TITLE: Twisted
AUTHOR: Erykah Miszti
EMAIL: erykah@miszti.net
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: Angel discovers an unwelcome truth regarding Spike.
TIMELINE: Set at some point in the future of AtS - after Destiny - but very definitely set in AU as, for reasons that will become obvious, this scenario isn't likely to actually happen on the show.
NOTES: Canon? What's Canon? Buwhahahaha! This is intended as a standalone piece but I might make it into a series if I can work out a decent enough padded out storyline for it.
DISCLAIMER: These characters belong to Joss Whedon and a bunch of big corporations
FEEDBACK: Oh Goddess! Yes please.
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Wolfram & Hart Building
Early evening
Angel was bored. He sat bent over his desk dropping a rubber ball onto the polished surface and watching it bounce up and down. He was sure he should out on the streets helping the helpless - or something like that – but here he was instead, waiting for some status report on some project or other that involved other people being out on the streets helping the helpless, well the ones who could afford excellent legal advice anyway.
The intercom buzzed and he put the ball down to answer it.
"Angel," Harmony's voice began. "There's a Mr. Whistler here asking to see you."
Angel sat up straighter.
"Just Whistler." A man's voice said in the background. "And I need to see him right away."
"Show him in." Angel told her.
The door opened a moment later. Whistler walked in, smiling broadly at Harmony before she shut the door behind him with a look of utter disgust.
Whistler shrugged slightly, then looked around the office and finally at Angel, sat behind his big desk.
"Nice office." He told him with just a touch of irony.
"Thank you." Angel replied, gesturing him to the seat on the other side of the desk. "Do you have word for me? From the Powers?" He said a little too quickly, betraying his anxiousness about what they might have to say about his position here. "We've been kinda cut off from them since taking over here."
"Yeah." Whistler agreed gravely as he sat down. "That's sort of why I'm here. That and the.. er.. Spike situation."
"Spike?" Angel parroted apprehensively. "Is this about his presence causing instability in the universe?"
"It's a little more complicated than that." Whistler told him. "You see, the Powers.. well.." He paused. "It's seems there's been a mix up."
Angel's face froze.
"What kind of mix up?"
"The Powers knew that there would be a vampire with a soul who would be a great force for good, or for evil, but the specifics for these things are always really hazy. The future's not set in stone. There are so many factors. They tend to go on general trends."
"You mean with the Shanshu prophecy? We already figured out that we're probably in contention for that now." Angel said with more calm than he felt about the issue.
"Angel." Whistler leant forward seriously. "I don't mean the Shanshu prophecy specifically. Look, there's no easy way to tell you this. The Powers screwed up when they sent me to you." He paused. "They didn't think that there would ever be two vampires with souls. It is a weird thing to happen, right?"
Angel continued to look at him, uncomprehending as yet but with a dreadful sense of fear building inside him.
"I'm sorry, Angel." He paused, looked down at the floor and then back up at him. "You're not the one." He said it gently and with deep regret. "They knew that the right vampire was the one who'd help destroy Acathla. It seemed odd that you were raising Acathla, not defeating him, but it seemed to make a kind of sense at the time.. when there was no other vampire with a soul on the horizon."
"But Spike was there." Angel said flatly, understanding now.
"And he helped Buffy defeat you and Acathla." Whistler nodded in agreement. "I'm genuinely sorry Angel." He drew a deep breath. "The Powers have been suspecting it for some time but now they're sure. They brought him back because he's needed. He's their champion, Angel."
Angel stood up slowly and turned to face the window, staring out into the darkness pensively, and then asked quietly.
"What about me? What am I then?"
"You're still important." Whistler assured him quickly. "You can still BE important. Spike's come a long way but he's not ready yet. He's still going to need a lot of help when the Final Battle comes."
"Yeah!" Angel snorted. "He's going to need A LOT." He closed his eyes. "And becoming human will be his reward."
"The Shanshu thing.." Whistler shrugged. "It's not as simple as all that, it's also not my specialist field. Like I said, the future's not set but.." He took a long breath. "The current thinking is that the Champion of the Powers is the one the prophecy applies to.."
"What about Buffy?" Angel cut in, opening his eyes.
Whistler snorted.
"Don't even get me started on that little ball of sunshine and the chaos she's caused! Making all the potentials into Slayers! I mean, wow! Sharp thinking - right out of left field - but what a headache she's made for the Powers. She's completely thrown all their plans into the air.. but then she always does." He sighed but then laughed and smiled fondly.
Angel didn't laugh. He was thinking about Mohra demons and a missing day.
"Is she still part of the Final Battle?" He asked flatly.
"Probably." Whistler replied, the smile fading, but he didn't sound sure. "Are you okay, Angel? I know this is a huge shock."
"I do have some thinking to do." He still hadn't turned around.
"They'll still need you, Angel. These past years haven't been wasted. You were still destined to get a soul and be part of this."
"I expect I was." Angel replied with a half smile. He finally turned around to face Whistler, smiling slightly. "This is going to take some time to process." He said sincerely.
"Of course." Whistler echoed, returning his smile with one of relief. Angel had taken it better than he'd expected him to.
Taking the hint that his work here was done, Whistler stood up to go. Angel came over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"It was good to see you again Whistler. It's been a long time."
"I wish I'd had better news for you, Angel. I know how hard you've worked to get here."
Angel guided Whistler towards the door with a friendly arm on his shoulder.
"Have you told Spike yet?" Angel asked coolly and Whistler shook his head.
"No. I figured it would be more courteous to tell you first."
"Right." Angel echoed, his left hand going for the doorknob to let Whistler out.
Whistler smiled at him but Angel moved suddenly, his hands coming up to the demons throat in a violent movement and twisted viciously. Whistler's neck broke with an audible crack and Angel let the body fall to the floor. He crossed to the bookcase and pulled aside some books to reveal a safe. From inside the safe he withdrew a vial of blue powder. He returned to scatter it over the demon. The body started to glow, then foam and decompose messily.
Angel looked blankly down at the body. A champion wouldn't have done that, Angel thought to himself. Then he started smiling.
For the first time in over a hundred years he felt like a complete person. In a single moment of revelation, he realised that he was Angelus but with a soul. He realised that the soul wasn't the constraining force that had been keeping him on the path of good all these years. It had been the weight of prophecy that had kept him there. Now it was gone and he could finally see that the soul was, in fact, free will to be whatever he wanted. Good or evil. He had a choice. He finally felt free.
"Sorry about consigning you to a limbo dimension, old pal." Angel said looking down at the mess that had been a body. "I can't run the risk of you being able to come back. It's a shame Spike will never know about any of this." He knelt down to continue confiding. "And as for me, I WILL be important to the Final Battle. The world only needs one vampire with a soul anyway," He laughed. "And the prophecy does say for good or for evil. How about we go with evil, eh?"
Angel grinned, went to his desk and picked up the phone.
"I'm gonna need a clean up crew in my office right away." He told Harmony. "The demon got violent and I had to put him down." He went to hang up but thought better of it. "And get Eve up here. I think her and I need to chat about some.. restructuring.. that I've got in mind."
He hung up without waiting for answer and then flopped into his chair. He grinned broadly.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before all the Angel fans out there send me hate mail, I make you this promise; If I ever do write a sequel to this, it will be a story about redemption for ALL characters. Now I am predominantly a Spike fan but I believe in playing fair to every character. Buffy will even tell Angel that she loves him.