Author's Note: I don't own Angel or Buffy. Joss Whendon does. Lucky man. Hope you enjoy the story!
Their Final Destiny
As I looked in to her eyes I thought to myself, "Could this be real? Can I possibly be human again?"
The feelings and emotions inside my heart were the most wonderful feelings I had felt in a long time. I now had warm blood flowing through my veins and my heart beat with every breath that I took. I had almost forgotten what if felt like to take a breath.
"It's kinda nice." Angel said in a soft, shimmering voice.
"What's kinda nice?" Buffy asked.
"Oh, you know, the whole part about being human again," Angel said, "And being able to breathe. It feels nice to be able to do it again after all these years."
"I can't believe you're alive again. You're really alive," Buffy said as Angel held her in his arms.
The Powers That Be had set into motion a plan to somehow restore Angel from vampire back in to a human. As each year went by tiny pieces of a much larger plan was folding out before everyone, Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Fred and Conner, to pull off what was to be the best challenge yet: Angel becoming human again! With the Powers That Be working very hard and planning every detail down to the last morsel, the gang had no clue what was in store for them. Now after all their careful planning and working ,Angel is finally human.
As Angel stands at the front of bright white room awaiting the Powers That Be to come and talk with him and explain why he is now human, he thinks to himself, "What is the first thing I want to do now that I am human? I know; I'll have a nice meal. It's been so long since I had a nice steak. Oh, no. Maybe I'll sun bathe on the beach and get a tan," as he smiles to himself.
"Angel, thank you for waiting. Sorry to have keep you," The Powers That Be said.
"So tell me, why am I human again?" Angel asked.
"Well, for a long time we have been trying to do everything in our power to make you human again for the purpose of breeding you and Buffy together to make the most powerful team of humans ever known to man," The Powers exclaimed to him.
"What?" Angel replied. "Buffy and I are through."
"You and Buffy were over," The Powers said, "because you were a vampire with a cursed soul. Now that we have restored you to humanity, you and she are now ready to create the best army that California has to offer: the Slayer/Angel Force."
"The Slayer/Angel Force?" Angel replied
"You and Buffy were meant to be together." The Powers said. "That's what is said to be, according to the ancient scrolls of the Powers That Be before us. So we did everything..."
"What do you mean 'ancient scrolls'?" Angel replied "The last ancient scroll got my son taken away. I'm not falling for that one again."
One Power turned to the other and said, "I knew he was going to be a handful."
The other Power replied, "Angel, this is what is meant to be; you'll see. Go now. Buffy is in need of your help."
"But-" Angel said
"GO!" The Powers said in a deep voice. "She needs your help. Go to her," they said softly and then the Powers turned and walked away, fading in to the bright white background.
"Now what am I gonna to do?" Angel asked himself out loud. "What am I gonna do?"
Meanwhile in Sunnydale, Buffy and the Scooby gang struggled with a new-fangled and all-powerful Demon.
"So Dawn, what are you up to tonight?" Buffy asked.
"I start my first job tonight," Dawn replied.
"Doing what?" Buffy said with a giggle.
"Babysitting," Dawn said.
"Babysitting. No really? What?" Buffy asked again.
"Will you quit it? I really am babysitting. I think its going to be fun. You know playing games, watching TV, eating junk food. You know," Dawn says.
"Are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into?" Buffy says in a concerned voice.
"Sure no problem!" Dawn replied in a reassuring voice.
The phone rang a loud 'ring-ring.'
Buffy walked quickly towards the phone to answer yelling out, "I've got it!"
But before she could make it to the phone it rang again and Andrew picked it up and says, "Summers residence."
As they stood quietly listing for any hint of who he was talking to Andrew said "Oh, sure hold on a sec. Dawn it's for you."
Dawn walked over and took the receiver from Andrews's hands. "Hello."
As Dawn was talking on the phone, Buffy, Spike and the Potential Slayers went into the basement for some more slayer training. The first evil would be a considerable challenge for the slayers to face, so they tried to became more educated on the different types of techniques that Buffy used in battles. Dawn hung up the phone just as Willow walked up to her.
"Are you going to be here for dinner?" Willow asked.
"No. I'm going to be late for my first job if I stay for dinner," Dawn answered as she grinned from ear to ear.
"But Dawney, it's spaghetti night." With a curious look on her face, Willow added, "You have a job? Where? Doing what? You didn't tell me?"
Dawn, with a smirk on her face, grinned, "I know I'll tell you all about it later. I have to run." Then Dawn ran towards the door.
Willow yelled, "Does Buffy know?"
Dawn didn't reply. She just grabbed the door and ran out.
Willow yelled, "Dawn!"
Dawn showed up at a pleasant-looking house with a long white picket fence around it. She walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. As she stood waiting, she smelled the daisies sitting on a pot stand to the left of the door. When she looked back up the door was opening, and there stood a woman with long ebony hair.
"Hello, you must be Mrs. Stevens; I spoke with your husband earlier today." Dawn said with a smile on her face.
"Oh, yes that's right I am. Please come in." Mrs. Stevens said as they walked in to the living room of the house. "I'm waiting for my husband to finish reading our little Billy a book."
"Okay!" Dawn replied.
"Please, have a seat," Mrs. Stevens told her.
"Thank you," Dawn said as she sat down in a big brown leather chair.
As Mrs. Stevens sat on the corner of an old black couch she asked, "So, Dawn, how long have you been babysitting?"
"Oh," Dawn said with a crackle in her voice, "Well, umm... this is my first time."
"I see," Mrs. Stevens said. "You should be fine. All the emergency numbers are beside the phone, and there is a choking and CPR guide in Billy's room."
"All right," Dawn said in a sigh of relief.
Just then, Billy came racing down the stairs and soon Mr. Stevens followed.
"Hi, Dawn," Mr. Stevens said.
"Hello," Dawn replied.
"Are you ready to go, honey?" Mr. Stevens asked, looking at his wife.
"Yes, darling let me get my coat." She replied.
"So, you must be Billy?" Dawn asked.
"What gave it away?" Billy smugly said.
"Okay, Billy, you be a good boy while Mommy and Daddy are gone," Mrs. Stevens said as she and Mr. Stevens walked out the door.
"So, kid, it's just you and me now. What do you wanna do first?" Dawn said in a chipper voice.
"Rip out your throat and play with your tongue!" Billy replied.
"Okay, stop that. You're creeping me out." After a brief pause, Dawn suggested, "Let's watch some TV."
As Dawn tried to find some fun things to do with her little babysitting brat, Angel showed up at Buffy's house to warn her that something evil was coming, and that she could not handle it alone.
As Willow passed the front door, she heard a knock, so she opened it to find Angel in the doorway.
"Hi!" Angel said. "Is Buffy home?"
"Angel, yeah come on in," Willow replied. "Umm, she's in the basement training with the other potential slayers. What brings you to Sunnydale?"
"Something else is coming that she can't handle alone. Something that the Powers That Be warned me about. I need to talk to her," Angel answered in a caring but apprehensive way.
As Angel headed toward the basement, Willow says, "Umm, I don't think you should go down there."
"Why?" Angel asked in a curious voice. "Is she hiding something?"
"Uh," Willow said, glancing nervously around.
"What? Tell me," Angel rumbled aggressively.
Just then, Buffy and Spike walked up from the basement.
"What is going on up here?" Buffy asked, just as she realized Angel was there, and staring at her in shock.
"What the hell is he doing here? Angel demanded to know as he stared at Spike.
"Spike has a soul now." Buffy replied confidently. "What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you. Alone!" Angel demanded, looking pointedly at Spike.
"Hey, you don't need to take this crap from him," Spike pointed out to Buffy, staying safely out of Angel's reach. "Just bloody leave, Angel. You're not wanted around here." He reached to grab Buffy's arm to walk away.
Buffy jerked her arm from Spike's grip.
"Since when it Spike your keeper, Buffy?" Angel asked.
"He's not, let's go," Buffy said in a no-nonsense voice as she lead Angel in to the backyard. Spike followed close behind.
"Spike, get out of hear!" Buffy shouted at him.
"But Pet..." Spike protested.
"NOW!" Buffy replied, cutting Spike off.
"No one gives a bugger, then, if he's here to hurt you again," Spike mumbled as he stalked back into the house.
"So, make it quick. I need to get back to training." Buffy grumbled.
"A lot has happened since the last time we spoke. I don't even know where to begin," Angel said with uncertainty.
"What is it, Angel? Tell me," Buffy said.
Just then, Willow yelled out the back door, "Buffy come quick."
Buffy and Angel rush back inside to find Willow on the phone.
"What is it ,Willow? What happened?" Buffy asked.
"Dawn called. She seems to be having a problem with the kid she is babysitting." Willow answered.
"Oh, you had me worried for nothing," Buffy replied with a sigh of relief.
"I would not be so relieved if I were you," Willow said in a terrifying voice. "Dawney said that after the child's parents left, Billy said he wanted to rip out her throat and play with her tongue. Next thing she knew his eyes turned green and his voice got deeper, and she is scared."
"Let's go Spike!" Buffy said as she headed towards the front door.
"Wait, Buffy!" Angel said. " I was hear to tell you that something was coming that you couldn't handle on your own."
"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked impatiently.
"The Powers That Be sent me to you," Angel replied.
"Alright. Just don't get in the way. Let's go," Buffy said rushing out the door.
Meanwhile, Dawn was running around the house, trying to keep Billy from catching her and making good on his threat to rip her throat out.
"No, Billy!" Dawn shouted. "Stop chasing me!"
"But I like this game," Billy replied. "I wonder how long it will take you to get tired so that I can rip out your tongue. You talk way too much."
"Buffy!" Dawn shouted in a panic.
"Oh, it sounds as if you're getting tired," Billy laughed. The sound made Dawn shudder.
Just then, Dawn tripped over a Game Boy that was lying on the floor and fell to the ground. Little Billy rushed over and grabbed Dawn by the arm.
"This won't hurt at all," Billy snickered, reaching for Dawn's throat. Dawn screamed.
"No, But this will!" Buffy snarled angrily as she smaashed Billy over the head with a baseball bat.
Billy sailed through the air, slamming to a stop against the wall and slid to the floor.
"Dawn are you okay?" Buffy asked her, looking horrified at a bloody mess she hadn't noticed when she entered the room.
"I think I might have broken my leg" Dawn replied, tears and shock welling in her eyes.
As both of them looked down at her leg, blood everywhere and a piece of the bone in her leg showing, Dawn shook off a wave of nausea.
"Spike, get her out of hear." Buffy ordered, turning viciously on Billy, who sat snarling in the corner of the room.
"She's not going anywhere." Billy growled, "I want to play with her tongue." Suddenly, his attitude changed. "I wanna, I wanna!" he whined.
With shock in her eyes that Billy was acting like a five-year-old, Buffy lifted up the baseball bat again, ready to swing. Spike, meanwhile, had found a cloth in the living room to wrap around Dawn's broken leg. Angel, not sure what was going to happen next, eyed Billy, daring him to make a move against Buffy.
"On three," Spike said to Dawn.
"I said she's not going anywhere" Billy yelled, though Spike ignored his protests.
"One," Spike said. Dawn nodded her head as she focused on Spike's face, determined to shut out the thing that had hurt her so badly.
Billy, realizing his ranting was in vain, lunged for Buffy's legs. He succeeded in knocking her down. Buffy whimpered.
"Two. Three!" Spike heaved Dawn up in his arms and rushed out of the house.
As Billy began pounding Buffy with his fists, Angel became enraged and grabbed Billy's legs. He lifted the boy up into the air, dangling him upside down.
"Didn't your mother teach you any manners?" Angel asked, pushing aside his personal shock of his reaction to seeing Buffy in danger.
Billy screaming at the top of his lungs. "Let me go! Let me go! She's mine!"
Angel ignored him. "Are you okay Buffy?"
Billy slid free of Angel's grip and started for the door.
"Catch him Angel!" Buffy shouted leaping to her feet. "Catch him!" Angel bolted out the door behind Billy. Buffy rushed after them.
Spike took Dawn to the E.R. and called Willow. Willow and Xander hurried over to the hospital. In the in the meantime, Angel had caught up with Billy. For every good blow that Angel delivered, Billy gave one back. Billy finally locked his jaw on Angel's arm and refused to let go. Buffy rushed up and grabbed Billy by the waist, swinging him off Angel. Blood gushed from the bite on Angel's arm.
Buffy, in shock because she had never seen Angel bleed like that, tossed him her scarf. "Wrap that up."
As Angel tied the scarf around his arm, he knew that she suspected something was up, but there was work to be done.
As Buffy ran after Billy, she hollered over her shoulder, "C'mon!"
Angel finished tying the scarf on his arm and followed. His much longer strides quickly caught up with Buffy. She was standing in the park, looking around. She searched the darkness for the monster with the face of a child. Suddenly the shadows came alive behind her as Billy leapt out of the bushes and onto Buffy's back.
"You sick little demon child!" Buffy screeched. "Get off my back!"
"Ha ha ha ha" Billy laughed that hideous sound that she had heard when she first encountered the thing. "No one to save you now....Slayer!" With a grip around her throat much tighter than she thought possible for a small child, Billy had Buffy rendered helpless. She couldn't do anything but gasp for air.
Angel catapulted from the brush, shoving his fist into Billy's lower back with all the force he could muster. The blow nearly crushed Billy's spine, forcing his to lose his grip tumble off Buffy's back. Buffy, choking and gasping for air, fell to the ground. Angel tore the metal chain from a swing and wrapped it around Billy's neck with such force that it ripped off Billy's head. Angel stared down at the decapitated corpse, willing himself not to think about the loss of control it had taken to commit such a heinous act, or the feelings that had stemmed that loss of control.
"Buffy are you okay?" Angel cried out.
"I'm fine," Buffy coughed.
Angel walked slowly towards Buffy.
"Are you okay?" Buffy asked. "You are still bleeding."
"I'll be okay," Angel replied as he fell to the ground.
"Angel!" Buffy yelled as she rushed to his side, kneeling down beside him. She lifted his head into her arms. "Oh.. My God. What is happening to you?"
Angel looked up at Buffy as she held his head and said, "I'm human again."
"Oh, my God, no!" Buffy stared at him with an unexplainable look on her face.
Buffy gathered her strength together and dragged Angel to the street where she waved for a car. The first two cars just drove past her in her attempt to get them to stop. Worried and scared, she aggressively stopped the next car and, throwing Angel in the back, ordered the driver take them to the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital, doctors rushed out and swept Angel off to the operating room. Buffy went to the front desk to find Dawn.
"Can I help you?" The nurse behind the desk asked.
"I'm looking for my sister," Buffy said, constantly looking over her shoulder in the direction the doctors had taken Angel.
"What is your sister's name?" the nurse asked.
"What?" Buffy started, staring at the nurse.
"Your sister's name?" the nurse asked again.
"Umm......Dawn. Dawn Summers," Buffy finally said.
"Okay give me a moment to find her records. Go have a seat in the lobby and I'll be with you in a moment."
Buffy walked out to the lobby and sat down in a chair. The events of the night played back in her head. After a few moments Spike walked up to Buffy.
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you," Spike said.
"How's Angel?" Buffy asked.
"What?" Spike asked with a puzzled look on his face. "Don't you want to know how your sister is?"
"Huh?" Buffy shook her head in a state of confusion.
"You asked how Angel was, not Dawn. What's going on Buffy? What has he done to you?" Spike demanded.
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm fine. How's Dawn?" Buffy asked, uncertainty in her voice.
"She's fine. They are putting the cast on her leg. It was broken clean in two," Spike replied.
"Take me to her?" Buffy asked, her thoughts still scattered.
Spike led Buffy in total silence to the elevator. When they reached the third floor, they stepped off. As they walk down the hall, Buffy felt strange, like everyone and everything around her was in slow motion. Nothing was what it seemed. Suddenly, she fell to the floor and hit her head on a gurney, landing with a crash. Spike wheeled around and was horrified to see Buffy lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
"NO! Buffy!" Spike screamed as time seemed to slow.
A team of people gathered around her, trying to stop the bleeding and pick her up. One orderly grabbed Spike and pulled him away from Buffy, explaining that the doctors needed room to do their jobs. They rolled her down the hall on a gurney, and Spike stared after her as she slowly faded out of sight.