See Part 1 for Disclaimer and other information. Well, that's it folks; this one's now finished. Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed, your praise has helped immensely; I kid you not! Some people have asked about a sequel - even though I've left it open for one, and I have quite a few ideas based on season 2 of The 4400, it'll probably be a LONG time before I get around to writing it. Sorry, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles. So without further ado...
Part V: Destiny
Daycare Center, Seattle, Washington. The next day
Cordelia walked towards the man and the young child he was talking to, with a determined stride and a frown on her beautiful face.
During the previous day, she and Xander had met with Richard and Lily, who had both been thrilled to learn how the missing member of The 4400 had found his way back into the fold. Xander had been glad to see those two as well, and congratulated them upon entering official coupledom...
But the teenager's good mood had suddenly vanished, upon meeting Jordan Collier.
He didn't understand it, but Harris instinctively knew something was off about that guy, and had kept the bearded man at arm's length the whole time. Richard had noticed it too; his military background being what it was, it had been impossible for him not to. And his concerns about their benefactor had also grown.
Later, when Xander and Cordy had been alone, the former Scooby had also asked about Maia; and upon learning the little girl was now living with Diana Skouris, he'd wanted to meet with her and make sure his young friend was okay.
And since the male returnee was still determined to stay off of official radar, at least for the foreseeable future, Cordelia was acting as his bird dog in this endeavour.
"So tell me, Maia, is there anything I can do for you?" a dark-haired man asked the little blonde girl, as Ms. Chase walked up to them.
The former Queen C cleared her throat. "Maia?"
The child's face lit up with a huge smile, and she quickly ran into the other girl's arms for a huge embrace. "Cordelia!"
The teenage femme fatale enthusiastically hugged her young acquaintance, and then looked over at the man staring at her – who had 'Federal agent' stamped all over his features. "Hey, sweetheart, it's real good to see you again. But um, I need to talk to this guy alone for a sec, okay? You wanna go play on the swings on something, till I can join you?"
"Okay..." Miss Rutledge skipped off, looking as cute and innocent as a child could be.
"Returnee Number 3,156, isn't it? I'm Agent Warren Lyttel, Department of Homeland Security..." Lyttel stopped for a moment, as he noticed her stare. "Is there a problem?"
"Yeah. You could say that," the Queen of Mean was directing her most hostile stare at the man.
"What is it, and how can I help?"
Cordelia walked forward. "First off, I have a name; so use it! I'm a human being with rights, just like you, and not some commodity with an ID number you might think you can control – in the name of national security, or whatever the in-phrase is now. We clear about that, you J. Edgar Hoover wannabe?"
Lyttel wasn't at all fazed by her attitude...yet. "Crystal."
"And secondly, I couldn't help noticing Maia wasn't happy about you being here and interrogating her like that. That's why I think you should go, right the hell now!"
Warren shook his head, "Sorry. But I'm afraid that's really not your call-"
"I'm MAKING it my call! Hey, how'd you like it if I went down to NTAC headquarters right now, and filed a complaint against you? Because something like a child harassment charge on your permanent record, that wouldn't look too good – especially when you're going for a promotion in the future. Would it?"
Lyttel's calm exterior started to crack. "I think you should leave. Now."
Cordelia just smiled, the same kind of cruel smile that used to send the ugly and unfashionable running for their lives during high school. She got right into the agent's face, "And I say, make me!"
There was tense face-off; and in response to a sudden move on Cordy's part, Lyttel started to whip his gun out. But moving like a snake, Ms. Chase grabbed hold of the weapon as he held it, and used her power to instantly deep-freeze the Glock 9mm.
Lyttel let go of the firearm with a yelp, the cold almost giving him frostbite, and it fell to the ground; where the weapon instantly shattered into a million pieces.
"Tsk, tsk. Pointing a gun at an unarmed woman? That probably wouldn't look too good on your record either," Cordy smirked, before she growled, "Want to see what'll happen, if I put my hands on your head? Now BEAT IT!"
The unpleasant yet very ambitious HomeSec agent quickly backed away, his eyes full of...something, before he turned around and left. Cordelia just dismissed Lyttel from her mind, and quickly phoned Xander on her cell to give him the all-clear, before she rejoined Maia.
And when Harris finally showed up at the swings, Maia was ecstatic. "Xander! You're back!"
The former Sunnydale native hugged his young friend intensely, having missed her a lot more than he had expected. "It's darn good to see you too, kiddo. How ya been, anyway?"
"Okay, Diana's been good to me. I'm hoping she'll become my new mommy one day..."
Xander smiled, "Well, if you're happy, then I'm happy. So, what about everything else?"
"Some of the clothes look funny. And the cars. But I don't know, video games are kind of fun..."
"Yeah, well, I'm sure Xander knows all about that!" Cordelia interjected with a smirk. "In the old days, those things and comic books were like an obsession with him!"
"HEY!" Harris cried out. "You're supposed to be on my side, now that we're back together..."
Maia was still up in Xander's arms, as she turned around to look at Cordelia. "You mean, you guys are back to like kissing and groping each other all the time? Gross..."
Both teenagers chuckled before the female one said, "Honey, trust me – in seven or eight years, you won't be thinking that at all!"
The little girl just made a face, as Xander let her down. But Maia suddenly became very solemn as she said to her friends, "I need to tell you two something."
Xander and Cordy briefly stared at each other, knowing this was serious. Harris asked the precognitive little girl, "What is it, Maia?"
"Highland Beach, tonight – Xander, you've got to be there. Agent Baldwin's son, Kyle; he's the answer. He can tell you what you need to know."
"What I need to know?" he echoed in confusion.
"What's this about?" Cordelia asked.
"That's all I can tell you..." Maia suddenly turned around. "You have to go now, Diana's coming. And Xander, you can't let them take you back to Quarantine-"
Spying the NTAC agent in question, Cordelia took charge and quickly dragged her boyfriend away, before he could ask any further questions.
Highland Beach, Washington. Later that night
It all seemed to just totally spiral out of control from that moment on.
When they got back to the Arcadia Estates housing complex, Xander and Cordelia had found that Lily and Richard had just up and disappeared, with no warning or note. And when Ms. Chase had asked Collier what the hell had happened, his vague reply had really started setting off alarm bells in Xander's mind – and he'd quickly dragged his girlfriend out of there, telling the millionaire they had a prior appointment elsewhere.
And when they'd arrived at the beach that night, the two found a regular convention of Federal agents rolling up at the same time. Then as they got out of Cordelia's BMW, a brilliant blue-white light seemed erupt skywards out of nowhere; and following it to the source, Xander and Cordy found Tom and Kyle slowly rotating in the column of light.
Now as had been said earlier, Kyle Baldwin had been in a coma for three years, from the moment his cousin Shawn had disappeared during the April of 2001. But the 4400 healer in question had recently brought the young man out of it...
And yet, since then, Kyle Baldwin had started claiming that he wasn't Kyle Baldwin. And he had brought Tom and Diana here tonight, as though he'd known what was going to happen – after the two agents had rescued the guy from Lyttel's little prison enclosure.
Xander looked at Cordelia and said, "This is where Maia said we had to be. Look, stay here, I'll be back-"
"Are you nuts? I'm coming with you!" the girl said vehemently at once.
"Cor, I love you and all for the attitude, but think for a second! There are a lot of heavily-armed guys over there who probably don't have a clue what's going on, and so might have developed an itchy trigger finger. And I'm fast enough to dodge a speeding bullet, but you're not! You see where I'm going with this?"
Cordy didn't like it, but had to bow to her boyfriend's logic. "Promise me you'll be careful, okay? I just got you back, and I don't want to lose you again!"
Harris just smiled and kissed her, like he had at Buffy's party six years ago; when all this had really begun. "Promise." And with that, he was gone in a blur of motion.
A short distance away, Diana had finished explaining what had happened to Ryland and Lyttel, and was about to touch the white light encompassing Tom and Kyle; when a Xander-shaped blur came rushing past her, and passed through the barrier with effortless ease.
As a result of this Xander took Tom's place in the column of light, appearing frozen to the outside world, as the NTAC agents rushed over to pick up their fallen comrade.
"Tom! Are you okay?" Diana demanded, as the woman started to examine him for any injuries.
"Yeah, yeah..." Baldwin said, annoyed by the fuss. "But, uh, what happened? One moment, I was talking to that guy – the next, I'm out here?"
"What guy?" Lyttel demanded at once.
"Do you mean Kyle, Tom?" Ryland asked. "And what did you learn in there, anyway?"
Baldwin hesitated. This conversation was going to be a tough one; because how DO you tell everyone that, no joke, the end of the world is nigh?
As Xander blinked, he found himself standing by the water in the daylight. "What's going on-?"
"Greetings, Defender of Mankind."
Harris turned around to look at his companion, who had spoken with the slightly reverberating voice. "Who are you?"
The future human, who was wearing the image of Kyle Baldwin, said simply, "My name is unimportant. I'm human, though. Like you."
Xander shook his head. "Nope, sorry. But these days, I'm pretty sure you're nothing like me-"
His companion replied, "I come from a different time. That is all. Your future."
The young man suddenly had an epiphany. "You're the one of those responsible for all this, aren't you? You're one of the BASTARDS who stole my life, Cordy's and the rest of The 4400! WHY DID YOU-?"
The future human cut him off at once, "It was necessary. You were all needed."
"For what?" Harris demanded.
"For the survival of the species. Because in my time, humanity is dying out."
Suddenly all the anger left him, as Xander processed that. Instantly shifting into 'end of the world' mode, the man asked urgently, "You mean, it's all gonna end? Some demon finally gets lucky, and the apocalypse happens?"
"Not in the way you think. Details aside, only those we took could prevent The Catastrophe from happening. That is why you were all changed and then sent back into this world, the way you are today."
This was almost too much for Xander to take in, but there was one question that he suddenly had to ask above all others. "Why here? Why now?"
The future human said simply, "Because history tells us, this is where the path to oblivion began."
Xander suddenly thought about the lost remains of the town he had been born in. "Wait – does this have anything to do with what happened in Sunnydale, last year?"
"No. It was Los Angeles – six months ago..."
Knowing nothing as yet of Angel's showdown against the Senior Partners of Wolfram & Hart, and the Circle of The Black Thorn, Harris then asked, "Okay, but why me? And why Cordy?"
"You are both unique, in your own way. Free will is your ally, which made you both dangerous. Because of this, history records that circumstances were engineered such that you would have died in Africa, six months past. And your companion, too, would have died elsewhere nearly a year ago."
That was a LOT to deal with, instantly reminding him of what Drusilla had rambled on about weeks ago in Spokane, but finally Xander murmured, "So...what are we supposed to do now? How do we stop this catastrophe of yours?"
The image of Kyle Baldwin responded, "You, personally? You must protect the children, until they come of age. Your own child, and one other. All the rest of those that we chose, they have already begun their work. Just as Tom has already begun his."
( Oh, man, so there's no doubt about it – I really am gonna become a dad? Jeez, how the hell then do I prevent myself from turning into my father? ) "Tom?" Xander asked, not wanting to think about that part of it right now.
"Agent Baldwin. From the beginning, he was meant to help all of you-"
Then the future human stopped, as a large red dot appeared on his chest. "You're bleeding-" Xander said in surprise, as the column of light suddenly vanished and day became night once more.
He blinked and looked around, and the former Slayerette saw men with guns pointed right at him. So Xander didn't bother to ask questions, as Diana shouted for someone to call an ambulance and Tom started to cradle his dying son's body on the ground...
Able to control his power much better now, Harris just blurred and vanished, only briefly pausing to grab Cordelia along the way.
Department Of Homeland Security, Seattle, Washington. Later that night
Tom Baldwin shoved Warren Lyttel up against the wall, a furious expression on his face. "You shot my son, you son of a bitch! Give me one good reason not to return the favour!" the agent hissed in a deadly rage.
It had indeed been Warren's bullet that had killed the future human – just after Diana had been repelled off the light barrier, in an attempt to get Xander out of there. Lyttel just looked at the other man in the office, "Ryland? You wanna give me some help?"
Dennis just smirked a little. "It's a tough call..." Then he sighed, "All right, Tom, let him go. And tell me, how's Kyle?"
Agent Baldwin abruptly released Lyttel, and glared before he turned around to face his boss. "Fine, no thanks to John Wayne here! NTAC Medical has cleared him. Whatever really happened a few hours ago, Kyle's come out of it without even a scratch. Even if he doesn't remember anything, ever since he woke up from the coma..."
"Okay. Now, think – can you remember anything else that that...person...might have mentioned to you?" Ryland asked hopefully.
"NO! I told you, all I know is it wasn't aliens, after all – the world's gonna end in the future, so The 4400 were taken and then sent back to somehow prevent that from happening! And supposedly, I've been chosen to help them..." Tom finished up with a look of disbelief.
"How, precisely?" Lyttel didn't exactly sneer, but the implication was unmistakeable.
The NTAC agent glared at his nemesis again, "I don't know! Harris somehow shoved me out of there, before I could find out. I know, why don't we ask him? Oh, gee, that's right – he left after you started shooting up the neighborhood for no good reason, and now I bet you that that kid thinks we're the enemy – who wants to kill him!"
"Tom! Enough. Look, I want you to start organizing a nationwide manhunt for our missing returnee – there's no telling just WHAT he learned, when he took your place in that...information booth. And we need him alive to talk to us, so no police APB – there's no reason to risk Alexander Harris getting shot on sight. But make sure everyone knows he's to be taken into custody, the moment he's found," Ryland ordered.
Baldwin nodded, then appeared to think of something. "How the hell is anyone supposed to stop him, though, if they do recognize Harris on the street? Given what we've seen he can do?"
"The theory room people, they'll think of something..." And after Tom left, Lyttel was about to leave as well when Ryland said, "Where do you think you're going?"
Warren looked around in surprise. "To help coordinate the search-"
"I sure as hell don't think so."
Ryland gestured towards a piece of paper on his desk, "My report to Washington tomorrow will state how you not only recklessly endangered the lives of two civilians – you also needlessly cost us the most valuable source of intel we've come across so far, on what the purpose of The 4400 really is."
And then, Ryland openly grinned at the opportunity fate had thrown his way. "Bottom line, Agent Lyttel – I'm going to have your badge for this..."
The younger man merely glared at Dennis in impotent fury, before storming out of the office.
Tacoma, Washington. Late December, 2004
The vampires named Angel and Spike moved silently, and invisibly amongst the shadows.
Ever since that unpleasant business seven months ago in LA, where all the rest of their crew had been lost, one way or another – Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, Charles Gunn, the Old One named Illyria, and even the anagogic demon named Lorne – this was the first time these two had met up again after the battle to the death in that alleyway.
Angel had gone to Romania afterwards, wanting to forget about everything for a while; while Spike had gotten homesick for Merrie Olde England, of all things.
But destiny had had other plans for them.
Angel nodded to Spike, and the attack began.
It was a desperate mission that a warlock in Romania had sent the former Champion and his grandchilde upon; to find and talk to their former acquaintance, the woman named Eve.
The same Eve who had ordered Xander's death, months ago. The woman who the mage had said knew vital information, which the two vampires had to learn – if the end of the world was to be avoided.
The undead duo were soon enough drenched in blood and gore, as all the demons in their way did not take kindly to trespassers. Still, in spite of everything the enemy could throw at them, William the Bloody and the former Angelus finally got to their destination.
And what they saw there, was enough to sicken even them.
Eve had been brutally tortured for perceived betrayal and actual incompetence, her elegant beauty having long since vanished. Her body was an emaciated wreck, and the rags she wore that could only loosely be called clothing – they were filthy, and smelled absolutely foul. She looked to be on the edge of death; but not quite there, yet.
"Angel?" the woman croaked, her voice sounding hoarse from all the screams of pain.
"Hold on, Eve, we'll get you out of here-" the Irish-born vampire said as he grabbed hold of her chains, taking no pleasure at seeing his former lover and betrayer reduced to this pitiful state.
"No...time," Eve whispered, her strength ebbing fast. "Find..."
"Find who, luv?" Spike demanded, as he headed over towards the door, to hold it against the tide of reinforcements the Senior Partners were attempting to get into the room.
"Find her..." the former liaison wheezed. "Cordelia Chase...your shanshu, Angel. Harris has her-"
"Eve? EVE!" Angel suddenly shouted, even as his demon senses told him the human woman had just died.
"Damn it, mate – come on! We gotta get outta here!" the blonde-haired vamp shouted at his grandsire, coming over and pulling him away from the corpse.
A great deal of killing and running later (and something which neither vampire regretted in the least) the two men finally rested not far from Sunset Beach, and began to talk about what had just happened.
"Bloody hell, Peaches. Haven't been in a fight like that, ever since LA! So what did that bloody bint say before she croaked, anyway?" Spike asked.
Angel was too tired to take offence over the name-calling, at this point. "We gotta find someone called Cordelia Chase, something about my shanshu-"
"Who? And thought you signed that away, didn't ya?" Spike looked confused.
"I did," Angel shrugged, remembering his last encounter with the Circle of the Black Thorn. Then the 251-year-old vampire frowned, as he also recalled a conversation he'd once had with the deceased silver-colored demon named Skip...
Something about how in his employer's original plan the former cheerleader would have been the seer of choice, for all of Angel's years in Los Angeles. And that things would have turned out differently, if the girl hadn't vanished way back when.
Temptation and the hope of still becoming human one day thus began to be born again in his heart as Angel said, "I don't get it – but we need to find her, bottom line. You remember someone called Xander Harris? She's with him, apparently..."
In this world Spike had only vague memories of the guy in question, and in fact best remembered the teen merely as a snack that Angel had once offered during Parent-Teacher Night – over seven years ago, in Sunnydale. "Heard about him on the telly, few months back. And that idiot's one of them 4400 wankers, isn't he?"
"Yeah..." Angel ruminated, having no affection in his heart for his former Sunnydale acquaintance either. "Which almost certainly means government intervention. Those NTAC people will probably be looking for him as well..."
Spike quickly shook off the bad memories of being chipped for years by the Initiative. "Guess that means we'll need reinforcements, then?"
The former Scourge of Europe sighed. Or at least he appeared to, anyway. "Yeah, guess so. You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Cleveland," both vamps said at the same time. And both of them thinking of their one and only shared ex-girlfriend. ( Buffy... )
Cleveland, Ohio. January 19th, 2005
Hard as it was to believe for some people, Buffy Summers was enjoying a normal birthday party.
All of her friends were present, and there was currently no end-of-the-world emergency happening. Not to mention, there was no box containing a demon's arm anywhere in sight.
No Cruciamentum ritual taking place.
No Giles demon anywhere in the vicinity.
No sign of Dawn cutting herself, to prove that she was a real human being.
No vengeance demon, imprisoning them all inside the building.
No First Evil, pretending to be a potential Slayer...
This long tradition of Buffy birthday disasters had in fact ended in Italy last year, when she and her little sister had spent the evening alone with presents; no one else being able to make it to the festive occasion. Since not only were they all in different countries at the time, the gang had been far too busy finding newly-called Slayers, and trying to rebuild the Council into some semblance of what it had once been.
This year, Buffy was hoping to be able to continue the Roman 'no catastrophe on her birthday' precedent of 2004. And yet, the blonde-haired woman suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, as her Slayersense went absolutely crazy...
And sure enough, Giles arrived to give her the bad news.
"Buffy, it's Angel and Spike. They just showed up at the front gates of the school – and, and there was a horde of demons after them, of all things. Luckily, all the Slayers on duty managed to take care of them – oh, um, and Angel and Spike want to talk to you. It's got something to do with Xander, apparently..."
( Xander? Oh, I can already tell – this isn't gonna end well! And one day I'm gonna take Spike's advice from back then, and simply not celebrate a birthday! ) "Fine, invite them in. And gather the rest of the gang together, too; we may as well all hear what it is they have to say at once..."
Somewhere in the woods. May, 2005
The rural and isolated cabin housed four inhabitants; Richard and Lily Tyler, and Alexander and Cordelia Harris.
After that night six months ago, the two teenagers had headed back to Cordy's home, packed her things and promptly disappeared. The risks of sticking around were obviously just too great, now that Homeland Security knew that Xander wasn't missing and presumed killed anymore – and Cordelia had given Agent Lyttel a clear demonstration of what she could really do, too...
And eventually, they had found their friends again with the use of a witch's locator spell, Cordelia having in her possession a few borrowed items from Lily in order to accomplish that – since Xander had figured that Lily's baby was the other child he was supposed to watch out for.
All four of them had then sat down and talked, telling each other all their secrets. How Richard and Lily had discovered that he was the father of her unborn child, and how Jordan had first tried to split them up and then prevent them from leaving town...
Not to mention how Cordelia was pregnant as well, thanks to that faulty condom. And that either way, the baby she was carrying had one terrifying destiny that Xander had FINALLY revealed to her – after she'd told him that she now had a bun in the oven.
Suddenly Lily groaned, as she sat on her bed. "The baby..."
Cordy, who was six months gone herself, suddenly felt her son kicking. "Same here!"
Richard and Xander, who had been tending the fire in the fireplace, glanced at each other. "It's time? I'll get the car," Tyler said, after doing the math and getting up.
"I'll get her luggage," Xander offered.
"Now don't forget – you'll need to stay out of sight, when we get to the maternity ward," Cordelia reminded her husband, as she got up from her chair with a groan.
The Xander Harris that she smiled at so fondly certainly looked quite different to the photo of the youth the DHS was quietly searching for – actually, with the moustache and goatee he'd grown over the course of the past several months, Cordy thought he looked quite debonair – because there was no way the group wanted to take any chances of him being identified by the authorities.
"Not a problem," Xander reassured her, as he immediately rushed over to steady the young woman. "Because, hey, I have no intention of being separated from you again anytime soon, sweetheart..."
Not long afterwards, their car started speeding down the road towards the local hospital. And Xander alone in the back seat, noted with wonder as how the trees lining the road were bowing in deference, as the vehicle passed them by – heralding the birth of something new, under the sun.
Two children that would grow up to be very important to the fate of the world. Children that were in fact going to have a very short childhood, and be more vital to the future than any Slayer could ever possibly be.
The journey of these four people in the car, these members of The 4400, truly had begun. The only question was...how would it truly conclude?
THE END...for now.
Hope you liked it! All writers love feedback, so please e-mail me at: theop at kew dot hotkey dot net dot au