Title: Once and Again
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Set in the future, Angel explains to his newest crew about his family, and the woman he loved.
A/N: Ok, so it was brought to my attention that I seem to have forgotten Lorne, and I did, I'm sorry. :-) So I rewrote a few parts in the first chapter, to try and incorporate Lorne into the story. And now, I'm glad I did, as he plays such a huge role in this chapter. I also added just a few more lines at the end of Angel's story. Not much, just a little more to try and explain what happened to Faith and Connor afterwards. So if you haven't seen the changes, go back and check 'em out. Thanks to those who replied, and a special thanks to solarphoenix for bringing Lorne, or lack thereof, to my attention. And finally, an apology to everyone for my lack of updating. I have no excuses other than being too lazy to open the document and get to work. Sorry.
Angel stood quiet for a long while. Then, "No. There just isn't anyway. He died. I know he died, my family was killed trying to defeat him."
Carla smiled--or was that a grimace? "He's back, Angel. And while we at Wolfram and Hart are all about mayhem, we're not too keen on the world ending."
"I trust you can see yourself out?" Angel didn't look amused as he turned and began walking towards his office again.
"If only it were that easy, Angel." Carla called after him. "Rah'jah is opening a portal. But I'm sure you know what he plans to do. Our clients are pouring in from every direction, either looking to stop him or brag about helping him. He isn't just looking to opening hell and have a little party. He's going to take the entire world down. I'm giving you the chance to make it easier for everybody and work with us to stop him."
Angel turned and looked at her in disbelief. "I would never align myself with you." He spat.
"Well, what choice do you have, Angel? You can sit back on your heels and pretend nothing is happening, and die. You can ignore me and try to rush in yourself, and lose your family, again, or you can drop the proud act and listen to me for once and we go away happy, and alive."
"And you can make your way out the door and hope you never find your way back in here again. I have my ways to do things my way. I'm not stupid enough to do anything that leaves me owing you a favor. Now, if you're quite finished, get the hell out of here."
Carla bent and picked up her briefcase, losing her cool, and quickly. "Fine then, Angel. But be warned that this was your only chance, and in two weeks, when Rah'jah has killed your little fan club, remember it was your pride and stupidity that caused it."
"I'll be sure to remember that pearl of wisdom. Go." Carla pushed her blonde hair behind her ears and walked out the door without another word.
"Angel..." Talon said shakily, "What are we going to do?"
Angel looked truly worried for the first time in a long time. "I don't know." He said honestly.
*****
"Ok, I've been talking to some of my people." Lorne said as he paced the floor. "The news isn't good. Angel, when Faith delivered the deadly blow, it wasn't do deadly after all."
"What do you mean?" Angel asked as he sat down on the sofa next to Talon. "Faith was a superb fighter. There isn't any reason she would have failed."
"She was a good fighter, yes, but her aim was off. See, Rah'jah is pretty much indestructible. Think of him as a modern day Achilles. And a scary one at that."
"What are you talking about?" David asked, "Get to the point."
"I mean," Lorne continued, shooting David a contemptuous look, "That you can't just stab him anywhere. That will just piss him off. You have to stab him directly in his back. In between the shoulder blades, where a specific marking is. A few years back, Rah'jah went to a few of his wizard friends. They put his powers there."
"Lorne, I saw his dead body. He was dead."
"You saw his shell. His current body was destroyed, but his soul, and essence, remained. It takes him 10 years to build up a new body. I've been talking to people who remember him as far back as the 1100's. This guy is bad, Angel. Every time he comes back, he comes back worse."
"So we find him, and kill him the right way this time."
"If only it were that easy. Every time he comes back, he gets stronger, right? Well, the mark... the way to kill him... it's gone. Angel, we lost our chance ten years ago. We CAN'T kill him now."
*****
The phone rang shrilly at six in the morning. Faith swore as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Didn't anybody still have telephone etiquette? "Yeah?" She murmured into the phone, half asleep.
"Faith."
She smiled. 260 years old and he still didn't have any people skills. "It's six in the morning, Angel. What do you want?"
"He's back."
"What?"
"Rah'jah. He's back, Faith. I've already sent an airline ticket. The plane leaves tomorrow."
"Angel, he can't-"
"See you in a few days."
Faith sighed. "Yeah." She muttered. "Few days."
*****
Talon wouldn't admit it, but she was excited. Of course, with the end of the world coming, she should not have been excited at all. But she was. She would finally meet Faith. One of the few people who knew Angel would be here tonight. Angel was excited too. She could tell. He tried to hide it and keep busy, but he was excited. As the hours passed, he became more and more antsy. Checking everything, making sure all was in place.
When what felt like a year had passed, she heard the door in the lobby open. She and Angel were in the office when they heard her voice.
"Angel?"
Angel stood up and walked towards the lobby, Talon close behind him.
"Faith." He said.
The pretty brunette turned towards his voice. Talon thought she definitely looked up to the "rouge slayer" role, though she was pretty in a rough and tough sort of way.
Faith smiled. "Well, long time no see. You haven't changed the place a bit."
Angel made his way to her and embraced her small body. "Of course I haven't. I've outlived my interior decorator."
Faith returned the hug and looked around the lobby. She sighed deeply. "I didn't realize how much I missed L.A...." She trailed off. "Do I still have my room?" She added, as an afterthought. Angel reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. Faith took it with a smile. "No damage has been done, I hope?"
"The occasional ambush, but nothing too serious."
Faith finally turned to the young girl beside Angel. "We haven't met." She said simply.
Talon extended her hand. "Talon." She replied. Faith took it without hesitating.
"Faith." She turned back to Angel. "So... any ideas what why are going to do with Rah'jah?"
Angel shook his head. "I've been speaking to Lorne about him. It doesn't look too good, but we will work something out. But for now, why don't you go upstairs and make yourself at home. David and Joseph are out getting some Chinese."
Faith nodded and made her way up the staircase.
"She isn't what I expected." Talon said once Faith had gone.
"What did you expect?" Angel asked, turning towards the office.
Talon followed. "I don't know... a swearing, tough tomboy."
Angel chuckled. "No. That Faith died a long time ago. She's still tough, no doubt. A regular bitch, to be honest. But she... I don't know. Grew up. She lost a lot of people in her time. Her watcher died, and she was outcasted from the Scoobies, and then when she finally found a home here... her family died too."
Talon nodded, trying to think of what that would be like. Her parents had died when she was young. Her guardian, her grandmother passed away a few years ago. But she was never close. Angel, David and Joseph were the only family she had now. She tried to imagine losing them, and for the first time, felt a fraction of what Angel, Lorne, and Faith had gone through.
*****
Lorne made his way nervously into the office. At least he had found something, right? Something was better than nothing. He finally found a way to kill Rah'jah. Only, it was risky... dangerous... they could not only die, but get slaughtered. Ruin the entire world as they knew it. And worse of all... maybe it was just too good to be true. In a horrible, sadistic way.
"Hey Lorne." David greeted warmly. "Egg roll?"
"No thanks, sugar." His eyes traveled to Faith, sitting cross legged on Angels desk. "Faith!" He said happily as she jumped from the desk and ran to hug him. "Well, how I've missed you, darling. I didn't know you would arrive so soon."
Faith ran her fingers through her hair. "Well, Angel called me at six in the morning, demanding I take the first flight back." Her eyes traveled to the floor. "He's already explained to me about... him. And what happened."
Lorne looked to Angel. "Yeah." he said slowly, "About that. I've found something."
Angel's face seemed to brighten immediately. "Well, that's good, right? We have a chance."
Lorne nodded slowly. "Well, I should warn you, it's dangerous. If we don't save the world, we could ruin it. And actually, ruin everything we have come to known."
Faith looked nervously from Angel to Lorne. Talon fidgeted in her seat. Suddenly, she felt like she was watching the team, as opposed to being part of it.
"Well," Lorne continued, "I was speaking to a client. She was pretty upset. Her husband had left her for a younger demon. Well, as I was trying to comfort her, she mentioned that she was going to take care what she should have years ago..."
A confused look crossed Faith's face. "What's the point? It sounds like a woman scorned."
Lorne pressed on, trying to find words to explain himself. "I thought she meant she was going to do now what she should have done then... but as we talked, she mentioned an artifact--something by the name of the Axis of Thasis. It's very valuable, very complicated, and up until an hour ago, I thought it was a myth. But it has been in her family for years."
Angel shook his head and shrugged. "Ok." He said, "What's the big deal about all this then?"
"Angel... the Axis... it controls time."
Angel stared at him, dumbstruck. "You mean..."
"We could go back!" Faith said, "We could go back and do it right this time." Faith turned to Angel. "We could save them. We could get them back and-"
Lorne interrupted. "It's dangerous. I don't know any of the properties. How it works. If we will go like this or show up in our old bodies? If we'll even make it to the time we want?"
Angel ran his fingers through his hair now. "But we have the chance. We could kill him. And save..."
Lorne nodded. "I'm still looking into it, mind you, but so far things look good. There's just one, tiny problem..."
*****
"27,28,29.... 30. 30,000 dollars." Angel said as he counted the money into Lorne's hand. "For this much money, this better work."
"I think this will work." David said from a few feet away. "Me, Talon, and Joe have been researching nonstop since last night, and everything we've found has been good."
"Except that everything we have found has said it's a myth." Joseph interjected.
"Can't hurt to try." Faith said optimistically.
"You're only saying that because you're not spending 30,000 dollars to get your hands on it." Angel grimaced.
"Mrs. Duncan says it's been an heirloom for over 400 years." Lorne said as he placed the money in a bag, then put the bag in a briefcase. "She says we're lucky she's even selling it. If we hadn't of saved her from that Slutine demon we would be SOL."
Faith put down the last candle. "Well. It's all ready. We're just waiting for the axis, now." Everyone looked around them. Faith had drawn an intricate design on the floor of the Hyperion lobby, and had placed 10 white candles around it.
"What's that?" David asked, pointing to the design. Faith shrugged. "It's supposed to mean October... that's when it happened. The ten white candles represent each year. So we will go to October, Ten years ago."
"...And what happens if we don't?"
"Then we come back."
"And how do we do that?"
Faith pointed to the candles again. "These will be transported with us when we go. All we have to do is blow them out."
Angel made his way to the middle of the circle. Everyone took their places around him. He gave one more weary look around the hotel. "All right." He said, "Here goes."