Part 12

Buffy sat on the kitchen stool, leaning on the breakfast bar, She gripped a coffee mug in her hands staring blankly into the dark liquid.


"Wow, you and Angel really are meant for each other," an Irish voice projected from in front of her, she looked up, startled, "All broody and what not. It's touching actually."


Buffy was about to attack until she saw the man's face.


"You're... You're Doyle, right?"


The short, handsome man grinned, "It's good to know you remember me."


"How did you get-," her confusion got worse with a kick of shock, "Wait. Aren't you dead?!"


"Technically," Buffy raised an eyebrow at him, "Okay. I am. But I'm not... undead of that's what you're thinking," he shifted into a spot of sunlight to prove his point, "See? I'm just a spirit working for the Powers."


"The Powers," Doyle nodded. Buffy frowned and tensed, "Is there another apocalypse?"


Doyle chuckled and shook his head, "No, not yet, "Buffy relaxed, satisfied with the answer.


"I'm here to help ya with your destiny, lass." Doyle went around the breakfast bar to take a seat on the stool next to the slayer.


"My destiny? What's my destiny?"


"Easy. To be with Angel."

*~*~

"Let's see, where should we start," Lynn feigned hard thinking, "Oh yeah! Let's begin with this weird little obsession you've got going with a certain wannabe saint, Cordelia."


"Cordelia is not my obsession," Angel said offended.


"Okay, then what is she? Your love?" Angel didn't answer, "Yeah. That's what I thought."


As I was saying," Lynn continued, "This thing where you think you're in love with Cordelia... makes ya kind of a hypocrite, Buddy."


"A hypocrite? How does that make me a hypocrite?"


"Oh I just hope you remember this," Lynn magically morphed into Angel, with his black silk shirt on and anger was written on his face. Lynn's voice was also changed to sound like his, "That's great. That's nice. You've moved on. I can't. You've found someone new. I'm not allowed to. Remember?"


Angel frowned at the eerie reminder of the night Buffy came to LA and told him about her new love, Riley, to hurt him.


She quickly changed back to her normal form and smiled, "That was cool, wasn't it?" At Angel's unemotional stare she cleared her throat. "Anyways, you said you couldn't move on, but suddenly la-de-da, you can..." she paused and then stated in a singsong voice, "Hypocrite!"

*~*~

"You're kidding me?" Buffy responded to Doyle's last statement.


"Nope. You're destined to fight side by side with him at the End of Days and if all ends well, you'll have a bundle of wee ones and grow old and grey together."


Instead of jumping up and down with excitement, Buffy let out a burst of laughter.


"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you."


"You don't?" Doyle raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms.


"No. Look, I just think that whole," she air-quoted the next word, "'prophecy' about me and Angel is just a big ass mistake."


"How's that?"


"You guys have been screwing us over for the longest time," she started using her fingers to help her list the facts, "Angel losing his, me sending him to hell WITH his soul, him leaving, you guys taking away the most happiest day of our lives. Not to mention the fact that he's now in love with Cordelia. I mean what the hell is that?!"


"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Doyle interrupted stopped the beginnings of her venting, "Those things are called obstacles, Darlin'. No relationship is perfect. You guys didn't have the normal problems that couples have because both of you aren't... normal. The only thing that's not supposed to happen is Cordelia replacing you in those prophecies."


Buffy was about to comment but Doyle interrupted again, "And while we're on the subjects of mistakes, I was sent here for that. My partner, who's with your boy at the moment by the way, and I were assigned to be your guides so you two won't mess up again and put the world in peril."


"And, if I may ask, what was my mistake?"


Doyle paused for dramatic effect and answered simply, "Spike."

*~*~


"Well things change, so it doesn't make me a hypocrite."


"Yeah. Sure," Lynn laughed sarcastically. At Angel's frustrated look, she rolled her eyes. She turned to face him, sitting Indian-style on the couch.


"Okay Angel, God's honest truth, before Lorne and Fred were telling you about 'kyerumption' and Cordelia was getting poser-like, were you in love with her?," she tried to get him to admit. Hey, it was therapeutic, "Look me in my eyes and tell me you do and I'll go away, just like that," she snapped her fingers to emphasize her point.


Angel looked Lynn dead in the eyes, as soon as he opened his mouth to answer, he closed it back up, averting his gaze.


"It's not that simple, Lynn," Angel replied, looking at the carpet flooring.


She sighed and groaned in frustration, "Ay yai yai Angel. Fine. Did you know that you loved Buffy right away?"


Angel glanced back in her brown eyes, but again didn't say anything. Lynn didn't need him to, the answer she needed was all there.


"Mmhmm. See? I knew it." She smiled.


"I see what you're doing. It's not working."


"Yeah it is. So, do you love Cordelia? I mean actually IN love with her. Do you love her as powerfully as you loved Buffy... possibly more."


"No," he answered honestly, finally, this time, "I'll never love her as much as I love Buffy."


Lynn's smile got wider when she felt they were finally getting on track.


"So, why after Cordelia?"


*~*~


"Spike?! How is he MY mistake?!"


"Buffy, I'm here to help, but if you don't know what you did with the guy, then..." he trailed off and then finished with, "Well, then your smarts finally match your hair color."


Buffy glared at Doyle, to which he just held up his hands defensively.


"I was just saying Darlin'..." Buffy rolled her eyes, then turned her vision straight ahead, crossing her arms.


"You and vampires Buffy. Is it a rebellious slayer thing?" Doyle chuckled at his joke. Buffy looked back at him, unamused.


"It was a joke, Buffy."


"Funny," she sarcastically replied.


"Ya know where making out eventually leads to?" Doyle changed the subject.


Buffy raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you kidding me Doyle? I'm 21, I don't need the sex talk."


"I'm serious Buffy. If this thing with Spike continues, you can say 'bye-bye' to any chances you'll have with Angel."


"I think we said 'bye-bye' to our chances when he fell in love with Cordelia Chase," she retorted bitterly.

*~*~


Angel stayed in quiet stubbornness, not looking at the girl next to him.


"Angel?" Lynn called out to him, "C'mon Angel. Answer me," she whined. She was starting to sound like a little sister annoying her older brother for attention. Angel was more convinced by this idea when he had to keep swatting her hand away when she poked his arm.


"Aaangel! C'mon. You can tell me. Please?," she kept on poking him and he kept returning the gesture by swatting her hand away, sucking his teeth frustratingly and mutter "Stop it," every once in awhile.


She just giggled when he snatched her hand, snarling at her, and raising his voice, "Okay! Geez! I'll tell you!"


Lynn smiled in satisfaction, "Man, I love my methods," she boasted proudly, "So you were saying," she prodded.


Angel sighed and mumbled, "I guess I was lonely."


"What? Sorry, I didn't hear you."


"I said I was lonely," he said louder. When Lynn didn't say anything, he continued in a softer tone, "When people tell you that you're meant for someone, and you just need to feel something you haven't felt in a while... You start to believe it."


"Enter Cordelia," Lynn said.


"Um... Yeah. She-she wasn't acting like... like the Cordelia that I had sister feelings for. She was acting more like..."


"Buffy?" she finished off for him. Once again, he moved his brown eyes to the dark carpet, leaving the question unanswered.


"Mmhmm. So you put all that pent up Buffy love and aimed it towards Cordelia," his guide theorized. She pretty much had it all covered.


She then asked, "Okay, so why not go to the original Buffy?"


"Like I said Lynn, it's not that simple. We've both changed."


"For the better"


"We're not in each other's worlds anymore."


"So what?! Angel, it's nothing a little talking wouldn't be able to fix," she waited for an agreement or something, and when nothing came she continued, "Look, you still love her right?"


There was a dramatic pause before Angel answered truthfully, "Always."


"Then I think I deserve an agreement about the talking bit," Lynn insisted, "So, go. Talk. I guarantee that with the love that you two share, you'll be back into each other's worlds in no time. New personalities and all."


Angel sighed, "Even so, the reasons why I left her still stand."


"Look at you. All with the doubt. Well Mr. Excuses-Excuses, I have the BEST surprises for you!" she informed him with excitement.


Angel was almost afraid to ask. He couldn't tell if Lynn was being sarcastic or not.


He gulped, "What?"


She grinned and told him in a calm tone, "Your soul is permanent, Buddy. It's one step towards your Shanshu."


"My-My... is... How?"


"Yeah, see, it's like steps. The first step is the permanent soul. Each step gets you closer to your humanity you get AFTER the End of Days. Little by little, you'll be able to do stuff that your kind can't do. Crosses and holy water won't burn you. Sunlight won't be a problem," she laughed at her next statement, "You can frolic around naked in the daytime if you wanted to... Of course you could get arrested for that," Angel gave her a weird look, "But anyways, moving on, you'll be able to eat ACTUAL food. No more blood treats for you, yay! And then, if you survive the fight of all fights, you'll get your beating heart and the normal human life span."


Angel gaped at the young girl, "Are you serious?"


Lynn nodded her head vigorously.


"Oh God. That's-"


"Oh wait, don't be in shock just yet. That's nothing. Wait 'til I tell you what's next."