Author's Note: And the end of the first trial.


Buffy sat beside Seo, against the wall of her ship.

Seo buried her face in her knees. Stubbornly refusing to cry, or even acknowledge Buffy's presence.

"A lot of bad things have happened to me," said Buffy. "Things I didn't deserve. I got shoved into the middle of a Hell Goddess battle, and died. Then I got resurrected, which drove Willow crazy and allowed the First to almost completely wipe out the Slayer line. And I got all my happy endings snatched away and quarantined out of the universe."

Seo didn't answer.

"But… you know what?" said Buffy. "I wouldn't give those events up. Any of them." She gave a small smile. "Glory's obsession with the Key gave me my sister. My resurrection created a new, better Slayer Institution, built on something other than death and darkness. And… my happy endings… gave me you."

Still, silence from Seo.

"Sometimes, the best things can come from the worst tragedies," said Buffy.

"What good could possibly come from this?" Seo muttered.

"Spike did."

Seo said nothing. For a very long time.

"Drusilla… was my friend," said Seo. "I believed in her. And then… I left her to die." She shuddered. "It's like I killed her."

"Angelus killed her," said Buffy. "Not you."

Seo's entire body shook with rage, at the name. "Angelus," Seo hissed, in a dark voice. "That… monster."

Buffy got up. Absorbing all of this, taking it in. "Can you send this ship anywhere?" she asked. "Like, even modern day Earth?"

Seo nodded.

"Then go to Los Angeles," said Buffy. "Present day. There's someone you need to meet."


Angel stared at the person who walked through his office door.

"Buffy," he said. Couldn't help but give a smile. He'd never expected to see her. "Giles said you were off… time traveling."

Buffy moved aside, to reveal someone Angel had never seen, before. Someone who looked almost exactly like her — but a little different. A little younger. Her eyes the wrong color. Her eyebrows a little pointier.

"And this… must be… Seo," Angel realized. He gave a small laugh, and shook his head. "Dawn wasn't lying when she said you two looked similar."

"We were time traveling," Buffy said. "To London. 1860."

"To…?" Angel froze. A feeling of dread welling up inside of him. "Where in London, 1860?"

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure you know."

Oh.

Oh, no.

"But… but I don't remember seeing you…" Angel said.

"You wouldn't," said Buffy. "Higher dimensional causality whateverness. We got stuck with the Angel that was supposed to be in this timeline. The one you erased when you jumped over from Elizabeth's." She gave a long, weary sigh. "And, can I just say, if you were anything like him, you weren't just sadistic. You were a total moron!"

Angel jumped up. Suddenly realizing… all those marks and cuts… must have been caused by…

"Are you all right?" asked Angel. He raced over to examine Seo. "Both of you?"

Seo snapped her head up. Dark eyes meeting Angel's.

He froze beneath her gaze.

"I saw what you did to her," Seo hissed.

Every ounce of guilt and pain over that incident surfaced. Every long hour he'd spent wishing he could take it back. Every nightmare and horror he'd faced, since then.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Seo's expression melted. "You're… you're actually…?"

"Every day," Angel confessed. "And every night. And every second I think about it." He looked away, bitter pain flooding through him. "She was pure. Wonderful. One of the best people I've ever met. And what I did to her… was… just..." He shook his head. "I can't forgive myself for it. Ever."

Seo didn't answer. Wasn't sure what to say.

"I can't take back what happened," Angel said. "All I can do is try to make sure… it never happens again. To anyone else."

A little of the anger fell away from Seo's eyes.

"I… told her that," said Seo, softly.

A flash of understanding flooded through Angel. "You… tried to save her. Give her back hope."

Seo nodded.

Angel put a hand on Seo's shoulder. Looked deep into her eyes. Smiled at her. "Thank you. Really. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you for trying to stop me. And… I'm sorry. Again. For all of it."

Seo looked up at him. Struggling to banish the tears from her eyes.

"I forgive you," she said, at last.