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Chapter 48- Epiphany
Buffy was still in a bit of a shock, not pressing the start button, so Giles put his hand over hers and pressed the 'on' button using her thumb, finally turning the recording on, and Summers gave him a nod of appreciation for that.
The curtains in the open window billowed in the wind of the thunderstorm outside as some books dropped on the floor, their discarded clothes and then the bed was shown. Angel and Darla were lying on the bed asleep, Angel on his back, Darla on her side with her back to him. A loud crack of thunder rang out and Angel suddenly sat up with a gasp.
Buffy didn't want to see this happen again, it was just like when he was with her.
Angel, barefoot, wearing his pants, his shirt only half on, staggered out into the rain through the open balcony doors and dropped to all fours, looking up as lightning crashed overhead. Darla sat up in bed. Angel, still on all fours was shrugging on his shirt. "Oh god." Darla said. "Don't fight it my love." Angel's head snapped up as Darla, wrapped in a sheet appeared in the open door behind him wearing a slight smile. "Just let it happen. It'll only hurt for a minute."
"It hurts a lot longer than that", Giles said with a snarl, the pain of Jenny's death suddenly fresh again for a second.
No one else commented, as he wasn't wrong about that.
Angel was in shock as Darla told him the soul going left a bitterness but it'd pass. Angel looked up over his shoulder at Darla. Climbing to his feet he staggered a step back from Darla, staring at her as she promised a fresh kill would remove the memory of humanity. Darla reached up to touch the side of Angel's face, but Angel's hand shot up and caught her wrist while he stared at her. "What? - What is it?" Darla asked. Angel said. "You saved me." Darla agreed. "Yes. - But I was going to kill you tonight. Take you out of this world the same way I brought you into it. But I didn't have to. You gave yourself over so completely, Angelus. I felt you surrender."
"He did", Willow noted. "But I have a feeling something has happened."
"Yes, it has", Maclay said. "Just wait for it."
Angel shook his head slightly. "I gave you everything I had left." Darla smiled. "Yes." Angel said again. "I am - so sorry." Darla assured. "You don't have to be." "But I am", Angel took her hand and lifted to lay against the side of his face. "I am sorry." Darla shook her head slightly. "What?" "I am sorry, Darla." Darla shook her head harder. "No..." Angel said. "You saved me. Sorry I couldn't do the same for you."
"He still has his soul?" Xander asked. "Huh?"
"Were you sleeping when we gave the explanation?" Harris asked him. "It's not about the sex! It's about how one feels."
"Guess I didn't pay attention", Xander realized.
"But he wanted to", Buffy said. "He wanted to lose it. Because it's all pointless."
"Not as pointless as you think, or he thought", Rosenberg told her.
"Let go of me!" Darla pulled her hand free and backed away. "You still have a soul." Darla ran back into the room and saw the rumpled bed, then turned back to Angel, who slowly followed her in. "But we..." "Yeah." Angel sat down on the foot of the bed and began to put on his shoes. "And you..." "I know." "Then I..." "Three times", Angel told her.
"We didn't need to know that", Dawnster muttered.
Darla asked. "You're not evil. I-I don't understand. - Was I... Was it... not good?"
That little bit made both Buffy and Summers uncomfortable, since they'd asked Angel the exact same thing when he'd lost his soul after their first time. Guess Darla was more like them than they'd tough.
Darla let out a laugh. "Well, I don't accept that. You can not tell me that wasn't perfect. Not only have I been around for four hundred years, but I used to do this professionally. And that was perfect." She grabbed his arm and tried to drag him back to bed. "We'll go again." Angel pulled free and got up, backing away. "No. No. We can't. You know we can't. - We're finished." Darla asked. "Finished? Why? What, because you suddenly decide? You know an hour ago you wanted this. You weren't tricked into anything. I didn't seduce you. You wanted it!" Angel agreed. "Yeah. And it *was* perfect, Darla. - It was perfect despair."
"Despair", Buffy whispered. "Opposite of happiness."
"How did he feel that?" Xander asked.
"He explains it in a minute", Dawn said.
Darla just stared at him. Angel wasn't looking at her. "And you were the reason. You've always been the reason. You were the thing that made me what I am, and - I thought - if I could save you, I'd somehow - save myself, but - but I was wrong. And when I failed..." Darla snapped. "Stop it!" Angel continued. "When I failed, you saved me. And I have to thank you for that. There is nothing I can do for you now, Darla. I can't even hate you."
"Darla saved Angel?" Buffy asked.
"Told you the source was unexpected", Summers reminded. "Sleeping with her and not losing his soul is what made him see sense again."
"So without intending it, she did something good", Tara muttered.
Buffy was now even more uncomfortable by the irony. Sleeping with her had made Angel lose his soul, sleeping with Darla had made him see sense. It was like the Universe's way of saying that she and Angel weren't right for each other romantically at least.
Darla was angry. "You knew this would happen, didn't you? You made me trust you! - You made me believe!" As Darla said the words they echoed in Angel's head in Kate's voice as she talked on the phone. "You made me trust you. You made me believe."
"Kate", Willow whispered, remembering. "The pills."
The mood turned grimmer than usual at the reminder.
Angel turned to go. "We're done. Let yourself out." Darla hurried after him, picking up a piece of wood like a stake. "Where are you going?" Angel turned and caught her wrist on the down swing. "You did me a favor tonight. Now I'm gonna do one for you. Get dressed and get out. Because the next time I see you I will have to kill you." Angel turned and walked out as Darla stared after him.
"Kind of feel bad for her, only a little, not much", Dawnster said. "She kind of feels screwed over. But the good news is that Angel sees sense again!"
"Yeah, it's ironic that she ended up being his light without even meaning to", Maclay told her.
"How is he gonna get over what Holland said though?" Buffy wondered. "I can't! It's just…..it's true!"
"It's true, but it's not the only thing that's true", Rosenberg said.
Angel banged on Kate's door. Kate was lying on the floor, unconscious. A steady beeping was coming from the phone lying next to the empty whisky bottle and scattered pills and pill containers. Angel kicked in the door and rushes to her side. Angel touched his fingers to the side of her neck, moved his hand in front of her nose and mouth, reaching to pick her up. Angel turned on the shower. He was standing in the shower, holding Kate under the spray of water. After a few moments Kate began to cough.
The past people all sighed in relief at that. Hopefully, this would bring Kate to her senses too.
Angel held her against him as she coughed, resting his face against the top of her head for a moment. Later, Kate, dressed in dry clothes, but hair still wet, looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, then turned to face Angel, standing behind her in the open door. She thanked him before telling him to get out, walking past him as Angel just stood there for a moment.
"Not even a warm 'thank you'?" Xander asked in disbelief, his hope for Kate seeing sense going down.
"She wanted to die", Tara told him. "It'll take some time before she realizes he saved her."
"Won't be that long, don't worry", Summers assured.
Lindsey entered his apartment, turned on the light and saw Darla standing next to the window, looking out over the city. He pulled the curtains close and told her there was an emergency meeting after her entrance, the order being to stake her on sight, adding she should have told him about this. Darla just sat down, looking at something in her hands as Lindsey said things were complicated, Darla agreeing with Lindsey saying they should move her stuff in his bedroom.
"Still trying to get in her pants, aren't you?" Dawn asked.
"Looks like he's too much of a fool to understand that she doesn't want him", Giles muttered. "What a waste!"
"Yeah, waste, pathetic, stupid, all in one", Rosenberg agreed.
Darla was twisting the ring in her fingers as Lindsey noticed and took it from her, telling her there had been a disenchanting ceremony, then asked how she'd gotten it, to which she said it was her payment, only confusing Lindsey more before he asked what had happened as he wanted to know. Darla asked if he wanted details and he said he did, he wanted to know what Angel had done to her.
"I don't think she'll appreciate you trying to do the same stuff to her", Willow commented. "Start using your brain instead of, you know…."
That comment brought some chuckles, except to Buffy.
Lorne walked in the deserted Caritas, wearing a golden robe, a buzzer ringing as he pressed a button, commenting to keep the pants on but then saw Angel enter and said it was a little late for that advice. Angel later sat at a table as Lorne set up drinks, Angel commenting he should probably have killed her but Lorne said he'd finally rounded a corner, and if he'd taken a little longer to hit bottom, he'd have kicked it.
"Guess it happened just in time", Tara said. "Because I like Lorne."
"Especially his singing", Giles added, and nods followed, because his singing was amazing.
Lorne set the drinks down as Angel said he still didn't understand what had happened, and Lorne pointed out he had a moment of clarity, while adding that it must be appalling to see how far he'd fallen.
"It is", Willow muttered, sharing a look with Dawnster as they remembered that specific night.
"Hey, I forgave you, remember?" Dawnster assured her.
"Yeah, but that was my wake-up call", Willow sighed.
Angel said he didn't know how to get back and Lorne said he had to go on the new place. Angel reminded he'd done questionable things, to which Lorne said the lawyers were gonna die with or without him, and the Powers were trying to make sure it happened without him but he wasn't much help in that department. Angel wondered why they hadn't just told him, to which Lorne said he wouldn't have listened and they had tried to tell him a lot, but Angel said they weren't specific.
"Oh no, specific they are not", Summers said with a shake of her head. "They love seeing people play their games."
Lorne then said he was just gonna brood, he was better off evil, and then Angel wondered what the Powers wanted him to do now. Lorne reminded he wasn't his link to the powers, he'd gotten rid of that when he'd fired his crew, adding this would be the hardest part, and there was a good chance he won't be able to put it back together. Angel wondered if they'd even talk to him, but Lorne said it depended on whether they lived through the night or not, as the odds weren't looking good.
Now the past people's mood plummeted again as they remembered the Skilosh Demon.
"Cordy", Buffy whispered. "She's on her way."
"And they will go after the rest too since all played a part in killing their spawn", Rosenberg pointed out.
A taxi pulled up in front of the Sharp's house and Cordelia got out. Cordelia saw that the house was completely dark and stopped on the sidewalk. The taxi then pulled away. The door to the house was partly ajar and after some knocking Cordelia peeked into the house. She then walked in, looking for the Sharps before discovering their bodies. Then she upped a hand to her head as she got a blurry vision of her trying to leave the house but encountering a Skilosh demon instead. Cordelia, taking a deep breath, got up and hurries to the door only to recoil from the sight of a Skilosh demon standing right there, blocking her way. "That was helpful!" The Skilosh growled at it jumps at her.
"Couldn't the Powers have given her the vision earlier?" Xander asked. "Jerks."
"Well, I think I had a talk on the phone with her a week after this, so she survives", Willow told the rest.
"Doesn't mean we can't worry", Dawnster muttered.
Cordelia, sitting back against the wall in the Sharp's house, slowly came to. Touching the back of her head she got on all fours, and then noticed the Skilosh, startling her as it called her Destroyer of their spawn and said the others must be brought to them too, since three were responsible and had to pay. Cordelia was confused till 2 more walked in and when the one talking to her turned to face them, she noticed the 3rd eye as the pieces fell together. The Skilosh told Cordelia they'd located the wheeled one and asked about the other.
"Wesley", Tara muttered in horror.
"The Skilosh want all three to pay for killing their spawn", Giles said.
"And how will they make them pay?" Buffy asked.
"By planting their spawns in them", Giles revealed, disgusting them again.
"They are jackasses that way", Summers said.
Wesley rolled around his apartment in his wheelchair, taking the stack of books off his lap and setting it on a side table, not noticing the demon outside his window watching him with the third eye on the back of its head. Wesley picked up some dishes and put them on his lap, stopping as he heard some banging followed by an indistinct but rather upset voice talking. He continued his way towards the kitchen. Again there was banging and the voice got a bit louder, though no more understandable. Wesley rolled his chair back against the wall, ignoring the dishes spilling form his lap in the process. Looking around, he saw the demon outside his window just ducking away. Wesley rolled over to a walk-in closet and after some trouble got the door open and wheels inside. He couldn't quite reach the shelf above his hanging clothes. He tried to stand up, but sank back with a groan. He grabbed the broom and used its handle to move the shotgun resting on the top shelf. It fell off the shelf, hitting him in the process but he managed to hold onto it.
"You're gonna need it", Harris whispered.
He cracked it open to find that it wasn't loaded. He looked at the box of shells up on the shelf. He managed to knock them down using the broom, but the box landed on the floor spilling shells everywhere. Wesley pushed two shells into the double barrel and closed the gun. He rolled back out of the closet, then stopped with his back to the door to the hall and aimed the gun first at the window, then at the doorways leading to the other rooms in turn, then back at the window. The door behind him crashed open and Wesley spun around, gun aimed one handed, to find Angel standing in the hallway.
"He could have seriously regretted that if he was human", Giles commented. "Good thing he is not then."
Angel asked Wesley to invite him in but he wasn't interested till a Skilosh crashed through the window, making Wesley invite him finally. Angel rushed past Wesley, spinning his chair around in the process and engaged the two Skilosh demons, asking about them as Wesley explained, while Angel knocked them both down temporarily, asking how to kill them. Then one Skilosh tacked Angel into a wall as Wesley said they'd to be hacked to pieces while the other grabbed him by his neck.
"Doesn't sound too hard", Buffy muttered.
Angel grabbed an ax mounted on one of Wesley's walls, kicked his Skilosh away and knocked the other away from Wesley with the ax, then followed it where it landed behind the sofa and hacked it to pieces, splattering the wall with thick yellow gore. The other Skilosh launched itself at Wesley, and he brought up his shotgun and fired. Yellow gore spattered Wesley's face as the demon ws thrown back by the blast. Wesley looked at it lying on the floor, steaming slightly, with plaster from the ceiling raining down on it.
"Ewww", Dawnster muttered. "Why do these things need to splatter on faces?"
"Final revenge", Xander told her.
Angel finished his Demon as Wesley took off his glasses and squinted at the ceiling, saying he'd got it, and prayed Mrs. Starns wasn't home. Wesley and Angel looked at each other. A smile started to spread over Wesley's face but disappeared into a frown as Wesley looked away, putting his glasses back on. "What are you doing here?" Angel straightened up, the slight smile on his face vanishing with a sigh.
"Have fun explaining that", Rosenberg quipped to him.
Lindsey and Darla were sitting at opposite ends of his couch, not looking at each other. Lindsey got up and took off his jacket. After a moment Darla glanced in the direction he left. Lindsey came back, threw his jacket down and dropped a set of keys on the table. He stared at Darla, who was looking down, for a moment then went to open a closet. In it there were some of Darla's clothes on hangers, next to his own. He dug down into the back of the closet and pulled out some cowboy boots. He ripped off his tie, picked up the boots and slammed the closet door shut.
"So, he's gonna make her wear 'em or what?" Xander asked, only for Willow to smack his arm.
"Think about something else for a while", Willow told him as he groaned while the rest chuckled at him.
"Yeah, that's embarrassing", Harris spoke up.
Wesley sat on the passenger's seat of Angel's convertible, calling Cordelia but she wasn't picking up, and Angel said he'd been to her place first, before asking if he was wondering why he was back. Wesley said it hadn't occurred to him and told him to take a right. Angel said he knew the way and Wesley remembered when he'd stolen a book. The car hit a bump in the road and Wesley winced as Angel assured he'd try to avoid the bumps, then told of his own gut wound by an antique sword driven through him, asking Wesley to guess who'd done it, and Wesley half-asked half-said that it was Darla. Angel then started telling the funny story of his epiphany but saw him staring ahead so he just asked about the Skilosh instead.
"This is awkward", Dawnster said.
"Well, after everything Angel did, it's going to be", Summers said to her. "If anything, he's kind of lucky that Skilosh are after his friends, since that made the talking easier."
"But staying alive a lot more difficult", Buffy said with a sigh.
Wesley then started telling Angel the little incident with the Sharps, though Angel noted they'd still kept the 'Angel Investigations' name, Wesley saying they'd change it soon, so Angel asked him to go on, and Wesley did, Angel also commenting how easy he made it look with books.
"Yeah, you Watchers sure have that skill", Dawn said, looking at Giles who smirked and chuckled.
Wesley then described the Skilosh, and Angel noted they'd saved the girl. "You did a good thing." Wesley said after a beat. "Thank you." Angel nodded. "Welcome."
"Little by little", Rosenberg said.
The Skilosh were talking in the Sharp's house as Cordelia backed away but one spun around and growled at her, and then said 2 more had been destroyed. She first thought Wesley and Gunn had been killed but when it said '3 must pay' she realized 2 of the Skilosh had been killed. The Skilosh said more had to rise and then 2 of them grabbed Cordelia as she struggled, realizing what they were going to do, saying she'd been impregnated by Demon spawn before and it hadn't worked out.
"Let. Her. Go", Buffy snarled angrily, clutching her fists as they all now realized what was going to happen.
"No, stop, stop, stop", Dawnster turned away.
"We wish something had interrupted this", Summers said with a sigh.
An ugly, three pronged tongue started to protrude out of the demon's mouth as he leaned closer to Cordelia. The Demons turned Cordelia around and held her down as she begged to be let go. The pronged tongue connected with the back of Cordelia's head and she screamed.
"Screw you", Willow snarled at the Skilosh, everyone enraged at what they were doing to Cordelia.
"It's like the Powers love it when she's impregnated with Demon Spawn", Xander scoffed angrily. "Why do they let these things happen to her when she's their connection the Champion?"
"Maybe they need something sick to get their kicks", Buffy snarled. [1]
"The Demons basically assaulted her as well", Dawn muttered. "That's how they reproduce. By assaulting people against their will."
"But Cordelia will be saved by the end", Rosenberg assured.
"Doesn't mean we have to like what happens before", Tara said with a sigh.
"The poor woman has suffered a lot since coming to Los Angeles", Giles commented sadly, having deep respect for Cordelia now, and the rest did as well.
The door of Angel Investigations closed as Wesley sat on his wheelchair, looking at a car pass by, and Angel told him Cordelia wasn't here, Wesley saying that didn't bode well, and then looked out the window as car lights passed it again, saying this was the third time that truck had passed by. Angel said she could be out with her friends, but Wesley disagreed, and Angel wondered if they were talking about the same Cordelia, saying he knew her, only for Wesley to say. "But you don't. You don't know her at all. For months now you haven't cared to. Otherwise you might have realized that our Cordelia has become a very solitary girl. She's not the vain, carefree creature she once was... Well, certainly not carefree. - It's the visions, you see. The visions that were meant to guide you. You could turn away from them. She doesn't have that luxury. She knows and experiences the pain in this city, and because of who she is, she feels compelled to do something about it. - It's left her little time for anything else. - You'd have known that - if you hadn't had you head firmly up your... place that isn't on top of your neck."
"She has changed, a lot", Buffy muttered, looking down sadly. "And this is what she gets for it."
"Angel doesn't know the new Cordelia either", Willow sighed. "But we do."
"He did know her later", Summers told them. "And fell in love with her when he did."
"I'm really hoping those Demons die a horrible death", Dawnster scoffed.
"I wanna go into the screen and trash them", Xander said with a snarl.
"I'm just waiting for her to be saved", Tara sighed.
"You don't have to wait that long", Maclay assured.
Angel said they had to find her, and then noted something was coming, turning off the lights on Wesley's instruction and picking up the ax as they backed against the walls, footsteps coming closer. A shadow fell across the open door to the street and two legs arrived. Wesley turned on the light and Gunn spun around to face him, surprising Wesley as Gunn said he was passing and saw the lights on, adding he worked here. Wesley had thought he was gone to which Gunn said he was always coming back, adding that he wouldn't abandon them like Angel had, looking at him.
"Harsh, but not really undeserved", Rosenberg told them.
"He knows that too", Harris added.
Wesley and Gunn shared an elaborate handshake ritual as Angel noted they'd bonded, Gunn saying that's what happened when two fought shoulder to shoulder, though Wesley said it was hip to shoulder now. Gunn then told Angel that Wesley had taken a bullet for him, Wesley assuring it was nothing as they did the handshake ritual again.
"They are so fun", Xander said, making all chuckle.
Gunn then asked why Angel was here to which he said Lorne had told him his friends were in danger, making Gunn ask again as Wesley said he had an epiphany. Gunn then inquired why they were hidden with lights off and Wesley informed of the Demon attack in his home, Angel adding he'd saved him. Wesley then explained the Skilosh situation to Gunn, and then Gunn asked about. Wesley said she wasn't here so Gunn asked if they'd checked her pad. Angel said he'd stopped there earlier but Gunn meant her message pad, Angel still confused as Gunn brushed past Angel, giving Wesley the pad, who knew the address was of the Sharps, the address having been written down tonight. Wesley asked Gunn to get the de-oculation powder, as Angel asked if it made sense Cordelia would go out late at night without informing the other two, and they said the Sharps owed them money, at which point Angel agreed that's where she was.
"It's funny how confused he is", Dawn said with a laugh.
"That's what happens when you abandon your friends for so long", Tara told her.
Cordelia was waking up on the floor of the Sharps house. She looked around and winced, but pushed herself up on all fours. She looked straight up and stopped as a Skilosh was seen standing at a window behind her. She realized they weren't leaving, and no one was coming for her, before realizing she could see it, putting a hand to the back of her head, then got up to look into a mirror, pulling her hair away to reveal a blinking eye in the back of her head.
No one could really bring themselves to watch that bit due to how disgusting it was, plus it was Cordelia, which made it even harder to watch.
"Hack them to pieces", Willow muttered vindictively.
"Took the words right out of my mouth", Buffy said with a nod.
Angel was driving down the road, checking his side mirror from time to time, Gunn in the passenger's seat and Wesley at the back as Gunn noted Angel had an epiphany. "So, what you just wake up and bang?" Angel corrected. "Well, it was sort of the other way around."
"He's not wrong", Dawnster said as they chuckled a little.
Gunn wondered if Angel would have another one on seeing the lawyers again, and told him he shouldn't have one before they reached Cordelia, or Gunn would have an epiphany about Angel. A Skilosh demon dropped out of a tree into the car and grabbed Wesley. Gunn jumped up in his seat and kicked it off Wesley. The demon rolled off the back of the car and Angel swerved the car and stopped in the middle of the road, staring at the mirror as the Skilosh got back up and was joined by more of its kind.
"Oh boy", Xander muttered. "They're all jackasses."
"We all agree on that", Harris said with a nod.
Angel got out of the car, telling the other two to go ahead, pulling out the ax, saying he'd stop them here or they'd flank them at the house, assuring he'd meet them there, as saving Cordelia was what mattered. Wesley tapped Gunn's shoulder and he jumped into the driver's seat. The car peeled out of there as Angel went to meet the three Skilosh, who after a beat ran off in different directions. Angel heard a car engine roaring behind him and turned just in time to see an old red pickup run over him full speed. The pickup stopped as Angel tried to pick himself back up. An artificial hand slammed the pickup into reverse and Lindsey looked back over his shoulder as he gunned the truck, running over Angel again, just as he made it to his feet.
"Screw you!" Dawnster said as the rest were just groaning.
"What a time the bloody idiot had to pick to have his vengeance", Giles scoffed.
"Vengeance for what? Sleeping with a woman who isn't into him?" Willow asked. "He's so pathetic."
"Yeah, and he's breaking records at being pathetic", Summers said.
"Why couldn't he have picked another time?" Buffy asked.
Gunn peered into the window of the Sharp's house and saw Cordelia sitting on a chair and a Skilosh standing in front of her. Wesley was trying to wheel up beside Gunn, but one of his wheels kept spinning without traction. He tapped Gunn on the arm and pointed down, spinning the wheel. Gunn reached over and pulled the wheelchair up beside him, Wesley thanking him as Gunn said Cordelia was alive and had 3 eyes now, shocking him, as Gunn noted there were 3 more Demons, Wesley realizing the tribe was gathering as gestation was nearly done.
"They have to work really quickly now", Tara muttered. "And Angel still has schoolboy with a crush to deal with."
"Pathetic schoolboy with a crush", Xander added. "I know because I've been there."
He shared a look with Buffy as he said that.
Lindsey's pickup slammed into Angel, knocking him down. Lindsey put it back into drive as Angel staggered to his feet again, and drove the truck in a tight circle around Angel. Angel hurriedly limped towards the side of the street, beginning to run, but Lindsey ran into him again, sending him flying onto the sidewalk.
"If you're such a man, try coming out of the truck", Buffy challenged.
"He's a boy, not a man", Rosenberg told Buffy.
"At least based on his behavior", Maclay added.
Wesley and Gunn were talking and decided not to wait for Angel as they had been doing fine without him for a good while, and he could have a change of heart too. He pushed himself off the wheelchair, deciding they could save Cordelia, but almost toppled over as Gunn helped him.
"With Wesley not at his full strength, I fear they do not have much of a chance", Giles said with a sigh. "Without Angel that is."
"And Angel is still trying to deal with the pathetic schoolboy with a crush", Harris sighed.
The pickup came to a squealing stop and Lindsey got out, wearing jeans, a thick, plaid flannel shirt and his cowboy boots, watching Angel crawling along the side of the road. Lindsey reached inside the cab and took out a sledgehammer, walking over to Angel. "You're gonna tell me everything." He hit Angel with the sledge to the chin, rolling him over onto his back. "Everything you do with her." He hit Angel again. "All of it." He kicked Angel. "You're gonna tell me." Angel asked. "Why?" Lindsey snarled. "Because I wanna hear it from you." He hauled back with the sledge and slammed it down into Angel's gut. Angel curled up around his gut with a groan then rolled onto all four in an effort to get back up.
"So, hearing from him will make her let you do it all to you. Got it", Dawn said sarcastically. "Moron."
"The moment Angel gets up, you're gonna regret this", Buffy smirked.
Lindsey slammed the sledge down on his back, dropping him back to the ground. "Tell me!" He hit him again. "Tell me! - Tell me!" Angel refused. "No." Lindsey swung the sledge one handed like a polo mallet and hit Angel under the chin. Angel spun onto his back and ceases to move. Lindsey walked back to his truck, reached into its bed and picked up a stake. He turned to find Angel standing right behind him. "I'm sorry Lindsey." Angel hit Lindsey with a hard right, and the sledge and stake went flying. Lindsey pushed himself back up using the side of the truck for support. "I really am." He hit Lindsey in the kidneys, then turned him around. "I'm sorry she'll never love you."
"Yeah, lay into him just like that", Willow said, cheering.
"Delusional schoolboys like that should get a brutal reality check", Xander muttered, adding himself to the list.
Angel kneed Lindsey in the stomach, then pulled him back up against the side of the truck. "I'm sorry you're gonna have to live with that." He hit him with a left hook, then picked him back up. "I'm sorry I didn't try harder to help you when you came to me." Angel smacked him against the side of the truck. "I'm sorry you made the wrong choice." Angel hit him with a right hook, dropping Lindsey to the ground. Lindsey saw the stake lying on the ground and reached for it. Angel picked up the sledge and brought it down in an overhead arc, smashing Lindsey's plastic hand to pieces. Lindsey froze, staring at his shattered hand, then glanced up at Angel, who dropped the sledge. "Could have been the other one. Just be glad I had an epiphany." Lindsey stared up at him with a frown. "Mind if I borrow your truck?" Angel kicked Lindsey across the chin, knocking him out.
"I don't care if you never return it", Buffy quipped as all chuckled a little.
"He deserved that much", Giles said. "Angel's epiphany saved his other hand."
"He should be thankful", Maclay said.
"He's too much of an idiot for that", Rosenberg told her.
Cordelia was sitting when Wesley and Gunn arrived, but then they were pushed into the room by a Skilosh, their hands tied behind their backs, having been caught. The Skilosh then were about to start the process of implanting their spawn into Wesley and Gunn, while Lindsey's pickup sped down the road and onto the front lawn, right at the Sharp's house. The Skilosh turned and stepped towards the window as the truck lights shone into it. Angel was behind the wheel as the truck smashes through the wall of the living room, and into the lead Skilosh, sending it flying out the window across the room.
"Now you're all gonna be hacked", Xander smirked.
"Just like they deserved", Dawnster said.
The other Skilosh let go of their prisoners and convergd on the truck. Angel slammed the door open into the first one then went after them with Lindsey's sledgehammer. Gunn pulled a folding knife out of his boot and used it to cut the ropes around Wesley's wrists. Wesley returned the favor while Angel kept whaling away at the Skilosh. Wesley helped Cordy to sit up, and sprinkled some powder onto the back of her head while saying something in Latin. The powder rained down on the blinking eye, which shivered, closed and disappeared.
"And it's gone", Buffy said as they all sighed in relief.
"It shouldn't have come there in the first place", Dawn growled.
Cordelia touched the back of her head just as Angel, having dispatched the last of the demons, hurried over and kneeled down in front of her. He looked pretty beaten up, and had some blood dripping from his nose, but he was smiling at her. "Angel... Hi", she said. Angel asked. "Hi. - You okay?" Cordelia said. "No." Angel's smile melted away into worry. "You're not?" Cordelia said. "No. - You really hurt my feelings." Wesley and Gunn helped Cordelia up, and Angel watched as the three of them walked away.
"He helped them out, and he's back, but he's gonna need to do a lot more to earn their trust", Tara told the rest.
"I can tell, from experience", Willow said, sharing a look with her older self.
"And remember, he gave away her clothes", Xander reminded.
"Yeah, he needs to make up for that as well", Harris told them.
Next day, Lindsey, still looking beaten up, found his damaged pickup in his place and saw a note which said 'Thanks'. He entered his place and saw Darla had cleaned out her stuff.
"That 'thanks' has to be really cheeky", Buffy said as all chuckled again.
"And Darla's gone, now his delusions are shattered", Summers told them all. "This is what he got for being such an idiot."
"No more than he deserves", Dawnster said.
At night, Kate and Angel were sitting side by side outside in the garden court of the Hyperion as Kate said. "I feel like such an idiot." Angel agreed. "A lot of that going around." Kate sighed. "I just couldn't... - My whole life has been about being a cop. If I'm not part of the force it's like nothing I do means anything." Angel told her. "It doesn't." Kate asked. "Doesn't what?" Angel told her. "Mean anything. In the greater scheme or the big picture, nothing we do matters. There's no grand plan, no big win."
Buffy's mood plummeted again, and it showed on her face.
"There's a little more, wait for it", Rosenberg told her.
Kate said. "You seem kind of chipper about that." Angel told her. "Well, I guess I kinda - worked it out. If there is no great glorious end to all this, if - nothing we do matters, - then all that matters is what we do."
"If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is all we do", Summers repeated to Buffy, who looked over at her. "Don't be so down because there's no big victory in a battle, just remember that what you do does matter at one point or the other."
"It's daily acts of simple kindness that keep the darkness at bay", Maclay added with a nod. "Good and bad will always be around, it's just our job to keep the balance, and make sure the good side doesn't suffer."
Buffy nodded, deep in thought as Willow said. "They're right, all we have to do is help, so that people don't suffer."
Angel continued. "'Cause that's all there is. What we do, now, today. - I fought for so long. For redemption, for a reward - finally just to beat the other guy, but... I never got it." Kate asked. "And now you do?" Angel told her. "Not all of it. All I wanna do is help. I wanna help because - I don't think people should suffer, as they do. Because, if there is no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness - is the greatest thing in the world."
"Yes, that's true", Tara said. "You just have to be a good person and do your part without expecting anything in return."
Kate commented. "Yikes. It sounds like you had an epiphany." Angel commented. "I keep saying that. But nobody's listening."
"We are", Dawnster spoke up with a chuckle.
"Are you?" Giles asked Buffy.
Buffy rubbed her head and taking a heavy breath, finally gave a nod. "I am now."
"No big battles, just simple kindness is the way to go", Dawn reminded her. "Remember that."
"I will", Xander said, deciding to behave much better with Angel whenever they met next.
Kate told him. "Well, I'm pretty much convinced, since I'm alive to be convinced." Angel started. "You know you don't have to be a cop to be..." Kate assured him. "I'm okay. - Anyway, I'm not headed towards another pillathon. - I'm very grateful. - I never thought you'd come for me, but... I got cut a huge break and I believe... - I don't know what I believe, but I - have - faith. - I think maybe we're not alone in this." Angel asked her. "Why?" Kate revealed. "Because I never invited you in."
That surprised the past people as they realized they'd overlooked that little detail.
"How did he get in then?" Buffy asked.
"Remember when you died for a few minutes?" Harris reminded her. "We think the same thing happened with her. And so during that time no invite was needed."
"It's just one theory", Rosenberg said.
"So there are more?" Dawnster asked.
"Well, maybe the Powers That Be let Angel enter so he could save her, since being helpless to save her the way he was to save her father could have sent him down a dark path again", Maclay explained to them. "It's either of these probably."
"I believe them", Tara shrugged. "Makes sense."
"Either way, Kate is saved, and sees sense now", Willow said with a smile.
"Yeah, but this is the last time you'll be seeing her", Summers told them. "She left the city after this to do some soul searching."
"And what happened then?" Xander asked.
"After a while she returned to the city and set up an antiques business, using that to learn more about the supernatural stuff", Summers told them. "And also kept a lot of weapons at her place."
"3 or 4 years later, she became a cop again", Dawn then finished.
"Good for her", Buffy said, happy that Kate had seen the light, even if it was a little late.
Next day, Wesley was sitting behind the desk at the new Angel Investigations. The phone rang and Cordelia came over to answer it while Wesley handed her the memo pad. "Angel Investigations. We help the helpless. How can we..." She looked up and saw Angel, still looking beat up, slowly edging his way in through the front door. "...help you? - Check is in the mail." She hung up, as Gunn came up behind her and all three of them stared at Angel standing there. "I'm sorry."
"That's the start", Willow said. "Like he said to Faith."
"Now he needs to go further from here", Rosenberg said.
Wesley grabbed a hold of a walking stick and pushed himself up out of his chair and came around to stand in front of Angel. Before you say any more I think I should tell you, we've all discussed this, and none of us are ready just yet..." Angel assured. "It's okay, Wesley. I don't want you to come back and work for me." Wesley listened. "Oh. I see." Angel then revealed. "I wanna work for you."
"Huh", Buffy said in surprise. "Didn't see that coming."
"Shows that he has newfound humility", Tara told her. "And he won't be doing things his own way again, he's gonna be a team player now."
Gunn asked. "You wanna work for us?" Angel nodded. "Yeah. I do." Wesley asked. "Why?" Angel said. "Because I think I can help." Cordelia asked. "How do we know we can trust you?" Angel told her. "I guess I'll just have to earn that."
"Yeah, that has to be earned", Willow nodded.
"No." Wesley and Gunn turned to look at her. "No. No. No! Ahh." Cordelia reached up to her head as she was hit with a vision. "The usual big scary rising up in a housing project in Topanga, and - why is it that I am not on the floor this time?" It was revealed that Angel was standing behind her. "I got you."
"Awww", Dawnster said. "He's already started earning trust again."
Everyone else had hopeful smiles on their faces too at that bit.
"Yeah, he's doing good so far", Rosenberg said, knowing that Angel's and Cordelia's passionate and tragic romance was about to start soon, and this was the first sign. As a teenager, she always used to think Buffy and Angel were made for each other, but seeing these recordings, she found herself sad and even angry that the Universe never gave Angel and Cordelia a fair chance, even though they both deserved it.
Cordelia looked back at Angel, then back at Wesley and Gunn. "Maybe he should drive?" Wesley after a beat said with a slight smile. "Let's go." He and Gunn turned to head out the door. The screen went black.
"Team Angel is whole again now", Tara said with a smile.
"Even if the status quo is different", Xander sighed. "At least they're together again."
"After this Angel came for me when I needed it", Buffy said with a smile.
"Yeah, his epiphany came right on time", Summers nodded. "At that time, we needed him."
"He went to visit Faith again after this too", Maclay told them. "They had their talk of redemption again." [2]
"He was her friend when she needed it", Willow said, remembering when Faith had shared stories of their talks with her. "So, next one now?"
"I believe it is not as grim as these ones", Giles remembered.
"Oh no, now its gonna get much better for the remainder of this year", Harris said. "We might even have time to watch one more."
"Yeah, one more will do for us, you all can watch the remainder of Year 2", Summers told them as Buffy nodded and came to the next recording.
And done. With this, Dark Angel ends, and my favorite epiphany is spoken too. While writing this chapter, I realized Gandalf and Angel would be great friends because-
Gandalf: "I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."
Angel: "Well, I guess I kinda - worked it out. If there is no great glorious end to all this, if - nothing we do matters, - then all that matters is what we do, 'cause that's all there is. What we do, now, today. - I fought for so long. For redemption, for a reward - finally just to beat the other guy, but... I never got it...Not all of it. All I wanna do is help. I wanna help because - I don't think people should suffer, as they do. Because, if there is no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness - is the greatest thing in the world."
Different wording but the final message is the same.
[1] Just my little dig at Joss 'the creep' Whedon, the 'Power' behind Buffy and Angel, who only likes Charisma pregnant when its Demon Spawn *scoffs in disgust*
[2] A reference to my one-shot 'One step at a time' where Angel goes to visit Faith after his epiphany.
Anyway, hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter, which is one hell of a hilarious and 'Harm'onious episode, HA! Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!