The night at Willow's had not been comfortable. This is not to say that Willow and Oz were unwelcoming. On the contrary, they were extremely welcoming, yet curious about the new couple from the past. This, for Buffy, was the problem. Seeing someone she was so close to in her own life now has absolutely no idea who she was, was unsettling and upsetting. Fortunately, Willow's personality was the same as her own Willow's back home. The redhead even let her borrow some more up to date clothes, as her evening gown wasn't exactly appropriate to wear in Sunnydale. Silently, she prayed that they would become friends. She would need someone to talk to about everything going on, especially about Angel.
Giles had not had a peaceful night either. After staying awake til the wee hours of the morning pondering why Angel seemed so familiar, he consulted the Watcher Diaries. "You bloody fool," he muttered to himself, "how could you have forgotten?" Angel, the slayers companion, was the infamous Angelus. He was not only known for being one of the most brutal vampires to walk the Earth, but for being the only vampire with a soul. The soul was a curse by the Romani gypsies, who wanted him to suffer after he killed one of their own. He would remember every innocent he killed and for the rest of eternity, forever guilty with reminders of the demon that once controlled his body.
The next evening, Buffy, Angel, Willow, and Oz walked into the library ready to start researching how and why Buffy was in the future. Giles, on the other hand, was much more interested in questioning the two, much like Willow had the night before. Sitting around the large wooden table, they got
"Buffy, would you mind telling me exactly what happened last night," Giles asked, taking his glasses off and wiping them with the hem of his shirt.
"Okay, well, I went to a ball at my friend Willow's. It's a charity ball and all the people of Galway are allowed to attend, including demons. Everything seemed to be going fine until Angel and I were ambushed by vampires. We were fighting them off fine and then we were suddenly glowing black and then poof! We ended up here." She tried to explain her ordeal as best she could, trying not to leave any details out.
"Did you see anyone else around you? Angel, do you remember anything out of the ordinary?"
Angel thought for a moment, looking down at the table, and shook his head. "No, that's pretty accurate."
Giles sighed. With only vampires to go on, they were never going to find an answer. "So, uh, Angel… Could I speak with you alone in my office, please?" If he wasn't going to get answers about the time travel, he most certainly wanted to speak with the vampire about himself and how he paired up with Buffy. The two rose and walked into the librarian's office, closing the door behind them.
"I know what you're going to ask," Angel started. "Let me tell you from the beginning. You've most likely heard of my situation. I have a soul. It's a curse from a clan of gypsies meant to make me suffer for the rest of my life. I couldn't handle the pain of knowing how vicious of an animal I was so I isolated myself from people, thinking it would protect them. Years later, a man by the name of Whistler came to me. Basically, he told me I could try to redeem myself, and that there was a young slayer I could help. Buffy. She had no family, just some friends and a watcher, but she was only recently called. I started to watch her and follow her, trying to keep her safe. We met just before this happened. Whistler said something big was going to happen and it would change history forever, but he left before I could ask him anything more."
The watcher nodded his head. "I had heard rumors going around of a prophecy that a champion was going to assist the slayer. I just hadn't thought they would be from the past. I assumed if it happened, it would happen to Kendra, the slayer in, uh, this century. I'll go and consult my books, see if I can find anything more on this prophecy."
Getting more excited at having something specific to research, he all but ran out of his tiny office into his stacks, leaving the rest of the group to talk amongst themselves. In the meantime, Willow had been telling Buffy about herserself and her friends. After telling the blonde slayer about her boyfriend being a werewolf and her own wiccan talents, Willow tried to make her smile with stories of her friends, Xander and Cordelia. "You'll meet them soon, they're probably fooling around in a broom closet somewhere around here!" She giggled, remembering times when the two were caught by the evil Principal Snyder. He had it out for them, checking any closed door when he walked though the hallways, hoping he would catch them at it again.
Buffy smiled politely, not wanting to be rude to the friendly girl who was trying to include her. But she just couldn't focus on the love affair this couple was having when she was in a completely different century. All she wanted to do was go home, and since she obviously wasn't doing that anytime soon, the second best option was to slay.
Sensing her anxious mood, Angel cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Willow. How about we all go out on a patrol? See if we can find out any information."
The three looked up at him and smiled. A good ass kicking was just what the slayer, werewolf and witch needed.