Date written: Wed 27 Aug 2003

Author: Starway Man

E-mail: theop at kew dot hotkey dot net dot au

Disclaimer: The Angel/Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar, Kuzui, WB and UPN; no copyright infringement is intended, and not one red cent is being earned from this story.

Rating: R

Warnings: Some violence and language are present. Plus there are spoilers present for seasons 1-7 of BtVS and 1-4 of Angel.

Main characters: Angel, Drusilla, Xander

Setting:Takes place initially after season 3 of BtVS/ before season 1 of Angel, then in seasons 4 and 1; ends up in an AU season 5/ season 2.

Pairings: Conventional: Willow/Tara, Buffy/Riley and implied Cordelia/Doyle. Unconventional: Anya/Giles and mentioned Dawn/Kevin. Unrequited feelings: Cordelia/Xander, Drusilla/Wesley, Faith/Angel, Lindsey/Darla and Spike/Buffy.

Acknowledgments: Thanks to Buffyworld for episode transcripts used in some parts of this fic. Ditto lots of other Buffy/Angel sites, for various bits of information. Also to Nodakskip and Vegakeep for some helpful suggestions, and hints.

Classification: Angel-Buffy Crossover, Action-Adventure, Angst, Alternate Universe

Summary: Wo-Pang tells the Ra-tet of its upcoming demise, they hatch a desperate plan to survive, and the life of Xander Harris is never the same again.

Title: Visions and Pawns


D: "Maybe that's your power."
X: "What?"
D: "Seeing. Knowing."
X: "Maybe it is."

(Dawn Summers and Xander Harris, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)

"Los Angeles. You see it at night and it shines like a beacon. People are drawn to it. People and other things."

(Angel, ANGEL)

"I am the master of my fate/ I am the captain of my soul."

(William Ernest Henley, 1875)


Part I: Plans Within Plans

Los Angeles, California. Summer, 1999

Night time in the City of Angels. The alley cat moved soundlessly through the streets of the metropolis, perfectly at home in the sweltering gloom that surrounded it. The creature was unhurried; its eyes scanned the darkness, moving fluidly as it searched for its evening meal.

Then all of a sudden, the feline stopped; the hackles at the back of its neck rose, as it arched back and hissed at what lay before it. Then the animal turned around, and bolted away as fast as it could travel.

The spires of the Wolfram & Hart law offices stood proudly in the humid smog of the city. But the outward glittering façade could not hide the stench of evil that permeated its bricks and mortar, as well as the souls of the inhabitants that dwelled within it – even at this late hour.

At that moment a shaman of the Order of the Kun-Sun-Dai arrived at the place, looking mostly like some sort of ninja out of a Chinese kung-fu movie. However Wo-Pang, as his name was known, was neither a figure of fun or in any way interested in starring on the big screen.

The man simply walked straight in through the front door, went up to the night watchman and announced, "I am Wo-Pang. I am expected, at this time."

The attendant never looked up from his monitors. "Elevator 6, straight down and to your left."

The dark mystic departed immediately, without saying 'thank you' or anything asinine like that. He just went to the lift, hit the door control, went in and waited. Without any effort on his part, the machine then started moving upwards.

Wo-Pang waited, outwardly perfectly calm. All of a sudden, a huge white button appeared at the top of the floor level selection menu; and without hesitation, the guy immediately punched it.

The small chamber dissolved into nothing but white light, and when his vision cleared the shaman found himself in the White Room. An otherworldly interdimensional space, that existed within the law firm.

And a fearsome collection of people – if you could call them that – awaited him there.

First, there was the evil creature that wore the shape of a human little girl, named Mesektet. She was the link between the demonic Senior Partners of the firm, and the "earthly contingent" of Wolfram & Hart. Even though, that was just her day job; as more importantly, she was also a member of the Ra-tet, one of the five symbolic manifestations or 'Totems' of the ancient sun god, Ra.

Next to her stood the Totem named Mr. Ashet, who looked like a tall, dignified African male. And beside him stood the one known as Manjet, even though off-hours he preferred to go by "Manny"; a scruffy-looking Caucasian male. Beside him stood Ma'at, a white magic shamaness and another member of the order. And last but not least stood Semkhet, a fearsome-looking skinless saber-toothed tiger.

Manny looked around in amusement, as he quickly glanced at his peers and then at their guest. "Been a long time, since we had this kinda family reunion," he remarked to no one in particular.

Semkhet growled a reply, that everyone except Wo-Pang instantly understood. "I agree," Ashet remarked acidly. "It definitely has not been long enough."

Ma'at shook her head, the good woman despairing of the duo ever changing. "Why must you two always be so negative?"

Manjet grinned. "Must come with the territory."

Ashet scowled. "This, from someone who has such a prodigious collection of human pornography as yourself?"

Mesektet, in many ways the most senior of them despite her appearance, silenced the bickering. "Well. We have a guest here, family members. So – manners, please. You contacted me, Wo-Pang of the Kun-Sun-Dai. Foolish of you, but then your words intrigued me. The Ra-tet is gathered, as you requested. What is it you have to say, before you get squashed like a bug?"

Wo-Pang looked at the five faces, whose expressions ranged from politeness to amusement, anticipation, anger and indifference. And his reply was as noncommittal as if they were just discussing the weather.

"All of you are going to die, very soon."


His words caused quite a furor, as the members of the Ra-tet were immortal – as long as they were not ritually murdered. Immediately the complacency disappeared, and the shaman was bombarded with questions.

Wo-Pang just knelt into his Zen meditation position, and again calmly waited until the barrage was over. Finally, Mesektet silently told the others to shut up, and the shaman was ready to explain.

"I do not know much," the Oriental man said, as he cast some runes onto the floor of the room. "But I have foreseen some things concerning my own future, as regards a vampire with a soul..."

Semkhet roared, and Manjet agreed, "Yeah, whoever heard of a bloodsucker with a soul?"

"Be that as it may, behold what I have seen..." and with these words, Wo-Pang did the most horrible thing you can do to someone; he let the five into his mind, and see exactly how they were going to die.

They saw how a huge and nasty demon colloquially known as "The Beast" drained the life energy of Mesektet, right there in that very room. They also saw it later murder Ma'at, ripping out her heart. Mr. Ashet was next, as the Beast killed him near an oil field and took some sort of metal device from his body; then Semkhet was killed in a desert cave, after being eviscerated for his device first.

Finally, Manny witnessed his own demise as did the others; they saw how a nude, beautiful brunette woman took an axe to his head in a locked room, and later yanked out the blood-soaked orb he kept within there.

The telepathic communication was cut, and Wo-Pang then quietly started making further preparations. "That was in fact only a sample of the death I have foreseen," he murmured, "The beast will kill thousands more, apart from yourselves..."

By this time, Ashet alone had recovered his equilibrium enough to regain his suspicious nature. "Why? Why warn us like this of our fate? What do you get out of it all?"

Again Wo-Pang showed no emotion when he replied, "The only other thing I know is, the beastmaster will manipulate and play me for a fool. I dislike being treated that way – by anyone." Then the shaman muttered an incomprehensible spell, and his body turned into thousands of glittery yellow sparkles that quickly vanished from the room.

Manny yelped, "Hey, he's gone-!"

Ma'at shivered. "Never mind that – the odds are, he's already told us all he knows anyway. The question is, what now?"

Semkhet then let out what sounded like a low purr. The others looked at him, somewhat surprised. "An excellent question," Ashet nodded. "Who was that human woman that killed him?"

Mesektet looked thoughtful, and gestured. Something like a miniature white dwarf star blazed for a moment, and then a pretty young woman appeared in the White Room. "Good evening," she smiled, seemingly totally unfazed by what had just happened. "I'm Files and Records. How may I assist you?"

The evil creature sat on her chair, and sent a telepathic image of both The Beast and the female killer into her mind. "Who are they?" more than one of the Ra-tet demanded at the same time.

The eyes of the woman briefly started fluttering, as if they were some sort of high-speed camera shutters. "First subject is a rock-like demon known as "The Beast", last seen in Prussia during 1789; banished from the mortal plane by the Svea priestesses, while talking to the vampire known as Angelus."

"Who?" Ma'at asked at once.

The woman's eyes fluttered some more, then became normal. "Angelus. Sired during 1753 in Galway, Ireland. Became known as the Scourge of Europe, along with his creator Darla and vampiric children Drusilla and Spike. Cursed in 1898 Romania with a human soul, by gypsies of the Kalderash clan-"

"WHAT?" most of the Ra-tet yelled, remembering Wo-Pang's warning.

Files and Records went on, ignoring the outburst, "Disappeared for approximately 99 years, then showed up in Sunnydale, California using the name 'Angel'. Helped the vampire Slayer Buffy Summers from 1997 onwards. Recently departed the Hellmouth, and currently residing here in Los Angeles."

"And the other one?" Manjet demanded.

There was another brief pause, as the female's eyes again scanned her memory bank. "Second subject is known as Chase, Cordelia. Born in Sunnydale, California during 1981. Critically injured during November, 1998. One of a group of people helping the Slayer Buffy Summers, until May this year. Also currently residing here in Los Angeles."

There was a short pause, until Ashet said simply, "The solution seems obvious to me. If she is the one who summons The Beast, we just kill her now and the problem is solved!"

Manjet looked rueful. "Yeah, sounds nice in theory, but ya know what? This whole situation stinks so much, it can't be that simple. Can it?"

Before anyone could say anything, Files and Records stated calmly, "No. The relevant Power-That-Be will almost certainly just arrange to use another human vessel to eventually give birth to itself; you are all still scheduled for termination."

The five Totems turned and stared at her. "How did you know that?" Mesektet asked for all of them.

The woman stared back, as if it should be obvious. "I'm Files and Records. That's my job."

Semkhet growled at her, and the Wolfram & Hart employee looked puzzled. "I'm unable to understand the basis of your speech patterns. Please clarify."

Manny looked annoyed. "Sheesh, sister, do we really gotta translate it here? He asked, why did you mention that this Cordelia Chase chick was critically injured last year? 'Cause I'm wondering – does this have anything to do with our current problems?"

"Affirmative." The woman's eyes started doing the camera shutter trick, but then something really odd happened – they froze, then went completely black, and Little Miss Files and Records actually staggered for once in her life.

"What's wrong?" Ma'at asked at once.

The woman took a deep breath, as her eyes became human. "Nothing. My apologies. I did not anticipate encountering a wild card of this nature."

"Wild card? What is this supposed to mean?" Ashet demanded.

Files and Records took another deep breath. "The term is used to denote Harris, Alexander Lavelle. Born in Sunnydale, California during 1981. Although this had not been originally destined to happen; no entry is to be found for said individual in the Akashic records..."

Now that fascinated the Ra-tet, as the text that predicted the fate of every human soul had been thought to be inviolate from the forces of good and evil alike.

The woman went on, "...and his existence is due to the direct intervention of the specific Power-That-Be, that has you all targeted for death and dismemberment during 2002. This, in fact, is an indirect result of the consequences of the wild card's inherently unpredictable actions."

"Explain yourself fully," Mesektet demanded.

Files and Records did so, giving details about Cordelia Chase that had culminated in her coming to L.A. She then went on to give a comprehensive list of young Mr. Harris's actions over the last 18 years...

This included saving the blonde Slayer's life after the ancient vampire called the Master had bitten and drowned her during 1997, nullifying an inevitable prophecy. Being indirectly responsible for sending Angel to Hell during 1998, and possibly saving the world. Definitely saving it too, when the Hellmouth had opened earlier that year and a zombie's bomb was about to go off and kill everyone...

"You don't like him, do you?" Mesektet then asked, with a slight smile on her seemingly-young face.

"The firm's files and records now require considerable updating and constant revision, thanks to the activities of the wild card," Miss Files and Records replied, for once looking annoyed.

Manny chuckled. "So, this guy dated the girl that's gonna kill me? Don't know about the rest of you, but I hate him already..."

Ma'at shook her head. "A brave and resourceful young man. It is not his fault he has been manipulated by one of the Powers, for almost his entire life."

"Is there anything else we need to know?" Ashet demanded, ignoring his two associates.

"Mr. Harris's current location is Oxnard, California. He is scheduled to return home during the September of this year. But even that has an undefinably low probability, due to what he is," Files and Records finished up smoothly.

When there was nothing more added, Mesektet gestured again and the woman disappeared. "We appear to have been the victims of a well-thought-out campaign," the so-called Little Miss Muffet then casually remarked. "I must be getting old. Time was, something like this would have never escaped my notice during the planning stages..."

"So, what do we do?" Manjet asked, looking around.

"I'm not sure there's anything we can do," Ma'at interjected, and Semkhet made a noise of agreement.

"Your opinions are in error," Ashet said coldly. "It is perfectly clear to me what must be done; fight fire with fire. Forewarned is forearmed; all we need do is use this pawn of our enemy to our own advantage, just as the Power attempted to use him against us."

The others then stared, as they slowly got an idea what he meant. "You can't be serious?" Ma'at demanded.

"The spell is a relatively simple one," Ashet replied stonily, looking at the group. "Ma'at can perform the magicks required, with Mesektet to provide the motive power. Semkhet, Manjet and I will direct the focus for the appropriate outcomes..."

"The rite to alter destiny like that will have repercussions! For example, one of us will have to be sacrificed, in order for it to even work!" the decent-hearted shamaness shouted hotly.

"And if we don't do it, all five of us will end up dead," Ashet shot back. "Is that what you want?"

"Enough. As always, we settle this by vote," Mesektet cut in. "The majority rules. Now all those in favor of the plan, say aye. Those opposed, nay. How say each and every one of you?"

"Aye," said Ashet, of course.

"Aye," said Mesektet, not surprisingly.

"Nay," said Ma'at, unable to accept the idea of trying to accomplish good by doing evil.

"Nay," growled Semkhet is his own language, somewhat to the surprise of the others.

They then all stared at Manny, who was the deciding vote. "I'm thinking, I'm thinking..." the neutral Totem, who was the potential of every human soul, muttered.

If he had said "Nay" – events would have played out just as the Power-That-Was eventually known as "Jasmine" intended. Well, that is, until a miracle child named Connor killed her and Angel inherited the L.A. branch of Wolfram & Hart...

But Manjet said "Aye" and after the Ra-tet – who had some serious juice up their sleeves, if need be – joined forces, a blinding light filled the White Room.

And thus the life of Xander Harris, more popularly known as the Zeppo or the White Knight, became the focus of an invisible but deadly war between the forces of light and darkness.


South America. Summer, 1999

At that moment, the vampires Spike and Drusilla were in the midst of a heated argument.

It had all started with Dru leaving her boyfriend and childe for a Chaos demon, about a year before. Spike had gone to Sunnydale in order to get a love spell to win her back; but that had fallen through, so after he'd found her again William the Bloody had just tried to tie her up and torture her until she liked him again.

For a time, it had seemed to work; until the fickle Drusilla had gotten bored again, and was about to take up with a fungus demon.

And the long-suffering Spike would have just let her, except the spell of the Ra-tet kicked in and they both became boiling mad.

The bleached-blonde vamp yelled, "Look, Dru, I-I'm at the end of my bleedin' tether! Understand? I don't even know why I bother anymore!" He pointed at his sire, "This is all your fault, if ya want the truth. You're the one to blame for all this!"

Drusilla purred dangerously, "Am I? And why's that?"

Spike kept shouting, "Cor blimey, I 'ave to spell it out? If you hadn't left me for that damn Chaos demon, I'd have never returned to bloody SunnyHell, tried to get you back and ended up standin' here lookin' like an absolute idiot right now!" He then reached out for the fungus demon and broke its neck, killing out of sheer frustration.

The dark-haired female vampire looked shocked for a moment. Then she growled, "Grrr! Bad dog!" Dru subsequently slashed at his face with her nails, raking three bloody scratches down Spike's cheek. "You still taste like ashes! I'm gonna tell my Daddy on you, right after I find my Angel..." Then she flounced away childishly.

The 119-year-old British vampire groaned. "Great. Fine. Run away, then! Let the magnificent poof have you! See if I care!" he called out after her.

Spike then shouted to the heavens, "Gaaah! What the bleeding hell is wrong with my unlife? What in Satan's name is it gonna take, for things to go right for me for once? And why do I let that bitch torture me like this?"

TBC...