Disclaimer- I own nothing. Everything belongs to Joss.
Note- Thanks to all my reviewers, you guys rock! I hope you enjoy this next chapter. It's not as long as I hoped it would be but it ended where I wanted it to, so that's all that counts! –B
Chapter2- Out of Place
The Hyperion was quite. The group sat around with shocked looks on their faces. Wesley was the first to speak, "But- But Fred's –"
"Dead?" Ainsley interrupted. "Yeah, I kinda figured that when I saw Illyria here."
"How is that possible?" Angel asked, calming down from his anger. "I told you, I can't tell you." Ainsley replied, looking him in the eye.
"You can't just come in here and tell us your mother is someone who died 3 months ago and expect us to be all civil about it without an explanation!" Gunn said suddenly, becoming slightly angry.
Ainsley stood up, as if to intimidate them, "Do you want to screw up the world?"
"Wouldn't be the first time is has happened." Spike cut in.
"Listen, we could sit around here all day arguing about the fact that you don't believe who I am, even though I have no reason to lie to you, but the fact of the matter is that time has shifted. There's no telling what damage this has already caused to the past, present or future." Ainsley said, getting angry.
The group remained silent. Ainsley sighed and looked at her feet. Then she got an idea. "Ok, ask me a question."
"What?" Angel asked. "Ask me something only one of us would know, or only Mom and Dad know, and if I'm their daughter, I will be able to tell you." Ainsley replied, a look of determination on her face.
"I don't think that's-"
Ainsley groaned. "Ok, um, Angel, your name before you became Angelus was Liam. The first person you murdered when you became a vampire was your father. Dad, you were a 'Rouge Demon Hunter' before you joined Angel Investigations and when Mom was dying you told her that you had loved her since you had known her."
Angel, Spike, Gunn and Wesley all had expressions of shock and joy on their faces.
"There's no way you would of known that unless- "
"Unless I am who I say I am? Told you I wasn't lying." She replied.
The group composed themselves but the only thing on Wesley's mind was Fred. She was coming back. He didn't know how or when but it gave him hope. That the world was still worth living in.
"So, any idea how you got here?" Gunn asked, knocking Wesley out of his daydream.
Ainsley shrugged. "One minute I was sitting on the counter, arguing with-" she paused, "-somebody. And then I was here."
"What year are you from?" Spike asked. "Not telling." Ainsley replied with a grin on her face. "How are we supposed to help you if you don't tell us something?" Angel said. "You know as well as I do that it could mess up the universe." Ainsley replied.
"Maybe…-" Wesley began, more to himself. "What?" Angel asked, as everyone faced Wesley.
"Maybe while you're here you could help us with something. Your aware of what happened when we left Wolfram Hart?" Wesley asked Ainsley. "Yes." She replied uncertainly. "Then you must know how or why all those demons disappeared." Wesley stated as the group looked at Ainsley.
"Yeah, I do. I probably know more about the senior partners then you do…at the moment." Ainsley replied, looking at the group. "Well…" Gunn said. Ainsley sighed, "I can see I'm not gonna win this. Whatever information I'm about to tell you, you
cannot use it. It's pivotal that we don't do anything that isn't meant to happen. For at least a couple of years anyway." They all greeted her with expressions of confusion, but curiosity.
"Ok, let me explain," Ainsley began, walking around the counter and sitting down. "There are the senior partners, the entities that create the wolf, ram and hartIf you destroy the senior partners, you destroy the entities, therefore making a void. Ring a bell?" She was greeted with expressions of utter clueless ness.
Ainsley sighed, "You attempted to take down the senior partners by killing the members of the black thorn. You managed to really piss them off, but not destroy them. Want to know why? Because you can't. Without the senior partners there is a void, and for those of you who a just tuning in a void means non-existent. It creates an imbalance between good and evil. Cliff notes version, the world cannot exist without the balance."
"So your basically saying that without the senior partners the world is practically non-existent?" Angel asked slowly.
"Ding, Ding, Ding, we have a winner." Ainsley replied, rolling her eyes.
Gunn leaned into Wesley's ear, "You really raised a smart-ass." He whispered.
Wesley glared at Gunn before looking back at Ainsley. "But that still doesn't explain the demon's disappearing in the alley and the apocalypse ending."
"Yeah. The Powers That Be stepped in. Struck a deal with the Senior Partners." Ainsley said, looking Angel, ready for him to explode.
He's head snapped up, "What?"
Ainsley sighed, "The PTB stepped in and –"
"No, I heard what you said but it seems impossible that the Powers that Be would strike a deal with Evil."
"Evil yes, but a part of existence. You're not getting it. As long as there is good, there is always evil. Not even you can change that. The Powers are good, Senior Partners, Evil. The world cannot exist without them. They may be against each other but from time to time they need each other to keep the balance. The Powers saw that the fight was going nowhere and instead of watching the entire world be wiped out, good and evil, they decided to step in."
"So what exactly was this deal?" Spike asked, leaning against the counter.
Ainsley smiled and hopped off the chair. "That, I definitely cannot tell you." She replied, walking around into the lobby.
"Ok, um, Angel, what do you propose we do?" Wesley asked, looking slightly overwhelmed.
"Honestly? I don't have a clue." Angel replied, walking into his office and closing the door.
Wesley sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Big guy's pissy again. What a surprise." Spike said, crossing his arms and turned around, set to walk into the office and interrogate Angel. "Spike." Wesley cut in. Spike turned around. "Don't. He just needs time to digest. We all need time to digest." Wesley said quietly, standing up and walking up the stairs.
Ainsley's eyes followed him all the way up until he was out of sight.
She stood up and faced Spike, Illyria and Gunn. "The way I see it? I was brought here for a reason. These things don't just happen." Ainsley said, shrugging her shoulders and walking up the stairs.
"She is odd. I am not entirely comfortable in her presence." Illyria said, cocking her head to the side, staring at the space where Ainsley had just been. Gunn shrugged, "Maybe your just uncomfortable because she may be the reason for your death." He said, looking at Illyria. "Either that or you're her mother." Spike said. Gunn and Illyria both looked at him. Spike threw his hands up in the air, "We haven't ruled anything out yet." "Spike, go talk to Angel." Gunn said, trying to keep the mental image Spike just put in his head, out. "I'm just saying is all…-" Spike muttered to himself as he walked into Angel's office.
Spike is one seedy little man… lol. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one will be the last for this episode. Please…REVIEW!