Date written: Wed 21 Oct 2009
Author: Starway Man
E-mail: theop at hotkey dot net dot au
Disclaimer: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar, Kuzui, Fox, WB and UPN; I don't own 'em, and I never will. I also do not own any other characters from any television shows, movies, comics, videogames or literature that I might use. This work is meant merely for enjoyment, and no profit is being made off of it. Some of the text is from various TV episodes or movies or comics or videogames or literature, and so does not belong to me of course.
Rating: Overall R, with mostly PG-13 parts.
Symbols: " " denotes speech, ( italics ) specifies thoughts, and # # indicates phone voice.
Main characters: Xander, ensemble
Warnings: There is some violence, bad language, character death and mention of sexual situations in these stories.
Author Notes: A couple of years ago Night Hunter MGS (a.k.a. Matt) wrote an awesome series of stories called "31 Days of Xanderween" (http://www. fanfiction. net/s/3813208/1/31_Days_of_Xanderween), where he published one Halloween fic for each day of October. I was inspired enough to want to do my own version of the concept, and he has graciously allowed me to use his idea for this series of fanfic stories.
Author Notes 2: Greetings and salutations, and thank you everyone who's been in touch lately! This series has now made it past one hundred reviews, so my most humble thanks to all concerned; The Doctor and lordofreviews, thank you for the ideas regarding a Predator and Dexter, I will keep them in mind. Rambo's already been done though, I believe, there's a story on TtH called Xanbo? Anyway, the next three stories are going to be a variation of a theme; what would happen if the Scooby Gang members dressed up in the 'wrong' costumes. So instead of a soldier, we're talking about taking Buffy's place and being a nobleman in this AU. I know it's not exactly what we discussed, one-village-idiot, but would you be willing to settle for a nobleman instead of a king? :)
Acknowledgments: My thanks of course to Matt for allowing me to dabble with his original idea this way. Also, my deepest gratitude to all my beta readers – Francis Eugene, Greywizard, American Soldier and Nodakskip – for all their help in getting these stories finished on time!
Classification: Alternate Universe, Angst, Crossover, Romance, YAHF
Summary: Thirty-one versions of Halloween, Xander-style. Fic-a-day series.
Title:31 Days of Xanderween Part Deux
***
Story 21: Nobleman: Halloween costume switch # 1
Somewhere on the streets of Sunnydale, California
October 31st, 1997
Tonight was a very special night, as everyone who was anyone in the higher realms knew. The Roman god Janus had issued forth his power through one of his earthly vassals, and according to the original cosmic design – the web of destiny woven from the very first moment of creation – a number of people were fated to become a specific Halloween costume persona tonight.
All the members of the so-called Scooby Gang had a destiny to fulfil, and so for a few hours the plan was that they would become whoever they had dressed up as. Xander Harris was destined to become a soldier, Willow Rosenberg a ghost, and Buffy Summers a noblewoman.
The girl named Cordelia Chase, on the other hand, was fated to stay the normal member of the group: the focal point through which Buffy's Watcher Rupert Giles would eventually figure out what was happening with Ethan Rayne's spell, and finally stop the servant of Janus from raising chaos upon the living earth.
Unfortunately, however, sometimes things go wrong if the higher beings screw up; destinies can shift and change as a result of botched 'paperwork' in paradise. So tonight, Xander had become the nobleman; Willow the cat; Buffy the ghost, and Cordelia the soldier.
That was why the soul of a middle-aged Irishman, who'd also been a member of the minor Galway nobility during the 18th century, looked around as soon as he woke up in Xander's body and his jaw almost dropped to street level. After spying a multitude of mini-demons running amok, Connor O'Reilly quickly crossed himself and thought, ( Our Father who art in Heaven, I pray ye, give me yer protection! Have I been sent to Hell? )
"Xander! Xander!"
The name meant nothing to the nobleman, as he turned around to see a blonde girl of roughly ten and seven years of age run towards him. She was dressed like a whore to the Irishman's way of thinking, one of the loose women he'd seen loitering in the streets of Galway to peddle their own flesh at night.
"What do ye want, ye wanton harlot? You'll not get yer hands on my purse, I'll tell you that right now!" Connor stated roughly.
"What?" the Buffy ghost looked confused for a moment, before a look of anger crossed her features. "Hey, did you just call me a harlot? Xander, I am SO gonna make you regret saying that!!"
Miss Summers aimed at his stomach with a Slayer-strength punch, but since she was a ghost, the blow did nothing but give the 18th century man a taste of ectoplasm.
"A GHOST!" O'Reilly yelled out, scrabbling in his pockets for a weapon of any sort – and to his great relief, finding a crucifix. He held it up at the apparition and said, "Get back, in the name of the Lord! Dead o' alive, I have no business with yer kind!"
"Damn it, Xander, knock it off!" Buffy fumed at her own helplessness to do anything but talk. "Look around you, something crazy is happening. I was dressed as a ghost for Halloween, and now I am a ghost. And you were supposed to be a nobleman, so now...oh, wait, you really have become a nobleman?"
Finally, the penny dropped in the Chosen One's mind as Buffy figured out why her friend was talking with a strange accent. "Uh, who are you exactly?"
"Halloween? Yer manner of speech is strange, lass – is it All Hallows' Eve yer speakin' of? And my name's Connor O'Reilly," the man possessing Xander tonight drew himself up and said proudly. Looking around again, the Irish guy then asked hesitantly, "Tell, me, ghost, is this Hell we're trapped in? For it surely cannot be Heaven..."
"Xander! Buffy!" Willow, who was dressed in a leopard-like cat outfit complete with whiskers, ears and a tail, suddenly joined the ghost and the nobleman. "Oh my God, what's going on? I only just managed to get away from a couple of kids who turned into demons a few seconds ago!"
"Are ye flesh or spirit? What...what manner of strange creature are ye?" O'Reilly looked astonished at the sight of the costumed redhead, barely able to believe his own eyes.
"Ignore him, Will, Xander's not thinking straight – he's been possessed by his Halloween costume like me. Uh, it's Mr. O'Reilly, right? Look, I'm Buffy Summers, and this is Willow Rosenberg. Now please, listen to me; this isn't Hell, okay? And you're not who you think you are – you're actually our friend Xander Harris, alright? It's his body that you're in right now. Tell me, what year do you think it is?"
"It was the year of our Lord 1753 when I...when I died," the Irishman frowned, not exactly happy to hear of the word 'possession'; which he considered to be the Devil's work. "Why do ye ask?"
"Well, um, have you heard of America? Uh, the New World? That's where we are right now – and this is the year 1997," Willow told him, as O'Reilly gaped at hearing that.
All of a sudden, a huge demon roared as it showed up out of nowhere; and so all three of them very wisely ran for it at once, picking up Buffy's corporeal vessel along the way.
***
1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale, California
A while later
Connor O'Reilly tried not to sigh in relief, as the weight of Buffy's dead body – slight though it was – was finally able to be removed from his shoulders. Willow had assisted him in carrying it, which had lessened the load, until they had reached the Summers house; whereupon Miss Rosenberg had gotten the keys out and the Buffy ghost had led them inside.
"Aye, 'tis been a while since I've done anything like that. Now tell me, where are we?" the lone male of the group asked his companions.
"This is my house," Buffy replied, gesturing around. "Feel free to make yourself at home, Mr. O'Reilly. Will, I'm gonna keep an eye out at the front door; you call Giles at the library, tell him what's going on. Hopefully, he'll know what to do."
"A library? Uch, I don't understand – how do ye intend to contact this man from within the house? Lord knows 'twould be madness ta go out there again," the confused Irishman said in his thick brogue.
Willow went over to the telephone, wondering how on earth to explain how it worked to an 18th century person. She eventually just went with, "Um, we use this nowadays, it's called a phone. It's a, uh, magic talking thing..." Shrugging, she picked it up but there was no dial tone. "Buff, we got a problem – the phones are out!"
"Great," Miss Summers grumbled to herself. "All right, looks like I'm gonna have to head for the school in person. Willow, you stay here with Xa...uh, Mr. O'Reilly, and keep the doors locked, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, the female ghost simply vanished through the wall of the house.
"May the Lord preserve and defend us, but I'll not get used to that anytime soon," O'Reilly muttered. "Now I've some questions to ask, girl, and the first one is – why on earth are ye dressed like that fer All Hallows' Eve?"
Willow hesitated, looking at her cat outfit. But at that moment the ensouled vampire named Angel came in via the kitchen door. "Willow, Xander! I'm glad you guys are alright. It's total chaos out there..."
Both the computer whiz and the nobleman turned around, recognizing that particular voice. O'Reilly's eyes went wide as he instinctively shoved Willow behind him and withdrew his cross again. His face contorted into an expression of rage and fear, as he fought not to panic.
"YOU!!" the Irishman exclaimed. "Begone, unclean thing! Or I'll make ye pay fer what you did to my family!"
Angel growled softly, as the presence of the holy icon hurt even at this distance. "Willow, you mind telling him to back off?"
"Mr. O'Reilly, please stop, it's okay! Angel's a friend," Willow attempted to get him to lower his arm, but failed miserably as he shoved her away.
"Is that what ye call yerself now, ye murderer? Ta think ye'd defile yer little sister's memory that way! God knows, I should've drowned ye the day you were born. Ye think ye made somethin' of yerself, boy? A filthy demon instead of a scoundrel and layabout, 'tis hardly what I'd call an improvement!" O'Reilly shouted, anger winning over fear as he advanced forward with the cross.
Angel's eyes were as wide as saucers despite the pain, as he recoiled backwards. The soul-cursed Champion finally made the right connection in his mind and said, "Father? Is, is that you? No, it can't be, that's impossible!"
"Foul monster, what are ye up to now?" Angel's father, who had possessed Xander tonight, seemed a little confused at his undead son's actions as he slowed down and then stopped his advance. "Ye hafta know that yer tricks won't work twice, not after ye killed us all that way!"
Willow, unnoticed in the background, just stood firmly rooted in place as it all washed over her and she finally understood the current situation. ( Oh, boy. What do I do? Mom and dad always told me to never get involved in a family fight if I don't have to...so maybe I should just keep my mouth shut? Yeah, for now, anyway. )
"Father...it's me, Liam," Angel said softly, using his old human name and startling the angry spirit possessing Xander. "Please, you've got to believe me! I mean...yes, I'm still a vampire, but my soul was restored a hundred years ago by some gypsies. So I, I'm no longer the soulless thing who slaughtered you and everyone else back then. I'm not – wait, I don't understand – how is it that you're here? And possessing Xander's body, of all things?"
"Um, Angel? A lot of people have turned into their Halloween costumes tonight. Well, not me, obviously," Willow shrugged, gesturing at herself and the skin-tight costume she'd obtained from Partytown. "But Buffy got turned into a ghost, and, and Xander got turned into...your dad?"
"Unbelievable," Angel shook his head slowly, as he saw Buffy's body on the couch and went over to examine it. When he finally raised his head, Angel saw the man controlling Xander's face and form glaring at him. "Look, Father, I don't know what to say to you. Not after all this time..."
"Liam? Is that actually you, boy?" O'Reilly's voice was still full of anger, but now it was also tinged with suspicion and apprehension. "Are ye truly the son I was ashamed of, nearly all my life?"
"Ye gods, Father, but you obviously haven't changed at all," Angel shook his head again, this time in annoyance. "And yes, it's me! I mean – everything that Liam was, I still am. That's why I have to live with the guilt of what happened to you and Mother and Kathy and Anna for the rest of eternity, even though my demon feels no remorse for its actions that night. I swear, Father, you have no idea how it feels to remember all the crimes that Angelus committed as if I did them myself, having to remember – and to have a conscience about it-"
"A conscience? You?!" O'Reilly interrupted, lowering the cross as he FINALLY became a true believer. "May the Lord forgive me, but when did ye ever possess a conscience, boy? Ye think I've forgotten how many barmaids ye forced yerself on? How many married women's reputations ye ruined? How many bastard children ye must have sired? I had to live with the stink of yer debauchery soiling our family's good name fer all those years, and now ye tell me you've developed a conscience!?" he bellowed.
"Hey! Angel's helped us a lot over the past year or so," Willow spoke up, unable to remain quiet any longer as both father and son turned to face her. She was shocked at hearing the words coming out of Xander's mouth, and decided she had to speak up. "I mean, Angel saved us all from getting gassed to death one night! He helped save Buffy's life when she was drowned by the Master, and, and he helped saved a lot of lives during Parent-Teacher Night, and if he's your son, mister, couldn't you be just a bit more supportive?!"
"Willow, please," Angel said as gently as possible as O'Reilly glowered at her. "It's best if you just stay out of this, okay? My father's not...well, let's just say women's liberation didn't even exist as a concept back in his time, so he's a lot less tolerant of girls speaking their minds than most guys these days."
"What's this 'women's liberation' yer speaking about, Liam?" Angel's father asked in confusion, as Willow looked annoyed at being talked down to that way.
"Never mind, Father," Angel shook his head for the third time. "Besides, you'd never believe me, even if I told you. This world has changed too much over the past two and a half centuries for the likes of yourself to ever understand or accept it."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" the Irishman demanded at once, disliking his son's tone – plus the fact that Angel no longer spoke with his old Galway accent. It was an uncomfortable reminder that this wasn't O'Reilly's time any longer, and that he was just a phantom briefly possessing the flesh of the living.
As Willow tried her best to explain, Angel tried more than once to say what he had wanted to say ever since 1898...but he simply couldn't force himself to say the words, "I'm sorry". His mouth just refused to obey his brain, no matter how much the ensouled vampire tried to apologize to the middle-aged man currently possessing the one and only Xander Harris.
***
Angel's basement apartment, Sunnydale, California
November 1st, 1997
Angel opened the door after hearing the loud and insistent knocking. He wasn't expecting visitors this morning, not after all the events of last night. He opened up, and then Angel frowned as he saw who was standing outside.
"Xander? Uh, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Need to talk you," the boy said, looking like he hadn't slept all night. Xander came in, and looked his host directly in the eye. "I can – I can still remember everything. EVERYTHING, Liam."
"Don't call me that. It's not who I am anymore," Angel rasped in annoyance, despite his own words the previous night.
"You think I care about THAT?" Xander replied, looking wild-eyed and hyped up on drugs, almost. "Liam or Angel or whatever you wanna call yourself, I can still remember your father's life as if I lived it all myself! I can...I can..."
"Sit down, Xander," the ensouled vampire ordered him, before he abruptly turned away and grabbed some glasses and a bottle of Irish whiskey. "Try to relax, and have a sip of this."
Xander quickly grabbed the alcohol and poured it down his throat, instantly starting to choke and cough. "Geez..."
"I said SIP it, not guzzle it down like that!" Angel said roughly. "Now take a deep breath, and tell me why you're here."
"I already told you," Harris replied once he was coherent again. "I can remember everything about your father's life, details that I'm sure not even YOU know about; and I had to speak about it with somebody before I went completely nuts. I can remember your sister, Kathy, like she was my daughter. I can remember your mom as my wife, I can remember you as my son...something which, I shouldn't need to point out, is MAJORLY weirding me out!!"
"Xander, calm down. They're just memories, the remnants of that spell Buffy told us about after she woke up last night," Angel informed him. "I know a bit about magic, so I'm pretty sure they'll fade in time. You'll just have to ride it out until that happens."
"That's easy for you to say," Harris muttered, as he put down the glass and both he and Angel got up from the table. "I can remember you – or the evil demon wearing your face, anyway – killing me and everyone else back then. Good Godfrey Cambridge, but you and Darla massacred almost the entire population of Galway! I knew you'd gotten some major neck in your day, but I never even imagined anything like THAT!"
"Yeah, well, there was a reason why Angelus was known as the Scourge of Europe back then. It wasn't just because of his good looks and his way with women," Angel shrugged.
Xander began pacing around. "I don't know how to deal with this," he finally admitted. "No offence, but your dad is not who I want to grow up to become. He may have loved you and Kathy more than anything, but my opinion, he had a lousy way of showing it!"
"What? What are you talking about?" Angel looked confused.
"He never said it, but he loved you – well, Liam, anyway, despite all the harsh words and the occasional beating back in the 18th century," Xander glanced sideways at his undead companion.
"After the funeral he stayed by your grave for hours, did you know that? He sent Kathy and your mom home, but he stood there, aching feet and all, wondering just what he could have done different. He knew you hated him, and he was ashamed of and disgusted by you, but deep down he still had a father's love for his son." Harris shook his head, slowly. "When you killed your sire Darla in the Bronze, a few months ago? I privately celebrated the fact that Jesse's murder had finally been avenged. Your dad celebrated the same way regarding Liam's death, after Willow mentioned that little tidbit last night."
Angel was looking as if someone could just knock him over with a feather. "He did?"
"Yeah. No fooling, I wouldn't lie to you about something like that," Xander promised him simply.
"I...I wanted to tell him that I was sorry," the vampire abruptly confessed, unable to look Xander in the eye as he said that. "That night, what Angelus did to him...and the rest of my family..."
"He knew," Xander said, causing Angel to look up. "He was your father – of course he knew how you felt. Well, once the guy let himself believe that you were really his son, anyway. I can remember him figuring out that you were sorry from the look on your face, and he appreciated that."
"But...?" Angel pressed the young man. It was very disturbing to him how there was an expression on Xander's face that was almost identical to Connor O'Reilly's, whenever the old man had something on his mind that he couldn't quite force himself to say.
"Uh, your dad didn't appreciate the whole you and Buffy thing after Willow brought it up, he...he thought you were being a cradle-robbing idiot for chasing after somebody he considered to be a child. And personally speaking? I am SO confused right now by thinking of Buffy as a little kid, you wouldn't believe how much I wanna repress about that," Xander confessed painfully.
Angel wasn't sure whether to believe it, but it didn't really matter. However much he tried not to love the blonde Slayer, it was impossible for the vampire to avoid doing so. As far as Angel was concerned, Buffy was his soul mate; and what they had together was what his father would have called amnchara in the old tongue, a perfect balance between two people of different but complementing natures.
There was no way the ensouled vampire could envisage ever breaking up with Miss Summers, so Angel decided to simply ignore his father's opinions as best as he could.
***
17619 White Oak Drive, Sunnydale, California
January 18th, 1998
Xander entered his bedroom and started taking off his clothes, getting ready for bed. Hs life had gotten pretty unusual over the last four months. For example, Xander had retained some 18th century habits ever since Halloween, like opening doors for the ladies and moving their chairs for them before they sat down.
That had briefly attracted the approving attention of Ted Buchanan, the serial killer robot boyfriend of Joyce Summers, before the machine had gone completely homicidal and Xander had helped defend Buffy against accusations of murder. Later on, Xander had had an interesting encounter with the pre-prehistoric demons known as the Bezoars. That was roughly about the time two redneck vampires named Lyle and Tector Gorch had come to town and caused quite a bit of grief, before ending up twin piles of dust.
But the strangest thing, at least to young Mr. Harris, was how he had stumbled his way into a relationship with Cordelia Chase – after that brunette had become G.I. Jane during Halloween last year.
Xander had recovered from thinking of people his own age as children by that point, and Cordy had likewise recovered from being Lt. Jordan O'Neil for one night. To be honest Harris wasn't sure what it was exactly that he and the Sunnydale High beauty queen had together these days, apart from fooling around in that broom closet.
Maybe it was just tawdry teen lust, but judging by some of the things she'd said and done lately, it was possible the cheerleader had developed real feelings for him. Xander simply wasn't certain, one way or the other.
What his own feelings were, Harris didn't know that for sure either. He was basically a hormonal 17-year-old guy despite Connor O'Reilly's memories, so when Cordelia had shoved her tongue down his throat in Buffy's basement that day Xander hadn't rejected her – despite the gut feeling that their behaviour was highly inappropriate without him at least putting a claddagh ring on Miss Chase's finger.
But it had raised the question, just how was he going to explain what he'd done to Willow? His – Xander didn't want to use the word 'girlfriend', at least not yet – had committed so many cruel and painful acts against Miss Rosenberg ever since all three of them were in kindergarten, that Xander had lost count years ago. And even though Cordy was playing relatively nice with Willow and Buffy these days for his sake, Harris knew it wouldn't take much for her to revert to the bitchy ice queen persona.
Queen C took crap from no one, after all.
Clad in nothing but his boxer shorts, Xander climbed into bed and quickly fell asleep. He had school in the morning, and couldn't afford to snooze his way through classes anymore.
Especially not Computer Science class with Ms. Calendar.
***
Sunnydale High School Computer Lab, Sunnydale, California
January 19th, 1998
Jenny Calendar had a lot on her mind that afternoon at school, not the least of which was the lie she had been spoon-feeding her friends and the man she loved for nine months now. Which wasn't exactly something she was proud of.
( Well, what exactly am I supposed to say to him at this point? ) she wondered to herself. ( Sorry, but everything you know about me is a fabricated fairy tale? Damn it! I should have just told Rupert the truth ages ago! )
"Jenny Calendar."
The dark-haired woman turned around, very surprised to hear that voice. "Oh! You startled me."
"You look well."
Jenny stared at the man facing her. He wore a dark suit and a hat, looking to be of distinctly East European origin, which was echoed by his accent. She said, "Yes, I'm fine. I know I haven't written as much lately. I've been busy-"
"Busy with what? I cannot imagine what is so important to make you ignore the responsibility you have to your people."
Jenny sighed, as she'd been afraid of this happening. "I've been trying to-"
The gypsy interrupted her, "The elder woman has been reading the signs and portents. She says something is different."
Jenny shook her head. "Nothing has changed, as far as I know. The curse still holds, I've seen it for myself."
Enyos refused to let himself be mollified by that. "The elder woman is never wrong. She says the vampire's pain is lessening. She can feel it."
The undercover spy was tempted to mention that this was probably due to Buffy's presence, but decided not to for the moment. She replied, "If you say so, but I promise you that Angel still suffers. And he even attempts to make amends here for his past acts of evil, I've witnessed it first-hand," Jenny insisted.
"So you just forget that he destroyed the most beloved daughter of your tribe?! Vengeance demands that his pain be eternal as ours is! If the vampire experiences even one MOMENT of happiness, then that is one moment too much!" Enyos roared.
"I'm sorry, I thought..." Jenny started to say.
"You thought what?! You thought you are Jenny Calendar now?! You are still Janna, of the Kalderash people! A gypsy," Enyos glared at his niece.
Jenny sighed, "I know, uncle. I know."
"But the rest of us sure as hell didn't, huh?"
Both gypsies instantly turned around to see Xander staring from the door to the classroom. Neither of them looked happy to see him, but if that affected Xander, there was no sign of it on his face as he entered the room.
"Piece of advice, people: if you don't want the neighbours to overhear your family's dirty laundry, always shut the doors and windows. Even people in the 18th century knew that," the young man said simply.
"This has nothing to do with you, boy, leave at once or else-" Enyos started to snarl out.
"Or else what, exactly?" Xander interrupted, unfazed by the warning. Ever since Halloween he had started to think of humans as a lesser threat than vampires, because generally speaking it was almost impossible to be more scared of a human bully than a mass-murderer vampire. "Just what kind of authority do you think you have around here, pal? 'Cause I'm thinking, none at all."
Enyos looked ready to spit bullets at being talked to this way. "You know nothing-"
"Oh, I'm thinkin' I know plenty. I mean Calendar, Kalderash. Didn't change the name much, did you? My guess is you probably thought you didn't need to. Guys like you, you think you're completely in control of the situation – right up until the last moment where a vamp sinks its fangs into your throat," Xander glared at Enyos.
Goaded beyond endurance, the male gypsy withdrew a knife and started to head towards the Slayerette. Jenny immediately screamed, "NO! Uncle, put that down at once, I beg of you. Xander here is a friend to both the Slayer and Angel, you don't understand what the consequences will be if you kill him!"
The man paused, staring at his target, and then he reluctantly put away his weapon. "Consider yourself lucky, impudent gadje," Enyos snarled. "Now leave and say nothing of this to anyone."
"You've GOT to be kidding me," Xander snorted, knowing what the pejorative slang term meant and not appreciating being called that. "Why the hell should I?"
"I assume that you overheard most, if not all, of the conversation with my niece. Did you think it was for nothing I told her that the beast must never know even one moment of happiness?" Enyos turned to Jenny, sensing her confusion. "The curse, Janna. The vampire is meant to suffer. One moment of true happiness, of contentment, one moment where the soul that we restored no longer plagues his thoughts – and the curse is broken, the soul taken from him."
"WHAT?" Jenny cried. "Why didn't I know about this?"
"Wait a minute. You're saying that Angel could lose his soul and go evil at any second? No way, I don't believe you," Xander stated, shaking his head. He still had nightmares about Angelus going on a killing spree like he'd done back in 1753, and the young man didn't want to think about what might happen if the curse was ever broken.
"Whatever you believe or disbelieve is irrelevant, gadje," Enyos growled.
The young man's eyes went wide. "Oh, crap, you're actually serious! Wait, hang on, does Angel know about any of this?"
A moment later, Xander knew the answer. "Oh, NO..."
***
The Bronze, Sunnydale, California
Later that night
"I DON'T BELIEVE A WORD OF IT!" Buffy's angry voice thundered within the empty nightclub.
Giles looked helplessly at Jenny and her uncle, and then at Angel standing not far away. He had suffered through one hell of a number of shocks today, including learning that the woman he loved and wanted to marry was a spy who had lied to him about just about everything. But the Watcher had known that all that would be practically nothing, in comparison to telling the truth to Buffy tonight.
"Foolish little girl. You're supposed to kill vampires, not fall in love with them. No wonder you've weakened his curse," Enyos sneered at Buffy. He had surrendered to the suggestion of a meeting with everyone, not long after having learned from Jenny that the Slayer's presence in Angel's unlife was most likely the reason why the vampire's pain was lessening.
Everyone either winced or stared at the gypsy with pure dislike for the overly harsh words, and Miss Summers would have charged towards Enyos to knock his teeth out; but luckily for him, Angel restrained her just in the nick of time.
"Buffy, don't," the vampire said simply.
"Well, why shouldn't I? After all the lies he's been telling everyone?" Buffy's voice now had a desperate edge to it.
"Because it's not a lie, Buff," Xander told her, Cordelia standing close to his side and staring at Angel suspiciously like the Navy SeAL she had once been. "Come on, think about it. You honestly believe that Giles wouldn't have triple-checked everything before spilling the beans tonight, just to be absolutely sure? He even did a truth spell earlier on today, and both Ms. Calendar and her uncle passed with flying colours already. It's all true, I promise ya."
"But it doesn't make any sense!" Buffy stubbornly insisted. She didn't want to believe it, didn't want to think about what the implications of all this would mean. "I mean, why do such a stupid curse like that, what good is it supposed to do anybody?"
Jenny stepped forward. "Buffy, Angelus was punished for his actions a hundred years ago because he had gleefully murdered the favourite daughter of the tribe. Can you understand that? At the time, those people weren't concerned about helping anyone; they just wanted to avenge the death of an innocent in the most painful and horrible way they could think of. The soul restoration ritual was done for revenge, that's all. Because that was the Romany way then, just as it is now."
"Oh my God," Willow said, looking horrified from all the recent revelations even as Buffy glared at the gypsy woman with all her might. All this was reminding Miss Rosenberg way too much of Halloween last year, when she'd heard a lot of things from Angel's father which had shattered her illusions regarding the handsome man her best friend had lost her heart to.
"I gotta second that," the blue-haired guy named Oz said, thinking this had to be the most unique first date he had ever gone on. Even though, to his mind, the truths regarding vampires and demons he had learned about this evening certainly explained a lot about the old home town.
Angel moved closer so that he stood alongside his girlfriend. "So what happens now? What do you intend to do next?" he asked Jenny, deliberately ignoring Enyos.
"Well, personally, nothing," Jenny darted a glance at everyone, especially her uncle. "I mean it's your life, Angel. I guess now that we all know the truth, what happens next is totally up to you."
"You'd like to kill me, wouldn't you?" Angel finally addressed Enyos directly. "You of all people would know just how badly Angelus wants his own vengeance for what happened back then. And now there's a chance he can get loose? I end up dust, and the threat potential is over once and for all."
"No. As far as I'm concerned that would be too an easy an escape, to send the demon to Hell and release the soul back to where it belongs in the afterlife. I just want you to suffer, like all the beast's victims have suffered," Enyos spat out. "If I could, I would make the curse permanent to ensure this – but I can't." He hesitated for less than a moment. "Not even the oldest of the Kalderash have such knowledge."
As if in terrible pain, the ensouled vampire bent his head and turned towards the door of the club. "Figured as much."
Buffy couldn't let him leave just like that and cried out, "Angel, wait! Don't go, please. We can, we can sort this out. We can-"
Angel cut her off, albeit as gently as he could. "Buffy, you heard the man. No matter how you try to paint it, I'm a clear and present danger to you and everybody else in Sunnydale. So there's no 'we', no 'us'. There can't be, not anymore."
The vampire then thought to himself privately, ( Congratulations, Father. It seems you actually managed to prove yourself right for once, after all! ) It was a deeply bitter feeling for him to know that the old man had been right and he had been wrong, but there was no point in denying the obvious.
Angel came back and kissed his now ex-girlfriend with all the passion he could muster, uncaring of the people watching. He then pulled away and whispered, "I'm sorry. I love you."
Then the ensouled vampire quickly exited the Bronze without another word.
Xander watched Buffy start to cry her eyes out, and silently wondered for a moment whether he'd done the right thing today. Because all this was the worst kind of birthday present he could ever imagine giving her.
But then his resolve stiffened. Xander remembered that conversation with Angel in his apartment last year, and figured that the Slayer would simply have to make do with eventually finding someone else; he alone knew what Angelus was like up close and personal, thanks to his Halloween memories, and Xander also knew that there was NO WAY that soulless demon could ever be allowed to run free again.
***
St. Matthew's Hospital, Los Angeles, California
November 30th, 2001
Real life is never as simple as fairy tale happily-ever-after's, which simply did not exist. Having said that, though, Xander's life hadn't turned out too badly – well, all things considered anyway.
After Buffy's birthday, Angel had left town. Jenny Calendar had followed him, quitting her job and moving to LA, as was her duty; which meant her relationship with Giles was effectively over for good. Xander and Cordelia's relationship hadn't lasted too much longer either; she had given him up to satisfy the popular crowd's demands, and he'd become too much of a gentleman to ever carry out any foolish, love spell-based revenge that Valentine's Day.
Senior year had come and gone, as had the Chase family fortune when the IRS had investigated their tax fraud. Xander had heard that his ex-girlfriend had left town and enlisted in the military after ending up completely penniless, but he hadn't given it much thought at the time. He had been too focused on his cross-country road trip that he had been planning on embarking upon, right after high school graduation.
After making it as far as Oxnard, Xander had eventually arrived back in Sunnydale – the day after Buffy, Oz and Willow had started college. But who would have thought that the young man would eventually decide to move to Los Angeles, after months of directionless misery in the old home town? And who would have thought that Harris would end up encountering Angel, Jenny and the ex-Watcher named Wesley Wyndham-Pryce in LA? Or, upon having met Angel's Avengers, that the ensouled vampire would offer Harris a job with his detective agency? What were the odds that after accepting said job, Xander would witness the return of Darla – and eventually, the birth of Angel and Darla's human son?
"I wonder what's taking so long?" Jenny asked thoughtfully, as three-fifths of the Fang Gang hung around in the hospital waiting room.
"I don't know," the woman named Fred Burkle replied, who was the most recent addition to Angel Investigations. "But it can't be too much longer..."
Right on cue, a doctor and a nurse came in through the door carrying Angel's son. The M.D. said to Jenny, "Well, I'm happy to report you have a healthy baby boy."
"Thanks, but, uh, I'm not the mother," the gypsy woman said with a slight smirk, imagining what her Uncle Enyos would say if he were here right now.
"Oh, I'm sorry," the doctor apologized, before turning to Fred. "I'm happy to report that you have a healthy baby boy."
Fred gave him a rather sheepish look. "Uh, no. Me neither."
Wes spoke up, "I'm afraid the mother is, ah, no longer in the picture."
Which was a rather roundabout way of saying how Darla was now dust, having staked herself so that her baby would survive when it was time for him to be born. Still, there was no need to go into details that the medical staff would never believe in a million years.
"I see. Well, the baby's height and weight are in the ninety percentile range. We gave him his vitamin K and his PKU shots, and he's doing very well. Uh, but we don't seem to have his name?" the doctor asked, looking at his notes.
Angel came walking in, just in time to hear the question. "Connor. My son's name is Connor." He had decided upon that name after a long conversation with Xander on the subject, wanting to honour his father's memory at last.
"Ah, right. Thank you, Mister..." he looked down at the papers again, "Angel. And congratulations on a healthy baby boy."
As the nurse handed Connor over to him, the undead dad said, "Thanks." Then as the two medical people quickly left, Angel smiled down at Connor. "Hey there..." Then he looked up to face his crew. "Uh, Mr. Angel?"
Fred nodded. "Your first name is Geraldo."
Jenny shrugged in response to the vampire's look. "Well, we had to tell them something."
Fred added, "Geraldo Angel. You're a pet psychiatrist with a small practice in Pacoima. Well, not really; we just told them the name, the rest is only me having a little fun!" she giggled.
The double doors behind them opened up and Xander came in pushing an empty stroller. "Hey, guys. I got us the best one that money – well, a very small amount of money – could buy!"
Angel handed Connor over to Xander, who put him into the stroller.
"Hey there, little guy. Yeah, Connor, you wanna go for a ride? Oh, I bet you do..." Harris babbled a little; he didn't have much experience with babies, but he had already lost his heart to this one – thanks to almost getting killed defending Connor from the forces of evil.
Fred looked around at everyone else. "We should go back to the hotel, huh? Put little Connor to bed, 'cause he's had a long day."
Ms. Burkle wasn't kidding either; Connor had been the subject of an attempted kidnapping earlier this evening, before his dad had lured the bad guys into a mineshaft and blown them all up. So as soon as Angel nodded his approval, the Fang Gang prepared to depart.
"Good idea. By the way, Xander, nice stroller," said the gypsy woman, rubbing her head a little. These days she often received very painful visions from the PTBs, as she had become Angel's seer after the half-demon named Doyle had died two years ago.
Xander just nodded to his former teacher. "I aim to please."
"Shall we go?" Wesley asked, holding his arm out to Fred.
They all walked out of the waiting room side by side, Fred and Wes on the left, Jenny and Xander on the right, and Angel pushing the stroller in the middle. None of them knowing what truly lay ahead, but nonetheless willing to face the uncertain future together.
An uncertain future which nonetheless had a better chance for Connor to have a normal life, than in many other parallel universes.
***
Next: Story 22 - Cat: Halloween costume switch # 2