This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush. Feedback can be sent to cobalite@yahoo.com. No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder integestion. I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection. Angel, Riley, and Spike are two years into the past. At the same time they arrive, Buffy starts having dreams.
Show me a reason
Give me a sign
Tell me the way we
Fall outta line
Is it today or is it tonight
We'll find
The answer to our life
Black and Blue: The Answer To Our Life
By Cobalite Ice
"Where are we?" Riley picked himself up off the floor.
"The mansion. No one's here yet, Dru and I are still in the factory." Spike peeked out behind the curtain. "Sun's still up. We'll have to use the tunnels."
"Let's get started. I'm not sure what day it is." Angel pulled back a floor rug. "Thank god for the Underground Railroad, or we'd be stuck here until nightfall." He dropped out of sight.
Spike sighed. "What the Poof's forgotten is he doesn't know where the ring is buried. Alright, Soldier Boy, how are you at Recon?"
"I was in cover ops, oh yea with little fangs. What do you want me to do?"
"Find out what day it is. Hell, find out what time it is. We're gonna need supplies, and someone has to keep an eye on this time's Buffy and Angel. Don't want his soul to take a holiday before we find the ring, right?"
"I'm not going to be your errand boy." Riley growled.
"Fine, go stalk Buffy. Take your turn, the rest of us sure have." Spike dropped down into the tunnels.
Riley suddenly realized what he said. "You were watching us, weren't you? Weren't you!"
-----
Night had finally fallen and Spike was watching himself struggle to stand. It suddenly occurred to him how much someone who couldn't age could change. What he'd told Angel all those years ago in the school was a lie. "I'd give it a rest. You're not ready yet."
"I know that!" The Spike of this time growled, then suddenly realized it had been his own voice rather than Dalton's lecturing him. "What the hell?"
"Shut up, stay put, and listen to me. As soon as your legs heal, you're gonna take Dru and get out of this town."
"Why should I listen to you? You're just some kind of shape shifting demon." Spike turned around, ready to go find someone to throw the other man out on his arse.
"Do you fancy ending up exactly like the poof?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Spike growled.
"It means that if you stay in town, you'll end up exactly like Angel. I'm from the future, mate. I'm trying to save you from a fate worse than that chair you're sitting in."
"A soul." Spike had never sounded so afraid.
"Worse. Angelus could still kill if he wanted to, I don't have that luxury." The Spike of the future indicated the small, healing scar on the back of his neck. "Government issue, can't harm anything human. If you're stuck here long enough, you may even get to meet the man who caused it."
"You brought him with you?"
"I didn't exactly have a choice. Now, are you gonna leave town like I asked?"
"Me and Dru are on the first ship for Brazil as soon as I can walk." Spike wondered why his other self had winced.
"Not Brazil."
"But we love Brazil."
"Not Brazil. Trust me mate."
-----
The dreams were coming, the three travelers from the future could not them. So while the Spike, Riley and Angel of the future tried to stop it from coming, Buffy saw it in her sleep.
I can see Angel standing at the pool table. He smiles and starts toward me. I start walking to meet him somewhere in the middle. Suddenly, Drusilla is behind him. She is vamped out, and thrusts a stake into his back and pulls it out. He arches backward in pain. "ANGEL!" I cry out, knowing it's too late. We reach out for each other.
Before I can touch him his hand begins to disintegrate. The rings on his fingers fall to the floor. His body doesn't explode, but just crumbles to dust. Drusilla lowers the stake and takes the few steps over to me.
"Happy Birthday, Buffy."
She woke with a scream on her lips, and the driving need to make sure Angel was safe. It was just after two am. Buffy wrote a note to her mother that her New Year's resolution was to jog every morning before school, and she wouldn't be there when she woke up.
Angel sleepily opened his door ten minutes later, surprised to see her. "Buffy. Is something wrong?"
She just nods yes and steps into his embrace. Angel is unsure what's wrong, and just holds her tight, shutting the door.
-----
"No prophecies, no portents, not a peep from Spike." Giles slammed his book shut. "Things are perfectly calm, except for Buffy's disturbing dreams."
"So, when do you think it will start raining frogs?" Angel joked, leaning back in his chair.
"The next three or four hours, perhaps." Giles rubbed his temples.
"I'm gonna go home then. Tell Buffy I'll meet her at the Bronze?"
"Of course." Giles watched him leave, noticing at the last minute that Angel had left his duster behind. "He'll come back for it." Moments later, the door in the stacks opened, and Angel walked back in. Wearing his jacket, and looking like his best friend had just died. "Angel, what's wrong? And where did that coat you're wearing come from?"
"Were you expecting me?" Angel wracked his brain for what had occurred on this date, but the year before his sojourn to hell was only one of the happy times that had been lost to time.
"You just left." Giles pointed at the abandoned duster. "And you look like a kicked puppy."
"Do me a favor, and don't ever say that again." Angel sat down, throwing his own coat next to its twin, and noticed the stack of books. "Were we researching something?"
"Not really. Angel, are you alright?" Giles wondered how you could tell if a vampire was sick.
"Not alright is really an understatement at this point." Angel sat down, and rubbed his temples. "You're probably not going to believe what I'm about to tell you."
"We live on the Hellmouth. I'm the guardian of a teenager who kills demons, and you're a vampire with a soul. I doubt you could surprise me." Giles indicated he should go on.
"I'm from three years into the future. Myself and two other have been sent back to stop a chain of events that will ultimately lead to Buffy's death."
"I think I need a pot of tea."
"That's all you're gonna say?" Angel was confused, until he remembered at this point Giles was still pretending that he wasn't a monster. "I expected you to take a little more convincing."
"Yes, well, it would help if you could give me some assurances."
"You're really hoping this will be a happy birthday for Buffy, because next year is the Circumation."
"I believe you." Giles sat down across from his visitor. "What chain of events are you trying to prevent?"
"If things go according to plan, you'll never even have to know." Angel looked around the library wistfully. "I'd forgotten."
"Forgotten what?"
"What it was like to just sit and talk with you. We weren't exactly on the best of terms when Buffy died. I also came to warn you about the two men that came with me."
"Do tell." Giles had assumed it was Xander or himself that came with Angel.
"One of them is Riley Finn, a member of a military group that will form here in a few years. They hunted, and conducted experiments on demons. They're actually responsible for the second person with me. Spike."
"Spike?" Giles grimaced. "As in your grandchilde, bane of our existence? Why on earth would he help you save Buffy?"
"Because we all have one thing in common." A man Giles had never seen, but could assume was Riley, walk out of the stacks. "We were all in love with her."
That's when Giles started laughing, and when neither joined him, he realized they were serious. "Dear lord. Well, if some force can make the three of you work together, I'll do anything I can to help."
"We'll need the Codex."
Giles fetched the book. There was indeed a new entry. "It's in some sort of code."
"I guess that answers my question." Riley took the book. "It's alpha-numeric. It's gonna take me a few days."
"Thank you, Giles." Angel gave him a half smile, and grabbed his coat before following Riley out.
Giles just sat down. It was going to be a very long week.
-----
Buffy knew she had to sleep eventually, and when sleep did come, she regretted it.
"Shh. Don't worry about it." I brush my fingers over his lips and across his cheek, and kiss him softly. He returns the kiss, and it becomes more passionate. Behind us the vortex continues to get larger. I break off the kiss and look deeply into Angel's eyes. "I love you."
"I love you."
I touch his lips with my fingers again, and say the three words that seal our fate. "Close your eyes." I nod reassuringly, and he closes his eyes. I try hard not to start crying, and kiss him again gently.
Then I step back, draw my sword and thrust it into his chest. His eyes whip open in surprise and pain, and a bright light emanates from the sword. I step away from him, and he reaches out to me and looks down at the sword thrust completely through him.
He looks at me, completely bewildered by this turn of events. I can only stare at the sword protruding from his chest, and slowly step further back.
"Buffy..."
Buffy sat up, biting back a scream. Quickly pulling on some clothes, she heads to Angel's apartment. This time, she uses her spare key. 'Sleeping like the dead.'
She crawled in bed beside him, knowing innately he would keep the dreams away. Angel stirred, and opened one eye. "Buffy?"
"Dreams." That was all she said.
Angel just nodded, and wrapped his arms around her.
-----
"You said you loved her." Giles broke the silence in the library. "Were you there… when she died?"
"No. I was in South America. I'd made some mistakes, and we'd broken up." Riley made a few notes before continuing. "She wasn't alone, if that's what you meant. Spike was with her."
"It must have been quite a thrill for him."
"Actually, he says it was the most horrible thing he'd ever seen." Riley's voice carried little emotion. It was as if he'd shut off. "As far as I can tell, this is a three digit encryption. If I can break and, the, or for, we'll have this translated in a few minutes."
The clack of a woman's heels stopped in front of the library. "Rupert, go home. You're going to be a zombie tomorrow."
"We're working on a prophecy." Giles gave her a tired smile.
Jenny shook her head. "Meet me for coffee before class tomorrow?"
"Of course." Giles watched her go, and then noticed Riley's puzzled expression. "Is something wrong?"
"Who was that?"
Giles blood ran cold.