer will die." Daniel blurted. Angel paled; Isabella slapped the back of Daniel's head and took the word. She sit down beside Angel and took his slightly cold hands on hers, suppressing a sigh.
Andrea, Mary, Karenelle and Elle looked enviously at her when Angel squeezed her hands lightly, still in shock."So you'll tell them to let her live. They'll walk away and say it doesn't concern them because it's a matter of love. You'll tell them to take your life in return because you don't serve to their purpose, not as a man. They'll say what is done cannot be undone but what's not done can yet be avoided. So, they'll make the deal – suppress the last 24 hours so you can kill the Mohra before its blood mixes with yours".
"How can we avoid that to happen?" Angel whispered. Now all the girls except Isabella were crying quietly, and the two boys were making their best to calm them down.
Isabella sighed deeply. She knew Angel would be destroyed with what she was going to say, but, as a B/A fan, it was her duty to help both slayer and (former) vampire to live their love.
"You. You'll be the only one who remembers everything. Since you don't want Buffy to die, you'll take the goddamn deal. So, you'll go back to your hotel, have this heart-shattering talk with her, with tears and kisses and everything else, then time will be erase, you'll kill the Mohra and let Buffy walk away without knowing the truth".
Silence. There were tears on the girls' faces, except for Isabella's. Her eyes, however, were silently pleading him to believe them. And he did. There was such honesty on her soul that he believed her.
"Why are you doing this?" Angel asked softly staring at the teenagers' faces.
"We've been watching your love-story since the beginning, Angel." Mary sniffled sadly. "And we don't want Buffy to have an affair with Riley..." Everyone snorted, and then giggled when Angel growled softly. "And Spike." She finished. "Boy, I'd kill to see your game face now!" She giggled at Angel's growl.
"What are you going to do, Angel?" Karenelle took a seat on Angel's left side – Isabella hadn't left his right. She carefully put her hand on his cheek.
"I can't help Buffy as a man!" He protested."Oh, please!" Daniel rolled his eyes – he was bored and upset because his girlfriend was very close to that Angel, the one she loved deeply. "Come on, you must have some fight skills. Riley is a motherfucker bastard with no strength and he'll help her".
"You boys only see the physical side of the things." Elle held out her tongue at Daniel. "Buffy will need you soon. She'll face a Hell-Goddess, Glory, and sacrifice herself to save the world. And.. If you don't stay here in LA, you'll never sleep with Darla".
"Darla?" Angel widened his eyes "She's dead, I staked her myself".
"We know, Angel." Karenelle said with a smile at his shock "Wolfram & Hart are behind this..."
"In resume," Elle interrupted. "You better take this cute butt of yours back to the office and sleep with the slayer on the table again. Tell me, how did it feel?"
"Ellie!" Everyone censured and Angel felt a blush rising in his cheeks. The girls stared in awe at him.
"I knew he would look cute when he blush!" Karenelle shrieked. Impulsively, she leaned up and kissed his cheek. It was the cue to all the girls to kiss his cheek. Daniel and Johnny groaned and Daniel checked his watch.
"All right, girls, we better get going or we'll lose 'Valentine'".
"Oh, Boreanaz!" Mary squealed. "Bye Angel! Be happy!"
"With no risk of losing soul now!" Elle said as the gang walked away. Isabella stayed behind for a little bit and said:
"Look, I know you think we're a bunch of brats who don't know what we're talking about, but... I lost the most important person in my life, Angel. His name was James... For me, he was like Buffy is for you. My other half. And I know what you felt when you left her. With no goodbye. Please, Angel, the two of you has a chance now. And you suffered a century, this is payback enough for whatever Angelus might have done".
Angel saw the pain on the mahogany eyes of the girl in front of him. With a thankful smile, he leaned and kissed her mouth briefly. (AN: No tongue! And this is my story! I can kiss Angel if I want!)
"Oh, my God." She whispered after they broke apart. "Why did you kiss me?"
"You looked like you needed a kiss." Angel explained sheepishly. "And I had no idea how to thank you enough".
"Bella! Move your butt!" Elle's voice came from the distance. Still slightly shocked, Isabella kissed him briefly, impulsively, and then walked towards her friends. Angel smiled and trotted to his car, decided to let go. Maybe the kids were right, he deserved to be happy.
Buffy was pacing back and forth on Angel's living room, when he hopped on the floor. With a surprised shriek, she turned around to face her lover, who had a grin on his face.
"Good morning, my love." He said before passionately kissing her. After few moments, they broke apart, both breathless. Seeing this, she smiled mischievously.
"I like making you breathless. However... I know a much more better way to make you breathless" She said pulling him to the bedroom.