DISCLAIMERS ETC IN PART 1.
TIMELINE: AFTER "ARE YOU NOW OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN" AND BEFORE "FIRST IMPRESSIONS"
ONCE UPON A TIME... NOT SO LONG AGO - PART 11
"Angel, I see you've changed your mind." Holland greeted Angel when the
vampire was escorted back into his office.
"You know how to use the book." Angel pointed dryly. "You were waiting for
me to come to you, that's why you didn't send any hell warriors to get the
book from me." He continued.
Holland smiled. "I see your intelligence is well above the average vampire."
He walked over to his desk and sat down.
"Please have a seat." He invited Angel. Angel was still eyeing him
suspiciously before sitting down reluctantly.
"Your little slayer needs a powerful magic, it's her only chance to heal".
Holland pointed.
"Can you help her? Do you know exactly what she needs?" Angel barged in.
Holland pressed on a key in his phone. "Cecil, call Lindsey McDonald in." He
ordered.
Angel narrowed his eyes and huffed in disapproval as the young lawyer
entered the large office.
"I'm here, sir." Lindsey stepped before the desk.
"Lindsey, sit down."
Lindsey exchanged stares with Angel, not letting the vampire escape his
flaming hatred.
"One of our customers is a powerful sorcerer, he's an expert in the black
art, especially of demonic nature. We can hire him to perform the spell on
your slayer. He has read and correctly translated the book of Armaine in the
17th century before it fell into the hands of the British demonologists from
the Council of Watchers..."
"I'm getting bored here," Angel leaned back in his chair. "Just get to
the catch."
"We do things according to the law here," Lindsey noted.
Angel sneered. "Yeah, I know all about your law."
Lindsey didn't say a word, just took out papers from his bag. "This is your
contract."
"My contract?" Angel looked at the documents.
"We would like to hire you in exchange for letting the sorcerer perform the
ritual."
"You know you will have to hire me without my soul." Angel folded his arms.
"That's fine with us," Holland smiled.
Angel looked blankly at the papers. "I will not be responsible for anymore innocent
deaths." He annunciated.
"Just the Slayer's." Lindsey pointed out.
Angel sighed in frustration. "I can't let you own my soul."
"You can go back to your Hotel and watch the life of your Slayer being
sucked from her body." Lindsey suggested.
Angel clenched his jaw, remaining tight faced.
"Look, Angel," Holland took the papers into his hands. "Miss Summers
encountered a deadly demon, and the only way to reverse the procedures and
prevent her death is by doing a ritual that will transfer the effects to
another host. The sorcerer won't perform the ritual on himself. That's why
we're going to hire you." He explained.
"You mean, the demon will have my life and I'll die instead of Buffy?" Angel
rubbed his chin.
"Technically. Yes." Lindsey said.
"Technically? If I die what's in it for you?" Angel moved his stare from
Lindsey to Holland.
"Our annoying pain in the butt will be removed." Lindsey smirked.
Angel looked down at the papers. "Why do I need to sign this? My word isn't
enough? I'll do it."
"It's a matter of procedures. The sorcerer would not do anything without the
signed agreement of the clients." Holland explained and handed Angel the
papers.
Angel skimmed through the papers, losing himself in the muddle of printed
black letters.
"Sign here." Lindsey pointed, and moved his prosthesis to indicate to Angel the
places for the signatures, bumping his plastic hand on Angel's head on the
way. "Sorry." He apologized dryly.
Angel got tired of trying to read and understand all the legal terms and
just skipped to sign.
He put down the pen.
"When can we get this done?"
"When you're ready." Holland got up.
"Tonight. In my hotel."
"All right. We'll talk to the sorcerer." Holland motioned to Lindsey, "Write
it down in the schedule, Lindsey."
"Yes sir." The young lawyer took the task on himself, struggling with his
left hand to scribble down a note.
"Will I have time to talk to Buffy after she's cured?"
"You better say your goodbye now, I have to be honest." Holland moved to
walk him out of the office.
"Funny, I didn't think that word existed in your vocabulary." Angel quipped.
"You'll be surprised how many things you don't think about." Holland smiled.
"Guards, escort our friend to the sewer system exit." He didn't give Angel a
chance to respond.
"So, what now?" Lindsey asked when Holland returned to the office.
"I must give you a merit badge for your wonderful idea to send the Listis
demon to Sunnydale." Holland smiled.
Lindsey shrugged. "I figured we needed to do something soon, and the slayer
is Angel's greatest weakness..."
"How is Darla?" Holland cut him out. "How is she doing?"
"She's doing well. Still uh, weak. That's why I thought we could use this
plan."
"I love killing two birds with one stone. That Slayer became far too
powerful lately." Holland smiled and rubbed his hands together.
"Angel, what's going on? Where have you been?" Cordelia jumped on Angel the
moment he walked into the hotel from the sewer. He didn't answer, just
rushed up the stairs to his room.
"Buffy..." He mumbled as he walked over to the bed. He took her hand in his.
Cordelia entered the room. "Nothing changed. She hasn't woke up."
Angel brought Buffy's hand to his mouth, kissing it softly. "I don't have
much time..." He whispered.
"Where did you go, Angel?" Wesley walked into the room.
Angel reluctantly removed his eyes from Buffy and turned to Wesley. "Uh, Wolfram and Hart."
"What?" Both Wesley and Cordy glared at him in disbelief.
He shrugged, still sitting on the bed, holding Buffy's hand. "I'm going to
exchange my life for hers. She will live and I will die instead."
"This is insane!" Cordelia nearly yelled.
"Angel, you realize it could be a trap." Wesley said softly, calmly. They could always count on Wes to be more levelheaded.
"I do, and that's why I'm asking you to keep out of the hotel after sunset."
Angel said calmly. "I can't do it wholeheartedly if I know you might be at
risk."
"Well, if you plan on losing your soul and going all psycho on us, I'm thinking
we're ALREADY at risk!" Cordelia snapped. "And do you think that's what *she*
wants?" She pointed at Buffy.
Angel shook his head. "If that's the only way she can live..."
"She's the slayer! Hello?! Slayers die all the time, it's part of what they
do!"
"Cordelia, you can't possibly understand what she means to me, so don't try!" Angel got angry.
Cordelia sneered. "I know, she's the love of your life, you're the love of
her life, you can't be together, I know. but I rather see her dead than see
the world go to hell!"
"Cordelia, calm down." Wesley grabbed her. He was afraid of Angel's
reaction.
Angel kept his poker face on, trying to soothe and control his anger.
"Look, if they trick us, and I wind up evil, you'd have to kill me before I
do some damage. But there's no way I'm going to watch her die."
"You're letting your selfishness overcome your common sense. You think she would want that? You think she wants you to die instead of her?" Cordelia tried talking to him again.
"It's a done deal. Leave." Angel said coldly.
"What if they kill her anyway? What makes you think they'll spare her life?
What if YOU kill her?" Cordy insisted.
"Cordelia, just go." Angel gritted his teeth and got up.
Wesley grabbed Cordelia's arm and led her out of the room.
Angel rubbed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. He walked over to
Buffy's lifeless body.
"It can't be a mistake. The powers that be let me exchange my life for yours
one time. They promised you'd live. Whatever Wolfram and Hart plan is, it
won't work, because there are forces stronger than evil. You and I both
witnessed it before." He brought his face close to hers and kissed her lips
softly. "You proved to me that I belong in this world, I will prove that
you belong here too."
He touched her face, his fingers trailing over her soft features. "I love
you, my sleeping beauty." He leaned down and rested his head on her chest.
"No matter what, I'll always love you". He closed his eyes for a moment,
taking comfort in the warmth of her body. He felt the tears stinging his
eyes and he buried his face in her chest, holding her body close.
"This is REALLY bad." Cordelia paced back and forth in her apartment. "And I
mean REALLY bad."
Wesley sat down at the table. "Maybe we should go there and try to stop the
ritual," He suggested.
"Right... and get ourselves extremely dead? I don't think so!"
"Maybe it's the only way." Wesley pondered.
"To sacrifice ourselves?"
"No, Angel trading his life with Buffy's. Maybe it's not going to be so
bad."
"Oh puh-lease, are you trying to convince yourself or something?" Cordy
puffed.
"Yes..." Wesley admitted and sighed.
"How can he be so stupid? God! I love Angel, but sometimes he just doesn't
think straight! He's set on a course and nothing can get him off! Geez! Like
a horse! He's side blinded and see only one way." Cordy vented.
"And it seems to be worse when it's personal... I mean, if it were just
another person..." Wesley agreed.
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "You have no idea! It's Bu-ffy. It's always about
her eventually. You can take Angel out of Bu- wait that doesn't sound good.
Hmm, you can take Angel *away* from Buffy, but you can't take Buffy out of
him. God, that didn't come out right either." Cordelia curved her mouth.
"I understand your point. Buffy obviously means a lot to him."
"Pffft! Angel was *human* and he gave it up for her. How crazy is that?"
"Angel was human?" Wesley raised his eyebrow.
"Yeah, but he turned back the day and no one but him remembers this day. Doyle
told me everything."
"Wow, Angel was human. I bet that's why he was anxious to get his redemption
already."
"I'm telling you, whatever he's doing now, it's not gonna help. If he wants
to die for someone he should die for someone with a longer life span. At
least then it will be worth it."
"Well, you don't exactly choose who you fall in love with. And you can't
estimate a person's life span. Anyone can die prematurely."
"Like if, say, Angel goes evil and destroys the world?"
Wesley looked at her. "You really fear that, don't you?"
Cordelia sighed. "I saw him evil, Wesley. Believe me, you don't want to
stick around for that."
"Well, maybe it won't happen, maybe he won't turn evil, just die."
Angel carried Buffy in his strong arms. The lawyers were waiting down in the
lobby. He stopped half way through, looking down at the arrangements they made for
the ritual. A big altar was covered in a white sheet. Long candles were burning at every
corner.
He looked down at Buffy's face.
"If you can hear me, love..." He whispered. "Kill me when you wake up. Don't
let them fool you."
TBC....
TIMELINE: AFTER "ARE YOU NOW OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN" AND BEFORE "FIRST IMPRESSIONS"
ONCE UPON A TIME... NOT SO LONG AGO - PART 11
"Angel, I see you've changed your mind." Holland greeted Angel when the
vampire was escorted back into his office.
"You know how to use the book." Angel pointed dryly. "You were waiting for
me to come to you, that's why you didn't send any hell warriors to get the
book from me." He continued.
Holland smiled. "I see your intelligence is well above the average vampire."
He walked over to his desk and sat down.
"Please have a seat." He invited Angel. Angel was still eyeing him
suspiciously before sitting down reluctantly.
"Your little slayer needs a powerful magic, it's her only chance to heal".
Holland pointed.
"Can you help her? Do you know exactly what she needs?" Angel barged in.
Holland pressed on a key in his phone. "Cecil, call Lindsey McDonald in." He
ordered.
Angel narrowed his eyes and huffed in disapproval as the young lawyer
entered the large office.
"I'm here, sir." Lindsey stepped before the desk.
"Lindsey, sit down."
Lindsey exchanged stares with Angel, not letting the vampire escape his
flaming hatred.
"One of our customers is a powerful sorcerer, he's an expert in the black
art, especially of demonic nature. We can hire him to perform the spell on
your slayer. He has read and correctly translated the book of Armaine in the
17th century before it fell into the hands of the British demonologists from
the Council of Watchers..."
"I'm getting bored here," Angel leaned back in his chair. "Just get to
the catch."
"We do things according to the law here," Lindsey noted.
Angel sneered. "Yeah, I know all about your law."
Lindsey didn't say a word, just took out papers from his bag. "This is your
contract."
"My contract?" Angel looked at the documents.
"We would like to hire you in exchange for letting the sorcerer perform the
ritual."
"You know you will have to hire me without my soul." Angel folded his arms.
"That's fine with us," Holland smiled.
Angel looked blankly at the papers. "I will not be responsible for anymore innocent
deaths." He annunciated.
"Just the Slayer's." Lindsey pointed out.
Angel sighed in frustration. "I can't let you own my soul."
"You can go back to your Hotel and watch the life of your Slayer being
sucked from her body." Lindsey suggested.
Angel clenched his jaw, remaining tight faced.
"Look, Angel," Holland took the papers into his hands. "Miss Summers
encountered a deadly demon, and the only way to reverse the procedures and
prevent her death is by doing a ritual that will transfer the effects to
another host. The sorcerer won't perform the ritual on himself. That's why
we're going to hire you." He explained.
"You mean, the demon will have my life and I'll die instead of Buffy?" Angel
rubbed his chin.
"Technically. Yes." Lindsey said.
"Technically? If I die what's in it for you?" Angel moved his stare from
Lindsey to Holland.
"Our annoying pain in the butt will be removed." Lindsey smirked.
Angel looked down at the papers. "Why do I need to sign this? My word isn't
enough? I'll do it."
"It's a matter of procedures. The sorcerer would not do anything without the
signed agreement of the clients." Holland explained and handed Angel the
papers.
Angel skimmed through the papers, losing himself in the muddle of printed
black letters.
"Sign here." Lindsey pointed, and moved his prosthesis to indicate to Angel the
places for the signatures, bumping his plastic hand on Angel's head on the
way. "Sorry." He apologized dryly.
Angel got tired of trying to read and understand all the legal terms and
just skipped to sign.
He put down the pen.
"When can we get this done?"
"When you're ready." Holland got up.
"Tonight. In my hotel."
"All right. We'll talk to the sorcerer." Holland motioned to Lindsey, "Write
it down in the schedule, Lindsey."
"Yes sir." The young lawyer took the task on himself, struggling with his
left hand to scribble down a note.
"Will I have time to talk to Buffy after she's cured?"
"You better say your goodbye now, I have to be honest." Holland moved to
walk him out of the office.
"Funny, I didn't think that word existed in your vocabulary." Angel quipped.
"You'll be surprised how many things you don't think about." Holland smiled.
"Guards, escort our friend to the sewer system exit." He didn't give Angel a
chance to respond.
"So, what now?" Lindsey asked when Holland returned to the office.
"I must give you a merit badge for your wonderful idea to send the Listis
demon to Sunnydale." Holland smiled.
Lindsey shrugged. "I figured we needed to do something soon, and the slayer
is Angel's greatest weakness..."
"How is Darla?" Holland cut him out. "How is she doing?"
"She's doing well. Still uh, weak. That's why I thought we could use this
plan."
"I love killing two birds with one stone. That Slayer became far too
powerful lately." Holland smiled and rubbed his hands together.
"Angel, what's going on? Where have you been?" Cordelia jumped on Angel the
moment he walked into the hotel from the sewer. He didn't answer, just
rushed up the stairs to his room.
"Buffy..." He mumbled as he walked over to the bed. He took her hand in his.
Cordelia entered the room. "Nothing changed. She hasn't woke up."
Angel brought Buffy's hand to his mouth, kissing it softly. "I don't have
much time..." He whispered.
"Where did you go, Angel?" Wesley walked into the room.
Angel reluctantly removed his eyes from Buffy and turned to Wesley. "Uh, Wolfram and Hart."
"What?" Both Wesley and Cordy glared at him in disbelief.
He shrugged, still sitting on the bed, holding Buffy's hand. "I'm going to
exchange my life for hers. She will live and I will die instead."
"This is insane!" Cordelia nearly yelled.
"Angel, you realize it could be a trap." Wesley said softly, calmly. They could always count on Wes to be more levelheaded.
"I do, and that's why I'm asking you to keep out of the hotel after sunset."
Angel said calmly. "I can't do it wholeheartedly if I know you might be at
risk."
"Well, if you plan on losing your soul and going all psycho on us, I'm thinking
we're ALREADY at risk!" Cordelia snapped. "And do you think that's what *she*
wants?" She pointed at Buffy.
Angel shook his head. "If that's the only way she can live..."
"She's the slayer! Hello?! Slayers die all the time, it's part of what they
do!"
"Cordelia, you can't possibly understand what she means to me, so don't try!" Angel got angry.
Cordelia sneered. "I know, she's the love of your life, you're the love of
her life, you can't be together, I know. but I rather see her dead than see
the world go to hell!"
"Cordelia, calm down." Wesley grabbed her. He was afraid of Angel's
reaction.
Angel kept his poker face on, trying to soothe and control his anger.
"Look, if they trick us, and I wind up evil, you'd have to kill me before I
do some damage. But there's no way I'm going to watch her die."
"You're letting your selfishness overcome your common sense. You think she would want that? You think she wants you to die instead of her?" Cordelia tried talking to him again.
"It's a done deal. Leave." Angel said coldly.
"What if they kill her anyway? What makes you think they'll spare her life?
What if YOU kill her?" Cordy insisted.
"Cordelia, just go." Angel gritted his teeth and got up.
Wesley grabbed Cordelia's arm and led her out of the room.
Angel rubbed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. He walked over to
Buffy's lifeless body.
"It can't be a mistake. The powers that be let me exchange my life for yours
one time. They promised you'd live. Whatever Wolfram and Hart plan is, it
won't work, because there are forces stronger than evil. You and I both
witnessed it before." He brought his face close to hers and kissed her lips
softly. "You proved to me that I belong in this world, I will prove that
you belong here too."
He touched her face, his fingers trailing over her soft features. "I love
you, my sleeping beauty." He leaned down and rested his head on her chest.
"No matter what, I'll always love you". He closed his eyes for a moment,
taking comfort in the warmth of her body. He felt the tears stinging his
eyes and he buried his face in her chest, holding her body close.
"This is REALLY bad." Cordelia paced back and forth in her apartment. "And I
mean REALLY bad."
Wesley sat down at the table. "Maybe we should go there and try to stop the
ritual," He suggested.
"Right... and get ourselves extremely dead? I don't think so!"
"Maybe it's the only way." Wesley pondered.
"To sacrifice ourselves?"
"No, Angel trading his life with Buffy's. Maybe it's not going to be so
bad."
"Oh puh-lease, are you trying to convince yourself or something?" Cordy
puffed.
"Yes..." Wesley admitted and sighed.
"How can he be so stupid? God! I love Angel, but sometimes he just doesn't
think straight! He's set on a course and nothing can get him off! Geez! Like
a horse! He's side blinded and see only one way." Cordy vented.
"And it seems to be worse when it's personal... I mean, if it were just
another person..." Wesley agreed.
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "You have no idea! It's Bu-ffy. It's always about
her eventually. You can take Angel out of Bu- wait that doesn't sound good.
Hmm, you can take Angel *away* from Buffy, but you can't take Buffy out of
him. God, that didn't come out right either." Cordelia curved her mouth.
"I understand your point. Buffy obviously means a lot to him."
"Pffft! Angel was *human* and he gave it up for her. How crazy is that?"
"Angel was human?" Wesley raised his eyebrow.
"Yeah, but he turned back the day and no one but him remembers this day. Doyle
told me everything."
"Wow, Angel was human. I bet that's why he was anxious to get his redemption
already."
"I'm telling you, whatever he's doing now, it's not gonna help. If he wants
to die for someone he should die for someone with a longer life span. At
least then it will be worth it."
"Well, you don't exactly choose who you fall in love with. And you can't
estimate a person's life span. Anyone can die prematurely."
"Like if, say, Angel goes evil and destroys the world?"
Wesley looked at her. "You really fear that, don't you?"
Cordelia sighed. "I saw him evil, Wesley. Believe me, you don't want to
stick around for that."
"Well, maybe it won't happen, maybe he won't turn evil, just die."
Angel carried Buffy in his strong arms. The lawyers were waiting down in the
lobby. He stopped half way through, looking down at the arrangements they made for
the ritual. A big altar was covered in a white sheet. Long candles were burning at every
corner.
He looked down at Buffy's face.
"If you can hear me, love..." He whispered. "Kill me when you wake up. Don't
let them fool you."
TBC....