Part: 20/?
Author: PsycGurl
Rating: PG-13
Couples: C/A, X/An, W/Oz, B/A, C/X

Spoilers: Set in season three of Buffy, around the episode 'Enemies'.
Feedback: Please R&R!

Distribution: Ask me.

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters, so please don't sue me.

A/N This chapter took me ages. But now I'm finally getting to the main jist of the story. To think…only 20 chapters later!!! Well anyhoo…enjoy and review!

CHAPTER 20

DISCUSSION-EVERYONE

" I'm sorry everyone for being slightly tardy. Wesley was late." Giles announced as he and his partner walked into the library, their hands filled with big thick books. The talkative teens turned their attention to the British men.

" Mr. Giles…if you hadn't…" Wesley began.

" We can feel our future selves!" Willow blurted, interrupting Wesley.

" What?" Giles asked in awe and amazement.

" Ahmm…perhaps I'll tell my story later." Wesley mumbled from behind his pile of books as Willow excitedly explained to Giles what the girls had discovered.

" Really?"

" Yeah. Buffy, Cordy and I found out that these visions we received in our dreams weren't only seen by us but felt by us. We could feel our future selves' emotions, feelings and touches."

" Touches?" Wesley asked with a raised eyebrow, obviously interested. The occupants of the table ignored him and preoccupied themselves with something to avoid answering the question.

"This is a remarkable discovery, Willow. I, myself, received these dream visions. It does explain an awful lot and will help minimise our research." Giles said as he dropped his pile of books onto the table and Wesley did the same. A cloud of dust hovered over the table, causing the teenagers to cough.

" Ewwww…dust. Get those filthy books away from me. Geez…why can't we ever research on the computer? Isn't there like some demon database or website or something?" Cordelia whined as she held her nose and pushed the books away from her.

" Research on a computer…a demon website? That's preposterous." Wesley proclaimed.

" I'm afraid Cordelia, to find out how to get rid of these visions a lot of research is in order. Research from these books. Wesley and I have been able to find several useful texts that may be significant. Xander, could you also bring in those volumes of text on my desk?" Giles asked.

" Way hey! I got chosen by Giles to bring in the books. None of you did. I'm the Watcher's pet!" Xander exclaimed excitedly. He received bewildered expressions from everybody.

" Xander…I want them now!" Giles scolded, causing Xander to mumble an apology and run into Giles' office.

" He only got the job 'cos book carrying doesn't involve screaming like a girl and hiding." Cordelia explained to Angel, who smirked. He suddenly realised that Buffy was glaring at him and replaced the sneer with his broody expression.

" Now, I want everyone to research. We want to know why we've been given these visions. Their purpose. As well as how we can stop receiving them and quite a lot on the future demon itself." Giles informed as Xander brought out another heap of old books.

" Just tell me how to kill this future demon to make these visions gone. That's all we need to find." Buffy declared as she stood up in her seat and made her way to the weapons cage.

" On the contrary Buffy, it would be useful to acquire adequate knowledge of the designated demon than discovering the solution to slay it. Perhaps, the demon cannot be killed." Wesley pronounced.

" What?" Buffy asked confused as turned around to look at her Watcher.

" I'm saying that perhaps you should experience more visions and understand why you're being give them before immediately killing the demon." Wesley instructed.

" Wes, you don't have these visions, so you can't exactly relate! You don't know what these visions are like. You don't know how it feels to feel yourself be resurrected. To pound your way through a coffin. You don't know how it feels to find out your mother is going to die or to find out that you have a 15-year old sister from out of nowhere who you have to take full responsibility for…yet you can't prevent your best friend from breaking her arm!" Buffy paused and took a deep breath. She shot Willow an apologetic look before continuing.

" I'm not sure about the rest of you…but I want them gone. I want these visions and these feelings out of my body. I don't want my future to be like that…I don't want to feel my future self! I want the visions gone…now." Buffy yelled, surprising Wesley and the others.

" Buffy…" Wesley began.

" How can you say that Buffy? We're lucky to be gifted with these visions. We're able to see our future. Y'know what that means? We can correct…" Willow began, trying to encourage her friend to appreciate the visions.

" I'm with Buffy." Xander interrupted.

" Xander!" Willow's retorted in shock, not expecting his agreement.

An argument broke out.

" Will, I don't want to see anymore of my future like Buffy. I don't want to see how much of a failure I'll become." Xander continued.

" I am the Watcher. I say we…" Wesley put in, trying to regain composure, but was ignored.

" Well maybe some of us do! Some of us…like me…wanna see what our futures are like. I don't know about you…but I was left in the loop after those visions. I want to know more. " Willow retorted.

" How ugly is that demon? C'mon six breasts? Puh-lease…who would fall for that? And that horn so does not go. Don't you think so?" Cordelia asked Angel, sliding a book towards him. She pointed at a demon on the cover of the book and was met with a bemused expression from the vampire.

" Now if we all just…" Wesley interjected.

" Willow, that's because your future isn't as bad as mine! So you're a little magic high…whoop-a-dee-doo. Try to see the hell I'll be through!" Buffy yelled at her best friend.

" Mines the worst!" Xander put in.

" Perhaps if we…" Wesley continued.

" This is amusing." Oz noticed as Cordelia nodded in agreement.

" Nuh-uh…mines worse than yours Xander!" Buffy exclaimed.

" That's just like you Buffy…to assume that what you want everyone wants!" Willow retorted.

" Enough!" Giles bellowed, causing everyone to suddenly be quiet. They all turned their attention towards the former Watcher.

" Buffy is right." Giles stated.

" What?" Willow demanded, surprised.

" I want these visions gone as well. I do not want to see my future and I do not want to feel my future self."

" Giles…" Willow protested, but was cut off.

" I do not want to get agitated over my future actions. I want to be me." Giles declared as he paced the table.

" But…to get through these visions, to get rid of them we must work together. We must overcome their power. We shan't let our future lives consume us. Buffy, we will research. We will find out why this demon has sought us out. And we will find a way to get rid of these visions. Agreed?" Giles asked the slayer and the others. The nodded and after a while Buffy sighed in agreement.

" Very well. Now everyone grab a book. We have a long night ahead of us."

~*~*~*~

" So what was so bad 'bout your future, Xander?" Buffy asked her friend. They had been researching for a few hours, finding nothing noteworthy.

" I sunk lower than I ever have." Xander stated sorrowfully as he flipped through a thick volume.

" Lower than cheating on your girlfriend causing her to fall down stairs and get a rebar stuck through her gut?" Cordelia spoke, not looking up from her book. Xander awkwardly looked at her as everyone sat in uncomfortable silence, gawking at the cheerleader.

" What? Just sayin'. So what'd you do?" Cordelia asked cutting the silence, once realising everyone was looking at her.

" Ummm…I ditched my fiancée at the altar."

" What?" Willow exclaimed.

" Yeah." Xander mumbled.

" Wow."

" That's pretty bad." Cordelia said.

" Uh-huh. [he paused] So what about you Will?" Xander asked. Oz looked up for his book at his girlfriend.

" Ummm…I'm pretty much the same. Same ol' Willow." She mumbled, turning bright red. Her response caused Cordelia to snort out loud. Many looks were shot her way.

" What?" Xander asked amusedly with a goofy smile.

" Nothing." Cordelia responded casually. She winked at Willow who looked horrified.

" People, more research less talk." Wesley ordered, glancing up from a book.

" You're less uptight in the future." Cordelia noted. Wesley suddenly perked up.

" Pardon me. Did you have visions of me?" Wesley asked. His tone was full of excitement.

" Yeah." Cordelia replied, turning her attention to a book. Buffy and the rest smiled at the Watcher's sudden eagerness.

" What was I exactly?" He asked Cordelia.

" A friend." Angel spoke up. Wesley's attention turned from the beautiful brunette to the quiet vampire. Someone that he wasn't too happy being associated with in his future.

" A friend?" Wesley repeated.

" You worked with me and Angel and a few others in this detective agency we opened up. You were still the brains…less edgy." Cordelia proclaimed.

" Interesting. Was I the Watcher of a new slayer?" Wesley asked with a smile.

" No. You weren't really anything." Cordelia spoke. Wesley frowned.

" What?"

" Well no one per se. Angel was the vampire. I became a demon. You were…research guy.  You knew the demons. You knew smart stuff." Cordelia rambled.

" You became a d-demon? You? Cordelia Chase!" Xander asked in amazement. Cordelia received stunned looks from everybody.

" Yeah…a half-demon. Long story." Cordelia brushed off.

" You became half-demon? I didn't know that." Angel said quietly, Cordelia turned to him.

" Oh…I was dying. Becoming demonic was the only way to, you know, not…die." She responded.

" Oh. Do you know if I, in the future, know that you're half-demon?"

" Well you did see me float a foot off the ground. So yeah…maybe y'know."

" If you didn't notice. I was sort of dense in the future." Angel muttered silently. No one other than Cordelia caught it.

" Yeah…I noticed." She replied softly. Angel looked at her warily. Did she know how he felt about her? Uhhh…future him.

" Anything else about me?" Wesley asked keenly.

" You translated a lot of prophecies. Ones about me. One about me and my son." Angel spoke up as some gasps pursued.

" A s-son? You had a son!?" Buffy stuttered.

" Ummm…that's also a long story. But yes. I had a son."

" That's impossible. Vampires can not have children." Wesley spoke.

" You sure you had a son?" Giles inquired.

" Yes. I'm sure. He wasn't adopted…he was mine. I had my own son."

" Connor." Cordelia suddenly spoke up with a smile on her face.

" Excuse me?" Giles asked her politely. Everyone was giving her confused looks.

" Connor. Angel's son's name was Connor." Cordelia replied with her 100-watt grin.

" Oh." Angel was coaxed into telling the story about his son and he nervously explained the story to them as best as he could. The others stood in awe listening to Angel talk about his son and about the reappearance of Darla. In midst of Angel's conversation, Cordelia's head suddenly jerked back and her eyes closed.

~*~*~*~

Angel: "No! No!"

Holtz with Connor jumps into a roiling red air of a portal and disappears from view. Angel jumps after him, but is thrown back by a lighting bolt lashing out from the portal and hitting him full in the chest. Angel flies backward, landing with a hard thud and rolls to look back at the portal.

"Connor."

~*~*~*~

Cordelia's eyes opened and she noticed people surrounding her, worried. Her eyes unexpectedly started to water as she recalled what she had seen.

" Cordelia, did you have another vision?" Giles asked her. Everyone had surrounded her. She looked at them in a daze.

" Cordy?" Buffy asked. Cordelia then suddenly got out of her chair and ran out of the library, tears streaming down her face. Her chair crashed to the ground.

" Cordelia!" Xander yelled and got up to go after her.

" Xander…" Giles said touching his arm to stop him. "Perhaps Angel should go instead."

All eyes looked around the library for Angel…he wasn't to be seen. They all turned to Buffy when she spoke.

" He already went." Buffy said quietly.

She then made her way to the library door followed by Xander. The two opened the door and stepped out of the library to see Cordelia and Angel on their knees in the middle of the hall. Cordelia clutched onto Angel and wept into his shirt and Angel attempted to calm her down.

" Cordelia…what did you see?" Angel asked pushing her away from him so she could look at him.

" I-I saw t-this guy…he took Connor away. He took him away…and h-he jumped into a portal." Cordelia cried. Angel's face was consumed with shock.

" W-what?"

" He took your son away. You tried to stop him…b-but…you couldn't follow him. He took your son away…and I wasn't there. I wasn't there to help you…I wasn't there to stop him. I was too busy sleeping with this o-other guy…I couldn't help. I couldn't stop him from taking Connor away!" Cordelia sobbed. Angel pulled Cordelia back into his embrace and she continued to cry. Confusion covered Angel's face as he recalled visions of the previous night.

The prophecy. Holtz.

" Everything's going to be okay…everything will be okay Cordy. I'm not going to let anything happen to Connor in our future. I'm not going to let anything happen to our son. I promise." Angel proclaimed to her as he stroked her hair, trying to reassure her.

Xander and Buffy stood watching the two from the library doorway. Hearing the last words of both Cordelia and Angel they couldn't help but gasp. They turned to each other and gave each other a look.

Their look wasn't just filled with hurt or anger but with grief and embarrassment. They were upset that their futures weren't going to be how they planned. They whined and complained that their futures were going to be full of bad times. That they would sleep with an enemy…ditch their fiancée at the altar…but in the end their futures were better off than Angel and Cordelia's.

All of them would go through hell…no doubt…but none of them would suffer more than the two parents who would lose their child.