Chapter Nine-Family
The AI team found themselves on a completely white space. There was nothing there absolutely nothing. Other than them there was no one there.
"Where are we?" asked Fred.
"It looks like the White Room at Wolfram and Hart," Gunn said.
"Do you think they're behind this?" asked Connor.
"I don't know," Angel answered.
"The evil that is Wolfram and Hart has nothing to do with your presence here," said a soft, feminine, angelic voice. "They will be out of your lives for at least a years time."
"Then, how and who are you?" Cordelia asked.
The entity made herself visible. She appeared to be a 5'5" human female in her early twenties. She had beautifully pale skin that contrasted her long black hair that flowed past her bottom. She was barefoot and wore nothing but a white dress slip. Her lips were a soft pink and her eyes, they were the most shocking part about her. Her eyes were as white as the room they all stood.
"The Fates made a mistake," the entity answered. "You were not meant to be parted.
"I have no name," she said. "I am a messenger. I am here to tell you why all of you were brought back to your previous lives and the rewards for your services for the side of good."
Angel crossed his arms in a guarded pose. It was obvious that he did not believe her. He was really sick of people saying they were doing something for him, only to be betrayed at a later time. He wanted the rest of his existence to be interference free.
"Who sent you?" he asked coldly.
"The higher ups," the messenger answered. "Higher than the Powers That Be. They felt that you have suffered enough."
"So, they brought us back," Wesley said more than asked.
The messenger turned to him and smiled.
"Yes," she said. "All of you are a powerful team. Parted you are weak. You need to be together. We need you on our side."
"Let me get this straight," Gunn said. "You brought us back to fight the good fight?"
"That is correct," the entity nodded. "Are you ungrateful?"
The way she said this did not sound like an insult but an honest inquiry.
"Would you have rather been bitten and turned into a vampire?"
She turned to Wesley.
"Would you rather be dead?"
She then turned to Cordelia.
"Would you rather be a Higher Being with no purpose?"
She turned to Connor.
"Would you rather feel out of place, confused about who you are, where you are from or where you belong?
She turned to Fred next.
"Would you rather be trapped inside you own body, neither alive or dead?"
Finally she turned to Angel.
"Would you rather be alone and empty?"
They all began to feel guilty. They each had been given a second chance at life, the should not have been so suspicious. They should have just been happy to be back on Earth and together.
"Okay, we get your point," Angel said.
The entity frowned.
"You are a rude one," she said.
"Earlier, you mentioned rewards," Cordy said before Angel could say anything else.
"Yes," the messenger said and smiled again.
She stepped back to look at them.
"Your rewards are simple," she said. "Your lives is your main reward. But for Miss Burkle, Miss Chase, and Angel there is more."
She paused to direct her attention to Fred.
"Miss Burkle, your reward is freedom from the goddess. Illyria will no longer possess your body.
She then turned her gaze to Cordelia.
""Seer, you not only get your life, you get to keep your demon. Unfortunately, the power to make them painless was the power of the higher being that took over your body. That said, the powers will continue to cause you pain."
Cordy shrugged.
"As long as they don't kill me," she said.
The messenger smiled at her before turning to Angel.
"Your reward is your friends, your family," she said. "And your soul."
The group stared at the vampire in shock. Angel's soul was now permanent.
"You and your friends will fight the good fight until you become human," the entity said.
"Thank you," Cordelia said.
Even though it was the seer who said it, the messenger knew that it was from the entire group.
She smiled at them and in a flash the team was transported back to the Hyperion like nothing had happened at all.
END OF CH. 9