CHAPTER FIFTEEN: RESOLUTION AND BETRAYAL

(Ahhh, in a perfect world, this is what would have happened in Angel.  Six or seven episodes in ten or so paragraphs…No evil Connor, no weird ass Connor doesn't exist anymore thing…)

NOTE: You really NEED to have seen the last six or so eps of each season, or at least know what's happened.  I skip a lot of stuff, and will assume that you guys know what I'm on about, so…know your episodes!  Cool?

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It took the Angel Investigations crew another week to work out whom the Beast had been working for.  To their great and utter shock, it had been Cordelia all along.  After some interrogation of the demon Skip, who had posed as Cordelia's guide, it was revealed that Cordelia wasn't Cordelia at all.  Her body had been possessed, and Cordelia Chase was buried deep within the body, and something else had control.

Cordelia's one-night with Connor had resulted in a pregnancy, something which had rocked the AI team to the core.  No one had been expecting it at all, and the fact that it was not Cordelia but the Beastmaster that was to give birth after only three weeks, instead of the standard nine months had everyone in a panic.

Cordelia had tried manipulating Connor to try and turn him into a dark Champion, but Connor had resolutely refused to do its bidding, knowing that he couldn't betray his family or his friends like that.  Enraged, Cordelia had fled, leaving no sign of where she had gone.

When Angel and Connor had finally tracked her, they'd found her lying unconscious in an abandoned factory, with candles from a ritual around her, and the dead body of a woman in the next room.  Before they could check on Cordelia though, a woman had stepped out of the shadows, and both father and son had fallen to their knees.

"Oh my god," Angel cried.  "You're beautiful."

The woman, who later named herself Jasmine, brought about feelings of love and peace to everyone.  Of course, it came with a price that was too high to pay.  The death of several humans everyday to keep herself energised.  The enchantment spell that made people feel these false feelings was broken when people touched Jasmine's blood.  Fred was the first to be pulled out of the spell, followed by Angel, Connor and the rest of the AI team. 

After several more days, Jasmine was revealed for who and what she truly was.  It was with sadness that world peace, although it was only technically in LA, ended.  Wolfram and Hart, as a congratulations for ending world peace, gave over its office to the AI team if they chose to work there.

The team knew that even though Wolfram and Hart had the best resources in the world, they couldn't take anything from an evil law firm.  Though they were all tempted with the things they wanted most in the world, each of them declined the invitation, and returned to the Hyperion, taking only a single folder and an amulet from the evil law firm. 

They'd done the right thing, but they still felt as though they hadn't really won at all.  With their fight against the Beastmaster finally finished, Fred and Gunn, still together, organised some time off to fully work out where they stood with each other.  Wesley volunteered to stay in LA, with Cordelia, still unconscious, and try to work out how to bring her back.  Lorne too opted to stay in the City of Angels.

Connor and Angel though had only one thought.  To be where Buffy was.

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The last few days had been excruciating for the last remaining citizens of Sunnydale.  Whilst the other citizens were fleeing in terror, forty or so people were cramped into one house, trying to stop the end of the world from occurring.  And such a task is never easy.  People get hurt, people die, and people feel the need to lay blame.

It was with great sadness that after a planned attack on the newest locale for the Big Bad, the Potentials had lost two of its members while five or six others had been badly injured.  An arm broken, bruises, scrapes, concussions, and of course, the most tragic was the loss of Xander Harris's left eye. 

Blaming the person who had led them into battle was the easiest way to feel somewhat justified.  With fear in their hearts and nightmares in their minds, every single person in the house, besides Buffy herself, resolutely refused to consider returning to the vineyard, the place of their most costly battle. 

"The bad guys always go where the power is…they're protecting the vineyard, or something at the vineyard.  I say it's their power.  And I say it's time we go in there and take it away from them."

"Or, in the alternative…how about we don't," Faith replied.

For the first time in their lives, the Scoobies found themselves the victims of the general Sunnydale disease of denial.  They let their fear lead them, and rather than listen to what the Slayer had to say, they quickly turned against her.  The Potentials decided that Faith, now out of prison and helping the fight in Sunnydale, should be their new leader.  The Scoobies, surprisingly, had agreed.

But the final blow for Buffy was when her own sister, whom she had died for, worked a humiliating job for, and had refrained from leaving Sunnydale altogether for, turned her back as well.

"I can't stay here and watch her lead you in to some disaster."

"Then you can't stay here," Dawn said quietly, tears in her eyes.  "You were right Buffy.  We have to be together on this.  So I need you to leave."

Without another word, Buffy had grabbed her jacket and left the house.  Faith had followed after her, not prepared to step into the position of leader.  But Buffy would not reconsider going back into the house to watch the Potentials fall one-by-one.  If they were going to go down, then she couldn't watch it happen.

"Don't be afraid to lead them," Buffy told Faith, the only real advice that she could tell the other Slayer.  "Whether you wanted it or not, their lives are yours.  Lead them."

And with that, Buffy was gone.

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Stuff from Angel obviously re-written to work with the whole Buffy/Angel/Connor story.  Stuff from Buffy not really re-written.  I finally got in my little rant at the Scoobies for being blind about what happened.  I was really annoyed with the Scoobies and their reactions to the whole vineyard thing.  Yeah it was hasty, but she was damn well right.  And they never apologised for it either…sheesh.  Good on Buffy for not saying 'I told you so' when she got back to the house. 

Ooo, in this fic, cos Robin Wood isn't a Slayer's son, he's obviously not joining in on the fight.  So, that then means that Giles never conspired with anyone to kill Spike   He wasn't happy about Spike being in the house, but he's never tried to kill him.  Cool?

Mega thanks for the reviews.  I know you're all gunning for much Cordy slayage, but…eh.  I couldn't bring myself to kill her. 

Toodles.