Ok… Timeline Jump…
3 weeks later.
Buffy is sitting on her bed. Her face has a thoughtful look on it.
"Are you okay?" Willow asked softly as she walked in to sit next to her best friend.
"I'm fine. Just thinking" Buffy answered.
"Oh c'mon Buffy, it's me. We both know why you're sitting here pulling an Angel (a.k.a brooding) instead of hanging out with all of us downstairs"
"If you know me so well then you'd know I don't want to talk about it" Buffy snapped.
Willow's face crumbled.
"I'm sorry Will. I just don't understand why she's getting to me so much. It was my idea to get her out to help us out. It was my bright idea for you to hack into the systems and arrange for her early release but…" Buffy trailed off.
"But?"
"None of those ideas included Angel having to be with her."
"Buffy, you know Angel loves you. He would never ever be interest in Fai-"
"I know that!" Buffy interrupted. "I just want him here. Away from her" she finished quietly.
"I know. But we need Faith right now. All of us do. As you said before, we have no other choice. None of the LA crew seem to be comfortable around Conner. And he's like going though the teenage angst years from hell. He might be Mr. Sunshine when you're around but he's not like that with the rest of us… except maybe Dawn." Willow said with a half smile-half frown. "Angel won't leave you here and stay in LA much longer. And we're running out of Strong people"
"I know. And it's not just that… I understand about Faith. Hell, I came to the same conclusions when I first suggested her. I just need Angel with me now. I can't explain it. I haven't been able to explain any of the feelings I've been having. I just know I need to listen to them. He's been gone a week already Will. I want him back home, with me."
"Call him."
"I will."
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(LA. AI HQ)
Angel is at his desk. Cordelia is looking through some papers nearby. Wesley walks in and clears his throat to attract Angel's attention.
"Yes Wesley?"
"We have managed to unearth a little more information about Maiy." Wesley saw the hopeful look on Angel's face and was quick to add, "We haven't managed to narrow the timeframe down any. All we know is that it will happen in the next few months."
Angel's expression turned to one of disappointment.
"So what do we know now?"
"We know how he's controlling the Balzthair demons. For him to cast a spell over them he would have had to have contact with them. But they are here on earth. They are also the only demons named on the prophecy. How then would Maiy be able to control them? Because control them he must if they are to do what he wants."
"Ok Wes, You lost me. Are we now going with the theory that Maiy is NOT controlling them? "
"No Angel. We simply had to figure out HOW he was controlling them? Most magic needs physical contact or atleast physical proximity. So we had to go back to the basics. Of magic that is. Willow is a very powerful Wicca but even she could not place a spell on the demons here is LA. The odds of the spell locating a certain group of demons within the Demon, why even the Balzthair community, was too great."
"Great, so we're back to Square one"
"Not exactly, I just had a call from Mr. Giles. Apparently Dawn happened to be reading one of her approved books when she came across the term 'Mansaiy'. She immediately noticed the similarity between that word and Maiy and alerted Mr. Giles. The book had first been dismissed as it was a record of magical terms compiled a little over 100 years ago. A book too new by Maiy standards. What no one had noticed was that the book was from a dimension called Nyaloka, a hell dimension."
Angel immediately asked, "As in the dimension where Maiy was banished to?"
"We're not absolutely certain as yet. Assuming of course that Maiy was indeed sent to Nyaloka, then we can also assume that any new magic he had explored could have been documented in this book." Wesley answered.
"You found a word? That's it! OMG Wes you have to start cutting down on your boring explanations. Cut to the chase. Get to the point. Not all of us are going to stay young forever" Cordelia snapped while shooting both Wesley and Angel hateful looks which was softened by the smile that was on her face the next minute.
"No, Uh… Cordy, there's more to it." Wesley said
"Then tell us. Quickly" Cordelia said
"Cordy!" Angel reprimanded while trying to hide the smile on his face. Things between him and the Seer were not perfect but they were getting there. After Angel had come to LA the previous week, the two of them ad sat down and talked it out. They were now working on rebuilding their friendship.
(A/N: I don't know about you lot, but I enjoyed watching Cordy when she was just Angel's friend and Doyle was still around. Trying to turn her back into that)
"Go on Wesley." Angel said.
"Yes- well, 'Mansaiy' translated very simply means 'Mind Magic'. We are still not sure what this means."
Just then the phone rings startling everybody.
Cordy picks up the phone. "Angel Investigations, We help the- Oh it's you. Hang on" She turns to Angel. "It's Buffy"
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Please Please Review…
I've had a few complaints about the timeline. So stretch your imaginations a bit and lets pretend that Conner pushing into his coffin in the sea AND Spike leaving town after that disastrous year where he was sleeping with Buffy happened at the same time… Suspend your horror for a few mins. This is just to accommodate the story.
Thanx!