Epilogue - Can You Hear Me Now? Good…

Epilogue - Can You Hear Me Now? Good…


         The six at the Hyperion sat in shock over that last image as the credits rolled.

         Angel broke it by wordlessly pointing at the screen, which now had a boy saying how Mr. Christie made good cookies, and trying to speak. "They… they…"

         "Angel?" Cordy finally asked.

         "They kissed!" he cried. "They…"

         "Kissed, we know, Angel… we saw…" said Gunn.

         Angel turned to Lorne. "You said… You said she would be okay!" he accused.

         Lorne looked back at him, blinking. "She is. She's fine. A little too interested in the living dead for my tastes… but hey, different strokes…"

         "No! She can't love Spike, he's…"

         "Evil?" asked Fred. "You guys keep saying that, but he saved her. He's good…"

         "No, he's not!" insisted Angel. "He's a vampire…"

         "So are you," Cordy pointed out.

         "…but I have a soul…"

         "…and he has a chip… and he's helping them…" she added.

         When Angel sat back down, heavily, Wesley ventured, "Perhaps Spike has had an epiphany as well, perhaps he's being redeemed, perhaps…"

         "Perhaps he wants to get into Buffy's pants," muttered Gunn.

         "…maybe," agreed Wesley. "But it is Buffy's life and from personal experience, she does not let anyone tell her what to do. She has to learn what Spike's motives are herself."

         "So, basically, I have to sit here and watch…" Angel grumbled.

         "Basically," Lorne said. "Everyone's in control of their own destiny."

         "Will she be okay?" Angel asked yet again, quietly.

         Lorne smiled. "They'll be fine. All of them. There will bumps and bruises along the way, but they get through it. Like they always do," he reassured him.

         Then, slowly, the feeling Angel had been having since he woke was fading. Buffy could take care of herself. If anything, the show demonstrated that.

         And she had her friends… and Spike, as much as he hated to admit it. And he was here, a phone call away.

         Speaking of which…

         "Okay… but I'm still calling them," Angel said, going to the counter for the phone.

         Fred and Gunn settled back in for the next show, something called twenty-four, just as yet another Verizon commercial came on.

         "Can you hear me now?" the man with the glasses asked.

         "Yes!!" screamed Cordy from behind the couch, in complete irritation.

         "Good…" he began to say as Cordy slipped off and hurled her very expensive Gucci shoe at the screen, causing it to implode.

         "What…!" cried Gunn, as Fred screeched.

         Cordy looked stunned, for a moment at what she did, then turned to them sheepishly as she shrugged, "He was getting on my nerves."

         "But… but…" Fred motioned in disbelief to the screen as Angel started to laugh slowly.

         "Angel?" asked Gunn, hesitantly.

         Angel began to laugh harder as he mimed Cordy's shoe-throwing, causing Cordy to begin to smile slightly. As he began to roar with laughter, she also began to snicker, saying, "And that was my favorite pair, too, you know…"

         That caused another burst of uncontrolled laughter from Angel as Cordy joined in. "She… she threw…" he tried to say, but couldn't stop laughing as Wesley and Lorne smiled at the sight of the two of them trying to control their laughter and the shocked looks on Gunn and Fred's faces.

         "What the hell – why are you two laughing?!" exclaimed Gunn, seriously. "You just broke the set, how am I supposed to watch my show?!"

         Lorne snorted as he, too, began to laugh. "The TV… it's evil, you know."

         This caused Wesley to let loose a guffaw. "Cordelia, you slayed the TV…"

         Angel fell over, laughing again and Cordelia clutched her stomach, as a fresh bout of laughing erupted from the four of them.

         "…ha… with… ha, ha… my… shoeeee!" she managed to say, before collapsing in laughter.

         Fred looked confused at Gunn. "The Verizon guy is evil?" she asked, holding her fingers out in the traditional Verizon manner.

         Gunn blinked at her, then tried to hide the smile creeping on his face.

         "What?" she asked innocently, again, looking at the V she was making with her hand. Gunn lost it, chuckling first, then outright laughing.

         Fred looked around the room at the five of them, laughing hysterically as she stood there, in front of the busted TV. She pouted as she dropped her hand. She looked forlornly at the TV and slid her hand on its polished top.

         "Does this mean we're not going to get another TV?" she asked. "'Cause I'm missing 24 and there's another episode of Are You Hot? afterwards…" she warned.

         They all stopped laughing. Fred looked at them and added, "Crazy Lucky's open all night…" she enticed.

         The five of them looked at each other.

         "Well, there are educational programs on…" volunteered Wesley, coughing nervously.

         Gunn nodded. "And if the network's evil, we have a duty to keep our eye on it…"

         "We could be called to save the world," agreed Angel.

         Cordy looked at them. "And really, how else will I know what's hot for the current fashion season?"

         "Ooh, and the Grammy's are next week…" said Lorne pointed out. "I could, you know… read them…"

         "And 24," Fred reminded them. "The bomb's about to go off!" she begged.

         "BET," said Gunn.

         "The Learning Channel," Wesley said.

         "Fashion Television," Cordy added.

         "MTV," chimed Lorne.

         "I'll get my car," said Angel, quickly as they bustled for the door.

         "Let's drop by the satellite guy, too, on Main," said Fred. When they all looked at her, she said, "Two hundred channels, people… Lots of evil to fight!"

         They all nodded as if that was best reason and as Cordy closed the door behind them, she warned, "But if I'm wearing my Pradas and that Verizon guy come on…"

         ~~ THE END ~~