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Well, this episode gave me a headache, not gonna lie, though the ending with Illyria was still worth it, and Spike was awesome in this.
Chapter 134- Time Bomb
"Here we go", Buffy said as she turned on the next recording.
Gunn was about to be tortured again when the house rumbled and the door was blown off its hinges by Illyria, who backhanded the Demon across the room, then ripped the medallion from his neck. Gunn took some time to recognize her, and as the Demon got back up, Illyria looked between it and the necklace. Soon, the two left the basement as the Demon now lay on the table and stabbed its own heart.
That bit brought some chuckles as Xander said. "Now that's karmic justice right there!"
"Oh yeah! He got his!" Dawn cheered.
"Looks like Illyria is getting a bit better", Willow noted. "She saved Gunn."
"Wesley would have told her", Buffy reminded.
"But she has no reason to follow either", Tara pointed out and Buffy had to concede.
"Well, this is good", Giles said.
Wesley explained to Angel he'd mentioned Gunn and then Illyria had disappeared in a portal. Angel wasn't convinced as Gunn might end up dead. Wesley said she'd the strength of a God but Angel added she had the ego too, and she was here because this place reeked of influence. Wesley pointed out they'd to convince her to come to their side, and then Illyria arrived with Gunn. She first lifted him up by the throat, noting how he was valuable to them without price, then dropped him and walked off as Angel quipped. "Go team."
"At least he's back now", Buffy said as all sighed in relief.
"Problem is making her part of the team", Willow pointed out and all nodded.
"That will take a lot of work from both sides", Tara said.
Gunn walked around, noting many files in his office having accumulated in his absence, then went to Wesley's office, and he looked unkempt, and so did the place. They greeted each other as Wesley said he should apologize for stabbing Gunn but didn't know how and it'd be awkward, to which Gunn agreed and said he wasn't looking for sorry and wouldn't accept it, plus a jab in the gut was nothing compared to what he'd endured.
"Oh Gunn!" Dawn said sadly, still feeling bad at what he had to go through there.
"That was awkward", Xander quipped. "But could have been worse."
"So much worse", Buffy agreed.
Gunn said the place had changed a lot in his absence and Wesley agreed, saying they'd to adjust to all, including Illyria. They noted how she looked like Fred but what she spoke proved she was different. She wasn't as bad as a TV star, but more violent.
"We already knew that", Willow shrugged. "Really violent."
Spike was kicked back by Illyria but just slid, didn't fall. "Ooh! All right, grandma. Give ya that. Good one." Spike charged Illyria, who kicked and punches him, but missed. Spike caught her fist in his hand and punched her quickly in the face. She stepped back, circled him slowly, watching him constantly. "This shell... you had affection for it, for Fred." Spike confirmed. "Tons. Loved the bird." Illyria noted. "Yet you strike at her form without sentiment."
"You are not her, don't pretend you are", Dawn snarled at Illyria. "You just took over her body."
"Spike didn't fall down this time and landed some hits", Buffy noted. "He's improving."
"Yeah, looks like it", Tara agreed. "Guess he's adapting."
"Great going", Xander smirked.
"You ain't her. I can see it. Lord knows I can smell it. And I got no problem hitting it", Spike swung at Illyria, who caught his punch and kneed him between the legs, and Spike hit her stomach which she clutched. "You're adapting." Spike grinned. "We do that." "Adaptation is compromise", Illyria swung a low kick at Spike's ankles but he jumped to avoid. "It's called learning. But then I guess you know everything there is to know." Illyria said. "When the world met me, it shuddered, groaned. It knelt at my feet." Spike mocked. ""Dear Penthouse, I don't normally write letters like this, but—"" Illyria punched him in the face, knocking him back a few steps. "Oh, ho ho!" "Illyria was all they needed to know."
"Well, times change", Willow shrugged. "Deal with it."
"Spike's doing good", Buffy said proudly. "He is analyzing her, and his skills are improving."
"Looks like it, but it may not be that simple", Giles warned.
Spike rubbed his jaw. "Then came the Internet." Illyria circled Spike again. "You have nothing. Your kind has pulled this domain apart. Each of you has snatched a tiny piece of it. Even those with the mightiest hoards are paupers." Spike asked. "The one who dies with the most toys wins, eh?" "To never die... and to conquer all, that is winning." Spike started charging at Illyria again, but with a wave of her hand she slowed time. Spike was soaring through the air toward her at a snail's pace as she walked normally past him. When he reached the floor, he's back to normal time. He looked around, confused at not seeing Illyria. He turned to see her standing behind him. "Now that's cheating." Illyria kicked Spike hard in the stomach, sending him across the room. He hit the wall where the observation window was and fell to the floor in a heap.
"Yeah, that's cheating", Buffy agreed. "Cheater."
"At least Spike's good enough to make her do that", Dawn pointed out.
"Yeah, he is", Buffy said with pride in the man she loved.
Angel said over intercom. "Spike, talk to you for a minute." Illyria looked down at him. "You may go." "Huh!" Spike wiped blood from his lip. "Yeah, great." He got to his feet. "Thanks so much."
"You don't own him", Buffy said with a snarl.
"Yeah, we get it, you do", Xander said as the rest chuckled and Buffy groaned.
Angel and Spike later watched Illyria as Spike said he'd analyzed her fighting style. Angel wanted these sessions stopped because Illyria was testing them. She walked to them, doubling over and panting while holding her stomach as Spike said. "Got her winded at least, didn't I?"
"I don't think a punch from him would hurt her that badly", Willow said.
"You think something else's up?" Dawn asked.
"Looks like it", Tara nodded.
"Guess we have to find out", Buffy sighed.
Gunn started working on the files when Lorne arrived in a fedora and sunglasses, greeting him, and revealed he was incognito to keep an eye on Illyria. They also talked about Wesley and Lorne said he felt like 2 different people, while Angel wasn't talkative either but then he called Lorne on the walkie-talkie so he had to go.
"You were saying?" Xander asked.
"He has a point on Wesley though", Giles said. "That is what he seems like."
All sighed sadly, knowing Wesley was now a broken shell of a man with Fred gone.
Later, Angel had a meeting with the rest about what to do with Illyria, and Wesley had no problem thinking of a way to kill her. Gunn also mentioned the apocalypse Lindsey had talked of, and it was clear that it was a close one. In spite of stopping all evil, they were the Partners' number-one earner.
"Huge irony there", Tara agreed with a sigh. "Not one they like either."
"But treading carefully still needs to be done", Willow muttered.
Hamilton then arrived, telling them how much Illyria had destroyed while saving Gunn, and the damage will be fixed from this division's profits, so from leader he was at the rear. There was also a task to oversee, and Hamilton ended it by telling them this was a business, not a bat-cave, and left as Lorne said he still liked him more than Eve.
"Tread carefully, people, tread carefully", Buffy warned. While the morally grey thing was Team Angel's thing, here it was getting them into a lot of trouble.
"He called it bat-cave", Xander muttered. "Guess now they're missing that."
"Yes, but walking out isn't that simple", Giles added. "A lot needs to be done now."
"Starting with the apocalypse", Tara summed up.
Illyria was later told by Wesley this was Monday and noted they had this conversation before. She then called Wesley her betrayer for shattering the Window of Orlon as it would have rewritten the past and he believed it'd bring Fred back. He then asked if his betrayal stung her, and she confessed she was bothered now, as Wesley noted it sounded close to human. Illyria insulted humans again as Wesley gently reprimanded her.
"So she's learning to be more human, good thing or bad thing?" Dawn asked.
"Depends on how you see it", Willow told her. "Could go either way."
"Well, Wesley is doing that well, considering that's all he's doing", Tara said sadly as all felt bad for him again.
Gunn walked to Angel's office with a file about a Demon pact, and Angel knew he'd met Hamilton before as Gunn revealed when, as they talked about the nature of the job when a heavily pregnant woman came for the Demon pact, and later said the Demons had told her their seer considered their baby holy, and they helped a lot, plus she didn't care they were Demons. Gunn started advising her but hooded Demons arrived, revealing they were the clients.
All cringed a little as Buffy said. "This won't go well."
"Plus, I don't think they have good intentions", Willow said. "Definitely not."
"And the woman can't see it", Xander sighed. "Sucks."
"Angel and Gunn can", Dawn pointed out.
Illyria made comments on time as Wesley said she didn't look well, and he called his opinion less relevant than sunlight before doubling over in pain, knocking over a glass of water, and when she stood again, she was in the training. Wesley was aiming a weapon at her as Angel asked him to do it but she doubled over again and was now in the observation room with Angel and Spike. "Got her winded at least, didn't I?" Illyria then gasped and doubled in pain again before coming back to Wesley's office where she'd knocked a glass of water.
"What the hell's going on?" Xander now asked, everyone looking shocked.
"Looks like some form of-" Giles began.
"Time travel", Tara finished for him. "She's going back and forth through time, and it doesn't like she has any control."
"Oh boy! So looks like the plan to kill her did work", Buffy noted. "Wesley did something."
"And now she knows", Dawn groaned. "Well, this sucks."
"Humanity or not, this won't go well", Willow realized as all watched in shock now.
Illyria pinned Wesley with the desk and accused him of trying to murder her, then walked out as Lorne spied on her. Harmony tried to give the Demons refreshments, and eventually they agreed to an organic cola. Angel and Gunn were talking to Amanda over the contract as Lorne tried to talk to them but they were busy. Amanda said the Brethren would make her baby special, like their Dalai Lama, plus her husband was brain-damaged, she was nothing without the Brethren, and broke down as Angel and Gunn walked out after excusing themselves.
"Poor woman", Dawn said sadly.
"So she's in a bad place, and the Brethren used that to convince her they're her saviors", Willow noted grimly. "Jackasses."
"Based on what Angel and Gunn say, it won't end well for the baby or her in the long run", Tara sighed.
"They will figure it out", Buffy assured.
Gunn said the fake life was the worst part in the Dimension, everything was to hide the horror, and he wondered if they were doing the same, because he couldn't stomach it anymore. Angel needed Gunn to get through this so they could plot their next move when Harmony said the Brethren had finished their colas so Angel asked to let them in.
"It has finally gotten to him", Xander said sadly. "Guess he doesn't want to do this anymore."
"None of them do", Willow said.
"He and Lorne are both completely done", Tara noted.
Hamilton walked to Wesley who worked in the lab as they made dark jokes on how this place profited from cancer, then Hamilton asked about Illyria, as they were concerned about her too, while noting Wesley was the closest she had to a friend, which he found absurd. Hamilton pointed out she and the Partners went way back, and they didn't want her here, or anywhere, then he told them to have a nice fight and also to look at the low-emanation scanner readouts. He walked off as Wesley pulled up a laptop screen to show a distinct blue glow on a map of the building, and it moved.
"The Partners feel threatened by her due to how big she was back in the day, and they were there then too", Buffy realized. "So I guess as much as I hate it, bringing her to their side would be-"
"Beneficial, yes", Giles agreed with a nod. "But risky too, she is unpredictable."
"We can see that", Dawn muttered.
"Pretty hypocritical though, because when Gunn asked for help their conduit beat him up, and Illyria took over Fred, now they're saying they don't want her", Tara pointed out to the rest of them.
"Lazy jerks", Willow commented angrily, speaking for everyone.
Illyria walked down the hallway with Lorne after her, but she'd caught onto him. The Demons now arrived at the conference room and looked sweetly supportive of Amanda, even giving her a thumbs up. Gunn then read that the child was being prepared for the Gordabach, which would be a ritual sacrifice when he turned 13, and tried to tell Amanda but the Demon asked whose lawyer he was. Illyria then ended up interrupting the meeting.
Everyone groaned as Xander said. "Bad timing, really bad timing."
"So ritual sacrifice, knew something was up", Tara told the rest. "Amanda needs to realize how bad this is."
"Yeah, this way, she'll struggle for now, but at least she won't be losing her kid when he's 13", Willow agreed.
"Yup, that'd be a lot worse than what's happening right now", Buffy nodded.
Angel led Illyria to a private spot where she doubled over in pain again and accused him of conspiring against her, then she lifted him into the air, saying her death wouldn't prevent theirs, then realized he didn't know yet and walked off as Angel took off Lorne's hat, annoying him while Harmony said it was shouty in his office but Angel said Gunn would handle it.
"So many things to worry about, the woman with the baby, the apocalypse, and Illyria", Dawn counted with a groan. "They have way more on them than they can handle."
"They have to run the business and prepare for all of this, it is taking its toll", Giles sighed.
"Well, I hope at least Illyria is dealt with here", Buffy hoped.
Angel walked to the lab where Spike and Wesley worked, telling them what Illyria was thinking, and asked Wesley if he had something, and he said the fusion between her Demon essence and human body was deteriorating, so she'd self-destruct violently soon. Then he took out a weapon called a Mutari generator, which, short version, could kill her, according to him. They noticed she was in the training room and decided to go after her.
"So, she's gonna die?" Xander asked. "Wait, the future us said she joined them eventually and got better."
"Which means plan's gonna fail", Buffy realized as all groaned. "But how would it make her join them though?"
"I think we won't know till we see it", Tara counseled.
They walked, talking about how much damage Illyria could do, and it could be continental.
Now all were horrified again as Xander muttered. "Crap! Oh boy!"
"Yeah, sounds about right", Willow said grimly.
"Now they need to stop her really quick!" Buffy said urgently. "Quick!"
"Without letting her know", Tara added.
"Doubt that'll work", Dawn sighed.
"Great", Giles said sarcastically.
Wesley went into the training room, followed by Angel and Spike, then Lorne. Illyria wasn't there. Lorne looked around. "That's funny. I didn't even see her leave." Spike shrugged. "Well, that's the problem. You don't always see her when she's—" He exploded into ash. "Gaah!" Illyria appeared behind Spike, staking him. She bent over, clutching her stomach.
"NO!" Buffy screamed in horror and disbelief at Spike gone, already feeling her tears rolling down as she shook her head in denial. "No, no."
Any chance she could have given Illyria was gone now.
Dawn put an arm around her for comfort while the rest just watched in utter disbelief. Illyria had killed Spike just like that.
"Oh my God!" Willow said, seeing just how much of a mess this had become.
Buffy was crying softly with Dawn trying to comfort her, and Giles put an arm around her too. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry you had to see that", Tara told her with sympathy. "We'll change it though."
"Yup", Xander nodded.
"Illyria!" "Wes, do it now", Angel charged Illyria. Illyria kicked Angel in the face, sending him across the room. She grabbed a dagger off the wall and hurled it at Wesley, piercing him in the chest; he fell to the ground. She sent her fist through Lorne's chest. Angel vamped out and jumped through the air, lunging at Illyria, but not before she grabbed a battle-axe from the wall. She swung it at him, slicing off his head. He turned to ash. Illyria stood in the center of the room, holding the battle-axe, surveying her handiwork, and smiling.
"Oh God!" Buffy said in horror, now not just Spike, but the others were all killed too, Angel included. Illyria had killed the whole Team Angel other than Gunn, and who knows he could be next too for being part of it?
"She just…..took them all down", Dawn whispered, terrified by how easily she had done it, because Angel, Spike and Wesley were no slouches, but she had taken them out like they were mere humans.
"We have to change this!" Willow said firmly.
Illyria doubled over in pain again and was talking to Angel in the hallway again when she'd accused him of trying to kill her, and lifted him by the lapels again, before doubling over in pain and now in Wesley's office, having knocked over the glass, but Angel was with her, and Illyria noted he hadn't been here before. Then she doubled over and ended up in the basement where Gunn was imprisoned, still having Angel with her.
"Uh-oh!" Xander realized. "Time travel, eh?"
"So they're alive then", Buffy said, sighing in relief. "She took Angel with her too."
"Which means he is a paradox now, an aberration", Giles realized.
"If he knows, he can change it", Tara noted.
"At least they're all alive now", Buffy said, wiping her tears. "That matters most."
"Still need to make sure this mess doesn't happen though", Dawn commented.
"Won't disagree there", Willow agreed.
Illyria thought Angel was accomplishing all this but he denied, while she repeated how she'd saved Gunn, then punched Angel off and started giving a speech of her glory days again, but Angel asked her to shut up. He dared to speak to her like this and would also control her. "But this is my Kingdom, lady! Not yours!" Illyria started praising herself again before doubling over and was now in the training room with Angel, and the bodies (or ashes for Vampires) of Team Angel lay there.
"Now he'll definitely prevent it", Xander said, though seeing the bodies again made them uncomfortable for good reason.
"If she lets him", Buffy said grimly, tense, and so were the rest of them.
"These are the fruits of your attempt to murder me. Your kingdom turned to ash and stale wind", Illyria looked at him defiantly. "I slew the white-haired one first." Angel was in disbelief. "This can't be." Illyria continued. "And then Wesley, as he raised his weapon... and your demon clown as he wilted in terror." "And I'm next." "No, Vampire", Illyria threw her axe into a pile of dust that used to be Angel. "You were last." "Why?" Illyria noted. "You know nothing of this. You're from an earlier point in the time line. You are a paradox. You're impossible." Angel realized. "We attacked you." "I didn't give you the chance. That you learn when you become a King", Illyria doubled over again, then gasped and paced. "You learn to destroy everything that's not utterly yours. All that matters is victory. That's how your reign persists. You're a slave to an insane construct. You are moral. A true ruler is as moral as a hurricane, empty but for the force of his gale." She again doubled over before pacing. "But you... trapped in the web of the Wolf, the Ram, the Hart. So much power here, and you quibble at its price." She looked Angel in the eyes. "If you want to win a war, you must serve no master but your ambition." She doubled over once more. "Oh, you have not lied. My undoing is beyond you, your people. Something is broken inside me." She grasped at her head, staggering. "My power is too great! I know this now, as I know it every time I come to this moment."
"That was in the medieval time period, lady, times have changed", Buffy said. "Accept it or go back from where you came."
"And the latter is not an option, so best just accept this", Dawn shrugged.
"Doubt its that simple, but if she goes back in time again, she'll take Angel too, and this can be prevented", Tara pointed out.
"We all hope the same", Willow agreed.
"Illyria, if I'm here, if I am paradox, then this can all change, can't it? You said things had been altered, what you said, what you did. You can change this outcome!" Illyria said. "Change is constant. Yet things remain the same." A glowing blue fracture appeared in Illyria's cheek. Her body started cracking apart, shooting out blue light everywhere. She exploded, sending Angel back in the force of the explosion. When Angel recovered, he found himself doubled-ever in pain, groaning in the hallway while Wesley and Spike walked with the weapon toward Illyria in the training room.
"Spike!" Buffy sighed in relief. After seeing him staked, seeing him alive made her feel better at last. He wasn't gone, he was still here.
"Now they shall change what happened", Xander smirked. "Great."
"Just hope all goes well this time", Giles noted. "I believe her explosion sent him back in the timeline."
"At least that's a good thing", Dawn commented.
Angel tried to explain the whole thing to them but they didn't get him before entering the training room. Angel tried to explain again as Lorne looked around. "Well, that's funny. I didn't even see her leave." Spike shrugged. "Well, that's the problem." Angel recalled. ""Slew the white-haired one first."" "Don't always see her when she's—" Angel rushed Spike to move him out of the way just as Illyria appeared. She ended up staking Angel instead, but not in the heart.
Buffy gasped before sighing in relief. Angel had saved Spike without dying himself. "You saved Spike! Thank you!"
"So, you love 'em both now?" Xander asked randomly.
"Well, yeah!" Buffy said as he chuckled.
"This is it now", Willow noted grimly.
"Let's see what happens exactly", Tara muttered.
Angel winced and staggered back, pulling the stake out. "Illyria, wait. Please. Wes, put that thing down. Spike, nobody move." "This, too... all changing", Illyria winced as she suffered another attack of pain; clutched her head. Angel said. "I know what happens. I know you kill us all." Spike quipped. "Oh, a bit pessimistic, aren't you?" Angel continued. "And then you shudder, and you convulse with pain, and then the power inside you explodes." Illyria realized. "You are the Angel from the past. You were swept up in my wake." Angel declared. "You're not a King anymore. Your domain is gone, swallowed by time." Illyria noted. "And we've had this conversation." Angel revealed. "You explode. I was there. It was powerful enough to blow me back through time. I have no idea what it does to the building." Wesley added. "More like the continental shelf, actually." Angel said. "I have to stop that. Do you understand? I cannot have your death blow away my-" "Your kingdom?!" "Yeah, sure, whatever." Illyria realized. "You ask me to allow you to murder me." Spike quipped. "It's not murder if you say yes."
In spite of the situation, Spike's joke made them chuckle as Buffy said. "Never change."
"I doubt she will say yes though", Giles noted grimly.
Wesley revealed. "No one is murdering you. This device won't kill you." Angel was shocked. "What? You said—" Wesley revealed. "I lied. Illyria, this device will draw the energy away from you safely. It will allow you to live."
That made them exchanged shocked looks as Dawn muttered. "Wesley…"
"He is still unstable, wants to hold onto her", Willow said sadly. "Anyway he can."
"Will it work?" Buffy finally asked, deciding not to judge Wesley.
"We have to see", Tara told her.
"Your intent is not murder." Wesley assured. "It never was." Lorne quipped. "Well, no harm, no foul." Illyria remembered. "But you tried to destroy me to bring back Fred." Wesley said. "That didn't work. It was a failure. But now I know you're all that's left." "You want to take my power... to let me live. But I am my power. And I would rather be a titanic crater than to be like unto you", she kicked Wesley in the stomach, sending him flying across the room. Spike kicked her in the face. "I kill you. That's how this ends." Illyria charged at Spike, but he grabbed her and flung her away from him into a wall. "What?! Gettin' ahead of ourselves a bit."
"Oh yeah!" Buffy cheered for how Spike had tossed away Illyria, clearly skilled enough from sparring with her to hang in there with her for a bit.
"Just need to hit her with generator now", Xander said. "And its done."
Spike charged at Illyria, but with a wave of her hand, she slowed time in the room. She stood to walk out, but the pain in her stomach happened again, causing her to double over in pain, losing her focus and restoring the speed of time in the room. Spike landed against the wall, but got to his feet. Angel told her. "Illyria, the future can change here. You can choose a different path." Illyria replied. "And be nothing. "And be what you are." Illyria groaned. "Fighting to hold on to what you were... it's destroying you." She turned to Wesley. "You would do this to me." Wesley shrugged. "I'd try anyway. Every time." Illyria gasped. "I possess so much grace, more grace than this bag of sticks could express. I was the immaculate embodiment of rule." Her body started falling apart. "I blame this on the weakness of your species." "Fair enough", Wesley aimed the weapon at Illyria, pulling the trigger. The weapon shot out a beam of light, hitting Illyria in her stomach. It drew the blue light energy from her into the weapon. Spike watched in shock. Lorne grimaced, pained, as he stepped away from the ordeal. Angel watched intently. Wesley continued using the weapon on Illyria until all the fractures in her body re-sealed themselves. When he turned off the weapon, Illyria collapsed to the floor, convulsing for a moment. Wesley approached her cautiously. "Illyria..." She weakly said. "Touch me and die, vermin." Spike quipped. "Not a very dramatic difference, really." Wesley was sympathetic. "Everything is different."
"Her power is gone at last", Tara said. "She's still powerful, but not enough to threaten the world."
"So, good and bad both", Willow realized. "Good because she won't be a threat to them anymore, bad because she won't be that much of a threat to the Partners anymore either."
"Better to be safe than have an unstable gun on their side", Buffy shrugged. "Behavior's still the same."
"Guess that would take years to change", Dawn sighed.
"At least the continent and the team are safe from her", Giles pointed out, while thinking about what her explosion would have done, as some of the Slayer Organization would have been in Cleveland by this point, which was part of the continent. 'You must be feeling so intelligent for ignoring an Old One now, right?' Giles mentally and sarcastically said to his future self who'd refused to call Willow to help with the Fred/Illyria situation.
"Yeah, that's all good", Xander nodded.
Angel and Wesley later watched Illyria. "So what's the prognosis?" Wesley explained. "She won't be stopping time... or walking through dimensions. And I suspect her physical strength has decreased somewhat." "That's what I wanted to hear." Angel looked at Wes. "You're gonna stay with her, aren't you?" "Yes." Angel sighed. "Wes... I don't like where this is going. I don't like where this has been." Wesley assured. "I'm not in love with this thing, Angel. But... for some reason, I need it right now." "Yeah. That's just weird." Wesley told him. "I know. She could still prove to be problematic for us. Much of what she was is still intact. I doubt she'll ever stop trying to conquer... everything." ""Serve no master but your ambition."" Angel turned to walk away. "What's that?" Angel stopped at the door. "I think you may have been right before... about Illyria being a resource. She just might make the team yet."
"Sounds so weird hearing that", Buffy said, and none disagreed. "She's gonna make the team."
"Yeah, personality's the same, but power's gone", Willow sighed. "Guess that's where it begins."
"Well, she is trying to learn", Tara pointed out. "Though I imagine it would take a long time."
"Since she is not an immediate threat now, they can have that luxury", Giles noted.
Gunn argued with the Brethren as another one talked to Hamilton about what they'd do if their demands weren't met. Angel then arrived, telling Gunn the baby belonged to the Fell, and led them to his conference room. "Angel, what are you doing?" Gunn asked. Angel noticed Hamilton watching. "What we're supposed to. Serve our clients." He walked into the room, closing the door as the screen went black.
"Okay, what?" Buffy asked in horror. "Why is he….he was sympathetic to Gunn before."
"Yeah, this is weird", Dawn agreed, off-put herself. "Didn't Cordelia bring the real you back?"
"Hamilton was watching though", Willow pointed out.
"Still, it looked like he was agreeing", Xander said.
"It came out of nowhere though, so I feel there's more to it", Tara told the rest.
"Like what, you think he's playing a game or something?" Giles asked. "This is not a game."
"Not a game, I think he's trying to do something about this apocalypse, and pretending to be bad is part of it", Tara said. "After all that's happened, I don't think he'd go bad, its not in his nature anymore."
"I am really hoping you are right", Buffy said, not looking forward to Angel's downfall again. "Let's see how it goes."
Done. Got a headache from this episode but Spike made me so proud. "It's not murder if you say yes." LOL! He was the best in this one.
And next one *groans* I found it amusing at some points but Andrew the creep ruined it.
Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter.