Part Eleven
Xander took a couple of steps towards Angel. His eyes staying totally focussed on the former vampire.
"Dawn, come towards me," Xander said calmly, still not letting his eyes wander.
"Xan, what's wrong?" Dawn asked confused. She could feel the tension in the room rising with each passing second.
"Please just walk towards me," Xander said firmly, but softly.
When she was in arms distance, Xander reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling him closer into him. "Are you okay," he asked tenderly, lightly brushing the hair away from her eyes.
"I'm fine, Xander. What's going on?"
Xander suddenly realised that he had taken his eyes of Angel and turned to face him, expecting Angel to have made a move inside. Instead he saw that Angel hadn't moved at all. "What's going on, Angel?" he said harshly.
Angel for his part had not intended on moving. As soon as Xander reacted the way he had, it was obvious that Cordelia had phoned and told them about his appearance in LA. He knew that it would be easier for him if Xander came voluntarily. For that to happen, Angel also knew he had to get a chance to explain to him what needed to be done.
Dawn frowned at Xander's tone. Hadn't Angel and Xander, buried their long standing feud before he disappeared.
"Xander, why are you being so rude? Angel come in and have a seat."
"Dawn, No!" Xander interrupted her, causing Dawn to look at him with hurt in her eyes. Xander hadn't so much as shouted at her before, and now he was ordering her to not let in a long lost friend.
She was about to ask why, when a voice from behind Angel interrupted them.
"Don't move, Angel."
************
"Oh my god, look," Cordelia shouted, pointing at the front door of the Summers' residence, just as Wesley and her pulled up at the front of the house.
"Damn!" Wesley exclaimed, before getting out of the car and following Cordelia up to the front of the door.
They hadn't meant to miss Xander and Dawn arriving back at home. Not that they knew exactly when they were going to get back into Sunnydale, but they been delayed in getting back to the front of the house. The last thing they wanted to see was Angel already there, when they got back.
Of course the world being how the world was it was pretty much a gimmie that something would go wrong, so Wesley and Cordelia weren't all that surprised.
"Don't move, Angel," Cordelia shouted at him, thinking that he was about to rush in and attack someone.
Dawn at this stage was thoroughly confused. Xander still had hold of her hand, as if he was afraid to let her go, Cordelia and Wesley had just turned up looking as though they had to save Xander and herself, and Angel still hadn't said a word.
"What the hell is going on?" she shouted, hoping that the volume of her voice may finally get some one to tell her what is happening.
Xander felt Dawn's frustration, and squeezed her hand softly. "I'm sorry. Maybe Angel can explain what he did to Cordelia to make her leave a rather distressed message on our answer machine."
Dawn looked at Xander, then to Cordelia, before finally settling her eyes on Angel. "Well?" she asked expectantly.
Everyone waited for Angel to say something. Finally after a few seconds he did.
"Can I come in and sit down?"
His voice was different than what they remembered it. It had a gravely tone to it, as if his vocal chords had been sand-papered. It fit perfectly with his appearance. Xander had no doubt Angel had spent the last five years roughing it. His face showed the scars and everyday wear from such a lifestyle.
"You don't need to be invited in Angel. Your human now." Xander replied, not trusting him for a minute.
"I thought it was the polite thing to do," Angel said.
Xander looked at Cordelia for some guidance, it was her after all that left the message, that was making Xander extremely suspicious of the ex-vampire.
"You were crazed back in LA, Angel. How can we trust you?" she asked, still not taking any closer steps to him.
Angel took a deep breath, his patience getting thinner, every time someone asked another question. "I'm sorry about that Cordelia. I was just surprised that Xander was alive. I wasn't thinking straight."
"And you think I was less surprised to see you. It's been over five years, Angel. We thought you were dead," Cordelia replied, not really buying Angel's explanation. Just because he was surprised didn't forgive his roughness.
"I've been travelling a lot," Angel replied.
"Great," Xander retorted, "Angel's reverted back to cryptic guy." He took a deep breath and looked down at Dawn. "Do you feel okay with Angel coming in?"
Dawn nodded. She felt that it was strange everything that was going on, but Angel had never hurt her personally, well when he had a soul, at least. He was part of the old Scooby Family and that loyalty swayed her decision.
"Everyone come in and have a seat." She could feel that Xander wasn't comfortable with it, but also knew he had let her make the decision. She squeezed his hand, to let him know she wanted him to come with her, as they made their way over to the living room.
After they had all taken a seat, all eyes fell on Angel. He however was focussed solely on the fact that Xander and Dawn were a couple. And by the looks of it a couple that was very serious. It complicated his plans, but he was sure it would not cause any major problems.
When it seemed that Angel wasn't going to say anything, Dawn lost her patience. "For gods sake, Angel. You're the one you turned up here, it's about time you told us why?"
Angel nodded. In truth he hadn't want to alienate them all. That was the last thing on his mind. He was going over in his head, ways he could start what he knew would be a long conversation.
"I came back cause I found a way to make everything right again." Angel simply stated.
Those words immediately got the other four's attention.
"What do you mean right?" Wesley asked.
"We can get Buffy back." It was a simple statement, that from Angel's delivery it was obvious to everyone else that it was the number one thing on his mind.
Xander wondered if Angel had spent the last five years obsessing on the death of Buffy. He felt sorry for him, knowing that he could have easily done the same thing, if it wasn't for Dawn.
"It's been over five years, Angel. I don't think there is anyway you can bring her back," Xander said sympathetically.
Angel nodded. "There isn't any way I can bring her back." Angel agreed, before adding, "but you can."
That statement was greeted by looks of disbelief from around the table.
Xander looked at Dawn, who was silently watching the proceedings, then back at Angel. "What do you mean I can bring her back. I, out of us all, have the least amount of special powers. In fact, I think I remember how much power I have – none." The incredulity of the statement didn't mask the fact that Xander had a little bit of anger in his voice. It was a dream of his to see Buffy alive again. Hell it was Dawn's dream as well, and he couldn't help but think Angel was playing with their emotions.
"Xander can bring her back, because only he can travel back in time to save her," Angel finally responded to their question. He said the statement slowly, making sure that everyone got each word that he spoke.
"Umm, I think you need to explain further, Angel," Cordelia asked, seeing that Xander had fallen silent, and Dawn was grasping Xander's hand tighter, not wanting to think about Xander leaving.
Angel took a deep breath and let it out. His annoyance at having to explain every detail was not lost on anyone else. But he didn't care. He had spent five years on this quest, and he found it extremely annoying to be delayed at the final moments.
"When Xander disappeared, Giles and I kept looking into what Krostoff was, and what the Orb was for. A year or so after, we found out that Xander would probably turn up some time in the future, though we didn't know if he would alive, or when. It could be 100's of years from now, or it could have been the next week."
Dawn interrupted him. "I overheard you talking to Giles about that one day." She looked at Xander. "It was the only hope I hung onto."
Xander squeezed her hand again, letting her know he appreciated the comment.
Angel however, ignored her. It only further delayed his explanation. "We couldn't however find out anything else, and after a while, we all had much bigger problems in San Francisco to work out. After Buffy's death, I had to get away. I packed a few things, and when I did I found the Orb you knocked away from Krostoff. I had hidden it away till we had some use for it," Angel continued, nodding to Xander, so he would know what he was talking about.
Xander nodded, but said nothing as Angel continued.
"I took it with me. I suppose as a reminder of what I was leaving behind. A few months into my travels, I found a local researcher in South America who knew a lot more about the orb, then Giles or I did. He was the one who told me that, it was what Krostoff used to travel in time and dimensions. So my thought was to travel back to where Buffy was about to go into battle and save her. But I had to find a spell. That took me almost five years. Five years of traveling to different continents, till I found a group of demons in Pakistan, that had worshipped Krostoff. After five years, I had the means to make it alright again."
"And you need our help for this," Xander asked, thinking that if this was all Angel wanted, he only needed to ask.
"No." Angel said bitterly. He hated the fact that he couldn't be the one to save Buffy. Now he had to put the life of his beloved in the hands of the one human he disliked.
"A human can't use the orb's power to travel through time. Only demons can. The time winds would kill me. When I became human it took away my ability to save her." Angel didn't attempt to hide his bitterness over the irony of his situation
"Then no-one can use it," Wesley stated.
"That's what I thought, but there is a way. For some reason Xander survived the travel here. It may be cause Buffy pulled him away in time not to get hit by the full blast of the time winds, I don't know. But the point is, because his body is saturated by these time particles, he and only he can travel back to save Buffy."
Xander took all of what Angel said in. He had the chance to save Buffy. More than that he also had the chance to bring the Scooby Gang together again.
"How sure are you that this will work?" Xander asked.
"From what I have been told it is going to work, but only because of the first journey you took. You weren't meant to jump in time, and so your body is meant to be back then. The spell just helps you along," Angel replied.
Xander realised that Willow had said virtually the same thing, all those years ago when he had been split in tow. That had been very simple to fix then, so maybe this would be do.
Suddenly Angel's words struck him. "What, so I go back to when I disappeared," Xander asked, this definitely not being what he had first envisioned.
"It is the only section of time you can go back to."
"And then I can travel back here?" Xander asked.
"No," Angel replied, getting noticeably more irritable as the questions came forth.
At Angel's answer, Xander slumped back into his chair. This wasn't something he could make his mind up over straightaway. There was a beautiful woman whom he loved dearly, holding onto his arm that had a very big say in any decision he made. Wesley and Cordelia immediately knew that the ramifications of that would be. Dawn, like the rest of the conversation, stayed silent.
"But you would be back where you belong, and maybe that will be enough to save Buffy." Angel argued, seeing that Xander hadn't agreed to his proposal.
"There is no guarantee of that, Angel." Wesley cautioned.
"But it is a chance," Angel pleaded, getting angry that Xander wasn't replying.
'Fine,' Angel thought, 'I'll make him see it my way.'
"It what you have to do, Xander. You can't just let her die." Angel said, though to Wesley and Cordelia it sounded more like a taunt.
"Angel!" Cordelia yelled, offended by his callous remark.
Xander was sure that he would have been over on Angel in a flash, forcing him to take back what he had just said. And the end of his fist if needed be. But he didn't move.
He didn't have a chance to, as Dawn leapt up from her seat and jumped on Angel, slapping him hard across the face.
"Get out of my house, you bastard," she yelled at him, before starting to hit him again. Xander scooped her up from behind, stopping her assault, before Angel retaliated. He never would've thought that Angel would do something like that, but the Angel that was in their house at that moment, bore little if no resemblance to the one he disliked a decade ago.
Just because Xander had lifted her away, did not stop Dawn from directing her bile towards Angel.
"How dare you come in here and casually tell the man I love, that he has to do anything. You have no right."
Angel looked at her with nothing but loathing. "I should've known you wouldn't want to help." He spat out some blood, that had gathered after one of Dawn's more accurate blows, at her feet, before moving away to the door.
Just before he was about to leave, he turned to face them again. Now that Xander had rejected his plan, he saw no reason to play nice. One way or the other he would make Xander go back and save Buffy. If it took emotional abuse, he would do it.
"Maybe you never loved her, Xander. I may have disliked you, but I thought I could've counted on that." Angel shrugged, and Xander could have sworn he saw a slight grin on his face.
"Guess I was wrong."
End Part 11