THE END OF ALL THINGS

DISCLAIMER: ANGEL, BUFFY, ALL RELATED CHARACTERS BLAH BLAH BLAH JOSS WHEDON, MUTANT ENEMY YADA YADA YADA.

CHAPTER 6

DOWNTIME

Spike still wanted to talk to Buffy, but she had stayed busy briefing her little slayer band. He had just left Illyria, he and Angel's conversation with her had been interesting to say the least. All she had wanted to know was if all this meant she got to kill more. When Angel told her yes he could have swore he saw a twinkle in Blue's eye. "I hope she stays on our side," Spike thought. The blonde vampire continued down the hallway when he heard something that sounded like someone sobbing. He made his way to the source of the sound and opened the door to one of the many hotel rooms where he saw Dawn sitting in the corner. "Dawn, what is it love? Why aren't you with the others?"

"I'm not a slayer," she replied. "Anyway I don't want to run into that blue woman again."

Spike raised an eyebrow, "What did she do to you?" The vampire became instantly furious at Illyria.

"She knows Spike!" Dawn screamed.

Spike sat down next to Dawn and tried to console her. "It's ok, what does she know pet?"

"She told me I wasn't human, she knows I'm the key! What if she tries to?

Spike interrupted, "Look Dawn, Blue is, well Blue's different to say the least, but so what if she's something different in you, so your not totally human, in case you haven's noticed neither am I, and hey I turned out ok, well eventually I did."

Dawn smiled a bit at that remark, and leaned on Spike's shoulder. I've missed you Spike.

The vampire put his arm around her. "I've missed you too little bit.

After the briefing, which lasted about an hour, Faith went to check on Robin. He was conscious now, but still wouldn't be fighting anytime soon. It was times like this she considered trying to really have a relationship with him, but they had agreed just to be friends and allies, and while they always kept an affection for each other they had never had another night like that one in Buffy's house. The thought of that little romp made her smile a bit until she saw that guy who came with Cordelia, Marcus that was his name. He was in one of the rooms Angel had set up as a training facility. He was practicing some kind of fighting routine she had never seen before. She walked in but he didn't acknowledge her, he just kept on practicing. "You know Cordy said to spend some time relaxing, you know enjoying ourselves?"

"This is how I relax," he replied not stopping his routine.

"Damn this boy is intense," she thought. "Well how about a sparring partner?"

He stopped and looked at her. "You are not afraid of me?"

Faith laughed, "Why should I be?"

Marcus shrugged as he began to clean his blade. "Everyone else seems to be, even the vampires, all the slayers eye me warily, although some giggle when I walk by."

Faith chuckled. "You really are clueless aren't you?

Marcus raised an eyebrow at her, "Clueless?"

"Yea, clueless, I'll admit you probably do scare Spike after that trick you pulled with you sword, but as for most of the Slayers their staring at you because they think your hot."

"Hot? What does my body temperature have to do with anything?"

Faith shook her head in disbelief, "They think you look good, not that I'm disagreeing with them, but that's beside the point. Were you like raised in seclusion or something?

The warrior actually cracked a smile. "Not completely, but I was raised in a church, more of a monastery really."

"You're kidding?" Faith asked suspiciously.

Marcus smiled grew bigger obviously amused by Faith's unbelief. "Not at all," he replied. "I don't remember much about my parents. The only family I know of is my older brother Hamilton, who unfortunately is the liaison for the Senior Partners."

"How did you end up fighting on our side?" Faith asked.

"My mother," Marcus replied. "My father was a servant for the Wolf, Ram, and Hart. He gave Hamilton to the Senior Partners as an expression of servitude. When my mother became pregnant with me she knew that I would have the same talents and abilities my brother would have and couldn't bear giving another child to the evil of the Wolf, Ram, and Hart.

"How did your mother get involved with your dad if he was so evil?" The warrior's story was both fascinating and confusing Faith.

"She was a slave, she had no choice. My mother left a letter for me at the church where she left me. It told me about her, my father and my brother. She was a slave in a place called Pylea. All humans were slaves there. However she secretly learned of magic that and a sympathetic demon named Krevlornswath allowed her to come to this realm with me. My father, a member of the realm's ruling council called the Covenant of Trombli was furious. He hunted my mother down but not before she hid me with in a remote church where the priests raised me. I grew up learning about evil, and how to stop it. I have been to every corner of the world as part of my studies, but most of my time was spent in that church training."

Faith eyed the warrior appreciatively, "Some training."

Marcus nodded not catching the implication. "All my life has been spent in preparation."

"Preparation for what?" Faith asked.

"For this apocalypse."

Faith laughed. "No offense, but I've been through a couple of those what makes you think we need you for this one?"

Marcus moved closer to Faith and looked directly into her eyes with an intense gaze. "Because Slayer, I was made for this. You need me because those so called apocalypses you went through were nothing. Yes, they were great battles, but after awhile the world went back to its normal routine. The Earth kept spinning, man kept living, and demons kept slithering along. It was back to the same boring day by day nonsense that normal people love and are content with while their minds stagnate. This is totally different. This is the war that will decide if this world continues or if it is remade into what the purest evil thinks it should be."

"Purest evil," Faith interrupted. "Look sword boy we took care of that already, buried it underneath what was Sunnydale."

Marcus smirked, his voice a dark rasp as he replied. "You defeated the First Evil, the original one. What we are facing perfected evil. Make no mistake about it Faith, whether you believe it or not, this is the end." The warrior turned around and walked out of the room leaving Faith.

"Damn I'm glad he's on our side," she thought as he left.

Most of the girls were trying to enjoy themselves despite their situation. Most of the conversations were gossip, discussions about the two vampires who were fighting with them. The way they looked at Buffy, the way Buffy looked at them. How cute they were, and also how they kind of freaked them out. Giles smiled as he looked out of them while he leaned against the doorway of Wesley's old office. He knew some of them better than others. A few he even had trouble remembering their names, but to him they were all his girls. Many of them just knew him as that old English guy that hung around Buffy a lot. For some he knew, he was the closest thing to a father they ever had, but that father-daughter relationship could never be with any of them like it was with the young woman that was sitting at a desk reclining in an old wooden chair looking very tired. "I don't suppose I could convince you to try to get some sleep?" He asked as he wiped his glasses with a cloth.

"Too much going through my noggin," she replied.

Giles nodded. "Yes, well you have had to digest quite a bit tonight. I must confess learning Angel has a son, and the fact he warped reality to hide it, well even overwhelmed me a bit."

Buffy smiled weakly at her watcher. "Yea, Angel a dad. It would be hilarious if it wasn't true."

Giles walked over to Buffy and took another chair next to her. "Are you all right?"

Buffy sighed, "I just feel like all this is out of my hands. I mean, everything I've faced before deep down I knew that one way or another I could make it, that it was my fight to win. Yea, I know I doubted myself at times, but somewhere inside there was a peace about it all. I knew I could strike that last blow and win. I don't have that here Giles. I just feel that whatever I do it won't be enough."

Giles took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Maybe this isn't your war to win Buffy."

Buffy gave him a confused look, "What are you talking about?"

"From what Cordelia says the outcome of this battle will most likely be decided between the Senior Partners and the three champions she mentioned. Angel, Marcus, and whoever this third one shall be. Now, you may or may not be the third champion, but if you are not this war won't be won by you. I am sure we will all play a role in this. Our Slayer army will be needed, but you may not be the one to truly save the world this time, and as far as your feeling of peace being missing, I would not worry about that too much."

"Why not?" the slayer asked.

Giles smiled at her. "Because no matter how large or small your role in what is approaching I know you will be exemplary, because no matter what I believe in you Buffy."

The slayer reached over and hugged her watcher, "I love you, you old English fuddy-duddy."

Giles grinned and replied. "The feeling is definitely mutual."

Xander was sitting up feeling a lot better as he shared a huge supply of candy with Willow and Robin, who also was making a good recovery from his injuries. "So, Angel has a son, never saw that one coming," he said as he chomped on a candy bar.

"Yea, it's really weird," Willow replied through sticky caramel. "Anyway, Buffy's taking it kind of hard."

"Why would she care?" Robin inquired.

Xander choked a bit. "Oh, that's right you don't know the whole Buffy and Angel saga do you?"

"Not really," Robin replied.

"Well in a nutshell," Xander began to explain. "Angel's a cursed vampire. He got a soul after he killed a gypsy girl, and they put his soul back to torture him. Buffy's a slayer, they meet, fall in love, stop a few bad guys with world domination illusions. Angel and Buffy do the horizontal polka. Angel experiences a moment of true happiness, loses soul because of curse, out comes Angelus, real nasty vampire, kills, tortures, tries to end world, Buffy stops him, he gets sucked into a hell dimension, he returns, lots of drama, they get back together, stop another big bad guy, they break up, Angel moves to L.A. the end thanks for coming."

"Interesting story," Robin remarked.

"Try living through it," Xander responded dryly.

Their conversation paused as they saw the blue haired woman that looked like Fred walk by. "Hey, um Illyria," Willow called out.

The strange woman turned around, "Who are you to address me?"

"Hey, sorry," the woman made Willow feel very uneasy. "I was just making sure you weren't leaving, Cordelia suggested we all stay inside."

"I shall go where I wish!" Illyria responded harshly. "However my intentions are not to leave, if I leave I may not have the chance to do more violence."

"Well we all have to have a hobby," Xander quipped.

Illyria stared at him, "You are attempting to be humorous."

Xander chuckled, "Yep, that's me Xander Harris, comedic genius."

Illyria looked him over, "No, I do not believe you are."

Willow laughed, "Gee Xander your humor seems to be lost on ancient deities."

Xander stuck his tongue out at his friend, "My humor is just too modern."

"No," Illyria interrupted. "You are just not funny. The blonde vampire now he is humorous, the way he flew around the room when I punched him. The grunting painful noises he made. He amuses me, maybe I can find you amusing if I punch you."

Xander rose up his hands, "Whoa, Whoa blue haired girl you win I'm not funny, but one question. You beat up Spike?"

"Many times," Illyria responded. "I enjoyed pummeling him."

Xander cracked a huge grin. "Well pretty scary blue lady any abuser of Spike is a friend of mind, want some sugary goodness?"

"I do not understand your question. What is sugary goodness?"

"Here, try this." Willow said as she handed Illryia a candy bar.

Illryia took the item and looked at him curiously. "What is this thing's purpose?"

"You eat it!" Willow replied happily, a sugar buzz starting to take effect.

Illyria shoved the bar wrapper and all in her mouth. "No," Xander laughed. "Not like that."

Illyria took the candy out of her mouth. "You will show me!" she demanded.

"Uh sure thing scary lady just don't hurt me," Xander responded. "Take the wrapper off like this," he demonstrated with his own candy bar as he unwrapped a section. Illyria responded in kind, carefully taking off a piece of the wrapper on her candy.

"What is the next step?" she asked.

"Bite off a piece," Willow said and demonstrated for the increasingly curious Illyria.

The blue haired deity bit off a piece and her eyes grew wide. "I have a strange sensation in my mouth."

"Yea, its called chocolate, quite possibly the most wonderful thing on earth," Willow smiled as she took another bite.

"This sensation fascinates me," Illyria said. "I wish to have more."

Xander laughed, "Well take a seat blue haired girl, join our sugar binge and please tell me more about you beating up Spike."

Connor had sneaked outside of the hotel and sat in the courtyard listening to the sounds of the night, and horrifying sounds they were. He didn't really enjoy being out here, but for some reason the dark, the creatures that he could hear howling and screaming somewhere out there. It felt like home to him, more than the inside where all those people were. Even in his second life, as he had taken to calling the one Angel had apparently created for him, he had always been sort of a loner. So, here he was sitting in dark part of him hoping that those strange noises stayed where they were, but another part of him wanted to go out there and find them, hunt them, kill them. The thoughts made him smile evilly. "No," he thought shaking his head. "I'm not that person anymore."

"I thought we were all supposed to stay inside."

Connor turned his head around to see one of the many girls that had invaded the Hyperion. "So what are you out here then," he snapped.

"Hey chill," she said. "I couldn't take the noise."

Connor softened a bit. "Sorry, I guess you came out here for the same reason I did." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Connor."

The girl took his hand, "I'm Dana."

"Pleasure to meet you Dana, I take it you're a Slayer."

Dana smiled and sat next to him. "Yea, one of quite a few, so what's your story?"

"My story?" Connor asked.

"Yea, why are you in this big battle? You're obviously not a slayer, and you're not a vampire, what are you?"

Connor chuckled. "I'm a person, I just happen to be the son of a vampire."

Dana's eyes went wide, "Son of a vampire? How did that happen?"

"I really have no idea," Connor said, but I'm Angel's son."

"Angel's your Dad?" Dana asked in disbelief.

"You know my dad?" Connor inquired.

"Long story," Dana replied. "I had some crazy issues and your dad and Spike tried to help me."

"Really, what happened?"

Dana sighed, "The parts I remember involved Angel knocking me out and me cutting off Spike's hands."

Connor looked mortified. "What?"

The girl chuckled. "Yea I had some major problems. My parents were killed when I was ten, and the guy who did it tortured me. I spent a lot a time in a crazy house, but getting together with Buffy and the Slayers helped me. I still struggle sometimes, but now that I have a family and a purpose I'm a lot better."

Connor's face fell a bit. "I'm glad you found a purpose, I have no idea why I'm here."

Dana put her arm around him, "Want some advice from a crazy girl?"

Connor laughed, "Sure thing."

"I don't think you would be here if you didn't have a purpose. I mean I saw you fight. It's obvious you're more than just a regular person."

Connor smiled at the slayer. "You know, you seem pretty smart for a crazy girl."

Dana was about to laugh when they heard a scream. "That came from outside" Connor said.

"Yea," Dana agreed. "Someone's in trouble let's go"

"But we're not supposed to," Connor began.

"Look someone could be in major trouble," Dana interrupted. "We got to check it out."

Angel still couldn't believe she was there in front of him. He had missed her so much, but he knew he wasn't the reason she had come back. "So this is the big one?" he asked.

She smiled, "Angel I told everyone to try and rest, that includes you, so no apocalyptic talk right now."

Angel returned the smile. "Ok so what do you want to talk about?"

"Well," she began. "Since I know you wondering, I'm fine. I went peacefully, and now I am the official messenger of the Powers that Be. She took his hand. "I'm happy. I'm at peace, Why aren't you?"

He sighed suddenly looking very tired to her. "There's still work to be done Cordy. I can never be at peace, not until." Cordy put a finger over his mouth.

"I told you no business talk right now."

Angel was about to say something in return when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he said.

A young Asian girl, on of the slayers, entered. "Um Mister Angel?" she began.

"Yes what is it?" he asked.

The girl looked very nervous. "Well have you seen that boy that was fighting with you earlier?"

"Connor," Angel became rigid. "No, why do you ask?"

The girl was visibly rattled. "Well, we noticed one of the slayers, um Dana missing, and so we started tracking everyone down, and since we found you two, the only other person missing is Connor."

Angel looked desperately at Cordelia. "Go," she said.