Chapter 42: tales of the past
Title: Reunion time.
Author: Nikka
Author notes: Hi everyone, If you need to know about summary, rate and all the rest it's all in chapter 1 I'll just remind you that *English is not my native tongue* so you may find some spelling & grammar mistakes, you're more than welcome to let me know about them but remember you may find them while you read the story. Have fun.
Disclaimer: Angel & Buffy's characters are not my creation (wish they were) they belong to Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt. Other characters that are not familiar from the show do belong to me.
Author's remark: My chapters as of ch 12 will no longer be reproof by Sigma due to the fact that I have no internet and I'm asking someone else to post the remaining chapters for me. I want to take this opportunity and thank sigma for all the help. And I hope you will continue reading my story even without the excellent work sigma has done. Thank you again sigma for all your great work.
She could hear the sounds of people waking up; she wished she had a few more minutes to herself. **It won't be long before Angel wake's up and sees I'm not in bed next to him and starts looking for me. Of course he won't cause I'm out here on the deck drinking coffee enjoying the morning sun. But I imagine eventually he will, he'll probably ask Dawn to go look for me outside. And then I'll lose my quite moment.** She could hear people in the kitchen. It was Willow. She could smell the smell of Pancakes been made, and she remembered how hungry she was. But she didn't get up, not yet. She still wanted sometime on her own.
"Do you want it in a heart shape?" Cordy heard Willow from the other side of the door. ?"What? No she's not here." **great probably asking about me** Cordy thought to herself. "I'll check out back." She hared Willow and then heard the door opening. "Cordy? You're here. Angel is looking for you." Willow informed her.
"I figured he would." She got up holding onto her mug. "Just wanted to enjoy the sun for a while." Cordy explained and walked back inside to face Angel who seemed pissed.
"Where were you?" He asked angrily.
"Outside." She said briefly while putting her mug in the sink.
"Conor was crying like crazy, didn't you hear him?" He snapped at her.
"No I didn't. Did you give him a bottle?" Cordy asked.
"Sure after you were no where to be found." He was obviously angry with her.
"Look, I'm sorry but you were there its not like ..."
"I didn't know where you put his bottle, and besides, you know how he loves it when you're around when he wakes up. You should have been more responsible, especially after..."
"That's it." She yelled at him. "I'm not you're servant, maid, or nanny." She walked out to the backyard knowing he can't follow her.
"What?" Angel looked at Willow innocently.
"Come on Angel." Willow didn't buy his innocent look.
"What?" He asked confused. He really didn't seem to know what the problem was.
"You can't take people for granted, no matter how oblivious you are. You just can't." She kept her eyes on the pancakes.
"Oblivious? Granted? What are you talking about Will?" Angel still didn't get it.
"I'm talking about you always expecting her to be there, always taking it as a fact that she would be." Willow tried to explain. She finished the last pancake, turned off the stove and poured her some coffee. "Wants some? She offered.
"No, thanks. And I don't always expects her to be there, I know she has a life of her own."
"Does she really?" Willow sat on one of the stools and Angel sat beside her. "Because on the looks of it, she doesn't. Her life is you guys. The investigation thing, the visions, the mission and apparently taking care of your child." Willow emphasized that last part.
"My child? He may as well be hers." Angel explained.
"But he isn't, is he? Sure she takes care of him and loves him but he'll never truly be hers. You'll always be his father and always your word will matter most."
"The point being?" Angel was losing his patience.
"The point is Angel. If you were worried about her, if you were scared something might have happened to her, you could have just said that, instead of yelling at her for not taking care of your child, not hers, yours."
Angel didn't know how Willow knew what he really felt, but she did. **God I'm such an idiot** He thought to himself. "I better go and talk to her." He looked outside knowing it wasn't possible at the moment. "Or I'll just wait for her to come back in." Willow smiled as she grabbed some plates and carried them to the dining room.
"Give me a hand will you?" She asked Angel as he kept staring out the window at Cordy.
"Sure." He said without turning his eyes. And then he saw it. She suddenly stood up and fell to the ground crouching in pain. "Oh god."
"What is it?" Willow turned quickly.
"Something's wrong, please go to her!" Angel asked and Willow quickly put the plates down and ran outside to Cordelia who was lying on the ground twirling in pain.
"Cordy? Cordy?" Willow held her down, but she didn't stop crying out. Angel couldn't do anything but stare.
"Cordy look at me!" Willow grabbed her face trying to stop her from crying. She didn't respond. "Cordy!" She yelled at her, and then it stopped. She laid on the grass her eyes half open filed with tears. She looked up at Willow.
"Willow?" She asked confused. "What happened?"
"I should ask you that. Are you okay? Can you get up?"
"I think so." She slowly got up with Willow's help.
"Let's get you inside. Angel is worried crazy." She said as they walked towards the house.
***
Angel took Cordy to the leaving room that by now was filled with people. They were all there; the A.I. the Scoobies, all-wondering what happened. Dawn brought Cordelia some water and aspirin while Angel helped her to the couch. She sat down staring at all the worried faces looking back at her.
"What happened?" Gunn took the protector rule.
"I had a vision." Cordy replied. She was still shaken up.
"Your visions are usually; a bit of floating, some yelling out loud, but not sharp pains to the head. Not anymore." Fred commented.
"I know, I can't explain it. Maybe it's because I had a vision about the Dorkanious."
"The Dorkanious?" Giles's eyes lit up. So did Wesley's.
"Yeah, he's coming and his not happy." Cordelia remembered the vision.
"Not happy? What did we ever do to him?" Dawn asked concerned.
"We have his book and he wants it back." Cordy replied.
"We do?" Buffy looked around at all the book spread on the table.
"Can you tell which one, like you did before?" Xander asked.
"No, not yet. I guess it's not here yet. But by the time he gets here it will be. And he'll want it, and he'll get it." Cordy took a sip of water.
"When?" Willow asked what the rest feared to.
"Soon. A day maybe two." Cordelia said and saw the entire room stare at her in fear. "And I'm guessing the book will appear sometime around then. We don't have much time." She finished off.
"So all our work was for nothing." Willow said disappointed. "We don't need the locator spell anymore."
"No, we can still use it." Cordy said. "I can sense it when I touch it, or when I'm near it, not when it's far. The book could be here in Sunnydale but not near us and I won't sense it. The spell could help." Cordy explained and Willow smiled, happy all her hard work wasn't a waste.
"If I remember correctly you said the book couldn't be destroyed, right?" Buffy asked and Cordy nodded for affirmation. "So what good will it do to have it if we can't destroy it?"
"At least he won't have it either, and because his incorporeal he can't really hurts us." Willow replied. "Am I right?" She hoped she was.
"Basically yes." Cordy said. But as I said he can possess the body of any living creature, which includes demons and vampires. So if he wants to..."
"He can use them to hurt us." Angel finished off the sentence.
"Yeah." Cordy concurred.
"Great so we have nothing, no way to protect ourselves." Gunn summed it up.
"I think some of us should leave." Cordy said all of the sudden to the surprise of everyone.
"What?" Angel asked not understanding.
"If my vision comes true..."
"It won't." Angel cut her off.
"But if it will, it means Sunnydale will become a prison for all of us. I didn't see it spread further than Sunnydale."
"So you're thinking of getting some of us out before it's too late." Buffy got to her way of thinking. She wanted Dawn as far away from here as possible.
"Yeah but who will go? If we want to defeat it we'll need everyone on board." Wesley commented.
"We don't need Dawn..." Cordy started to say when...
"The hell you don't." Dawn cut her off. "Cordy don't say that, I'm a valuable member of the Scoobies, right?" She turned to Willow for help.
"Dawnie, I think Cordelia's right. You should go..."
"And you should take both Lorne and Conor with you." Angel added.
"Me? Now you're kicking me out?" Lorne didn't expect this.
"We need someone who can take care of them, someone older." Cordy who knew what Angel was thinking, cause she thought the same, explained.
"And someone who you won't miss in battle." Lorne added.
"No Lorne that's not what I meant..."
"It's okay princess, I understand. I'm not mad, I'm actually honored."
"You are?" Xander asked surprised. Whenever he was cast aside he never felt honored.
"Honored that you think so highly of me that you trust me with both Conor and Dawn." He smiled.
"I'm not leaving, so count me out." Dawn insisted.
"Yes you are." Buffy steeped in. "You heard what Angel told us, you know what's coming. I need to stay focused on the mission and I can't do that if I'm worried about you getting hurt, or worse." Buffy steeped closer to her. "Dawn, this is not about you, it's about the grater good, about fighting the good fight. You know what I mean; you're old enough to understand. Don't make it more difficult than it already is." Dawn knew she was right, she just couldn't admit it yet, so she said nothing.
"Who else?" Gunn asked. "Can Fred go?" He didn't want her around, especially after knowing she'll die and he'll be left standing.
"No Gunn. I'm not a child and I can help, I can't go." She knew he said it out of love, but she couldn't leave.
"She's right, we can use her." Buffy said. "But maybe Angel should go also." That last remark made everyone turn their heads and stare at Buffy. "If the vision is true Angel won't be here for much longer and I really don't think any of us wants to meet Angelus again." She looked at the Scoobies who agreed with her assessment.
"I'm not leaving." Angel stated.
"Angel think of the alternative, we can't effort..."
"I said." He cut Buffy off. "I'm not leaving, this is not negotiable." And that was it, no one else argued.
"So its Lorne, Dawn and Conor, right?" Wesley named all the departures parties.
"If there's anyone else here who wants to go, he should. There's no obligation to stay, anyone can go, but do it now." Buffy looked around the room waiting to see if someone rises is or her hand. She smiled knowing no one would, not even Anya. "Okay, Dawn you better go pack, Lorne you do the same. You should leave as soon as possible."
"You can take my car." Giles handed Lorne the keys. "If we'll survive this you can give it back to me, if not take care of it, she eats up a lot of gas." Lorne smiled.
***
It wasn't long and they were all ready to go. After awhile Dawn stopped frowning and accepted her leaving as a fact. Angel packed Conor's things while Cordy took him out back for some one-on-one time.
"Hi baby face." She spoke to the half-sleeping baby. I sure hope I'm wrong and we'll meet again. "She rocked him back and forth. "But something tells me we won't and in that case I wanted to say to you a few impartment things, so here goes: 1. Always be kind to women, you should treat them like a rare object, with extra delicateness.
2. Listen to your father. He may be stubborn sometime but usually he knows what he's talking about.
3. Remember family comes first, before friends, before girlfriends. And you little fellow have one hell of a family so take care of them, for me. Alright?" A small tear appeared in the corner of her eye. "Remember me. Remember how I loved you; remember how I wished you were mine. Remember I will always, always watch over you." Now the tears came pouring. She wiped them off and continued. "Always have a sense of style. Wear lots of color, not like your gloomy dad who prefers black.
4. Be kind, be generous, but don't let people walk over you. Love with all your heart, but be careful to whom you give to. And do some good, okay? You have some great role models; learn from them. And last thing." She took a deep breath. "Take care of your dad for me. Make sure he gets some peace of mind, make sure he won't hide under a rock and disappears. Make sure he lives." She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. I love you Conor," She kept rocking him back and forth.
***
"Are we ready to go? Lorne asked as he saw Dawn.
"Sure, whatever." Dawn mumbled.
"Don't worry sweaty you'll love L.A." Lorne said with a smile.
"Is dad there?" Dawn asked Buffy.
"No, he's still on a business trip. But in case we won't..." Buffy could bear to say it. "In any case, as soon as he gets back, you'll go to him, alrihgt?" Dawn nodded. She stopped frowning when she saw how hard it was for Buffy to let go. "Take care of yourself." Buffy reached out and hugged her sister. "I love you." She whispered in her ear.
"I love you too." Dawn reciprocated
"Here's my little trooper." Lorne said when he saw Angel & Cordy coming towards him with Conor in their arms. "Have we said all our goodbyes?" Lorne asked.
"As much as I could." **It was heart breaking seeing Angel like that**, She thought to herself. Cordy wished she could tell him the truth and spear him this pain, but she knew she couldn't, not yet. If he knew, he'd stop her and everything will go wrong.
In the living room all the Scoobies and A.I. gathered to say good-bye. The A.I. hugged Lorne and kissed Conor while the Scoobies said parting words to Dawn. After a few minutes it was all done. Angel Kissed Conor and hugged him for the last time before handing him over to Cordy who did the same and finally placed him in his pram. And that was it they were gone. With all the sorrow involved, But Angel and Buffy were glad to know their loved ones are safe.
***
"Hi." She looked up and saw Willow standing in the doorway. "Can I come in?"
"Sure." Buffy said and placed her head back on the bed staring at the sealing.
Willow walked in and closed the door behind her. She walked up to Buffy and sat on the bed beside her. "So is there anything new up there?" Willow looked at the ceiling.
"What?" Buffy looked at her not understanding the question.
"You've been staring at it for a while, so I figured there must be something new about it." Willow explained.
"Sorry." Buffy sat up. "I'm just wondering if I did the right thing."
"About sending Dawn?" Willow asked. And Buffy nodded. "You did. You're both better off like this. Now you can focus on what's coming and Dawn is out of danger."
"I know, but you should have seen the way she looked at me." Buffy remembered Dawn's frowned face as she left.
"She'll get over it. You know Dawnie she's..." Suddenly something caught her attention. On the carpet she saw a silver shining thing.
"What is it Will?" Buffy asked when noticed that Willow was staring at something.
"I'm not sure, she said and reached down and grabbed it.
"What did you find in Buffy's room of mystery...?" She stopped when she saw what Willow was holding. It was a lighter. Not just any lighter, but Spike's lighter.
Willow looked at Buffy confused. "Buffy that looks like Spike's lighter, but it can't be. Spike hasn't been up here, at least not for awhile, so how can the lighter..." A realization came upon her. "Buffy? Was Spike...? Was Spike...? Well what I'm trying to ask is...?
"Yes he was here, yes in my room, yes with me. And yes he stayed here for most of the night." Buffy said it all at once in fear she won't be able to say at all.
"Oh gosh." Willow mumbled out of her wide opened mouth. "You and Spike are... What? Dating?" Willow wasn't sure how to call this relationship.
"NO!" Buffy said firmly. "We're just... together, you know." Buffy knew it didn't explain it much, but had no other way of putting it.
"I guess now I do know." Willow was still shocked. "Does Xander know?"
"No! And you can't tell him. He won't take it so calmly like you did."
"So this is your definition of calm." **I'm on the break of having a heart attack, and she thinks I'm calm** Willow thought to herself.
"Will, I know it's a lot to take in, but bear in mind I too was open about choices you made." Buffy hoped that would convince her.
**True she did, that's a good point, but still... Tara was good and nice and loving and Spike... Spike is anything but that. But on the other hand, he did help us this summer when he didn't have to. And he does care about Dawn. And he said on more than one occasion that he loves Buffy, so I guess in a way... No there's still a world of difference between him and Tara. But never mind this, Buffy's my friend and if she needs my support then that's what she'll get, I owe her that much**
"Willow?" Buffy said after noticing she hasn't answered back.
"I'm here." Willow said with a smile. "You're right, you did accept my choices and I should accept yours. So if Spike is what you want you got my support."
"Do you really mean it, or are you just saying it cause of guilt on the whole death-and-back-to-life-thing?" Buffy had a feeling she wasn't really okay with this.
"I won't lie to you. Part of said it because I feel guilty, another part because of the way you welcomed Tara and accepted any choice I made. But a big part of me said it, because you're my friend and I love you and I want you to be happy. And if Spike's makes you happy, although I can't imagine how, then so be it." Buffy couldn't help herself and reached out and hugged Willow so tight she could barely breathe.
"Buffy? Buffy?" Willow tapped on her back, instructing her to let go a bit.
"Uh sorry." Buffy let go. "I'm just glad you're okay with this.
"I am, but just for the record." Willow took a big breath. "I don't think been with Spike is what you need, I don't think this relationship is good for you. I don't think that any relationship that you have to hide from your friends, family and even yourself can be good for you." Buffy stopped smiling as Willow went on. "Although I admit that Spike has changed and he has helped us more than once when he didn't have to, that doesn't change the fact that he has no soul and without that chip in his brain he'll go back to being the old Spike we knew a few years ago. Remember that." Willow didn't want to be harsh but she wanted Buffy to understand.
"I know." Buffy replied. "And I don't love him, sometimes I don't even know if I like him. But right now I need him."
"Does he know you're using him?" Willow asked coldly.
"Yes." She replied.
***
"I think I found something." Giles's shout startled everyone.
"What? What?" Wesley who dozed off woke up all at once.
"I think I found a way to destroy the book, or a least lock it away for good, where the Dorkanious can never find it." Giles said with pride of his discovery.
"How? I thought there was no mention of the Dorkanious in the books?" Fred asked confused.
"There isn't, but there is reference to the white book." Giles said and no one really knew what he meant, except for Wesley.
"Of course." Wesley jumped in. "How I could have missed it." He was angry with himself.
"What People?" Cordy said to them.
"The white book is a tale about an ancient book that use to show up in different location, sometimes all at once and only the white priestesses could see it and control it."
"The what?" Angel decided to join in.
"The white priestesses were a cult of powerful women who possessed great powers. There are many tales and myths about them. No one really knows what is true and what is false." Giles explained.
"One of the tale said they were like the amazons." Wesley elaborated.
"What? Like they fought and jumped from trees like Xena?" Gunn smiled amused by the notion.
"No." Wesley frowned at him. "Similar in the way, they kept only the girls and deserted the boys. You couldn't join their cult, you had to be born into it." Wesley kept on. "According to the tales, on their 12th birthday each girl received the power her ancestors possessed and a special gift as well."
"What kind of gift?" Cordy found the story way too familiar.
"Some were able to heal with a touch, others became great sorceress...."
"Was the sight a gift also?" Cordy asked to the Wesley's surprise.
"Yes, actually the priestesses are the first beings to be documented to have possessed that gift.
"So how come demons have it, like Cordy?" Fred asked.
"Hey." Cordy said. "Only half demon, thank you."
"You see." Wesley began to explain. "The priestesses were forbidden to fall in love, because according to their beliefs, if a child was born out of love he or she would have had all the priestesses powers and also his mother's gift when he or she turned 12, whether he was a boy or girl. According to the legend, one priestess fell in love with a man and gave birth to his son. And so, when the boy turned 12 he received all the priestesses' power and his mother's gift as well.
"And of course that changed him, he wasn't a human any more. The powers he received changed him." Giles elaborated. "But that's just a myth."
"The gift? Was it the sight?" Cordy asked.
"Yes it was. And that is how, according to the tales, the gift speared around the world passing from one demon to the other.
"So that boy was a demon?" Gunn tried to keep track.
"Not really but he was different." Giles explained. "It was believed that as the time moved on from one generation to the other the change became permanent and so did the sight."
"So what? Am I a descendant of the priestesses? That can't be I got the visions from Doyle, and my mom had no gift, except the ones she bought to herself." Cordy didn't understand it at all.
"I don't Cordelia. It may be. But as I said its just a myth.
"But still, imagine it's not." Cordy pressed on.
"You said for you're self that you got the visions by mistake from Doyle. What if Doyle is a descendant of that boy thousands of years ago?" Giles was hypothesizing. "The truth is we just don't' know."
TBC
Hi ppl,
It was a nice surprise to see not all of you wanted to behead me after the last chapter. And for that I am grateful. As for the angry mob, all I can say is: Sorry.
This chapter is a bit longer than usual and that's caused I made you wait.
I should worn you all in advance; a very very busy months are ahead and unfortunately I won't be able to finish the story before it starts (it starts this week), so... I ask you to bear with me, and be patience. I promise I'll end the story; it's just that it might take longer for me to update chapters. Hope you understand.
As usual I really rally love-receiving reviews, so please review. Hope you like this one; let me know what you think.
Thanks Nikka.
Title: Reunion time.
Author: Nikka
Author notes: Hi everyone, If you need to know about summary, rate and all the rest it's all in chapter 1 I'll just remind you that *English is not my native tongue* so you may find some spelling & grammar mistakes, you're more than welcome to let me know about them but remember you may find them while you read the story. Have fun.
Disclaimer: Angel & Buffy's characters are not my creation (wish they were) they belong to Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt. Other characters that are not familiar from the show do belong to me.
Author's remark: My chapters as of ch 12 will no longer be reproof by Sigma due to the fact that I have no internet and I'm asking someone else to post the remaining chapters for me. I want to take this opportunity and thank sigma for all the help. And I hope you will continue reading my story even without the excellent work sigma has done. Thank you again sigma for all your great work.
She could hear the sounds of people waking up; she wished she had a few more minutes to herself. **It won't be long before Angel wake's up and sees I'm not in bed next to him and starts looking for me. Of course he won't cause I'm out here on the deck drinking coffee enjoying the morning sun. But I imagine eventually he will, he'll probably ask Dawn to go look for me outside. And then I'll lose my quite moment.** She could hear people in the kitchen. It was Willow. She could smell the smell of Pancakes been made, and she remembered how hungry she was. But she didn't get up, not yet. She still wanted sometime on her own.
"Do you want it in a heart shape?" Cordy heard Willow from the other side of the door. ?"What? No she's not here." **great probably asking about me** Cordy thought to herself. "I'll check out back." She hared Willow and then heard the door opening. "Cordy? You're here. Angel is looking for you." Willow informed her.
"I figured he would." She got up holding onto her mug. "Just wanted to enjoy the sun for a while." Cordy explained and walked back inside to face Angel who seemed pissed.
"Where were you?" He asked angrily.
"Outside." She said briefly while putting her mug in the sink.
"Conor was crying like crazy, didn't you hear him?" He snapped at her.
"No I didn't. Did you give him a bottle?" Cordy asked.
"Sure after you were no where to be found." He was obviously angry with her.
"Look, I'm sorry but you were there its not like ..."
"I didn't know where you put his bottle, and besides, you know how he loves it when you're around when he wakes up. You should have been more responsible, especially after..."
"That's it." She yelled at him. "I'm not you're servant, maid, or nanny." She walked out to the backyard knowing he can't follow her.
"What?" Angel looked at Willow innocently.
"Come on Angel." Willow didn't buy his innocent look.
"What?" He asked confused. He really didn't seem to know what the problem was.
"You can't take people for granted, no matter how oblivious you are. You just can't." She kept her eyes on the pancakes.
"Oblivious? Granted? What are you talking about Will?" Angel still didn't get it.
"I'm talking about you always expecting her to be there, always taking it as a fact that she would be." Willow tried to explain. She finished the last pancake, turned off the stove and poured her some coffee. "Wants some? She offered.
"No, thanks. And I don't always expects her to be there, I know she has a life of her own."
"Does she really?" Willow sat on one of the stools and Angel sat beside her. "Because on the looks of it, she doesn't. Her life is you guys. The investigation thing, the visions, the mission and apparently taking care of your child." Willow emphasized that last part.
"My child? He may as well be hers." Angel explained.
"But he isn't, is he? Sure she takes care of him and loves him but he'll never truly be hers. You'll always be his father and always your word will matter most."
"The point being?" Angel was losing his patience.
"The point is Angel. If you were worried about her, if you were scared something might have happened to her, you could have just said that, instead of yelling at her for not taking care of your child, not hers, yours."
Angel didn't know how Willow knew what he really felt, but she did. **God I'm such an idiot** He thought to himself. "I better go and talk to her." He looked outside knowing it wasn't possible at the moment. "Or I'll just wait for her to come back in." Willow smiled as she grabbed some plates and carried them to the dining room.
"Give me a hand will you?" She asked Angel as he kept staring out the window at Cordy.
"Sure." He said without turning his eyes. And then he saw it. She suddenly stood up and fell to the ground crouching in pain. "Oh god."
"What is it?" Willow turned quickly.
"Something's wrong, please go to her!" Angel asked and Willow quickly put the plates down and ran outside to Cordelia who was lying on the ground twirling in pain.
"Cordy? Cordy?" Willow held her down, but she didn't stop crying out. Angel couldn't do anything but stare.
"Cordy look at me!" Willow grabbed her face trying to stop her from crying. She didn't respond. "Cordy!" She yelled at her, and then it stopped. She laid on the grass her eyes half open filed with tears. She looked up at Willow.
"Willow?" She asked confused. "What happened?"
"I should ask you that. Are you okay? Can you get up?"
"I think so." She slowly got up with Willow's help.
"Let's get you inside. Angel is worried crazy." She said as they walked towards the house.
***
Angel took Cordy to the leaving room that by now was filled with people. They were all there; the A.I. the Scoobies, all-wondering what happened. Dawn brought Cordelia some water and aspirin while Angel helped her to the couch. She sat down staring at all the worried faces looking back at her.
"What happened?" Gunn took the protector rule.
"I had a vision." Cordy replied. She was still shaken up.
"Your visions are usually; a bit of floating, some yelling out loud, but not sharp pains to the head. Not anymore." Fred commented.
"I know, I can't explain it. Maybe it's because I had a vision about the Dorkanious."
"The Dorkanious?" Giles's eyes lit up. So did Wesley's.
"Yeah, he's coming and his not happy." Cordelia remembered the vision.
"Not happy? What did we ever do to him?" Dawn asked concerned.
"We have his book and he wants it back." Cordy replied.
"We do?" Buffy looked around at all the book spread on the table.
"Can you tell which one, like you did before?" Xander asked.
"No, not yet. I guess it's not here yet. But by the time he gets here it will be. And he'll want it, and he'll get it." Cordy took a sip of water.
"When?" Willow asked what the rest feared to.
"Soon. A day maybe two." Cordelia said and saw the entire room stare at her in fear. "And I'm guessing the book will appear sometime around then. We don't have much time." She finished off.
"So all our work was for nothing." Willow said disappointed. "We don't need the locator spell anymore."
"No, we can still use it." Cordy said. "I can sense it when I touch it, or when I'm near it, not when it's far. The book could be here in Sunnydale but not near us and I won't sense it. The spell could help." Cordy explained and Willow smiled, happy all her hard work wasn't a waste.
"If I remember correctly you said the book couldn't be destroyed, right?" Buffy asked and Cordy nodded for affirmation. "So what good will it do to have it if we can't destroy it?"
"At least he won't have it either, and because his incorporeal he can't really hurts us." Willow replied. "Am I right?" She hoped she was.
"Basically yes." Cordy said. But as I said he can possess the body of any living creature, which includes demons and vampires. So if he wants to..."
"He can use them to hurt us." Angel finished off the sentence.
"Yeah." Cordy concurred.
"Great so we have nothing, no way to protect ourselves." Gunn summed it up.
"I think some of us should leave." Cordy said all of the sudden to the surprise of everyone.
"What?" Angel asked not understanding.
"If my vision comes true..."
"It won't." Angel cut her off.
"But if it will, it means Sunnydale will become a prison for all of us. I didn't see it spread further than Sunnydale."
"So you're thinking of getting some of us out before it's too late." Buffy got to her way of thinking. She wanted Dawn as far away from here as possible.
"Yeah but who will go? If we want to defeat it we'll need everyone on board." Wesley commented.
"We don't need Dawn..." Cordy started to say when...
"The hell you don't." Dawn cut her off. "Cordy don't say that, I'm a valuable member of the Scoobies, right?" She turned to Willow for help.
"Dawnie, I think Cordelia's right. You should go..."
"And you should take both Lorne and Conor with you." Angel added.
"Me? Now you're kicking me out?" Lorne didn't expect this.
"We need someone who can take care of them, someone older." Cordy who knew what Angel was thinking, cause she thought the same, explained.
"And someone who you won't miss in battle." Lorne added.
"No Lorne that's not what I meant..."
"It's okay princess, I understand. I'm not mad, I'm actually honored."
"You are?" Xander asked surprised. Whenever he was cast aside he never felt honored.
"Honored that you think so highly of me that you trust me with both Conor and Dawn." He smiled.
"I'm not leaving, so count me out." Dawn insisted.
"Yes you are." Buffy steeped in. "You heard what Angel told us, you know what's coming. I need to stay focused on the mission and I can't do that if I'm worried about you getting hurt, or worse." Buffy steeped closer to her. "Dawn, this is not about you, it's about the grater good, about fighting the good fight. You know what I mean; you're old enough to understand. Don't make it more difficult than it already is." Dawn knew she was right, she just couldn't admit it yet, so she said nothing.
"Who else?" Gunn asked. "Can Fred go?" He didn't want her around, especially after knowing she'll die and he'll be left standing.
"No Gunn. I'm not a child and I can help, I can't go." She knew he said it out of love, but she couldn't leave.
"She's right, we can use her." Buffy said. "But maybe Angel should go also." That last remark made everyone turn their heads and stare at Buffy. "If the vision is true Angel won't be here for much longer and I really don't think any of us wants to meet Angelus again." She looked at the Scoobies who agreed with her assessment.
"I'm not leaving." Angel stated.
"Angel think of the alternative, we can't effort..."
"I said." He cut Buffy off. "I'm not leaving, this is not negotiable." And that was it, no one else argued.
"So its Lorne, Dawn and Conor, right?" Wesley named all the departures parties.
"If there's anyone else here who wants to go, he should. There's no obligation to stay, anyone can go, but do it now." Buffy looked around the room waiting to see if someone rises is or her hand. She smiled knowing no one would, not even Anya. "Okay, Dawn you better go pack, Lorne you do the same. You should leave as soon as possible."
"You can take my car." Giles handed Lorne the keys. "If we'll survive this you can give it back to me, if not take care of it, she eats up a lot of gas." Lorne smiled.
***
It wasn't long and they were all ready to go. After awhile Dawn stopped frowning and accepted her leaving as a fact. Angel packed Conor's things while Cordy took him out back for some one-on-one time.
"Hi baby face." She spoke to the half-sleeping baby. I sure hope I'm wrong and we'll meet again. "She rocked him back and forth. "But something tells me we won't and in that case I wanted to say to you a few impartment things, so here goes: 1. Always be kind to women, you should treat them like a rare object, with extra delicateness.
2. Listen to your father. He may be stubborn sometime but usually he knows what he's talking about.
3. Remember family comes first, before friends, before girlfriends. And you little fellow have one hell of a family so take care of them, for me. Alright?" A small tear appeared in the corner of her eye. "Remember me. Remember how I loved you; remember how I wished you were mine. Remember I will always, always watch over you." Now the tears came pouring. She wiped them off and continued. "Always have a sense of style. Wear lots of color, not like your gloomy dad who prefers black.
4. Be kind, be generous, but don't let people walk over you. Love with all your heart, but be careful to whom you give to. And do some good, okay? You have some great role models; learn from them. And last thing." She took a deep breath. "Take care of your dad for me. Make sure he gets some peace of mind, make sure he won't hide under a rock and disappears. Make sure he lives." She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. I love you Conor," She kept rocking him back and forth.
***
"Are we ready to go? Lorne asked as he saw Dawn.
"Sure, whatever." Dawn mumbled.
"Don't worry sweaty you'll love L.A." Lorne said with a smile.
"Is dad there?" Dawn asked Buffy.
"No, he's still on a business trip. But in case we won't..." Buffy could bear to say it. "In any case, as soon as he gets back, you'll go to him, alrihgt?" Dawn nodded. She stopped frowning when she saw how hard it was for Buffy to let go. "Take care of yourself." Buffy reached out and hugged her sister. "I love you." She whispered in her ear.
"I love you too." Dawn reciprocated
"Here's my little trooper." Lorne said when he saw Angel & Cordy coming towards him with Conor in their arms. "Have we said all our goodbyes?" Lorne asked.
"As much as I could." **It was heart breaking seeing Angel like that**, She thought to herself. Cordy wished she could tell him the truth and spear him this pain, but she knew she couldn't, not yet. If he knew, he'd stop her and everything will go wrong.
In the living room all the Scoobies and A.I. gathered to say good-bye. The A.I. hugged Lorne and kissed Conor while the Scoobies said parting words to Dawn. After a few minutes it was all done. Angel Kissed Conor and hugged him for the last time before handing him over to Cordy who did the same and finally placed him in his pram. And that was it they were gone. With all the sorrow involved, But Angel and Buffy were glad to know their loved ones are safe.
***
"Hi." She looked up and saw Willow standing in the doorway. "Can I come in?"
"Sure." Buffy said and placed her head back on the bed staring at the sealing.
Willow walked in and closed the door behind her. She walked up to Buffy and sat on the bed beside her. "So is there anything new up there?" Willow looked at the ceiling.
"What?" Buffy looked at her not understanding the question.
"You've been staring at it for a while, so I figured there must be something new about it." Willow explained.
"Sorry." Buffy sat up. "I'm just wondering if I did the right thing."
"About sending Dawn?" Willow asked. And Buffy nodded. "You did. You're both better off like this. Now you can focus on what's coming and Dawn is out of danger."
"I know, but you should have seen the way she looked at me." Buffy remembered Dawn's frowned face as she left.
"She'll get over it. You know Dawnie she's..." Suddenly something caught her attention. On the carpet she saw a silver shining thing.
"What is it Will?" Buffy asked when noticed that Willow was staring at something.
"I'm not sure, she said and reached down and grabbed it.
"What did you find in Buffy's room of mystery...?" She stopped when she saw what Willow was holding. It was a lighter. Not just any lighter, but Spike's lighter.
Willow looked at Buffy confused. "Buffy that looks like Spike's lighter, but it can't be. Spike hasn't been up here, at least not for awhile, so how can the lighter..." A realization came upon her. "Buffy? Was Spike...? Was Spike...? Well what I'm trying to ask is...?
"Yes he was here, yes in my room, yes with me. And yes he stayed here for most of the night." Buffy said it all at once in fear she won't be able to say at all.
"Oh gosh." Willow mumbled out of her wide opened mouth. "You and Spike are... What? Dating?" Willow wasn't sure how to call this relationship.
"NO!" Buffy said firmly. "We're just... together, you know." Buffy knew it didn't explain it much, but had no other way of putting it.
"I guess now I do know." Willow was still shocked. "Does Xander know?"
"No! And you can't tell him. He won't take it so calmly like you did."
"So this is your definition of calm." **I'm on the break of having a heart attack, and she thinks I'm calm** Willow thought to herself.
"Will, I know it's a lot to take in, but bear in mind I too was open about choices you made." Buffy hoped that would convince her.
**True she did, that's a good point, but still... Tara was good and nice and loving and Spike... Spike is anything but that. But on the other hand, he did help us this summer when he didn't have to. And he does care about Dawn. And he said on more than one occasion that he loves Buffy, so I guess in a way... No there's still a world of difference between him and Tara. But never mind this, Buffy's my friend and if she needs my support then that's what she'll get, I owe her that much**
"Willow?" Buffy said after noticing she hasn't answered back.
"I'm here." Willow said with a smile. "You're right, you did accept my choices and I should accept yours. So if Spike is what you want you got my support."
"Do you really mean it, or are you just saying it cause of guilt on the whole death-and-back-to-life-thing?" Buffy had a feeling she wasn't really okay with this.
"I won't lie to you. Part of said it because I feel guilty, another part because of the way you welcomed Tara and accepted any choice I made. But a big part of me said it, because you're my friend and I love you and I want you to be happy. And if Spike's makes you happy, although I can't imagine how, then so be it." Buffy couldn't help herself and reached out and hugged Willow so tight she could barely breathe.
"Buffy? Buffy?" Willow tapped on her back, instructing her to let go a bit.
"Uh sorry." Buffy let go. "I'm just glad you're okay with this.
"I am, but just for the record." Willow took a big breath. "I don't think been with Spike is what you need, I don't think this relationship is good for you. I don't think that any relationship that you have to hide from your friends, family and even yourself can be good for you." Buffy stopped smiling as Willow went on. "Although I admit that Spike has changed and he has helped us more than once when he didn't have to, that doesn't change the fact that he has no soul and without that chip in his brain he'll go back to being the old Spike we knew a few years ago. Remember that." Willow didn't want to be harsh but she wanted Buffy to understand.
"I know." Buffy replied. "And I don't love him, sometimes I don't even know if I like him. But right now I need him."
"Does he know you're using him?" Willow asked coldly.
"Yes." She replied.
***
"I think I found something." Giles's shout startled everyone.
"What? What?" Wesley who dozed off woke up all at once.
"I think I found a way to destroy the book, or a least lock it away for good, where the Dorkanious can never find it." Giles said with pride of his discovery.
"How? I thought there was no mention of the Dorkanious in the books?" Fred asked confused.
"There isn't, but there is reference to the white book." Giles said and no one really knew what he meant, except for Wesley.
"Of course." Wesley jumped in. "How I could have missed it." He was angry with himself.
"What People?" Cordy said to them.
"The white book is a tale about an ancient book that use to show up in different location, sometimes all at once and only the white priestesses could see it and control it."
"The what?" Angel decided to join in.
"The white priestesses were a cult of powerful women who possessed great powers. There are many tales and myths about them. No one really knows what is true and what is false." Giles explained.
"One of the tale said they were like the amazons." Wesley elaborated.
"What? Like they fought and jumped from trees like Xena?" Gunn smiled amused by the notion.
"No." Wesley frowned at him. "Similar in the way, they kept only the girls and deserted the boys. You couldn't join their cult, you had to be born into it." Wesley kept on. "According to the tales, on their 12th birthday each girl received the power her ancestors possessed and a special gift as well."
"What kind of gift?" Cordy found the story way too familiar.
"Some were able to heal with a touch, others became great sorceress...."
"Was the sight a gift also?" Cordy asked to the Wesley's surprise.
"Yes, actually the priestesses are the first beings to be documented to have possessed that gift.
"So how come demons have it, like Cordy?" Fred asked.
"Hey." Cordy said. "Only half demon, thank you."
"You see." Wesley began to explain. "The priestesses were forbidden to fall in love, because according to their beliefs, if a child was born out of love he or she would have had all the priestesses powers and also his mother's gift when he or she turned 12, whether he was a boy or girl. According to the legend, one priestess fell in love with a man and gave birth to his son. And so, when the boy turned 12 he received all the priestesses' power and his mother's gift as well.
"And of course that changed him, he wasn't a human any more. The powers he received changed him." Giles elaborated. "But that's just a myth."
"The gift? Was it the sight?" Cordy asked.
"Yes it was. And that is how, according to the tales, the gift speared around the world passing from one demon to the other.
"So that boy was a demon?" Gunn tried to keep track.
"Not really but he was different." Giles explained. "It was believed that as the time moved on from one generation to the other the change became permanent and so did the sight."
"So what? Am I a descendant of the priestesses? That can't be I got the visions from Doyle, and my mom had no gift, except the ones she bought to herself." Cordy didn't understand it at all.
"I don't Cordelia. It may be. But as I said its just a myth.
"But still, imagine it's not." Cordy pressed on.
"You said for you're self that you got the visions by mistake from Doyle. What if Doyle is a descendant of that boy thousands of years ago?" Giles was hypothesizing. "The truth is we just don't' know."
TBC
Hi ppl,
It was a nice surprise to see not all of you wanted to behead me after the last chapter. And for that I am grateful. As for the angry mob, all I can say is: Sorry.
This chapter is a bit longer than usual and that's caused I made you wait.
I should worn you all in advance; a very very busy months are ahead and unfortunately I won't be able to finish the story before it starts (it starts this week), so... I ask you to bear with me, and be patience. I promise I'll end the story; it's just that it might take longer for me to update chapters. Hope you understand.
As usual I really rally love-receiving reviews, so please review. Hope you like this one; let me know what you think.
Thanks Nikka.