Use the chapter menu in the upper right to navigate between multiple posts in the same episode. Visit my page for links to previous episodes.
Author's Note: This is my version of the post-Whedon Buffyverse. It is rated Mature for some dialogue, sexual themes (non-graphic), and violence. I assume you've seen or read all five seasons of Angel and all seven seasons of Buffy. I don't consider anything except aired episodes as canon. (Fray has some cool ideas, but we'll get to that later.)
My continued thanks to everyone who's put me on any sort of update list, and to the many people who have sent messages.
Please take a second to let me know what you think. I'm not sure if asking for reviews is considered impolite, but I mean no offense. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. It doesn't have to be posted publicly. I just need your opinion.
As always, I hope you enjoy.
jayman
Previously on the Post-Whedon Buffyverse:
Illyria: You're fading. You'll last ten minutes at best.
Gunn: Then let's make them memorable.
Dawn: I'm sick of everyone treating me like some kind of second-class citizen.
Connor: Do you regret sleeping with me?
Bethany: I don't care. Besides, I thought I told you none of this mushy stuff.
Cordelia: I'm real this time.
Angel: I don't know if I can trust you… I want to believe you.
Gwen: I want to know what happened to Gunn.
Immortal: Dawn is coming back to my castle, one way or another. I'm not done with her yet. Or you.
Giles: I want you to join me. Become a Watcher. Pick one of the Slayers and begin advanced training. We'll start bringing other people out of mothballs, we'll drain all our reserves, whatever it requires as long as we can get each one of these girls the guidance they require.
Buffy: I'm not leaving. And you shouldn't want to either. If we do, the Immortal's just going to stab us in the back.
Colleen: This isn't over.
Faith: Maxine's dead.
Kennedy: Your hair's changing color.
And now… Episode 3 Trump CardSpike was in the middle of explaining what happened when Illyria walked in.
"And the git just took it, like he was just seeing how hard she could hit him or something," Spike finished, looking over at her.
"There's not a mark on you," Angel said, looking Illyria over.
"If you discount the third-degree burns," Spike said.
Cordelia hadn't left the chair at Angel's side since the day she reappeared. She watched this exchange like a tennis match, memorizing every detail in case she was later called on to act as line judge.
"He didn't put up a fight," Illyria said.
"Why do you suppose he did that?" Angel asked.
"Maybe he also wished to be home before dawn," Illyria speculated. "Or perhaps he simply liked the idea of toying with us."
"Toying with you," Angel said. "He claimed to be another Old One."
"I don't like it," Cordelia said.
"What's to like about it?" Angel asked, flopping into his chair.
Spike propped his ass on the edge of the table. "The way I figure, he wanted to see what old Blue's capable of."
"Well, that's enlightening," Cordelia said. "Any other gems of recap you can pull out of the air?"
"Do not yell at my warrior in such a manner," Illyria said, suddenly irate. "He stood beside me while you simply sat h…"
"You look like you caught me in your toy box," Cordy said with a smirk. "I promise I won't break your shiny fire truck."
"Hey, I'm nobody's toy."
"Enough," Angel said, holding his hand out to calm everyone down.
"He is no Old One," Illyria said, returning to the matter at hand. "I would have sensed it."
"I think he just knew something about you and was toying with you," Cordy said, as if that settled the matter.
"Brilliant," Spike said. "How come you get to recap and I don't?"
"I hate this guy already," Angel said. "Go swap shifts."
Sin Jinn led the refugees in prayer, and offered a sermon and scripture lesson before he went to settle in and wait for the next shift change. It was important to keep the flock on the proper path, even if he was required to be elsewhere instead of having the opportunity to guide them every day.
Ever since he'd abandoned the church, he felt like a traitor against God. But he felt God's presence in the everyday struggles of life more than he ever did in a cloister. People needed him here. He was important. That wasn't supposed to matter to a man of the cloth. But it mattered to Sin Jinn.
The portal shimmered open and he grabbed a few bags of trash to take out with him. Nearly forty people called this place home now, and they generated a fair amount of refuse.
The policy was wait for those coming in to say when they're done, and then those waiting to head out could go. Ed lined up behind Sin Jinn, also holding a couple of bags of trash. Mostly snack wrappers and empty cans. But it wasn't polite to let the stuff pile up in Illyria's realm.
"Let's hope everything went well last night," Sin Jinn said.
"I'm sure the world continued on just fine without you," Ed said. "You're a priest, you're not God."
"I've never claimed to be either."
Several other Gunn-men finished up the line, and after those who'd spent the night on duty came inside, the fresh people all headed out together.
Illyria closed the portal and walked away without a word. Sin Jinn and the others stood in the lobby and looked around for someone to tell them what they'd missed. Usually Sin Jinn was the first person they saw, waiting with his maps and his plans. But this morning there was no one.
"Guess I should have let someone know I'd be back," Sin Jinn said. "I'll go find Angel and get the morning's routine. Meanwhile get to the security room and double check that footage. Make sure nothing happened last night."
"You got it, boss," Ed said.
Sin Jinn headed upstairs to talk to Angel. He nearly freaked out when he heard about Illyria on patrol.
"I've got people who are depending on her. Can her realm even survive if something happens to her?"
"I don't know," Angel said honestly. "But I do know that I'm not going to be the one who stops her from leaving, if she's of a mind to go."
Sin Jinn calmed down a little bit. "I guess that's fair."
"Ok," Angel said, letting the matter drop. "Here's your map. I know you like to pick a spot yourself, but today I've got five spots I really need looked at and I want you to take three of them."
"I can do that. As long as a three man team is enough for each one."
"It should be," Angel said. "I just need intel. Any problems and you tell your people to hightail it."
"Connor and Bethany are taking the fourth, Spike and Nikodemus will take the last one. Let them know which ones to go to, will you?"
"No problem, boss." Sin Jinn took his map and left.
Not everyone knew about Bethany's appetite for sex. Other than Cordelia and Angel, who were both happy to see Bethany and Connor quietly occupied, there were few people who knew she really was so promiscuous.
But she was loyal in her way. She didn't try to sleep around on Connor. There was no need, with the newness of their relationship and his practically intolerable stamina. Not that there were many prospects available, besides the Gunn-men. And if anything was missing from their sex life she could just use her powers to make it more interesting.
But Connor proved Bethany wrong. He did notice when she went away. He was inside her, but she just wasn't… there.
"Open your eyes," he said, kissing her on the lower part of her neck.
She ignored him and let out a small moan.
Connor propped himself up on one arm and took her chin with his free hand. "Open your eyes," he demanded again.
When she finally did, he said, "There you are."
Bethany used her telekinesis to throw Connor off. "Why'd you have to do that?" she yelled.
Connor propped himself up on the edge of the bed. "What the hell?"
"I told you," she said, crying. "This isn't love. This isn't anything. I just thought we could have some fun."
"I want you to have fun too," he said.
"Why do you think I'm doing this?" she asked.
"Hell, I don't know."
"It's fun, ok?" Bethany looked at him, but wouldn't meet his eyes. "But just let me do it my way."
"We fight demons together, we live together, and we eat, sleep, and shit together. Why can't we love together?" Connor resisted the urge to force her to look at him.
"I don't love you," she said. "I don't even know you."
Connor looked like he'd just been stabbed. The blood drained from his face and left him pale and weak. His heart was racing, and then the next minute felt like it'd never beat again.
"Fuck you," he said, standing up to find his clothes.
"What the fuck?" she yelled, throwing a pillow at him.
"I'm not going to be some masturbatory device for you," he said, stuffing one leg into his pants. "Use a fucking towel like everyone else."
"Wait," she said, wiping off her face.
"I'm not leaving," Connor said. "You're coming with me. We have to patrol."
"Thank god for iTunes," Dawn thought. She'd tried out the computer in her room and was amazed to find that the underground fiber-optic connection was still running. She'd spent hours stealing music and loading it onto her mp3 player.
She was sitting at the computer with her headphones on when Illyria tried to knock on the door. Dawn couldn't hear it, but she could suddenly feel the pull of Illyria demanding access to her powers. She couldn't resist it or ignore it; she had to go answer the door.
"Have you heard of my encounter with the dragon-rider?" Illyria asked.
"Where's Spike?" Dawn asked, ignoring her. The connection was too strong, and it had her close to a panic. There was a real danger that she'd lose it.
"I'm alone," Illyria said. She tried to ease up on the key; she knew full-well the consequences of restoration. "I need your help."
"With what?" Dawn asked.
"I went out last night and the rider sought me out. It was a test. He claimed to have powers that he couldn't possibly possess."
"And?" Dawn asked. The noise from her headphones was just static; you couldn't make out the song that was playing behind her.
"I did no damage."
"What?" Dawn asked, shocked.
"I attacked him full force, and he simply left. He threatened to come to Vahla Ha'nesh."
"So you need more power to defeat him?"
"We must practice more. I must be able to fight."
"Ok," Dawn said, turning around to shut down her computer. "But I want Spike and Nikodemus there."
"They will patrol at sunset but until then we will accomplish much together."
"Spike, I don't like it," Angel said.
"What's to like?" Spike asked. "But you want us to lose?"
"No," Angel said. "But remember she was a threat to us when she had full-access to her powers. The only reason I kept her around was because she was weakened enough for Wesley to control."
"And now there's no Wesley," Spike said.
"Exactly. Who's going to control her if she starts going off again?"
"Well, she's always been on our side. Every time she's gone off it's been to help us somehow."
"Yeah, except that time that she killed us all."
"That was a do-over, it didn't count."
"You weren't there. It counted."
"So what then? Just leave it?"
"I want you to find out who this Nikodemus is. And why she wanted him back so bad."
"Ok."
They'd picked a new room in the basement. Their previous training room wasn't really holding up. This one was concrete which stood a much better chance. Nothing would stand up to them, in the end. But it should do for training.
It had been emptied completely, down to the bare walls. The row of fluorescent lights that crossed the ceiling created four sets of sharp shadows on the bare, unpainted cement. There was a circle scratched on the floor, and Illyria and Nikodemus squared off within it. Spike and Dawn were tucked into the corner on comfortable chairs they'd taken from the offices upstairs.
"So, Dawnster, all we have to do is sit and watch, real calm like." Spike propped his chair back on two legs and smiled at her.
"Ok," Dawn said. She felt the drain upon her but it had become much more bearable the instant she'd seen Spike.
"I need you to challenge me, Nikodemus." Illyria had begun to walk in a slow circle around the edge of the ring.
"I shall do my best," he replied, moving with her to keep them equidistant.
"Whenever you are ready," she said, looking over to Dawn.
Dawn nodded, and boldly reached out to take Spike's chilly hand.
Illyria stepped forward with a snap kick. Spike winced from the sidelines; he knew that this sequence ended with a strong punch to the jaw. But Wesley had options that Spike didn't. As Illyria stepped through the move and threw the punch, he just grabbed her fist in his hand.
With crushing power he bent her wrist back and took her nearly down to one knee. She landed several punches on Wesley's armored torso, to little effect. She closed her eyes and imagined what it used to be like.
Her eyes snapped open and she blasted Wesley with an open-palm strike to the chest. He skidded back almost a meter, releasing his hold on her. She smiled and cocked her head to one side.
Wesley took a step forward, blocking her barrage with his wings and forearms. He knocked both of her arms wide and smashed her nose with his elbow. She fell to the ground, spurting blood, and Wesley took a step back.
"No," she yelled from the floor. "He would not allow me to compose myself. Neither should you."
Wesley shrugged and kicked her in the ribs, sending her spinning from the ring. She stood up and ran back, jumping at the last instant to kick Wesley square in the head. He staggered back and she punched him in the face several times. The craggy spines and ridges that lined his body left cuts on her fist, but she ignored the pain and continued her assault.
He flared his wings and smashed her to the ground with a single overhead strike. While she was recovering, he turned to Dawn.
"Less is more," he said, in his craggy and broken voice. "Without the Mutari generator, we have no way to put back the power. If you overdo it…"
He was silenced by Illyria's boot to his head. He grabbed her ankle and spun her around several times before tossing her into the wall. It held up better than the drywall, but still a series of cracks spider-webbed out from it.
He followed after her, delivering a kick that glanced off her shoulder. She dodged inside his leg, and threw a powerful punch into his genitals. Wesley groaned and backed off a bit, giving Illyria time to prepare. She stood up and looked over at Dawn.
"Get ready," she said. She closed her eyes and raised her arms. She thought about what it meant to be god-king. She wasn't worried about crossing dimensions or living multiple lives. All she wanted was her near-limitless physical power.
To live without fear, to strike and smite one's enemies, to protect that which you owned. These were all part of the reason that she wanted it. Thinking of the dragon-rider destroying Wesley furthered her rage. She stood up and punched Wesley squarely above the heart, and a crack appeared in his armor.
She immediately stopped, looking at it in shock.
"Ouch," Wesley managed.
Dawn shut the connection completely, or at least did her best at it. Spike helped her, feeding her images that made it easier. Illyria whispered into Wesley's ear.
"The next time you transform," she said, "it will heal."
Wesley nodded. Spike didn't react, but he overheard it as well.
"Great," he said, looking at Dawn. "Absolutely perfect, Dawn."
She stood up and gave him a hug. "Thank you."
"Let's go check on Nik," he said, and the two of them crossed the room. "Hell of a punch she's got, eh Rocky?"
"It will heal in time," Wesley said.
"He will just need to rest for a while," Illyria said.
"So how you feeling, Blue?"
"My speed, strength, and skills are all nearly normal."
"But that's all, right? No time travel? No tick-tick boom?"
"I believe we're safe," Wesley said.
"Good, because it's time to patrol." Spike slapped Wesley on the shoulder and headed to Angel's office. Wesley and Illyria left for their room, leaving Dawn all alone, like she'd been forgotten, in the center of the room.
Rona sat at the receptionist's desk with one of the staff from the Watcher's Council. It was the other girl's job to monitor the security for the lobby and check credentials of anyone entering or exiting the building.
Slowly things were beginning to come together. A housekeeping manager had been hired, and she was busy screening applicants to fill the jobs that would keep the place tidy and presentable. Most of the sleeper agents had been contacted, and although a good many had yet to officially report in, there was enough activity that things seemed mostly back to normal.
Books were donated, items were constantly being brought in to fill the many displays and defensive requirements that a society such as the Watcher's Council had need for. Elections and appointments had been made to attempt to restore the power structure that had been in place before the devastation that had nearly ended them.
Buffy was in a meeting room upstairs, talking to Giles.
"I can't believe you kept me waiting out there for like fifteen minutes," Buffy said.
"I'm sorry, but I really am quite busy."
"I don't care," Buffy said. "When I want to talk to you, you can assume that it's something much more important than who's responsible for emptying the trash cans on the third floor."
"Well," Giles said. "What is it then?"
"I'm here to tell you that I talked to the girls."
"And?"
"We've decided that you need to make a clean start."
"What?" Giles asked. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"None of the girls are interested in a Watcher. You better start grooming potentials and waiting for me to die."
"You can't be serious. None of the girls understand the benefits of having a dedicated research assistant and training partner. Having a Watcher can only improve them."
"I think they've done just fine so far, despite your attempts to influence them."
"Buffy, what I did with Spike I thought was necessary."
"I don't care, you were wrong. And everyone saw it. We're going to stay here, we'll work together as equals. But these girls saved the world. They're not interested in someone telling them when it's time for bed."
"I understand," Giles said, sitting back down. "Thank you for explaining this to me."
Buffy nodded and turned to go.
"One last thing," Giles said. "Please tell the girls that we're here for them if any of them decide to change their mind. It's not about running their lives, it's about training."
"I'll tell them, but you're not to pressure them in any way."
"Agreed, it is their decision."