Daughter of Destiny
Author: Sk8erGrl1
Disclaimer: Not mine. Only thing I own is Sage.
Summary: She came to stop a monster but she'll fulfill her destiny instead and change the future.
Pairings: Cordy/Angel but many others in-between that I don't know about yet.
Author's Note: This is a response to TruthFinder101's 'Daughter of Destiny" Challenge at Chocolate Covered Strawberries that just wouldn't leave me alone. Enjoy and please review.
Chapter One: Arrival
The Future
She called out to him as the wind whipped around her in a mini-tornado. Suddenly, she wasn't sure why she was doing this anymore. Was it worth it? Was it going to make a difference in her life if she did? The people she cared most for might still die, maybe not at the precise moments they were supposed to but either way. Their lifestyles were ones that called them to put their lives on the line everyday, and everyday when they went out to fight something, it could be their last night. For some of them, it was.
Really, she had no choice but to let them do this to her, let them send her to the past where she would have to see everyone alive, well and unsuspecting. It was her fault that that thing had been able to go back, she had hesitated a moment and it had gone through the portal, the damn thing closing behind it.
Connor was supposed to come with her, they were going to go together and stay hidden from their father and the rest of the gang. Then, they had discovered that only she would be allowed through the portal. This was because unlike Connor, she wasn't born yet in the time where she was going. She was nothing but "a sparkle in her mother's eyes" as her Aunt Willow said when she was talking about the time before she was born.
Now, she stood in front of the large portal, appearing in thin air as the spell was completed and she saw him run into the room from the corner of her eyes. He was shouting her name, begging her not to do it, but she had to. She had no choice, because if all went according to plan, when she was able to come home again, everything would be good again. None of those bad things that haunted her dreams every night would've happened and she would have her family back again.
Everyone but her and Connor thought that she was going back solely to kill the demon that she had let slip by. The two siblings had talked though and both had decided that if she could, while she was there, she would help with the next apocalypse and save their futures. They had traced all the events that came afterwards to that night, eighteen years ago. When she went back, she would have three months before it happened, maybe less.
He was he last thing she saw before the darkness clouded over in front of her and she felt like she was falling at a breakneck speed. She closed her eyes, and tried to keep her breaths regular, trying not to scream as she went through.
The PresentShe landed with a thud in the middle of the Hyperion Hotel, in the exact spot where she had stood in the future moments ago. The hotel was dark, abandoned, and she knew immediately that it had worked just then. She looked to the spot where Connor and the others had stood moments ago, the spot where he had been and smiles sadly knowing that they might not have to do that if she succeeds, she might not have to see that look of worry and fear on Connor's face watching his precious baby sister go on a dangerous mission alone.
Running a hand through her hair, she sat down on the circular couch in the middle of the lobby and tried to think of what her next move would be. Everything had been planned out up until the point she got to the past, but after that, no one could predict what would happen. They were all worried; she didn't have to read their minds to know that. She just did, it was obvious. Like Connor, it was written on all of their faces.
Finally, realizing that just sitting there wasn't going to help anything at all, she stood up and headed to the door, a stake gripped in her hands that she slipped out from her pocket and at her waist was her sword, her pride, the weapon she did the most killing with. It had gone through many battles with her, and with her mother before her. She knew that walking in the streets here with a sword on her hip would likely draw much attention to her but she didn't really care, hell, if they arrested her, she would just have to kick their asses.
Her long dark brown hair fell halfway down her back and was streaked with red; her chocolate brown eyes glistened in the moonlight, searching carefully as for where she should go next. Then, her ears perked up and she ran into a nearby alleyway where she saw none other than her brother, slightly younger though, falling from a roof nearby. He landed hard on the floor and she smirked, and stood in the entrance, arms crossed over her chest to see if this time's Connor was as good a fighter as her Connor back at home was. He jumped up back onto his feet and then turned to run to the head of the alley to go after the demon that has taken off down the street, the demon she was here for, jumping from roof to roof once again.
Connor halted when he saw her and frowned, that look of fear of being exposed as some kind of freak never crossed his face, not that she expected it too either. Her brother was never afraid, not once in her life save those last seconds when she was coming back here had she seen him afraid about anything. "How long have you been there?" he wondered.
"Long enough to see your fall," she shrugged, nonchalantly, as if she saw people fall from roofs every day. Then again, in reality, it was really every other day when they got something to fight.
"What you not going to call me a freak because I survived a fall from a 7 seven story building?" Connor asked, raising an eyebrow.
She grinned then, a slow, lazy smirk and shook her head slowly, her hair swaying with the movement. Then, with a hidden laugh in her voice, a kind of irony that her brother who she was so close to would have absolutely no idea who she was, not the slightest notion, she said, "No, I would call it pure luck."
Connor's eyes then flickered over to the stake that was still clutched in her hands and then to the sword at her hip and frowned once again, eyebrows furrowing in an almost confused look but he looked contemplative, as if deciding what of the many supernatural things she could be. Finally, he raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "Slayer?"
"Something like that," was her reply, but that was all she was going to give away. Like both her father and brother she had a knack for being secretive and mysterious, even cryptic at times. Then again, that clashed with her peppy, talkative, sarcastic side she had inherited from her mother. She smiled to herself, thinking about her parents then, thinking about how much she missed them, and thinking about how great it would be if she succeeded in saving them.
Connor looked as if he didn't know what to say then, like everything that needed to be said between these two strangers had been said. She had a number of things she could say to them, things that she wished more than anything she could tell him right then and there. He wasn't her brother though, this Connor was just getting used to the world of Vampires and Demons again, trying to balance this normal life he had lived and the live he had been born into and grown up with. The life that he was just now beginning to remember, she didn't know how well he would take this news from her. That in the future he had a little sister who he protected, took care of, and cared more about than the entire world. A sister who fought by his side, killed demons and helped the hopeless with him.
"I need you to do something for me," she said, looking into his blue eyes just then, her tone more serious than it had been with her bother in their entire lives. There was always that air of humor, that thing between two siblings who got along and joked. Even in the direst situations they had always had that, but she had to remind herself once again that this was her brother, not yet at least.
"Why?" He asked, ever the skeptic.
"Because a lot of lives depend on it," she hoped that that was all he needed to hear to comply to her request. She knew that that was all her father or his friends would need but sometimes her brother needed more than that. Needed more than just danger for other people. He had learnt that, sometimes, saving strangers cost him things that he cared for; cost him the things that he needed more, the people that he loved. In his mind at time a few innocent lives spent are worth the life of one person.
When he nodded, she didn't know whether or not to be surprised. In truth, she didn't know much about her brother's life before she had been born. Only what little he had told her right before she had come here. She had forced him to tell her, in case something happened, in case it was necessary she know it to help out. "What do you need?" he wondered.
"I need you to take me to d-to Angel, to your dad," she said, "To Wolfram and Hart, I need to see him."
"How do you know that Angel's my dad?" Conner demanded to know, he guards now up, the neck of his axe gripped tightly in his hands.
"It's a long story," she explained quickly, "A really, really long story that involves ruined new shoes, my destroyed favorite shirt and a demon that's going to attack that you guys know nothing about. Just, take me to Angel."
"He's not at Wolfram and Hart," Connor said just then, "They destroyed it and right now they're probably fighting the demons the Senior Partners sent out after them because they d-"
"I know..." She cut him off, and then in a second her mind processed all of this. She hadn't expected to come back on this exact day, the day that her father and his friends made history and put the Senior Partners out of commission for a while, the day that evil received a huge blow. Another evil did arise not much later, not long before the Senior Partners came back, but they had had quiet freedom for months as they grieved their fallen allies nonetheless. "Gunn!" she shouted then and took off in a sprint towards where the battle had, was, taking place. If she could save just one life, just right now, that would make all the difference to her.
As she ran she thought about how when she was growing up she had heard stories of Gunn, Wesley and Fred, her parent's dearest friends who had all fallen in the same year her mother had died for the first time. Friends that they missed dearly and always talked fondly of. She remember how she had always wanted to meet them, especially Gunn who sounded so cool and collected, an awesome fighter bent of ridding the world of Vampires. If she could save his life tonight, could get there before that demon finished him off, at least then she knew that she would make things a little better.
Connor raced after her, keeping up with her but unable to out run her, never able to out run her, not more than a couple of feet at least. After all, she still had that Vampire blood in her. She saw how surprised he was that she could keep up with him, that he was not far ahead at the battle scene by now. As she caught sight of the hoards of demons ahead she unsheathed she sword and picked up her pace, pushing herself to the limit trying to get there in time.
When she reached the battlefield she surprised many of the demons, all of who were focusing on the traitors, on the four fighting good guys, and began to kill any and all that got in her way. Gutting, beheading, maiming, pushing, shoving, anything she could do to get by and closer to the front of the battle where the others were fighting and get to Gunn before he was killed. Before that one demon swung the axe down and through his neck, beheading him while others began to tear out his limbs, all trying to get a good piece of meat off of their pray. She grimaced at that thought as she caught sight of the muscular black man, his shirt soaked in his own blood mixed with that of demons from his gut wound. Already, she saw he was growing weaker, slacking off in the battle and his knees beginning to give out.
In an instant she saw her father, Illyria, and Spike, all distracted and tied up in their own battles. Stronger, not injured and their demon blood and strength keeping them going at full strength. Then her gaze shifted back over to Gunn as she stuck her sword right through and up into a demons gut and then pulled it out as it crumpled to the ground. She saw the demon then, saw it hold its axe above its head and start to swing it down on Gunn, who had fallen to the ground seconds ago. She dove in front of the man and held her sword up, shielding the attack. She tried to push it away, keep it from tearing into her with all her strength as slowly she gathered up more of her strength and kicked the demon away as she flipped onto her feet and before she could do much else, the demons head rolled back off his head and the body stood for a moment and fell after it, revealing her brother standing there, smirking. She smiled, thankful that she had run into him and that he had followed.
Not wasting any time, she twirled around and kicked another demon away from Gunn. It stumbled back, shaking it head, getting itself back together after the blow to its left temple, but before it could attack, she swung her sword and cut him in half. The two halves split, and joined the other dead demons on the floor before turning into blue, bubbling ooze.
By this time, Gunn had nearly passed out. His thoughts of death, of being saved just then, of all the pain and of his love for Fred all flowed through her mind as she let her barriers in her mind down and kneeled down next to him, using all of the magical strength she had left after keeping herself grounded in the tunnel to put up a barrier around solely her and the dying man. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, his voice raspy.
"Let's just say I'm a friend," she smiled, and then lifted up his shirt, slowly, the blood causing it to stick to him, especially around the wound. It was times like these that her demon quarter came in handy. She put her hand over the wound and closed her eyes channeling her power, keeping herself grounded and focused on healing the wound. Slowly, the wound began to close, and Gunn's breathing began more normal. When she was done, nothing was left, not even a scar. The man started up at her, bewildered but she stood up and handed him one of the weapons off the flood. "Get back out there soldier," she chided and then the force field went down, as she passed out.
"Who do you think she is?" a quiet voice with a Texan twang to it asked, as slowly she came back. She kept her eyes closed, her body feeling as if it had been run over by a truck over, and over, and over again. All of her energy was drained out of her and she could barely summon enough strength to move her fingers.
"I don't know," another female voice joined in, "But what I want to know where she got those clothes! They're just...strange."
"She knew who I was, who Angel was, that you guys were in that battle," this voice was one she knew well, it was her brother's, Connor's, "She knew that Gunn was going to die."
"I wasn't gonna die!" Gunn persisted, "Hell, think I was gonna let Blue be right?"
"You were going to die," the second female said, knowingly. It was then that she recognized that voice; it was her mother's. So, she had missed the big even, had missed the moment that her father had been awarded by the Powers that Be with anything that he wanted, except his humanity, and he had chosen his rock, his confidant, the one person he could always count on, the person who held them all together, her mother, Cordelia Chase. Her mother.
"Your wound was mortal, even if the demon had not killed you, your life would have ended within mere seconds," this voice was one she knew well too, one that she had grown up with and still ceased to understand, the voice of Illyria. Then, something hit her, that first voice that had spoken had belonged to someone who was supposed to be dead, the person who Illyria lived in the shell on. The "Burkle-persona" as the ancient Old One called her.
She frowned then, in her nearly unconscious and turned her head, ever so slightly and opened her eyes a crack but closed them right away. The light hurt her eyes and her head pounded. Slowly, she opened them again and let them adjust to the brightness of the room, she squinted up at the person who was standing closest to the bed, and smirked a little upon seeing that it was none other than the legendary bleached blonde Vampire who looked bruised and battered, maybe just having come in patrol or maybe from the battle against the demons the night before. "Blue Bell's right Charlie Boy," Spike chimed in and then looked down at her, "An' looks like Wonder Girl's awake."
"Shut up Spike!" Cordelia demanded, and stood up, walking towards where she lay. Her hair was cropped to her chin and wavy. Right now she wore a black tank top and a pair of her old jeans. She managed a smile at how good her mother looked just then, hot yet like she could kick anyone's ass in an instant. "You got a name?"
"Yeah," she nodded slowly, realizing that the slightest movements of her head just made it pound harder, "Think my mom would give me one at birth, don't you?"
"We don't need another sarcastic smart ass," he mother frowned, "We've got Spike for that. Now, the only reason we aren't keeping you locked up in some cage, or even haven't killed you yet is because you saved Gunn and helped out during the battle. Now, name?"
"Sage," she said, slowly propping herself up on her elbows and looking around the room. She was in the Hyperion and, ironically enough, in the room she lived in there. Connor, Spike, Gunn, Cordy, Illyria and woman who could pass as Illyria's twin except with long, light brown hair, brown eyes and not all vein-y stood around her. Sage guessed that the other woman must've been Fred, but she couldn't understand how she was there. They had all been told that her soul had been destroyed.
"Okay, that's a start," Cordy smiled, only a little, seeming to ease up on her a little, "Now, care to give us a little more information. Maybe, how you knew all the things you did the other night, or how you healed Gunn."
"Actually, I'd rather not explain any of those things right now," she replied, "The healing thing is just one of my powers, I've got powers from my demon quarter, three actually."
"Quarter?" Cordy raised a brow, and looked to the others who were remaining surprisingly quiet. It was then that Sage began to wonder where her father was. He was the only one that she had yet to see and the one she felt that she needed to see the most. For a second her eyes were locked on Fred and Illyria, still trying to figure them out, how that had happened.
Turning back to Cordy, she nodded, "My mom was half demon my dad…well, he could be considered a demon but in ways not really."
"He is a half breed," Illyria said certainly from where she stood in the corner of the room beside Fred.
"That's impossible!" Cordy, Gunn, Fred, Connor and Spike all chorused together, while Sage regarded Illyria, grinning. That was only thing she had gotten used to pretty easily over the years of growing up around the Old One. She knew things about people. In a sense she could read people's auras, but not like Lorne could. He could read their past, their present and their futures while Illyria just knew things about people.
"Not really..." Sage trailed, as everyone turned back to look at her, "I mean, Connor's born to two Vampires."
"Connor was a special case," Cordelia said, "And it was kind of a recent occurrence, like two years ago, although it doesn't seem like that because he was kidnapped and raised in a hell dimension before coming back to Earth having aged eighteen years almost overnight in our time and plus, Wes couldn't find anything about a Vampire having a kid anytime before then."
"Because it didn't," Sage put in, "My existence is kind of a... a future occurrence." Then, she watched, amusedly as puzzled looks cross over everyone in the room. They were all trying to make sense of this and Sage could tell they had never had a visitor from the future before. She chuckled to herself, she was privileged, being the first time-traveler they encountered.
"That would explain her fashion sense," Cordy put in after a long silence, to no one but herself in particular, mostly to just break the silence. Sage couldn't help but laugh out loud at that comment. So exhilarated to be here, to hear her mother speak again, almost like she was alive again. She was, but in Sage's mind this still all seemed like just a dream. Never in her life did she think she would meet these people again.
"How long have I been out anyway?" Sage finally ventured, trying to lead the questioning and conversation away from who she was and why she was here. That would all come in time.
"Coupla days," Gunn replied, leaning against the wall now, "Got some help from the Powers not long after ya saved me. Thanks for that."
"And how did that happen?" she nodded to Fred and Illyria in the corner.
The gang glanced over at the two and then turned back to Sage. "Oh, how did I happen?" Fred asked, stepping up and realizing that Sage was talking about her, "Charles and Spike asked the Powers if there was anyway that I could come back. If my soul was really destroyed, which technically it should be considering..." Fred looked around and blushed a little, realizing that she was beginning to babble and about to go into all sorts of scientific rules and laws of physics, "My soul was still there inside of Illyria since my memories were still there and all and they split us up. So, Illyria can only be her and can't be me anymore. That didn't happen in the future?"
Sage shook her head, "No. Spike and Gunn both died in the battle. Right after Gunn died, he would've gone over to where they were tearing him apart thinking that he was still alive and the demons would've taken him down. Only Illyria and d-Angel survived that battle."
"Bloody Hell, all a man needs is to hear that he was s'posed to die again," Spike mumbled to himself, "Saving the world again too an' all because o-.
"Give it up," Sage rolled her eyes, "You're alive now because of me being here."
"That's why you came?" Connor asked, "That demon that none of us knew anything about? That was the thing that was supposed to kill Gunn and then Spike?"
"Bloody Hell!" Spike cursed again, "I'm not your bloody father am I?"
Sage looked bewildered at Spike, "No because you were dead when I was born. So, unless you somehow magically impregnated my mom from beyond the grave, which would be just gross, no." Sage then turned to Connor, "And no, that's not the demon. The demon is one that I let through a portal accidentally, I got distracted, took my eyes off of it for a second and it went through. That thing that threw you off the building on your way home last night, that was it. In reality, you listened to Angel and went home because you still weren't used to the whole demon-fighting thing."
Just then, before there could be any more questions or comments, Angel burst into the room followed closely by the anagogic Host, Lorne clad in his yellow suit and red shirt underneath. Sage smiled brightly as he entered the room, of all of the people she grew up with, Lorne was one of her favorites. She resisted the urge to jump out of bed and give him hug. She knew how hard it was for her father to find him, and how unwilling he was to return to the Hyperion, to LA, but only did to see his beloved Cordy who he had missed so much since she died.
Upon seeing Fred and Cordelia standing there, the Host's face brightened up completely and both women raced towards him and gave him a big hug. "My stars!" Lorne exclaimed, "Look at you two beauties, more beautiful than the last time I saw you." He smiled affectionately at the two of them. They knew that they were always the reason Lorne had stuck around with Angel and them when Caritas had been destroyed again. He loved them more than anything.
"You're looking pretty good yourself," Fred giggled, her face bright and happy.
"Thank you, thank you," Lorne grinned, "Oh, thank the gods that you two are back! Don't know how I would've survived for the next hundred years knowing that the world had lost two of the greatest beauties in the world. How about it pumpkin, sing me a tune?" His question was directed to Fred, who bashfully shook her head. "Oh, come on, I missed hearing that beautiful voice of yours."
"Not right now," Fred said quietly, "Maybe later."
"And don't even look at me to sing!" Cordy exclaimed, backing away from Lorne.
"Wouldn't even try to honey," Lorne laughed, "Seeing you two is just enough for me. Did I mention how the two of you are a sight for sore eyes?"
"No, but I think they got it," Spike interjected, "Maybe the 'bit in bed will sing though. Could give us some answers we need."
Quickly, Sage shook her head, "Not happening. I don't sing."
"Neither does Angel-cakes here but he had on more than one occasion massacred Barry Manilow's Mandy," Lorne informed her, "You're a pretty young thing, I'm sure you can carry a tune."
Sage sighed and then sat up straight on the bed, slowly feeling her energy come back to her. "I don't sing," She said firmly.
"Who are you?" Angel asked finally speaking up, having been watching the stranger intently. He'd had this strange feeling about her since her had first seen her out on the battlefield, like he had some sort of connection to her.
"Sage," She replied simply, "Just Sage, kind of like Cher or Madonna. I have a last time just don't plan on using it in this time. Don't need anyone to find out who I really am."
"This time?" Angel gave the rest of the group and inquisitive gaze.
"She's from the future," Connor clarified.
"Sing," Angel said, looking directly at her. So, she complied with his wish. She sang.