Echo's
from The Past
Chapter
4
"So what do we do?" Xander asked.
"I think we should do some research before we do
anything." Buffy suggested
"Yes I think research is a good idea. We'll meet at
the Magic Box at your convenience." Said Giles.
"Alright, thank you Giles."
So for weeks the gang researched the final battle,
the one that seemed to have given Liam a second chance at his humanity. While
they had been doing the research Buffy and 'Liam' spent an increasing amount of
time together. In fact without the need of a Slayer Buffy and 'Liam' had begun
to go on actual dates, something that she and Angel had never really done.
"Tell me about us?" Liam asked of Buffy.
"What do you mean?"
"What kind of a relationship did we have?"
Buffy laughed softly. "A complicated one."
"How so?"
"There were a lot of things, obstacles I guess you
could say that got in the way of us being together."
"Were we in love?"
"Yes, very much so."
"Well if we were so in love what happened, why
couldn't we just be together?"
How many times had Buffy asked that very question
of Angel? How did she explain to this innocent version of the man she loved
that he walked away from her? How could she tell him that he didn't believe in
them enough to want to even try?
Liam had wanted to know what Buffy had done in the
past ten years.
"You really want to know?"
"Yes Buffy I really want to know. You know that I traveled
around the world trying to find who I was. I want to know what you have done."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sunnydale 2001 after the battle
The destruction of the town had been almost
complete. The worst of it centered around the old high school, over the opening
of the Hellmouth and it had circled out. Buffy had immediately searched out her
friends when she had regained consciousness, finding all but Angel.
The idea that she had survived the past five years
of absolute hell with him only to lose him now was about more than she could
take. She had wanted nothing more than to curl up and wither in her grief but
just as they had needed her during the battle the townsfolk of Sunnydale needed
her now.
So Buffy once again stepped up to the plate and
began organizing search parties that would look for survivors in the ruins. She
had set up a base of operations again. Buffy had Xander get those who had any
kind of labor skills together and they began sifting through the destruction
trying to salvage anything that they could.
Buffy had traveled by foot to the next city to get
more help for the dying little home.
Buffy had returned to Sunnydale with a slew of people, supplies and most
importantly hope.
It had taken months to clear out the rubble and
brick to make way for new homes and businesses and Buffy didn't even want to remember
how long it took to gather up all the dead bodies and try to identify them all.
Buffy and the gang had been recruited for that because they seemed to know just
about everybody in the whole place.
The hardest part of cataloguing the bodies had been
when members of the initiative had come through. Buffy had been physically ill
when the bodies of Riley and some of his commandos had been brought in. She had
been asked to identify their bodies and when the guy had pulled the sheet back
on the row of soldiers suddenly the heat and the stench of death and the mottled
blue lips on Riley's face just became to much and she backed away falling to
the ground and she retched.
She couldn't believe Riley was dead. He had been
alive after the dust had settled. She had found him.
"What? How?" Buffy wanted to ask what had happened
but she couldn't make the words form on her tongue. Gratefully the soldier
recording the information understood.
"He was going into a building to retrieve both
survivors and bodies when the building collapsed on him."
Thankfully though they had been the last to come in
and now the business of rebuilding was at hand. It had taken a long while to
get Sunnydale back up on its feet again but bit by bit, building by building
the community of Sunnydale built a new home. One that they felt better about
raising their families in because each and every resident their knew that they
could count on their neighbors.
Once the Sunnydale was flourishing again Buffy had
taken some time for herself. She just kind of did nothing. She had helped build
a lot of the buildings that still stood in Sunnydale today, including the house
that her and Willow had been sharing for the past decade.
Xander and Anya had married and had two children,
James 2 and Rebecca 5. Xander had his own construction company and he had about
50 men under his employ while Anya stayed home to care for their kids.
Willow although living with Buffy had been on and
off with her long time lover Tara. Tara had her own apartment and she had taken
over helping Giles at the shop that had been repaired. Amazingly the Magic Box
hadn't sustained much damage.
Dawn had stayed with Buffy and Willow until she was
old enough to venture out on her own although she didn't go very far. In fact
Dawn only moved two blocks away. That was far enough away to be independent but
close enough to Buffy in case trouble happened again.
Gunn had stayed long enough to help but once his
help wasn't needed anymore he went back to Los Angeles to his other family and
friends.
Then there was Wesley and Cordelia. They had stayed
in Sunnydale. Even though Cordelia still got the occasional vision she couldn't
bear to go back to LA. The loss of Angel had hit her and Wesley hard, harder
than they would have liked to admit. The pair found solace in each other and
eventually became a couple. Wesley even helped Cordelia open up a little beauty
salon.
Last but not least was Spike. Well Spike was Spike
and he had helped when he could although he had stayed in hiding the first few
months due to lack of shelter during daylight hours. So he was pretty much
responsible for all the repairs that happened to the Magic Box.
So they had all survived through the tragedy and
they all had someone to help to get them through the worst of it. Xander had
Anya, Willow had Tara and Giles, Cordelia had Wesley and Gunn and even Dawn had
Spike but Buffy, Buffy had remained alone. She kept hoping against hope that
her Angel would come back to her.
She had her job and she had her friends. She just
clung to that in hopes that it would be enough, and it was for a little while.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Present time 2011
As the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned
into months, Buffy and Liam had become inseparable. Buffy had never been
happier and Liam…well Liam smiled and laughed and shared. Liam had become so open
and Buffy felt like she was getting a chance to really know his soul, to know
him for the first time.
Buffy had decided it was best right now not to let
Liam know certain things about his past. She wasn't sure how he would take to
the fact that he had been a 250-year-old master vampire cursed with a soul. She
certainly wasn't ready to let him know about Angelus. She couldn't bear to tell
him what that the sadistic, vile bastard had done using his hands, especially
the things he had done to her. She hadn't
been able to tell Angel all the things Angelus had done to her when he had
returned from Hell and that was when he knew what his demon was capable of. How
could she make Liam come to grips with it when Angel never could? It was
difficult sometimes because Liam, rightfully so, would ask a lot of questions.
Six months later all the research had panned out.
Giles had found a prophecy regarding the vampire with a soul and the battle of
the End of Days. Giles had gathered the gang together to share his findings
although they thought it would better if they didn't share with Liam just yet.
Buffy left Liam to do his Tai Chi while she spoke to Giles.
"Hey guys."
"Hey Buffy."
"So what did you find?"
"Well we found a prophecy regarding Angel and the End
of Days. It says here that the dark warrior for the side of the light, the
fallen angel will fight in the End of Days. It says that should the light
conquer and the Hellmouth be sealed all demons will be banished to the demon
dimension. The demon will fall and the soul will rise having atoned and receive
his reward."
"So then his demon was banished and he regained his
life?" Willow tried to understand it.
"In essence, yes." Giles said.
"I don't understand the memory loss though. I mean
the last time he turned human he didn't forget what or who he was, why now?"
Buffy said almost to herself.
"Excuse me? Did you say the last time he turned
human? He's done this before?" Giles was incredulous.
Buffy inwardly cringed and nodded. She hadn't meant
to share that.
"Would you care to explain?"
"Well you remember Thanksgiving '99 when Angel came
up here to help with that Indian spirit?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy had remembered the day that wasn't shortly
after they had sealed the Hellmouth. She recanted how she had gone down to LA
ready to tell Angel to stay away and while she was doing just that a demon
burst through Angel's office window. They had struggled with the demon but it
had eluded them. Buffy helped Angel to track it, this leading them into the
sewers. They had separated and Angel had been the one to find and kill the
demon. However some of the demon's blood had mixed with Angel's with astounding
consequences.
Buffy had been standing on the pier when she felt
him. It was the middle of the day; he couldn't be out here, could he? Buffy
turned around only to come face to face with her Angel and he was standing in
the direct sunlight. He looked amazing as the sun played off of his face. He
was breathtaking and for a moment Buffy thought she was dreaming until Angel
swept her up into his arms and kissed her. It was then that she noticed the
pink in his cheeks, his breath on her face, the warmth of his touch and the
most amazing thing she had ever heard…the sound of Angel's heart beating
steadily in his chest.
"You're alive." She whispered almost afraid to say
the words that it might only be a dream.
She explained how they had gone back to Angel's
apartment and had maturely discussed what they would do with this newfound
knowledge. She and Angel had decided to take things slow and to be sure that
there wasn't another loop hole like his curse. Then Buffy had stood to leave
and Angel had stood to say goodbye and then she laid her hand atop his and all
their good intentions had flown out the window.
Buffy had spared them the intimate details of their
incredible day. She had told them about how Angel had gone with Doyle to fight
the demon that they thought they had killed without her and how she had gotten
there just in time to save the both of them. She had told them how Angel had
gone to the Oracles and had given his life in exchange for hers. The price of
which would be that he alone bare the burden of their memories.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"He gave up his chance at humanity to save your
life?" Willow was stunned. She always knew Angel was selfless but even this was
more than she would have expected from him.
"Is it really that hard to believe? I mean Angel
has always had my best intentions at heart."
"Yea sure except for those few months he was trying
to kill you and all your loved ones." Xander quipped.
Xander had always disliked Angel and it seemed that
even after everything Angel had done to prove his worth, in Xander's eyes it
would never be enough.
"How can you be sure that it was real Buffy and not
just a dream?"
"I just know Giles besides none of that matters
now."
"I guess you're right. We have found a spell that
might work to restore Angel's memories…"
"I hear a but."
"But it is a very powerful spell and thus makes it
quite dangerous. You may want to consider Liam's well being before telling him
about this."
"I want you to get things ready to do the spell."
"Buffy you need to be absolutely sure about this."
"I am sure Giles."
"Just make sure you are doing this for the right
reasons and be prepared to deal with the consequences."
"Giles I have a chance to get my Angel back and I'm
sure Liam wants his memories back."
"I know Buffy I just want you to think about, just
be sure for your sake and Liam's."
Buffy had agreed to think about what the spell
entailed before Telling Liam about it.
Buffy had gone straight home and reluctantly
thought about what Giles had said. They had a way to get her Angel back but did
she really want to do that. As much as she wanted to look into those eyes and
see recognition in them did she really want to see the anguish and guilt that
would inevitably be returned?
Who was she doing this for anyway? Angel had no
idea about what had happened between them and yet he still had a connection
with her. He came to Sunnydale because of her. Wasn't that enough? Was the
price she would have to pay be worth what she got in the end? Would Angel be
grateful or would he leave her again. Was she taking this risk to have him know
her only to have him hate her?
Liam had
been so happy and carefree these days, could she really be so selfish as to
take that away from him? She also thought about how she might lose this Angel
in the process. Liam, Angel, the way he was now, was incredible. Buffy had been
able to really get to know him and he had been so forthcoming with his emotions
and feelings. He still loved her right, and he was still her Angel. Buffy
cursed the Power's for doing this to her, for playing with her life the way
they did.
Buffy didn't realize it but the Powers were
watching her as she struggled to make this decision. Although the Hellmouth had
been closed there was nothing stopping a powerful demon from trying to reopen
it so the Powers kept watch, ready to call back the warriors from the side of
the light if needed. So there were still Slayers trained and the Watcher's
Council was still intact.
The Powers had been intrigued by the alliance of a
vampire, a master vampire at that, especially one with the reputation that
Angelus had, and a vampire Slayer, again with a reputation that preceded her.
Even more amazing was the fact that they fell in love. Oh and what a love it
was. It was powerful and almost tangible, a force to be reckoned with no doubt.
The Powers had been watching when Buffy had faced
off with Angel the first time. When they had admitted that they had wanted to
kill one another but Buffy had laid down her crossbow and had offered Angel her
neck.
They had been watching the first time Buffy looked
past the demon, her only concern being for the man. They watched as she offered
her life for his when he had been poisoned. They had looked on when they had
consummated their love. Their moment of greatest ecstasy had resulted in their
greatest moment of agony when Buffy had to send her ensouled Angel to Hell on
the end of her sword to save the world. They had watched the pair fight side by
side as a perfectly synchronized team and fight against each other in the true
nature of their calling as vampire and Slayer.
Buffy had always put everyone and everything above
what she wanted. The question was could she do it again? Could she sacrifice
her happiness for his? The Powers hoped that their warrior was that noble.
So Buffy lay in her bed trying to sort out her feelings
when there was a knock at the door. Buffy opened the door to see Angel standing
there in a red t-shirt and blue jeans, another thing about Angel that had
changed, and she couldn't help but smile.
"You said you were coming over after you're meeting
and when you didn't show I got worried. Is everything alright?"
"It is now that you're here."
"Have you eaten, cause I heard about this great new
place that just opened up."
"Sounds great, just let me grab my bag."
