[Hello, kind readers!

I realize it has been some time since last I wrote here, but I have excuses, ah, glorious excuses! First I was busy, as people oft times are. Then... then it was the Tenth of June! I was ready to fire up the old simpletext when I realized that a certain DVD set had come out! As you can imagine, I was busy with that for a day or two, expecially since Season Four is still tied for my favorite (With six, if you're interested).

In any event, I then got sick, and am only now recovering. AND THEN! FF.net's gurmeldy file upload server wouldn't upload anything i sent their way... So read on, and tell me what you think. I may or may not continue, as I think I've reached a pretty decent stopping point. Awake was never supposed to be an epic (or possibly saga) so much as an excerpt (sometimes called episode) from the life of Br- William. The Bloody. Not Willy the Snitch.

And to everyone who gave reviews beyond "Good job write more!" : Thank you very much. It's nice to know that people make an effort. And to everyone who gave reviews of the "Good job write more!" sort: Thanks, it's nice to know people read this stuff.

-DUNOTS]

"Congratulations, William," Mr. Angel's voice tried to boom across the hall of the Hotel, "You've been promoted."

Willam looked up at the vampire striding quickly, yet somehow sullenly, toward him. "Not again..." he groused.

Mr. Angel knelt down and smiled a mfunny sort of smile. "Well, lucky you, I'm your boss now. I hope we'll get along."

"Honestly?" William asked.

Mr. Angel smirked. "Mostly," then he paused, thinking, "Partially."

"Perfect!" Wesley erupted from the opposite side of the hall, "We've by and large nullified yet another of the life-threatening situations our own company throws at us."

"You ever think maybe you shouldn't have taken that offer?" Buffy asked.

"Here first," she drawled when everyone looked at her.

The other brit sauntered lazily into the room, smelling of tea and books. With a sort of knowing smile, he also knelt next to the prone demon hunter, his hand moving in an unfathomable kind of way.

"Still stuck to the floor," William intoned, "and not gettin' any more comfy."

"I nullified the spell," the older brit explained calmly, "You're free to, ah, be free."

William lifted his hand. Oh. With a smile, he leapt to his feet and shook himself out, hopping a bit as he did so. "Great. Now if you all don't mind, I've got a lot of injuries to sleep off..."

"Wait," Mr. Angel exclaimed, grabbing his shoulder, "you... hey!"

"Hey?" William asked.

Mr. Angel looked up at William's face, then back at his shoulder, then repeated, apparently to make sure he'd done it right. "You're warm!"

"And you're a big bag of sunshine," William responded, lifting the offending hand off his shoulder.

"No, I mean..." Mr. Angel trailed off, "You're... human."

William rolled his eyes. He'd forgotten about that. "Yeah, hear tell I used to be a vampire. Seems I got better."

Buffy and Andrew excepted, the others in the room all wore surprised or possibly quizzical expressions. If he had any inkling of who he used to be, he probably would have gloated at having a radical new thing to show off.

"Wait!" Wesley exclaimed, "Didn't you used to have a soul?"

William shrugged. "Got one now."

Wesley turned to the other man. "Giles. Didn't he have a soul? When he..."

Giles furrowed his brow and answered, "Yes, yes he did..."

"Then the answer is obvious!" Wesley grinned, "It's the Shanshu! I didn't think it would come to fruition so soon..."

"Shanshu?" Andrew piped in, William glad he asked.

Wesley sat at the dexk and took a breath. "Some time ago, we came across a prophecy stating that the vampire with a soul would-"

"Go through some hell, an apocalypse or two, and then become human..." William finished.

"How did you know that?" Wesley scowled.

"Went through your things," William smiled.

Giles and Buffy smiled whole-heartedly, and William got the feeling Andrew was smiling, too. William himself felt the urge to grin, but he wasn't really sure why. Apparently happiness was catching.

"Well, that's fantastic!" Giles exclaimed, "I mean, assuming the amnesia is curable, this is a real second chance for Spi, uh, William."

Nobody else said anything for a few moments. A slight scuffle caught William's attention, and he noticed Mr. Angel in a far corner, an unhappy sort of look on his face. Amazing he'd moved so much without William hearing it.

"Yeah," Angel monotoned, "Great. For Spike."

And then Wesley's face dropped.

---

"Is William here?"

Jacob Tangerine stood at William Crawford's front door, looking out at the pretty, though not entirely young woman.

"No," he answered.

She seemed somewhat disappointed. "You, uh, want me to give him a message?"

"Do you," she began, "do you know where he is?"

"Out hunting," Jacob answered simply, "Might take a while."

"Oh."

Jacob was beginning to lose patience. "You at least wanna come in? I'm missing the game."

The woman nodded absentmindedly and stepped inside, Jacob closing the door after her. Sighing in relief, he sat back down for the rest of the Women's Curling Semifinals.

"So..." she asked cautiously, sitting on the sofa, "Are you a friend of William's?"

Jacob laughed. "Used to be his landlord. But yeah, a friend. Name's Tangerine."

"Nice to meet you," she smiled warily, "I'm Tanya."

Oh, Tanya. "OH!" he exclaimed, "Tanya! The girl!"

"The girl?" she repeated.

"Yeah, Willy talks about you all the time," Jacob commented offhandedly, "It's a good thing you did."

He didn't have to look to know she was a little proud.

"He needed help," she explained calmly, "So I helped him."

Jacob grinned and turned to her. "Plus, bein' a looker doesn't hurt, now, does it?"

Tanya almost laughed. "Oh, I don't know what you're talking about."

---

"What the hell are you talking about?" William exclaimed.

Mr. Angel was pacing angrily around the room, his brow more furrowed than usual. "What the hell do you think I mean?" he repeated, "The prophecy!"

"And I..."

The larger man whipped around, a little panic in his eyes as he stared down William. "Is this like payback for you?" he demanded, "A little revenge for five years ago?"

"Angel, wai-"

"I can't believe it!" Mr. Angel shouted, "You, of all people! YOU!"

"Now, look..."

And then that face was right next to William's own, anger seething out of every vein as it shifted. As Mr. Angel became a demon.

"You stole the only hope I had..." he snarled, "And I bet you're laughing inside."

"Not at the moment, no..." William eased.

Suddenly, Mr. Angel backhanded him, sending him flying. "Even when I was living off rats," he snarled as William got to his feet, "I was never the loser you always were. Never a beast, grabbing onto whatever silhouette of love he can find."

William decked the offending vampire, employment forgotten for the time being. "You back the hell off, mate..."

"No, William," he spat the other man's name, as well as some blood, "I will not back off. You owe me everything you are or ever were, and now that includes humanity. You have no idea how close I am to taking that away from you."

"Come on," William sneered, "Thought you were supposed to have a sou..."

Oh, right. The prophecy.

"Actually, forget that," William apologized, "See how you gould feel a little jewed."

"Try gypped," Mr. Angel scowled.

William smiled falsely, backing up. "Hey, sorry, peaches, but if it's any consolation, I don't think I was tryin' to snag it from you."

"You know," Mr. Angel noted cooly, "I don't think I care anymore."

And then he was leaping for William, teeth and fists ready. And there was a blur, and a thump, and William looked up to see Buffy standing over the prone form of Mr. Angel, an angry sort of a Look in her eyes.

"You don't wanna go too far," she warned in a voice shaking with threat.

Mr. Angel scrambled to his feet, whirling at her but not making any attempt to strike. "Are you gonna take his side again?"

"What?" she shot, incredulous.

"It's always the new guy, isn't it?" Mr. Angel snarled, "Just leave old Angel in the dust, right?"

And then she punched him, and he was unconcious.

"You need to calm down," she sneered at him.

There was another one of those tensions, and William wanted to ask a question, ask if Mr. Angel was always like that, or ask if there was anything he could do, or just say anything to break the horrible silence he knew to be drama. But, in the end, it wasn't up to him.

"Holy moley!" the eyepatched man exclaimed, coming to a screeching halt in the doorway, alongside the witch, "What the hell happened here?"

Buffy turned to him, calmly. "Angel got a little carried away."

"Looks less like carried, and more like punched," The redhead clarified.

Buffy shrugged. "He couldn't deal with the fact that Spike is human now."

The man made some kind of shocked, demanding information gesture. The redhead smiled. A lot. William shrugged. "All the rage."

"That's great!" the girl shouted, running up to William and hugging him.

William looked down at her and asked simply, "What's your name?"

She stopped and stepped back those giant eyes wide in embarrassment. "Oh, uh, right. Anmesia."

"No, that's what I've got," William explained, "Now let's try for the name, again."

"Oh, right. Willow," she smiled awkwardly. She seemed very confortable with awkwardness, and it was a little confusing.

The man stepped up, offering his hand and a cockeyed smirk. "Xander. Glad to meet the new, human you."

William shook his hand warily. "Yeah, nice to meet the new, pirate you."

Xander shrugged. "It's my new look. Like you and your shockingly natural hair color."

William lifted an eyebrow at him. "Used to be different?"

"Bleached," Willow offered, "It made you all Billy-Idol-ey."

William turned his head a bit. If it worked once...

"In any case, what are we to do about Angel?" Giles asked.

Wesley sighed and knelt next to the sleeping vampire. "I suppose we take him to his room, and hope he's calmer when he wakes up."

"I don't know that I would be," Giles noted.

Wesley shrugged, grabbing Mr. Angel's legs. "We'll have to hope he's not you, then."

As the other Englishmen carried William's new boss away, William pushed his hair back out of habit, and sat at the desk. The seat was still warm from Wesley.

"So," William asked, "What now?"

Buffy sighed. "I need to... go think, or something."

Willow nodded knowingly. "Okay. Xander and I'll take care of Spike for now."

"What about me?" Andrew asked.

William turned to the offending voice and demanded, "Are you still here?"

Andrew grimaced and plopped down beside William. "Can I come with you?"

"Okay," Xander looked, "But first you have to tell us where you're going with us to."

Andrew smiled widely. "Where do you think?"

As Buffy went to pick up her purse, the rest of them just sort of stared at the nerd in question.

"Wal-mart!" he finished.

---

"I should go now."

"Yeah, me, too."

Tanya paused. "Don't you have to wait for him to get back?"

"Nah," Jacob shrugged, retrieving a key from his pocket, "We got an agreement."

"What sort?"

As he shut the front door behind him, Tangerine gave her an unnecessarily wide smile. "Professional courtesy. I help him, he helps me... watch curling."

"Oh," Tanya encouraged, the lock clicking into place, "That sounds... nice."

"He's a nice guy."

Nodding, Tanya turned away, striding purposefully toward the stairs that would lead up to her car. The clanking behind her didn't bother her. When she made her way to car, the clopping on the asphault seemed normal.

But when she sat in the driver's seat, the pulling on the passenger door's handle was amiss.

"Yes?" she asked warily, rolling down the window.

Tangerine smiled innocently, and she thought there was something odd about his mouth. Very odd indeed.

"Say, uh," he eased, "Maybe I don't live too far outta your way?"

Tanya sighed, unlocking the door. "Any friend of William's is a friend of mine."

He chuckled to himself as he latched the seat belt. "Gotta have friends."

---

"And we're doing this now because..." Xander trailed off.

Willow shrugged and pulled the box open. "We're not doing anything better, are we? And anyway, it's just wierd looking at him like that."

"He," William called from the other room, "Is right here."

"Sorry," Willow replied.

"Fine, but are you sure you know what you're doing?" Xander asked.

Willow sort of sighed and gave him one of her bemused faces as she opened one of the flasks. "I've been doing spells for how long now? I like to think I know how to mix things by now."

"Hey!" Andrew exclaimed, turning the corner, "You're doing it all wrong! Geez, I knew this was too much for you."

"Uhh!" Willow protested as he snatched the containers from her hand, "I barely even did anything!"

"I still don't trust you. Besides, I know what I'm doing, so let me do it."

Xander shrugged. "Do you really want to, Wil?"

Willow made a smirky face and rocked her head back and forth. "Well, I guess not... It just... I wanted to be a part of it, you know?"

"I admit, it is a bonding experience," Andrew placated, "But it's very touchy. Let me handle it."

"Goddamn it, you prancing ninnies," William exploded, "Will you hurry up and bleach my hair already?"

---

"Hwah!"

Angel sat up quickly, his vampire eyes easily adjusting to the darkness around him. He was in his room, and his jaw hurt.

"Buffy..." he sighed.

And then the felt the bruise on the other side of his face.

"Spike..." he seethed.

"Careful," a calm voice came from the doorway, "Wouldn't want to have to subdue you. Again."

Angel stood up as the lights flipped on. "Wesley."

Wesley nodded and pushed away from the wall he was leaning on. "Angel, I'm sorry that..."

"Don't bother. There's nothing you can say that will make it better."

Wesley looked at him darkly. "I know. I just wanted to make sure you knew there was nothing you can do to make it better."

And the vampire stopped moving, realization overtaking him.

"Hopefully we can avoid confrontations like this in future."

Angel did something not unlike smiling, but not unlike threatening. "Hopefully..."

---

"See?" Willow motioned towards William, "Much better."

Xander shrugged, seemingly conceding the point. "Not my favorite guy-who-was-and-is-someone-else-now, but it's a good look, I admit."

"Thanks to the hard work of yours truly," Andrew preened, running the comb through William's hair.

Snatching the comb from Andrew's hand, he snapped, "I can comb my own bloody hair, thank you, mommy."

Andrew shied away.

William turned around the room, looking for a mirror. After a moment of realizing there was none in the particular Hotel room they occupied, he moved to the adjoining bathroom, the others in tow.

"Like children, you three are," William noted, combing the hair back, "Playin' with a new toy."

"I wouldn't complain, mister newer and better look," Xander cautioned.

William shrugged, pushing the nigh-white hairs where he wanted them to be. "Gotta admit, it does look better. Though I wish I could remember how to get it into that wavy bit."

"Wavy bit?" Willow asked.

William turned to her and explained, "Yeah, around time Buffy got resurrected. I had it all sorta wavy."

"So..." Willow looked at him, eyes wide, "You wish you had your memory back?"

"Yeah. Damn shame."

She kept looking at him. Then he looked in the mirror. "Oh."

And then he sort of staggered as he realized that he knew who he was. It was all already there before he had realized it, and he was rocked by the recent few months fighting against his past hundred years. The words "of course" were a sore understatement for the sentiment he desperately wanted to express.

"Right," he noted, shakily steadying himself, "That's that, then."