See Part I for disclaimer and details.
Part III: Counterstrike
Insect-like demon dimension. December, 1999
Night time, in a temple built in a world of demons. The High Priest labored over an oversized statue created in the image of his god, who had a human face that was lit only by burning torches.
Then for the first time in millennia, the sacred ground shook – and the false god, one of the Powers-That-Be that one day might be called "Jasmine", materialized in the chamber.
The so-called "Guardian Of The Word" immediately prostrated himself before his mocha-colored deity. "Oh, Most Magnificent of Magnificents, you have returned! Blessed be we who bask in your presence, for you are the Light and the Way-"
Jasmine interrupted him in an angry tone of voice, "We? My temple is empty, priest."
The more-or-less human-shaped demon with yellow-green skin and spikes almost chuckled. "Betrayers, blasphemers. Centuries of waiting for your return have caused most to doubt, Glorious One. But now that you are here-"
"I am displeased. Leave me," Jasmine commanded brusquely.
The follower nodded, and crawled away on his hands and knees to announce that their savior had returned. But to be honest, Jasmine could care less about him or his people now – her experiments with them had been a mistake, right from the start. She was here only for privacy, and to talk to one of her minions.
The mercenary called "Skip".
A waft of black smoke appeared in the temple, and took the physical form of Skip; a tall, spike-encrusted, heavily-armored silver demon. He waved casually at Jasmine, "Hey, boss. Master. Whatever..."
The renegade Power-That-Be was unamused. "What took you so long?"
Skip shrugged. "Things to do, people to see. You know how it is..."
"Better than you, obviously," Jasmine almost started grinding her teeth. "My adversaries have somehow become alerted to my plans. They intend to spread their hate, so that my love cannot reach my future people-"
Skip interrupted by raising his hand. "Uh, excuse me? I'm not one of your worshippers. What exactly is the problem?"
"One of my tools has been used against me," Jasmine practically growled. "As things stand, my plans for taking form on the mortal plane with my chosen human vessel have been compromised..."
Skip needed the backstory, and soon learned what had happened. He whistled, "What a mess. Hey, uh, why did you even procreate that Alexander Harris kid again in the first place...?"
"The boy was placed alongside my chosen vessel, to shepherd the girl to where I would need her to eventually be. And he was born capable of anything, with no fixed destiny, for this to occur. But now he has received the visions! That was not supposed to happen! Cordelia will have no reason to ascend to the higher plane now, for me to become one with her...and I cannot use Alexander to give birth to myself that way..."
"Like I said, quite a mess." Skip paused, "I'm open to any ideas..."
Jasmine glared. "The visions need to be transferred to my future mother, so that she can fulfil her blessed destiny. Therefore, you will see to it that he com-shuks with her – at once!"
Skip nodded. But the merc was smart enough to know the balance of power had now shifted; Jasmine was reacting to the situation, not being pro-active anymore, and success was no longer assured. Plus, the odds of getting killed in the service of this creature were now too high for his liking.
"You know I'll do my best. But this wasn't part of the deal, so there are no guarantees whatsoever. Plus you should also know that afterwards, I'm out; I do have lots of other clients, and good luck trying to find me if you don't like it..."
Then he disappeared, leaving behind the enraged Power-That-Be.
Los Angeles, California. Early January, 2000
If there was one thing that Xander Harris was sure about, it was the fact that he hated Los Angeles.
The air was unbreathable. The demons were deadly. The people lived in denial. The traffic truly sucked. The cost of living was unbelievable...
But at least he now had a job and apartment to call home, until he could safely make his way back to Sunnydale.
Xander had decided Spike was right, and that he should maintain a communications blackout with the Scooby gang; no phone calls or anything, until it was safe to return and talk to his friends after the soldiers had relaxed their vigilance. Angel had agreed, and so now Harris was marking time till he thought it would be okay to approach the Hellmouth.
And apart from that, there was also the visions thing...
That afternoon Xander was working at the comic-book store called 'Thwak!', after having met the owner at a sci-fi convention; and the guy in question named Jarard knew that he had found an excellent employee, who knew his product. But unfortunately, his opinion of the former Sunnydalian was about to radically change...
In part, due to Angel's arrival.
The vampire with a soul had somewhat grudgingly long since accepted the new status quo: so he went up to the former Key Guy, looked around and asked in confusion, "Xander? What are you doing in a place like this?"
Unfortunately the former Angelus had forgotten about his natural stealth mode, and Xander yelped in surprise before dropping his comic books. The 19-year-old quickly sent the Hollywood vampire a glare, "Geez it, Angel, one day I'm definitely gonna put a bell on you!"
Xander noticed his boss and all the customers staring. Then he sighed and picked up his wares, "And to answer your question, earning money to pay the rent."
The 247-year-old undead guy was confused. "You need money? Well, why the hell didn't you just ask-"
Xander was instantly pissed at the thought of taking charity from his one-time worst enemy. "Come on, Dead Boy, you're smarter than that. Think it through..." Then he started walking around, placing comic books in various racks and stalls, as Angel followed him to continue the conversation.
The Champion had something important to say, "Look, Xander, I-I know this may not be easy to accept – but, but you've been chosen by the Powers, to be my new seer. You have a higher calling now, than just selling-"
Xander snapped out, "Hey, none of that was my idea! I never agreed to any of this. I never asked for the blinding headaches, or for people to want to yank my eyes out to make a quick buck..."
Angel released a very human sigh, as he thought back to that first day Xander had been visited by the visions. When he, Dru, Cordy and Xander had encountered Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, a former Watcher like the man called Rupert Giles and now a rogue demon hunter.
That day Xander had been kidnapped by an evil empath demon named Barney, who'd pretended to be Angel's client, and almost gotten mutilated at an auction for the creature's money-making schemes – before he'd saved himself at the last moment. If you wanted to call it that...
So all things considered, the vampire cursed by Willow's magicks supposed it wasn't very surprising that later – Xander hadn't exactly embraced the idea of joining Angel Investigations with open arms...
Angel shook his head, "I haven't forgotten. And I still can't believe how you killed that Wolfram & Hart lawyer that way..."
A snort. "You'd have preferred her to have pulled my peepers out? Besides, what if she'd told the rest of her evil pals who and what I was? And hell, after what happened with those soldiers in Sunnydale, I guess the old saying is true – it does get easier, the more often you do it..."
This struck a chord in the undead killer from centuries before, who tried to persuade the cursed one otherwise. "The way I heard it, that thing back then was self-defense..."
"Yeah, and I'm sure my lawyer will be able to explain that to the grief-filled military goons that'll enjoy being my firing squad, if they ever capture me again!"
Then Xander sighed. "Look, man, lemme make this crystal clear. I have no problem working with you, if you wanna fight for the good guys – your friend Doyle saved my life, and it'd be damned ungrateful and stupid of me to make his sacrifice meaningless! Whatever else happens, I'm able to put personal feelings aside – our Slayage activities together with Buffy back in the 'dale weren't all that long ago..."
He stopped for a moment. "It's kinda funny, ya know? Back in high school, I wished so much to have my own thing, when we were all fighting the bad guys together. To have a power, to not be the Zeppo..."
Xander saw Angel's confusion and smirked, "Cordy's pet name for me, her little code word for being the useless member of the group. Tell her I mentioned it, it should give her a big laugh – I'll bet you a bag of O-positive. Still, now? You have no idea how much I wish I could just be plain old Xander Harris again..."
The boy sighed again, "Anyway, as I said, I can work with you. But there's too much history, or bad blood, or whatever you wanna call it between us to be friends. Bottom line, I've got the cell phone you gave me for whenever a vision hits, and I'm not afraid to use it. So I'll be in touch, okay?" Xander then turned his back on the vamp, and went over to assist a customer.
With nothing left to say, Angel reluctantly acquiesced to his wishes and left.
Later that afternoon, Cordelia Chase was the next to arrive and talk to Xander Harris.
The former May Queen and future intended for Jasmine's mystical birth had calmed down a lot, since her initial grief over Doyle had passed. She had been furious with Xander upon hearing second-hand that the short Irishman had loved her, and that he'd been a demon to boot; but after hearing from Angel everything he and Drusilla had gone through, that had eventually faded away.
Cordy simply went right up to the man and stated, "I need to talk to you, dorkhead."
Not all that surprisingly, Xander just ignored the greeting. Entranced by her incredibly good looks, Jarard then came up and asked, "Is this a customer or a friend?"
Xander smirked at his ex-girlfriend, "Neither. Just someone who stopped by, for my daily helping of bile..."
The Chase girl was somewhat stung by the familiar words, as she recalled the time last May when their positions had been reversed; when she had been the name-tag person, broke and desperately trying to make enough money to buy a lousy Prom dress on layaway. One that she had been able to afford, only due to Xander selflessly making the last payment for her.
Oh yes indeed, Jasmine had been right when saying there had been a predestined history between these two – who had known and passionately hated each other for almost all their lives.
As Jarard sent Xander off to another part of the store, he asked the up-and-coming young starlet with a smile, "Can I help you with anything?"
Unfortunately the former rich girl rolled her eyes, still annoyed from Xander's quip. "Oh, come on! You honestly think someone like me wants anything from someone like you?"
The storeowner lost the smile. "This is a place of business, miss. So either you're here to buy something, or I'm going to have to ask you to leave..."
"Tell it to someone who cares," Cordy said in her own typical tactless way, starting to look around through the busy store.
Jarard then looked angry. Visibly counting to calm himself down he later said, "If you don't leave, I'm calling the cops..."
Cordelia briefly faced him, "Oh yeah, and I'm supposed to be scared of that? Puh-lease! What are they gonna charge me with, loitering?"
It had to have been a record for her, getting a guy totally pissed off within 45 seconds. "What is your problem, lady?"
The brunette girl just dismissed him and turned around again, looking for Xander. She finally found him chatting and laughing with a good-looking busty blonde; and not knowing why that suddenly infuriated her, Cordelia went up and grabbed her childhood nemesis by the ear. And, ignoring his moaning, dragged him outside.
When she let go, naturally Xander was not in a good mood. "What is with you today, Queen C?"
Cordy told him, "What do you think? Angel told me what you said, earlier on. And I didn't appreciate the Zeppo wisecrack! God, can't you just open your eyes and see the big picture here? Stop being so selfish, we both know Angel needs you around to help people..."
Her former punching bag instantly replied, "No, he doesn't need me – he just needs the visions. Which he'll hear about as soon as I get 'em, fine, but you know as well as I do what happened junior and senior year – so don't expect me to play best friends with the guy..."
"Ancient history. Can't you quit thinking only about yourself, for once?"
The man who had been destined to lose an eye a few years down the road could not help laughing at hearing those words, for in his opinion it was a lot like the pot calling the kettle black. "Ah, yes, the fair Princess Cordelia. As I recall, always ready to lend a helping hand – well, to the rich and pretty maybe..."
The 19-year-old girl instantly slapped him. "Coward!"
Her ex was now ready to kill her and yelled back, "Moron!"
They quickly started getting into each other's faces, just like back in high school, "I can't believe those idiots upstairs chose you of all people, to be our new Vision Boy!" Cordy screamed.
"Yeah, I'm not surprised you think that," Xander hissed back. "And you know what else doesn't surprise me? That both you and Angel privately wished the day after that I had tried to play hero that night and ended up dead – instead of your buddy Doyle! Am I wrong?"
Cordelia looked caught. "I-"
Xander – he who had once been destined to leave his betrothed at the altar – just stared at the woman, calming down. "Look, do us both a favor and leave me alone, C.C. In case you didn't get the memo, you lost any say over what I think or do, when you refused to take me back after that stupid fluke with Willow was over..."
"Fluke? I thought I loved you, and you betrayed me! I even ended up with that damn rebar through my stomach, because of you two!"
"For which I apologized, like a million times! And if there was any way for me to take back what I did to hurt you, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But what's the point of even trying? Because Cordelia Chase doesn't do forgive and forget, does she?"
And on this note, Xander simply returned inside the store to get back to work – leaving his female companion there, seething.
Later on, not long before the place was about to close for the day, Xander had his third visitor from Angel Investigations that afternoon – in the form of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.
Now, it was a fact that Xander and Wesley had never gotten along, when they had known each other back in Sunnydale. But still, the would-have-been carpenter who was now part-demon had more-or-less forgotten about that – as Wesley was currently his best shot at finding out why he had been chosen as Doyle's successor. And more importantly, how he could stop being said messenger.
Jarard got mad again, at seeing yet another person head straight for Xander and about to interrupt business. "Damn it, Harris..."
Xander quickly reassured him though, "Uh, no! This is family, uh – Wes is my cousin from England..."
"Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir," the former Watcher shook hands with the shopowner. "Could I possibly take up a few moments of my...cousin's time? Family business, and all that..."
Jarard shrugged, charmed by the British accent and the English good manners. "Sure, go ahead..."
Xander led the former rogue demon hunter to the back room, and drew the curtain for them to have some privacy. "So, Wes," the former high school nobody started to say eagerly, "please tell me you've got good news?"
"Before I answer that, I must ask – was it absolutely necessary for you to anger Cordelia so much today? I had to listen to her rant about you for an hour! In fact, if I didn't know any better..."
The guy threw his arms up, ignoring that last sentence. "Oh, hell – I dunno, Wes! To be honest, I can't figure women out. And I sure can pick 'em, look at the other ones I've gotten involved with; they were either some kinda preying mantis, or an Inca mummy girl, or a witch, or a crazy Slayer..."
Wesley shrugged, and changed the subject. "Well, to answer your original question, no. I haven't been able to find any way for you to transfer the visions to someone else, short of killing yourself..."
Noting the boy's disappointed look, he went on, "But I have a few more books that are due to arrive sometime today, and I'll be examining them thoroughly. Unfortunately, all we know so far is that the visions attached themselves to the closest demon present, upon Doyle's imminent death..."
Xander obviously didn't like being reminded of what had been done to him by the Initiative, against his will. Wesley hesitated, then soldiered on, "Uh, and Xander, in good conscience – I must say that Cordelia does have a point about isolating yourself from Angel like this..."
"I don't want to hear it, Wes!"
"Granted, but the fact remains that sometimes phone communications simply aren't good enough. We've been lucky so far, but how will you feel when one day, you can't get hold of Angel in time to save an innocent? Statistically speaking, it's bound to happen..."
Xander started to pace. "You think I haven't thought about that? But geez, Wes, what am I supposed to do? Just pretend the past never happened? It's not that easy – you weren't there, when Angelus was killing people I knew and cared about!"
"Angel is not Angelus. You know that..."
"Sure, but – ah, damn it...I shouldn't even have to make this choice, in the first place! I was just the normal guy of the group, remember? I got donuts, and I was cannon fodder for Buffy! That's what I was always meant for!"
Wesley looked surprised, "Are you serious?"
"What?"
The ex-Watcher leaned forward. "Xander, I'll make a bargain with you. Answer satisfactorily one question that I have, and I'll do my best to prevent Angel or Cordelia annoying you about the issue we were just discussing. Deal?"
Xander shrugged, not seeing any downside. "Deal."
"Why didn't you repress your memories of what really happened, after the Harvest?"
The scion of two drunks and a higher power was confused. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
Wesley sighed, a sound so much like Giles' that the younger man decided they had to have taught it in Watcher school. Wes then explained, "The first week Buffy arrived in Sunnydale, I read about it in Mr. Giles' diaries when I assumed my duties with the Council there last year. Apart from the Slayer and her Watcher, only you and Willow Rosenberg were able to remember exactly what happened, when that vampire called the Master tried to get free. No one else, not even Cordelia, was subsequently able to recall the precise events in question."
"Yeah, so?"
"Out of all those people at the Bronze, only you two didn't forget. The question you should be asking is, why? In my opinion, it was because the both of you weren't normal, even then. Willow had the magical potential, and you were destined to be anything but the one who just got donuts..."
Wesley then got up, and started to make his way out of the comic-book store. "Please do think over what we've talked about," he said, before leaving a stunned Xander Harris behind.
Skip the mercenary had definitely not been idle, ever since he had gotten his orders from Jasmine.
He had been spying on Xander and Cordelia for weeks, trying to figure out the best way to endow her with the visions. When that day, as he witnessed the spectacularly loud screaming match between the pair, the demon realized that nothing complicated was really required – only one simple visit to Angel Investigations, and then just let human nature do the rest.
Thus the creature simply walked in through the front door of 1.03 that night, and said to everyone, "Hi there. Name's Skip..."
Jasmine's lackey then had a long talk with Angel in his office, as the vampire heard a ridiculous but believable tale of demon racketeers trying to squeeze protection money out of some poor shopkeepers upstate. But all of a sudden the phone rang, as the Champion got a call from the former demon magnet...
"Hello? Xander. What's up? Yeah, just a second, lemme get a pen. Right. 25 Cabrillo, tonight, I got it. Thanks for letting me know..." Then the vampire hung up, and turned to his so-called client. "I'm sorry, something's come up..."
"Oh, hey, that's okay," Skip replied with a shrug. This was all working out perfectly...
The servant henchman followed the ensouled vampire out of the private office, as Angel talked to Cordelia, Wesley and Drusilla. "Xander had a vision, he saw some kinda demon hatching downtown. Drusilla, you wanna come with me, work out some of that surplus aggression?"
The soulless vamp smiled at her sire, who against Cordelia's advice had taken her in – as she was now basically harmless to human beings. Spike had never shown up again, ever since that night he and the others had busted out of the military complex; so Dru had assumed the worst, and tried to become Daddy's good little girl until she found a way to get rid of her circuitry.
And what the hell, it wasn't all bad – especially since she'd learned that the chip didn't hurt her, when it came to killing demons... "Okay."
The two vampires collected some weapons, and quickly headed out. Skip looked around, and saw that not only did Wesley have his nose buried in a book, Cordelia was fussing with her shoes; so he quickly slipped an enchanted pill into the teenager's drink, before saying farewell and walking out the door.
In due course, the brunette actress-to-be took another long gulp, before getting ready to apply her lipstick for the date she had on that night – but was instantly struck by some kind of headache. "Uh..."
As it almost threatened to split open her skull, Cordy quickly surrendered and got on the phone, "Hi, Wilson? It's me, Cordelia. Yeah. Look, sorry, but I can't make it to Lounge LaBrea tonight, I've got a monster migraine. Could you please get in touch with my girlfriends Emily and Sarina, give 'em my regrets? What's that supposed to mean? Oh, you jerk..." she slammed down the telephone.
Wesley instantly got to his feet, "Cordelia, are you all right?"
"Yeah," the former princess replied, now suddenly feeling flushed and sticky. "Headache. And loser ex-boyfriend."
"I'm sure Xander didn't-"
"Not him! Urghhh...I'm just gonna go home, sleep it off. I'll see you tomorrow..."
The British man was concerned, but trusting her judgement let her go. After she left, the former Council operative got back to his reading material, trying to find something to help his seer acquaintance; Wesley picked up a book called "Rhinehardt's Compendium", and started looking through it.
And before too long, he dropped the book in horror.
At that moment, Angel and Drusilla came back into the office, covered in demon gore and blood. "Oh, that was so much fun! Can we do it again soon, my Angel?" the soulless creature sired in 1860 exclaimed.
A small grin. "Well, guess the odds aren't all bad..." Then Angel saw Wesley's expression. "Wes? What's wrong?"
The latest descendant of the Wyndam-Pryce clan stammered, "Xander's visions...I-I-I just read..."
"What?"
"Angel, the visions...they're, they're an ancient, powerful force. Deadly, even. Apparently, demons are the only ones who can withstand them! And Xander's still part-human..."
"He'll be all right. My kitten's fur is gonna shine ever so brightly," Dru said deceptively, with what appeared to be a childlike faith in the future.
The men ignored her. "Well, that's not all. The last human who mistakenly received the visions – she was a Cockney girl named Tammy, back in 1630. Her power killed her in less than a year – Angel, the visions blew her brains out! Literally!" Wesley picked up the book, and started leafing through it.
The vampiric Champion started to pace around, "Okay, I hear what you're saying – Xander might need to get rid of his gift, sooner or later. Any ideas how?"
"I haven't found anything..." Then he stopped, and read a passage he hadn't found before. "Oh dear God! Angel – we have to find Xander, and tell him about this!"
"About what, Wes?"
"Right here, it's what I've been looking for! How to transfer the visions...it describes the ritual of the com-shuk..."
"What's that?"
Wesley looked embarrassed, "Well, you know – it's a...when a man and woman...join together..." he tried to gesture helplessly.
Angel looked embarrassed too as he got the idea, but Drusilla giggled, as her psychic receptors picked up what was going to happen later on. "Oh, oh! The Queen of Cups and her White Knight are gonna 'ave so much fun tonight..."
Angel and Wesley looked at each other in shock. "Cordelia..." they both said, and quickly tore out of the office.
At Xander's apartment, the woman in question was furiously banging on the front door. The young man grouchily answered it, "Who the hell is-"
Cordelia barged in, "-you?" he finished up in surprise, not expecting to see her again after their recent war of ugly words.
The drugged brunette wasted no time; the one-time dreaded prosecutor of the ugly and unfashionable simply assaulted her ex-boyfriend with her lips, and they started making out as she grabbed him. There was enough heat generated to put all such previous sessions to shame, but eventually Xander pushed her away before succumbing to temptation...
"What the heck is going on here? Cordy, why are you-?" Then he saw the predatory look in her eyes; Xander had seen it before, when they had dated years ago. Lust coupled with anticipation. "Oh no...Cordelia, please, what's come over you? Talk to me already!"
"I know you want me back! And I want you – right here, right now!" Ms. Chase growled, as she started stripping off her clothes.
The guy once possessed by a hyena looked uncertain, if only just for a moment. "No! Hold on. Cordy, I know you're...look – it, it's obvious you're under a love spell. I think? So let's just..." Xander then almost became desperate as she kept going, "Cor, it's not that I'm not tempted, I am – but please, think about what you're doing!"
Just as his ex-girlfriend was about to take off her bra, Wes and Angel burst in – and Xander for one was damned glad to see them. "Wes, Angel...uh, help! I think Cordy's been possessed or something!"
The two new arrivals tried to reason with her. "Cordelia, while normally this would be none of our business, there are things you must know before you proceed any further..." the Englishman started to say.
But the female teen just got annoyed. "I know what's going on here! Wesley – it's never gonna happen with us – and Angel, you're a eunuch..."
The vampire almost burst a blood vessel. "I am NOT!"
Xander looked apologetic, "I'm sure it's just an expression..."
Angel still looked annoyed. "She can find a better one!"
Cordelia also looked annoyed at the interruption. "You can't get any, without becoming all soulless and 'grrr'. Now, both of you leave! I'm about to get my boyfriend back, and we can discuss this tomorrow!"
Xander started backing away, and Wesley gave up as she advanced towards the object of her affections again. He simply shot Cordy with the tranq gun that had been in Angel's car, and that he had grabbed on the way to the apartment.
The male entity disliked by Miss Files and Records sighed in relief, and demanded to know what exactly had just transpired. And even though his companions couldn't explain the why, Xander learned the consequences of what would have happened if the gorgeous young woman had managed to seduce him.
"So, so, you're saying the only way for me to get rid of these damn vision things is to have sex with a demon? Or else curse some girl like that poor old Tammy chick, from way back when? With the only other choice being to wait and see, if one day they kill me?"
Angel and Wes were uncomfortable, but unable to disagree with that summation.
Xander looked at Darla's childe, "I can't believe I'm saying this – but it looks like we've finally got something in common, Brood Boy. We're both eunuchs now."
"I'M NOT A EUNUCH!" Angel yelled.
And in another dimension, Jasmine also screamed in great anger and self-righteous fury as her plans were completely ruined.
The next day at the detective agency, everyone except Xander was there. Then the guy came by and said at the doorway, "Mind if I come in?"
Nobody stopped him, although the embarrassed glare the now drug-free Cordelia sent his way could have melted glass. Xander just ignored it though, and said to Angel, "I heard you had an opening for a seer, here at Angel Investigations. I'd like to apply for the job."
Everyone was flabbergasted. "But, but what about your thing at that stupid comic-book store-?" his former classmate demanded.
Xander shot her a brief glance. "I quit."
Angel shrugged, showing no sign of happiness that Xander had finally given in to the inevitable. "You got any references?"
The unemployed survivor shrugged back, "No, but I do have Albert."
Wesley was confused. "Who the devil's Albert?"
"It's me, doing an important voice." He then started to say in an odd accent, "Xander Harris? An excellent hard worker, and a very nice-looking fellow..."
Cordelia smacked him on the arm, "You are such a dweeb! Always were, always will be!" Then she hugged him intensely, "And thank you for not taking advantage of me last night!"
Xander tried to imitate Humphrey Bogart, "Anytime, sweetheart..." They stepped away from one another, when the boy saw Wesley's questioning glance and shrugged again.
"I thought about what you said yesterday, and you're obviously right; sometimes, the phone's just not good enough. Especially where Cordy's concerned! And maybe there issomething more important for me to do in this life, than just being the Zeppo. Plus, hey, I figure if there's someone out there who wants me to lose the visions, that's a good enough reason to keep 'em for now..."
"That's very wise o' you, my sweet li'l valentine," Dru said dreamily, ignoring Cordy's new glare aimed towards her this time.
As the part-demon Perspective Guy faced the ensouled vampire, Angel finally smiled and stuck out his hand. They shook on it, as the Irish-born undead stated, "Welcome to Angel Investigations..."
TBC...
