So here goes nothing… As Buffy herself would say.
Well, after that little encounter I went to see Giles and Wes. See… here I was sitting, in a big wooden table and chair looking at them with a bit of curiosity. Because let's face it, they looked the same, except Giles looked very parental and Wes a lot like his other self, maybe a little more fashionable, Cordy I'm sure must have her finger in this. It's good to see them all, even if is just a big faceted, but hey what it isn't?
Giles took his glasses off and did that same old habit of cleaning them and putting onto his face.
Wesley just stared with a calm and pausing mood, as he began to lecture me:
"Well, it's good to have you finally here Mr. O'Connor. It will most definitely help us with the training and also the research." He shared a look with Giles which meant he was the next one to talk.
"Liam, right? Can I call you that?" I was about to say something when he walked towards the window, not facing me or Wesley.
"I've heard that you were a vampire; can you explain it to us, Angel? Can you please enlighten us about it? Or maybe you could tell us your plans? Do you wanna kill them or harm them?"
"What? Of course not! Giles, please… you have to understand!" I was trying to be as calm as I could, but that wasn't really easy at the moment.
"Then, tell us what you know." He faced me with his deep green eyes glaring behind his glasses.
"Fine..." I breathed twice... this wasn't going to be easy "I… know you all. As the matter of fact, I knew you all. Buffy was the first, when I was a vampire with a soul, a half demon looked for me and gave me a reason to live, or to get redemption if you choose."
Buffy lived in LA with her parents at the time, Joyce and Hank, they were constantly fighting and soon as Buffy discovered she was a Slayer things started to get even worse.
I began pacing in the hall, it was the only why I could do to keep going "She lost her first watcher Merrick while fighting with a master vampire. After that, on the night of her dance, she burned the school down to save her friends. That was the end for her parents, they got divorced, and I had never seen a girl cry as much as she at that moment. She held her heart right in front of her for everyone to see… and it was beautiful.
I could feel Giles and Wesley eyes on me. They wanted me to continue. If they only knew how hard this was…
"Buffy moved to Sunnydale, where she apparently had decided to quit slaying. But as soon as she got into the library, you wanted to give her a Codex about Vampires.
Anyway, well she had said no... But Buffy thinks too much. Then, she met Xander and Willow, for a while it was only the four of you. Later it came Cordy and Oz, respectively Xander and Willow's girlfriend and boyfriend.
Me, well… I got myself in the picture just to cause heartaches and troubles. I could explain the whole Buffy/Angel epic love, but believe me it hurts too much, and you really don't need to know. I'll tell what happened but I won't tell how much it affected me. As much as I remember comes the Master Vampire and allies trying to fulfill a prophecy where Buffy was meant to die with at her 16 years old. She killed him and also fulfilled the prophecy, though, for a couple of minutes she was dead, luckily Xander and I went after her and he performed CPR bringing her back to life.
That… was enough to raise another slayer, Kendra, which later died at the hands of Drusilla, which brought forth another slayer, Faith. Then came the crazy watcher trying to kill them with the glove of something... that gave her powers. She apparently was supposed to be Faith's watcher but she'd gone nuts and ended up dead. Then of course on Buffy's 17th birthday, I lost my soul and tried to kill you all with the help of Spike and Drusilla, I'd tried to wake Acathla, demon and bringer of Hell on earth, so Buffy sent me to Hell to close the portal."
I could barely contain my tears but I was doing the best I could, I breathed and continued.
"When I came back, I tried to help Buffy by staying away from her as much as I possibly could, it was hard, but it was safe. Of course then later came the mayor that wanted to eat every living person around SunnyD and with that the Ascension. Faith changed sides, known as the Rogue Slayer. She was against us and with the mayor, she was afraid, felt betrayed and lost. That was the major thing to put her aside. Who would know that all that time all she wanted was to be close to Buffy's and the Scooby Gang? Be accept by them?"
"I don't get it. She tried to hurt you all then?"
"She tried to kill me, Mr. Giles."
"How?" Always with the obvious questions... had to be Wesley.
"By poisoning me."
"I've heard that when vampires are poisoned the only cure is…"
"Slayer's blood." I finished he's knowledge thinking.
"I almost forgot to mention that in the middle of all of this… you arrived Wesley. You were to be Faith's watcher. You failed. That was one of the problems as well. I'm sorry… I know that it's hard for you both to hear it too."
"Keep going Angel." Giles assured me.
"I moved LA, there I met Doyle, a half demon and a great friend. He worked with me and Cordy. She was the one who kept me sane most of the time. Like she used to say, I'm a very brooding guy myself."
I continued talking about LA, my friends, Buffy and the Scooby Gang, until I finally got to the point they so wanted to know… The creation of the System.
"After some years of battle and the return of me and Spike to the gang, him as a human, me as a vampire with a bounded soul… Buffy married and got pregnant with her first child. I wasn't going to be the one to ruin her happiness. All of us decided to create a better world so to speak. The war was getting even worse and of course we needed to stop it or minimize it."
"How?" They both man asked me.
"A deal... Written in paper and signed with blood. The demon world and our world, to live in harmony from that time forward."
"Seems that didn't work. They broke the system, and now they think they have the control, Mr. O'Connor! I don't see how we can change it!" Wesley said almost screaming his anger out at me, like I could blame him for anything.
"I understand your anger Wes. I mean Wesley. But there's nothing I can do about it on my own. I lost them all and the few there were left… I distanced myself from."
You mean they had children, grandchildren and well… not sure how the linage continues.
"Yes." I answered again. I was fighting the tears, but soon I discovered I wasn't the only one. Both men looked very stunned and also surprised by my little biography. If they only knew how much I wanted to die the day Faith found me, they wouldn't be so overwhelmed by it.
"This must be awful."
"Living?" I asked not focusing on any of them, actually I was probably looking nowhere, memories kept rushing back in my head.
I take a deep breath before saying "Yes. More than you can even imagine."
We're really sorry. Maybe we should call it a night. After all… it has been a long day for all of us, especially you.
Actually, I think that the day was much harder for the Summers' sisters.
"Maybe, maybe…" Giles finally said taking off his glasses and doing that so known movement of cleaning them and wearing them again so to speak, then Wesley did the same.. man... how wicked can things get?
Meanwhile
In the girls bedroom, Faith was the one to speak…
"Don't you guys think he looks with someone? He looks familiar to me."
"Wow… Faithy you just kissed the guy… of course he seems familiar to you…" Anya said making a sexy voice while mocking her friend.
Faith just turned around and murmured: "I'm gonna check B and D. See if they are alright. K?"
"Sure." Answered Tara and Willow together.
At that same moment, Buffy slowly went into her sister's room. She needed to see how the girl was feeling. God knows that her herself wanted to disappear and dissipate, the image of her mother as a vampire attacking her and then her herself having to dust her. All she could think about was dust and blood, but now she had to be strong, hold her tears and support her younger sister.
"Hey Dawnie..." She said in the most soothing, soft voice she could.
"Hi Buff."
"Promise me you won't let me be alone! That you are not gonna send me to dad. I don't wanna live with him Buffy." She began saying between sobs.
"Of course not... Never Dawn! You're my baby sister and I promised mom and myself to take care of you. You're not going anywhere."
"You promise? For real?"
"Of course." She said holding her sister next to her.
Faith opened the door and gazed at the girls. Buffy made a move expressing her to come closer.
"I'm so sorry girls."
"Kay Faithy." Said Dawnie still snuggled up to her sister and sniffing.
Faith enveloped the both girls into a bear hug, saying she would do anything to help.
When Dawn finally fell asleep, Faith and Buffy left the room silently, now was time to see the watchers and give the gang the bad news… God knew it wasn't going to be easy. Faith led Buffy and squeezed her arm slightly in a way of courage.
They found Liam with his eyes closed breathing deeply with his back to the wall. Tears were streaming down his face which worried both girls.
"Liam." He heard a small voice, one that he recognized as being Faith's.
"Are y' okay man?"
He said nothing, did nothing; he kept still… the same way until he heard Buffy's voice a little louder than Faith's, even kinder and calmer.
"Liam…"
At the same moment he heard Giles screaming. Angel?
"I'll be fine Mr. Giles. Don't worry about me, though you should worry about your slayers."
"Angel?" Both girls repeated looking confused.
He had dried the tears with his hands and looked to them.
"It's an old nickname... from another lifetime. We can talk about it in the morning."
"No." She said grabbing his arm "We can talk about it right now. Who are you?"
"My name is Liam Angelus O'Connor, mostly known as the Scourge of Europe and later as only Angel. Though it's incredible how you speak my name exactly the way she did. Actually… it's awful to even think that I know each one of you precisely as you're now or were. I can't fool myself anymore and think that hiding it from you or your friends..." I breathed longing for air; my heart was breaking in a thousand pieces while she looked deeply in my eyes… those big hazel green eyes of her.
"Or our friends, because all of you were part of my life and I just wanted to die. But no…" I said holding the tears… even though I could see her eyes full of fresh tears ready to come, I couldn't hold it anymore, so I fell holding myself into her, shaking, crying.
"Shhh... Angel its okay. I'm right here, you're not alone."
Faith, Giles and Wesley watched the scene in front of them. Their hearts ached for him. The worry in their faces combined with Buffy and the previous events, at seeing her kneel and hold herself into him close, like her life depend on him for living... she cried, they both were.
He because of his past, her because of the present; she couldn't understand why she felt so safe, so loved, and so wanted. She had never felt that with any man before. Maybe like Faith had told her once, she just hadn't found the right one yet, and of course her life wasn't a bed full of roses.
