HELLO ALL AGAIN AVES HERE. CHAPTER 5 IS UP. ONCE AGAIN THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS. A LITTLE FYI IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHO ARE CHARACTER MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER NAMED CASSANDRA RAYNE IS. SHE WAS IN THE BUFFY PS2 GAME CHAOS BLEEDS. HOPE YOU ENJOY
CHAPTER 5
OLD FRIENDS NEW ALLIES
Spike had to admit he was impressed. The new guy that had popped in with Cordelia was good, very good. He was tearing through the demons like a buzz saw. A wicked two pronged sword was flashing in his hand as he fought off monster after monster. Spike himself was also keeping busy. He had been able to kill that ogre looking thing that had tried to kill Robin earlier and was again fighting next to Faith who seemed to be fighting even harder now. "Guess them nearly getting to principal boy put a new fire in her," he thought.
The battle continued for what seemed like a day to Angel, but at last it was over. Hundreds of corpses littered what was left of the Hyperion, but thankfully, Angel noticed, the majority of them belonged to their attackers. "Hello Angel," he heard a voice say. It was a voice that he had missed very much.
He turned around to face Cordelia and without thinking wrapped his arms around her. "Cordy!" You're here, Your alive, God I've missed you."
Cordelia returned his embrace for a moment and then left his arms. "I'm here Angel, but I'm not alive, well not truly, not anymore."
"What?" he asked.
She smiled at him. "We've got a lot to talk about, get Buffy, Spike, Faith, Willow, and Giles. We really need to talk."
The violence had ended and Illyria was feeling empty again. Her thoughts were back on Wesley. She had no idea why his death filled her with so much grief. He was insignificant, alas that was not true, and he was very significant to her. She did not know why, but he must be for him to stay in her mind. Her thoughts of Wesley were disturbed by an unfamiliar voice. "Um I'm seeing if anyone else is hurt, do you need anything?"
Illyria looked up to see a young girl standing over her looking very scared.
"Do not be frightened of me, my desire to do violence is not directed at you."
The girl's eyes got a little wide but she seemed to sigh a bit in relief, "Well that's a relief, but are you okay?"
"I require nothing."
"Well okay, if you change your mind."
Illyria stared at the girl. "You are unlike the others, what are you?"
The girl started to look nervous again. "I'm Dawn that's who I am."
Illyria stood and gazed more intently at her. "I did not ask your name. I asked what you are. You are unique among all the others as am I. Are you an ancient one? I can not remember you."
That question made Dawn smile a bit. "Nah I'm not an ancient one, I'm different in some ways, but all I can tell you is that I'm Buffy's sister."
"Buffy? You refer to the leader of the Slayers. You are her sister? This confuses me. You are not human."
That observation made Dawn very upset, "Look I have no idea who you are, but stay away from me!"
The girl ran off and Illyria allowed a brief thought of chasing the girl down and breaking her in half for insolence but decided against it. "Not really human," she sighed.
An interesting cast of characters were gathered in Angel's old office. A discussion about what had happened and what could happen was in full effect. "So do you mind telling me what he is?" Buffy asked directing the question to Cordelia.
"He is Marcus, and what he is, is an ally that will be key in defeating the Senior Partners."
"What makes him so blooming special?" Spike muttered.
The warrior turned at glared at him. "I am the ultimate representation of the power of light. I am a symbol for the Powers that Be here on Earth, just as my brother Hamilton is the symbol of the pure evil of the Wolf, Ram, and Hart. My role in this is to be one of the prophesied three."
"The three why does that sound familiar to me?" Giles asked.
"It's a little known prophecy," Coredelia answered. "It's older than even the Shanshu, and it is one the Senior Partners have been trying to avert for centuries."
"Wait a second," Buffy interrupted. "Who or what are the three?"
Cordelia glared at Buffy a tad annoyed at the interruption, "I was about to tell you, impatient as ever aren't you Buffy?" The Slayer was about to respond to the insult until she saw the "now is not the time" look on Giles' face. Cordelia continued. "The Powers have always guided champions in their quest to battle evil here on earth. Buffy you met one when you resurrected Cassandra Rayne while battling Ethan and the First. More recently Angel has filled that role, but now more champions must arise for the final battle. Marcus, the symbol of light is one, Angel is the symbol of the quest for redemption, and the third is the symbol of sacrificial love. The kind only an unselfish act can bring."
"Who is the third?" Giles asked.
Cordy shook her head, "I don't know. That is something that will not be discovered until a time called the revealing."
"Now there's a revealing? How many steps does this so-called final battle have?" Buffy grumbled.
Cordy turned back to the Slayer. "Your anger is pointless Buffy."
"My anger, you arrogant little, how the devil do you know what I'm feeling?"
"Now is not the time for this Buffy," Angel tried to interrupt. "We have an apocalypse to stop."
"You stop it!" Buffy lashed out and then stormed out of the room slamming the door.
"Not the most agreeable person in the world is she?" Marcus observed.
"I'll go after her," Willow said and followed Buffy out of the office.
Angel stared at the door wondering what set his former lover off so badly when Cordy moved in front of him. "You have to go talk to her Angel."
"Why should I?" the vampire asked bitterly, "She's been nothing but a brat since she got here."
Cordelia smiled at him warmly, "Because you have to be at peace with her, and yourself. I know there are still unresolved feelings between you, also I know you want to talk to her, and finally because I'm asking you too."
Angel returned the smile and kissed her on the forehead. "All right for you then,"
Cordy returned the smile, "Go I'll be here when you get back."
Angel turned to leave but saw Spike standing in his way, "You're the reason she's so blooming upset. Why should I let you out of this room?"
"Shut up Spike!" Everyone was surprised to see the exclamation had come from Giles. "You are the last person who should speak on the subject of upsetting Buffy, Cordelia is correct. We must be united and this petty bickering is getting us nowhere!"
The blonde vampire glared at Giles, "Piss off Rupert!" Spike had barely finished his sentence when he found his neck between the twin prongs of a dual bladed sword. "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed as he saw Marcus in front of him. The rest in the room, with the exception of Cordelia were all staring in disbelief at how fast the warrior had moved.
"I have no desire to harm an ally," Marcus said darkly. "However the messenger is correct, there must be no division in our forces, and I will have no qualms about eliminating any source of division. Am I understood?"
Spike glared at the young warrior, "You and me ain't going to get along mate."
Marcus smirked and pulled his sword away from Spike. "Whether we get along is no concern to me, as long as you fight when the time comes." The warrior turned to Angel. "Go to the Slayer, make your peace, we shall await your return to continue with our plans."
Angel grinned at Spike, "I like this guy."
"Go to Hell Liam." Spike muttered, but he moved from the doorway. Angel left the room to find Buffy.
Giles had moved over to Cordelia during the commotion and whispered, "Is he always that intense?" the question asked about Marcus who was now standing against the wall with his arms crossed.
Cordy smiled. "I have a feeling you haven't seen anything yet."
"She's as annoying and stuck-up as ever!" Buffy grumbled as she paced around the upstairs hallway. She had left the room and stomped up the stairs causing many of the slayers to stop their cleaning efforts and watch their leader fume.
"Buffy you know I love you but," Willow began trying to calm her friend down.
"But what!" Buffy glared at her.
"Well," Willow was trying to be nice but couldn't find the words, "Oh screw it, Buffy your acting like a brat and it's time you got over it!"
Buffy's face went from anger to hurt as she felt betrayed. "How can you say that Will? Angel,"
"Angel isn't the issued Buffy; he's trying to save the world."
"I appreciate the support Willow, but maybe I am the issue," Willow was interrupted by Angel. "Can I talk to Buffy please, alone?"
Willow nodded, "Sure thing, I'll use this chance to check on Xander." Willow left leaving slayer and vampire alone.
"So," Angel began, "Can you tell me what this is all about?"
"Are we friends Angel?"
"What?"
"Are we friends?"
Angel's shoulders slumped as he sighed. "Honestly I have no idea what we are Buffy. Sometimes I go days without thinking about you, yet even after all this time there are days where you are all I can think about, but I guess I'd like to think at the very least we are friends."
"Then why did you never mention you and Cordelia?"
Angel caught the slight envious tone in Buffy's question. "Is that what this is all about, Cordelia?"
"Absolutely not!" Buffy snapped, "well maybe," Buffy threw up her hands in frustration. "Damn it, honestly I don't know. It's just seeing you, seeing Spike, this feeling of finality I've had ever since coming to L.A., not knowing what the devil it is where facing, it's just so overwhelming."
Angel chuckled, "Yea tell me about it." He sighed, "Ok we said we were going to do this, so let's do it, everything out in the open, no secrets, make peace, whatever you want to call it let's do it right now."
Buffy eyed him suspiciously, "Are you sure? This might take awhile, the others,"
"The others will wait until we get back to continue. I'm sure after using two big armies in one night the Senior Partners will want time to regroup, so maybe the forces of evil will give us a little time as well."
The Slayer breathed in deeply. "All right, first thing I want to know is how in the world do you have a teenage son with Darla?"
Angel sat down in the floor and his face fell a bit, "All right, here's how it all happened,"
The conversation lasted well over an hour. Angel told Buffy everything. How he slipped into a darkness that nearly consumed him. He told her about his night with Darla, how she came back months later pregnant. He told Buffy about the sacrifice Darla made so their son could live. He told her about Holtz, Wesley taking his son away and why he did it. He told about Sajin, Connor coming back as a teenager from the Quor-toth dimension. His son's betrayal, the story involving the Beast, the return of Angelus, and also why he took over Wolfram and Hart, and the agreement to alter reality so Connor could have a normal life. He explained his relationship with Cordelia, their love that never happened, her coma, and her death. Everything that Angel could think to tell Buffy he told her. The slayer sat there taking it all in, smiling at some parts, fighting tears during most, and at the end finally understanding all of her former lover's actions, his motivations, and really for the first time in a long time, understanding him. "Wow," Buffy said. "That's some story."
Angel shrugged. "Now you know." He managed a weak smile, "So what have you been up to?"
Buffy laughed for a moment but then looked at him thoughtfully. "Well I guess I should return the favor and tell you." Buffy told her story to Angel, her death, her resurrection, her pain and depression, her affair with Spike, every detail. After all had been said vampire and slayer just stared at each other.
"One more question," said Buffy.
"Go ahead," Angel replied.
"Do you still love me?"
"Buffy, I never stopped, part of me will always love you, but I can't allow myself to think about being with you or anyone. When this all over maybe we can see what all this between us means and where we want to go from there, but right now let's just be friends and allies ok? Right now we have a war to win."
Buffy nodded. "I agree, so let's get back with the others, but one more thing."
"What's that?"
Buffy replied with was a simple friendly hug that Angel returned, and for a brief moment both of them felt at peace.
Everything was pretty much as it was when he left Angel noticed when he and Buffy returned.
"Took you bloody long enough," Spike muttered.
Angel ignored him. "Sorry about the delay everyone, we had some details to work out. Where were we?
Buffy smiled at Cordelia. "I think Cordy was about something called the Revealing."
Cordy returned the smile, "Yes, well this revealing is simply where every player of the apocalypse and the side they are on will be revealed."
"What's so bloody important about that?" Spike asked. "We all know what blooming side we're on, and who cares who is in it? If they are good they fight with us, if they're evil we kill them."
"Spike, my sword hand is itching," warned Marcus.
Spike held up his hands, "All right, All right, don't get your panties in a bunch, please continue Cordelia."
Cordy looked amused at the exchange between Spike and Marcus then continued. "Spike may be right but don't be so sure. The Powers say there could be some surprises."
"Don't they know?" Willow asked. "I mean they are the Powers that Be after all."
Cordy shook her head. "They know of all the possibilities, but they don't know the outcome."
"The Powers are like all of us," interjected Marcus. "They are forces of good, but they are not the source of good. They have great power, but not all the answers, and besides this in not their fight to win it is ours."
"All right then, when is this revealing?" Buffy asked.
"We don't for sure but don't be surprised if it's not within a day or two. When it happens, players will be revealed, sides will be chosen, and it shall be the beginning of the end.
"Well that's comforting," Spike quipped.
Cordelia looked around the room at each of them. "My advice to you is this. Tomorrow we plan; we try to find out more about what's going on. The revealing will be soon and we should prepare. Stay in the hotel. We don't need to lose anyone else before the battle begins. Buffy, you Giles, and Faith should tell your group what they are going to face. Angel how much do you trust Illyria?"
"Why," Angel asked. "Do you think she might join the Senior Partners?"
"She's a wild card," Cordy replied. "She could be on either side."
"The partners took the only person Blue ever felt a bit fore," Spike said. "She's still pissed that Wes is dead. She might try to kill us after all this is over, but she won't fight with Wolfram and Hart."
"Not all that reassuring Spike," Faith quipped.
"We may need all the help we can get," Cordy said. "Angel, fill her in please."
Cordy turned to all of then once more. "After everyone has been told what we are up against I'm going to ask you to do something that might be a little hard."
"What's that?" asked Buffy.
Cordy grinned. "Relax, enjoy this day, get reacquainted with old friends and get to know your new allies. Get some rest if you can. One way or another this world will never be the same after this battle, and neither will any of you. So, enjoy this time as best you can and may God be with you all.
