Title: Loose Ends
Author: Jane McCartney
Disclaimer: All the characters you recognize belong to Joss & co. (all hail the crackhead). I'm just fooling around with his universe, with no intention of making money or anything.
Classification: Buffy-Angel crossover
Rating: PG13
Feedback: Yes, please! Doesn't everyone want it?
Email: janemccartney@bol.com.br
Distribution: Anywhere, I don't mind, just credit me and inform me where it's at.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Theo, who actually made this project a viable one with his amazing and wonderful work - I'm truly grateful for your help with the English grammar and all the necessary adaptations. You're my savior.
Note: This is my very first attempt at fan fiction, and English is definitely not my native language, so I'd be happy if you guys didn't go too hard on me - please. I'm just doing the best I can here.
Summary: [Buffy-Angel Crossover] Xander shows up in Los Angeles, and brings with him a secret that'll lead him into dangerous territory. Can he cope with that? And his friends, will they be there for him?
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: FROM NOW ON, THIS STORY'S BEING WRITTEN BY JANE MCCARTNEY AND STAIRWAY MAN.
*** [The day of Angelus' ascension]
At St. Matthew's hospital, nobody seemed to have any idea that the possible upcoming end of the world was near.
It was a fact as well that Dr. Michael Penn and Nurse Kelly Marshall, after their brush with death nearly a week before, had gotten a lot closer. The nurse's roommate Carla had teased her about it, but not too much - as almost anyone with eyes could tell, that things were getting very serious between the sort-of couple.
All the hospital staff realized the new situation at once, of course. Michael and Kelly's silly grins at each other, the occasional touching of hands, the way they started sticking to one another like glue... put it all together, and it spelled 'duh'.
In fact, most of Michael's colleagues got a betting pool going, one that the sandy-haired man knew nothing about; and all the doctors and some of the nurses were wagering on exactly *when* their medical colleagues were gonna get all horizontal and jiggy.
Not to mention, when Michael and Kelly were going to end up in Splitsville; as it was a very naughty and sad fact, that hospital romances just *never* turn out well.
Things ended up not looking good, for the people who'd bet on an early conquest. Dr. Penn and Nurse Marshall had their first date the same night after the interview with Kate Lockley and Harlan, and he was a perfect gentleman.
But on the second date the very next evening, it looked like things were changing.
On the third date, it was obvious Mr. Wiggly wanted action...
And just last night, inevitably, the doctor and the nurse had finally gone all the way in their pursuit of happiness.
The winner of the prize pool ended up with a holiday to Brazil and later happily said to his girlfriend, "Honey, pack your bags! This weekend it's flying on down to Rio, for you-o and me-o..."
But as they were doing her rounds, Kelly stopped at Cordelia's old room and got a strange look on her face. Michael noticed and asked, "What is it, sweetheart?"
Nurse Marshall looked at her lover, not quite used to all the romantic endearments from him yet. "This was Miss Chase's room, wasn't it? You remember, the woman we thought had been stabbed by Mr. Harris that night - Xander...?"
Michael frowned, and then rememberance came to him. "Oh, yeah, him. Huh, I guess it is..."
The blonde woman frowned as well, as the memories started to come back. "Today's the day, isn't it..."
"What day?" the doc asked in confusion.
"I remember..." Kelly started to say. "When I first met Xander that night, he babbled something about..." she paused for a moment. "Oh, seven days! That he had seven days, that whoever had sent him back-"
"Kelly, please," Dr. Penn hastened to say, looking around. "Could we not think about that right now? Whatever... happened that day at the warehouse, it's over now. And personally, I'd like to concentrate on something else..." He leaned down to kiss her.
The nurse giggled, as their liplock began. "Doctor, please!" she spluttered, as the curly-haired woman eventually moved away in mock- indignation. "We're on duty!"
Michael groaned, about all those pesky and bothersome rules about professional conduct that all the hospital staff had to adhere to. "Tonight, then," he promised her.
"Tonight," Kelly promised back, with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
***
At the Hyperion hotel, an important council of war was taking place.
The Slayer and her Scooby gang had arrived from Sunnydale, first thing in the morning - ready and eager for action. And it was at that point, that Giles and Wes came clean to everyone who didn't know about the prophecy in the Codex.
Buffy, of course, was livid about the cover-up. "I can't believe this!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, mostly at Wes as he was easier to blame. "Angel's gonna die? What the hell is the matter with you, keeping something like that a secret?"
"Young lady, don't you *dare* try to lecture me," Wesley hissed angrily at her, his patience and understanding completely vanished after nearly a week of stressfully trying to figure out a way to avert disaster. "Or have you forgotten how not that long ago, *you* were perfectly willing to let the whole world be destroyed - rather than kill an innocent?"
That hit way below the belt, as everyone looked at him in shock. "What's the matter?" the British man snapped irritably. "You can't believe I just said that, or that I actually knew about what happened? Miss Summers, I am not your Watcher - and if we're going to be brutally honest, I never really was. So take that tone with Mr. Giles if you must, but not with me. *Never* with me..."
Buffy stepped back, and took a good hard look at this guy that had called her out on past decisions. And what she saw there, almost frightened her.
Wes had tangled messy hair, was dressed in smelly sweat-stained clothes, and beginning to grow an unkempt scruffy beard. His eyes were desperately wild, plus he had a 'Ripper'-ish air about him; and even though the blonde Slayer had only seen that side of Giles a few times, she knew better than to piss off her pseudo-father when he was ever in that state.
Fortunately, Giles stepped in to smooth things over. "Both of you, please calm down," the British man said in a completely calming and conciliatory voice. "Fighting amongst ourselves, i-isn't going to help any..."
"He's right," Spike decided to support Giles, even though he was extremely jealous over Buffy's reaction to the big poof's more-than-deserved upcoming death. "Come on, luv..." he tried to get Buffy to calm down, and slowly she did so.
"So, um, what's the situation?" asked Willow, who was almost as freaked as her best friend.
"We tried to figure out a way to get around the prophecy," Cordelia said slowly, not looking at anyone. She was not handling this well at all, and no wonder.
"But we didn't get very far," Anya then chimed in, more worried about Xander than anything else.
"Yeah, even had this wacky idea about trying to transfer the undead guy's soul, but we couldn't figure out any safe way to do it," Gunn quickly shrugged. "These guys who said they coulda done it for us? One's an evil casino owner, and the other's this freaky ninja-like guy. Wouldn't trust them to pull out a tooth, let alone someone's soul."
Tara Maclay, standing on the fringes of the group, turned away when she heard that. Because the truth was, *she* had figured out something with regards to that angle - even though it was a plan that was a desperate, foolhardy, ultimately-last-resort kind of thing.
A few nights ago, she had asked Wesley to assist her in a strange ritual to conjure up an artefact to do the job - and even though the ex-Watcher had had no real idea what that had been all about, Tara had succeeded in the task. And was now ready to sacrifice herself, if it came down to that.
"We, we eventually came up with a-a compromise," Fred stuttered in her Texan accent. "Using a portal-"
"A what?" Buffy exclaimed. Unable to help it, memories danced the macarena inside her head - Angelus getting his soul back, the vortex to Hell opening up, gut-wrenching misery as she had to kill the man she loved... again. "You wanna send him to another dimension? Forget it! Been there, done that. Like Xander once said, that's like trying to smother a forest fire with napalm!"
"Well, we have to do *something*, Buffy!" Cordelia almost looked semi- insane from the lack of sleep. "You wanna just stake him before he kills you and the others, like Xander warned me about? No, wait, I know! You could hold him down, and get Spike to do it for you - we all know how he'd get *such* a kick out of it, too!"
"Oy, 'ang on!" Spike looked insulted. "That *is* my grandsire you're talkin' about, even if he is nothing but a useless ponce-!"
As everyone started arguing, Willow and Tara slipped away from the group, trying to ignore the shouts and painful recriminations. "Now I understand why we all don't meet together more often," the redhead murmured softly to her beloved.
"Yeah," Tara turned around briefly, and then looked at Willow. "Um, I have an idea..."
"What?"
"Well, you remember how Cordelia told us that Xander, Faith and Angel were sent to the future, to only a few minutes before he loses his soul..."
"Right, so?" the former witch was confused.
"So..." Tara looked oddly hesitant. " I uncovered something in Wesley's books. What if we tried to bring them back a bit early? Say, now-ish? We-we could find Angel, a-and explain the situation to him. It's his, um, un- life, after all; after we give him all the facts, we let him make his own decision..."
Miss Rosenberg looked astonished. "Tara! If you think we could have done something like that before, why didn't you say anything until now?"
Tara looked down, before staring at her life partner. "Willow... my m- mother taught me about those magicks, that's how I knew what to look for. B- but she also warned me how dangerous they could be. And now with both the Powers That Be and the Evil Guys involved, it would be even more risky..."
"Okay," the former Wicca gave up and nodded her head, appreciating the danger. "Well, then let's get you started..."
"Uh, I can't do it alone," Tara said softly, so much so that it was barely a whisper. "You, you have to help me. You're the only one powerful enough..."
Willow felt her insides freeze, as she finally understood now why Tara had *really* delayed putting this off until the very last moment. Because the redhead had sworn to never do magic again, after her last binge had nearly gotten Dawn killed a few months ago; and now, her lover was the putting the unamusing beer bottle right back into the hands of the recovering alcoholic, asking her to do this.
As the gazes of the two women locked, their eyes shone with bright, unshed, hot and salty tears; both of them knowing, what the consequences of this ultimately bad idea would almost certainly be.
"For the world," Willow said, closing her eyes and accepting her uncertain fate.
"And for all of Angelus's victims in it," Tara whispered back, briefly shutting her own heavy eyelids as well.
And so, as the arguments of the others raged about in the hotel lounge, the two witches sat down and began a ritual as dangerous as it was ancient.
Finally, when it was done, there was an incredible flash of white light - and Evil, caught unaware with its pants down, lost this round of the eternal battle to bring about Armageddon.
***
Author: Jane McCartney
Disclaimer: All the characters you recognize belong to Joss & co. (all hail the crackhead). I'm just fooling around with his universe, with no intention of making money or anything.
Classification: Buffy-Angel crossover
Rating: PG13
Feedback: Yes, please! Doesn't everyone want it?
Email: janemccartney@bol.com.br
Distribution: Anywhere, I don't mind, just credit me and inform me where it's at.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Theo, who actually made this project a viable one with his amazing and wonderful work - I'm truly grateful for your help with the English grammar and all the necessary adaptations. You're my savior.
Note: This is my very first attempt at fan fiction, and English is definitely not my native language, so I'd be happy if you guys didn't go too hard on me - please. I'm just doing the best I can here.
Summary: [Buffy-Angel Crossover] Xander shows up in Los Angeles, and brings with him a secret that'll lead him into dangerous territory. Can he cope with that? And his friends, will they be there for him?
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: FROM NOW ON, THIS STORY'S BEING WRITTEN BY JANE MCCARTNEY AND STAIRWAY MAN.
*** [The day of Angelus' ascension]
At St. Matthew's hospital, nobody seemed to have any idea that the possible upcoming end of the world was near.
It was a fact as well that Dr. Michael Penn and Nurse Kelly Marshall, after their brush with death nearly a week before, had gotten a lot closer. The nurse's roommate Carla had teased her about it, but not too much - as almost anyone with eyes could tell, that things were getting very serious between the sort-of couple.
All the hospital staff realized the new situation at once, of course. Michael and Kelly's silly grins at each other, the occasional touching of hands, the way they started sticking to one another like glue... put it all together, and it spelled 'duh'.
In fact, most of Michael's colleagues got a betting pool going, one that the sandy-haired man knew nothing about; and all the doctors and some of the nurses were wagering on exactly *when* their medical colleagues were gonna get all horizontal and jiggy.
Not to mention, when Michael and Kelly were going to end up in Splitsville; as it was a very naughty and sad fact, that hospital romances just *never* turn out well.
Things ended up not looking good, for the people who'd bet on an early conquest. Dr. Penn and Nurse Marshall had their first date the same night after the interview with Kate Lockley and Harlan, and he was a perfect gentleman.
But on the second date the very next evening, it looked like things were changing.
On the third date, it was obvious Mr. Wiggly wanted action...
And just last night, inevitably, the doctor and the nurse had finally gone all the way in their pursuit of happiness.
The winner of the prize pool ended up with a holiday to Brazil and later happily said to his girlfriend, "Honey, pack your bags! This weekend it's flying on down to Rio, for you-o and me-o..."
But as they were doing her rounds, Kelly stopped at Cordelia's old room and got a strange look on her face. Michael noticed and asked, "What is it, sweetheart?"
Nurse Marshall looked at her lover, not quite used to all the romantic endearments from him yet. "This was Miss Chase's room, wasn't it? You remember, the woman we thought had been stabbed by Mr. Harris that night - Xander...?"
Michael frowned, and then rememberance came to him. "Oh, yeah, him. Huh, I guess it is..."
The blonde woman frowned as well, as the memories started to come back. "Today's the day, isn't it..."
"What day?" the doc asked in confusion.
"I remember..." Kelly started to say. "When I first met Xander that night, he babbled something about..." she paused for a moment. "Oh, seven days! That he had seven days, that whoever had sent him back-"
"Kelly, please," Dr. Penn hastened to say, looking around. "Could we not think about that right now? Whatever... happened that day at the warehouse, it's over now. And personally, I'd like to concentrate on something else..." He leaned down to kiss her.
The nurse giggled, as their liplock began. "Doctor, please!" she spluttered, as the curly-haired woman eventually moved away in mock- indignation. "We're on duty!"
Michael groaned, about all those pesky and bothersome rules about professional conduct that all the hospital staff had to adhere to. "Tonight, then," he promised her.
"Tonight," Kelly promised back, with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
***
At the Hyperion hotel, an important council of war was taking place.
The Slayer and her Scooby gang had arrived from Sunnydale, first thing in the morning - ready and eager for action. And it was at that point, that Giles and Wes came clean to everyone who didn't know about the prophecy in the Codex.
Buffy, of course, was livid about the cover-up. "I can't believe this!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, mostly at Wes as he was easier to blame. "Angel's gonna die? What the hell is the matter with you, keeping something like that a secret?"
"Young lady, don't you *dare* try to lecture me," Wesley hissed angrily at her, his patience and understanding completely vanished after nearly a week of stressfully trying to figure out a way to avert disaster. "Or have you forgotten how not that long ago, *you* were perfectly willing to let the whole world be destroyed - rather than kill an innocent?"
That hit way below the belt, as everyone looked at him in shock. "What's the matter?" the British man snapped irritably. "You can't believe I just said that, or that I actually knew about what happened? Miss Summers, I am not your Watcher - and if we're going to be brutally honest, I never really was. So take that tone with Mr. Giles if you must, but not with me. *Never* with me..."
Buffy stepped back, and took a good hard look at this guy that had called her out on past decisions. And what she saw there, almost frightened her.
Wes had tangled messy hair, was dressed in smelly sweat-stained clothes, and beginning to grow an unkempt scruffy beard. His eyes were desperately wild, plus he had a 'Ripper'-ish air about him; and even though the blonde Slayer had only seen that side of Giles a few times, she knew better than to piss off her pseudo-father when he was ever in that state.
Fortunately, Giles stepped in to smooth things over. "Both of you, please calm down," the British man said in a completely calming and conciliatory voice. "Fighting amongst ourselves, i-isn't going to help any..."
"He's right," Spike decided to support Giles, even though he was extremely jealous over Buffy's reaction to the big poof's more-than-deserved upcoming death. "Come on, luv..." he tried to get Buffy to calm down, and slowly she did so.
"So, um, what's the situation?" asked Willow, who was almost as freaked as her best friend.
"We tried to figure out a way to get around the prophecy," Cordelia said slowly, not looking at anyone. She was not handling this well at all, and no wonder.
"But we didn't get very far," Anya then chimed in, more worried about Xander than anything else.
"Yeah, even had this wacky idea about trying to transfer the undead guy's soul, but we couldn't figure out any safe way to do it," Gunn quickly shrugged. "These guys who said they coulda done it for us? One's an evil casino owner, and the other's this freaky ninja-like guy. Wouldn't trust them to pull out a tooth, let alone someone's soul."
Tara Maclay, standing on the fringes of the group, turned away when she heard that. Because the truth was, *she* had figured out something with regards to that angle - even though it was a plan that was a desperate, foolhardy, ultimately-last-resort kind of thing.
A few nights ago, she had asked Wesley to assist her in a strange ritual to conjure up an artefact to do the job - and even though the ex-Watcher had had no real idea what that had been all about, Tara had succeeded in the task. And was now ready to sacrifice herself, if it came down to that.
"We, we eventually came up with a-a compromise," Fred stuttered in her Texan accent. "Using a portal-"
"A what?" Buffy exclaimed. Unable to help it, memories danced the macarena inside her head - Angelus getting his soul back, the vortex to Hell opening up, gut-wrenching misery as she had to kill the man she loved... again. "You wanna send him to another dimension? Forget it! Been there, done that. Like Xander once said, that's like trying to smother a forest fire with napalm!"
"Well, we have to do *something*, Buffy!" Cordelia almost looked semi- insane from the lack of sleep. "You wanna just stake him before he kills you and the others, like Xander warned me about? No, wait, I know! You could hold him down, and get Spike to do it for you - we all know how he'd get *such* a kick out of it, too!"
"Oy, 'ang on!" Spike looked insulted. "That *is* my grandsire you're talkin' about, even if he is nothing but a useless ponce-!"
As everyone started arguing, Willow and Tara slipped away from the group, trying to ignore the shouts and painful recriminations. "Now I understand why we all don't meet together more often," the redhead murmured softly to her beloved.
"Yeah," Tara turned around briefly, and then looked at Willow. "Um, I have an idea..."
"What?"
"Well, you remember how Cordelia told us that Xander, Faith and Angel were sent to the future, to only a few minutes before he loses his soul..."
"Right, so?" the former witch was confused.
"So..." Tara looked oddly hesitant. " I uncovered something in Wesley's books. What if we tried to bring them back a bit early? Say, now-ish? We-we could find Angel, a-and explain the situation to him. It's his, um, un- life, after all; after we give him all the facts, we let him make his own decision..."
Miss Rosenberg looked astonished. "Tara! If you think we could have done something like that before, why didn't you say anything until now?"
Tara looked down, before staring at her life partner. "Willow... my m- mother taught me about those magicks, that's how I knew what to look for. B- but she also warned me how dangerous they could be. And now with both the Powers That Be and the Evil Guys involved, it would be even more risky..."
"Okay," the former Wicca gave up and nodded her head, appreciating the danger. "Well, then let's get you started..."
"Uh, I can't do it alone," Tara said softly, so much so that it was barely a whisper. "You, you have to help me. You're the only one powerful enough..."
Willow felt her insides freeze, as she finally understood now why Tara had *really* delayed putting this off until the very last moment. Because the redhead had sworn to never do magic again, after her last binge had nearly gotten Dawn killed a few months ago; and now, her lover was the putting the unamusing beer bottle right back into the hands of the recovering alcoholic, asking her to do this.
As the gazes of the two women locked, their eyes shone with bright, unshed, hot and salty tears; both of them knowing, what the consequences of this ultimately bad idea would almost certainly be.
"For the world," Willow said, closing her eyes and accepting her uncertain fate.
"And for all of Angelus's victims in it," Tara whispered back, briefly shutting her own heavy eyelids as well.
And so, as the arguments of the others raged about in the hotel lounge, the two witches sat down and began a ritual as dangerous as it was ancient.
Finally, when it was done, there was an incredible flash of white light - and Evil, caught unaware with its pants down, lost this round of the eternal battle to bring about Armageddon.
***