Making Loose Ends Meet

Episode 1

Wolfram and Hart, Los Angeles:

            The front door of Wolfram and Hart opened and Angel and Spike casually strolled in. They looked well-refreshed and glad to be back in Los Angeles. The main lobby was completely deserted for the night. There was hardly anyone working during the night. And if there was, it was for an important assignment.

            "It's nice to be finally back in LA," Spike said as the walked in, "Although it's not good to be back in this creepy place."

             "I know what you mean," Angel replied, "But I am the CEO and I've got a hell of a job to do running this whole place."

            "Do you even like working here, Angel?" Spike questioned, as he pressed the button for the elevator.

            "Of course not," Angel responded, "But at least now I have more resources at my disposal to help fight the good fight."

            "What do you mean now?" Spike asked.

            "I used to own this hotel," Angel answered, "It was where we ran the business."

            "You ran a business?" Spike questioned, laughing, "That's a bloody joke."

            "No joke," Angel said.

            "And I'm supposed to believe that," Spike said, chuckling."

            Just then the elevator doors opened. A familiar face was standing inside. She smiled at them.

            "Nice to have you back, Angel," Eve said.

            "Hello Eve," Angel replied.

            Eve was Angel's liaison to the Senior Partners. She had first appeared to Angel after he'd become CEO of the company. She was supposed to give him information from the Senior Partners and she did. But she was more annoying than helpful.

            Angel and Spike stepped into the elevator next to Eve. The doors closed and the elevator went up.

            "You know, the Senior Partners are angry with you," Eve informed.

            "Why?"

            "Because you left and have been gone for almost two months," she replied, "There was no one here to run the business. We lost large amounts of money and many clients because of that."

            "They'll have to learn to deal with it," Angel said, "I had some personal business to take care of."

            "No Angel," Eve said, "The Partners don't just give away vacations at random. You have to earn it. And you most certainly haven't done so yet."

            The elevator came to a stop and the three of them walked out and headed towards Angel's office. Angel pushed the doors opened and stared in disbelief.

            "What's going on?" he asked.

            There were boxes all over his desk. They were filled with all his belongings.

            "You think you can just come back after being gone for that long and expect to still have a job?" Eve asked.

            "I don't see why the bloody hell he can't," Spike put in, finally speaking up.

            "Don't you understand, Angel?" Eve asked.

            "Understand what?" Angel questioned.

            "You're fired!"

            "What?" Angel asked.

            "You heard me," Eve said, "The Senior Partners fired you."

            "Well Angel, at least I still have a job," Spike said, "Maybe they'll promote me to CEO."

            "What are you talking about, Spike?" Angel asked, "You never had a job here."

            "Oh…right."

            "The two of you are no longer welcomed here," Eve said, "Get out!"

            Angel and Spike didn't move. They weren't about to be kicked out of the offices by some lackey. Eve waltzed over to the desk and picked up the phone. She hung up a few moments later.

            No sooner had she hung up, than five guards showed up at the door to the office. They stormed in and came at Angel and Spike. After putting up a fight, Angel and Spike were carried out the door, unconscious.

New York City:

            It was a warm fall night and Buffy stood alone of a street corner. She had run off from the last three friends that remained. She didn't even now where they'd gone. But she assumed that they were probably looking for her at this very moment.

            She stepped across the street and passed a dark, shadowy alley. She got a strange feeling as she walked past. It seemed as if something with power was in there. But she wasn't dealing with it. She was through with her life as the slayer.

            "Where ya off to?" said a familiar voice.

            Buffy didn't even have to turn around. She knew who it was. But she didn't know why he was there.

            "What do you want?" Buffy questioned.

            "What are you doing moping around all the way up here?" Whistler questioned.

            "I'm not moping," Buffy replied.

            "You sure look like it."

            "I'm on vacation."

            "What, for the rest of your life?"

            "Why's it matter to you?"

            "Because you're drifting from your path?"

            "What do you mean?"

            "You aren't supposed to be wondering around New York City without anything to do. You're supposed to be out fighting the forces of darkness."

            "Says who?"

            "The Powers that Be."

            "And let me guess, they sent you back down here to convince me to go back to slaying."

            "Well…not exactly…okay, yeah."

            "That's what I thought."

            "Okay look, I have to tell you the truth. You weren't supposed to lose all your friends."

            "What?"

            "The Powers that Be didn't plan for that to happen. They figured that you would have used the orb before things got ugly. But I guess they figured it wouldn't take that long for you to make up your mind about using it."

            "I thought I could beat her without it. You said that the thing had the potential to destroy the world. And I didn't want to risk that unless I absolutely had to."

            "I see."

            "But that doesn't matter now. Nothing is going to bring them back from the dead."

            "You do know that a slayer isn't supposed to have friends?"

            "Yes, Giles told me many times before."

            "You were the only one. And they were the reason why you are still alive today."

            Buffy didn't respond. She didn't want to. She just listened to the words the Whistler said.

            "The Powers that Be look at you as the greatest slayer ever lived. When compared to all the others, you truly are the greatest. And not only are you the greatest, you are the last."

            "The last?"

            "After that day, there were no more potential slayers born."

            "What about all the others that were already here?"

            "The orb absorbed their slayer power and fused it with yours. When their power was completely drained, they died."

            "I killed them?"

            "No, the Powers were the ones that did. After you died the second time, the slayer line no longer ran through you. That's why another slayer wasn't called after you died."

Los Angeles:

            "This whole bloody thing was stupid," Spike said, taking a sip of his beer, "I mean what made us think we could just stroll back into Wolfram and Hart after being gone for a few weeks."

            "We have to get back control of the place," Angel said, sipping his beer.

            "Why?" Spike questioned.

            "It's the perfect place to continue our fight," Angel began, "We had the money, we had the resources, we had everything we wanted. And we could do whatever we wanted."

            "How do you plan to get it back?" Spike asked, "It's not like we can just waltz in there and take over."

            "We need to prove to the Senior Partners that we can still run the company," Angel said.

            "How?"

            "We'll talk to them."

            "And then what, get on our knees and beg them to give us our jobs back."

            "There's something called the White Room somewhere in the building."

            "And what's it for?"

            "It's a conduit for the Senior Partners. We can communicate with them from there."

            "Sounds like a bloody plan, I guess. But how do you plan to get in there?"

            "We'll have to break in."

            "Yes, sounds like the perfect plan, break into the impenetrable fortress of lawyers."

            "It shouldn't be that hard. You remember when those android things broke into the building, don't you?"

            "How could I forget those buggers?"

            "Well, they did it. So why can't we?"

            "Because there were more than a dozen of them and there are only two of us."

            "That adds to the stealth. We don't need to cause a scene. We just need to break in and find our way to the White Room. Then we'll be fine."

            "You know, I'm up for a little action. I'm in."

            "Good then let's get going."

London, England

            Giles had been in London for a few weeks now. He'd gone after right after the battle had ended, right after Buffy had disappeared from his life. She was like a daughter to him and now she was gone. He didn't even know where she'd gone to. He wanted to know that she was all right, but he knew that he'd probably never see her again.

            In London, Giles had gone to see the remains of the Watcher's Council. It was peculiar that they were never searched through or even removed. But that didn't matter now. He had searched through them himself and found several useful items. Many of the things he found though were in horrible condition.

            What he did find though, was Quentin Travers's Watcher Journal. It was in very good shape considering that the council building had been blown to pieces. Inside the journal were all sorts of things that had happened since Quentin had become head Watcher.

            But the thing that surprised Giles most was the fact that the Council had created a temporary slayer line. Faith had been right about it. After she and Buffy had been presumed dead, the Council became worried because a new slayer hadn't been called. So instead of making sure if Buffy and Faith were indeed dead, they took matters into their own hands and created a new slayer line.

            Giles was shocked at this. Where did the Council ever come up with magiks that powerful? It seemed impossible, but it was definitely true. Giles couldn't find any records where they may have kept this information. It was probably destroyed in the blast or they may have not even kept records.

Wolfram and Hart:

            "So where is this White Room?" Spike asked.

            "I'm not sure. I've never actually seen it," Angel replied.

            The two had easily broken into the building. It surprised them that security hadn't picked them up. They were now wondering the halls, in search of the White Room.

            "What the bloody hell do you mean you don't know?" Spike questioned.

             "Be quiet," Angel whispered loudly, "I've only been there once and I wasn't quite sure where in the building it was."

            "Then how do you expect your brilliant plan to work then?"

            "We'll find it, don't worry."

            The two crept along through the dark, deserted hallways. It was strange sneaking around a building that they once were in control of. But it had to be done if they were going to win back their jobs.

            "I just realized something," Spike said, "I don't even work here, so why am I doing this?"

            "Look Spike, we've already been over the fact that you don't work here," Angel said, getting annoyed.

            Spike didn't even hear Angel's last comment. He was too busy looking into a nearby room.

            "Hey Angel, is this it?" Spike asked.

            Angel, who was already up the hallway a bit, turned around to see where Spike was. His head was peering into a room through a door. Angel walked back towards Spike.

            "Is it white?" Angel asked.

            "I believe so," Spike replied, "Looks white to me."

            Angel grabbed the door and pulled it open. He walked in and Spike followed. The room was completely white. There were no other colors at all, except for them. Spike closed the door behind them.

            He and Angel strolled right into the center of the room, stopped, and began to look around. Angel turned and saw a familiar face.

            "Gunn?" Angel questioned, "But you're dead."

            "So Angel, you think you can just come back here and still have control of Wolfram and Hart?" Gunn questioned.

            "That's not Gunn," Spike whispered.

            "I know, Spike," Angel whispered back.

            "We do not allow things like this to happen," Gunn said, "Once you leave, you're gone forever."

            "It's not like we left for no reason," Angel said, "I had some important personal problems that I needed to deal with."

            "What, helping the slayer in her fight against the all-powerful Goddess?" Gunn asked.

            "How'd he know that?" Spike asked.

            "We are the Senior Partners," Gunn said, "We know about every apocalypse that occurs on this planet."

            "Well, that's interesting," Spike murmured.

            "See, employers are supposed to give their employees leave for when they have problems that they need taken care of," Angel said.

            "We're not normal employers as you already know," Gunn said.

            "But you should be," Spike said, stepping up, "You see if you don't give your employees time off, then they'll leave and you'll have no one."

            "He's right," Angel said, "And you need people to run the company. Without them, the company will fall apart. That's something you don't want."

            "Was the company really at lost without a CEO, or did Eve just make that up?" Spike asked, "I personally think she did. And I don't trust that woman at all and if I were you, I wouldn't trust her either. She's a sly one."

            Angel looked at Spike, confused. He hadn't a clue where Spike was going with this. But that was okay because it seemed to be working. The Senior Partners seemed to be thinking about it.

            "So, you want your job back?" Gunn asked.

            "That's right," Angel replied.

            "Done," Gunn said, snapping his fingers.

            As soon as that happened, Eve appeared right there next to them. She looked confused.

            "What's going on here?" Eve asked.

            Gunn held out a piece of paper and a pen. Even glanced at it for a second and then took it into her hands. She read for a few moments, while Spike and Angel just watched.

            "You're firing me?" she questioned.

            "That's right," Gunn replied.

            "Why?" she asked.

            "Our re-instated CEO believes that you haven't been doing your job," Gunn said, motioning towards Angel.

            "What?" she questioned, "Angel said this, and you believe him?"

            "Please sign over your job," Gunn said.

            Eve looked at the consequences in her head. She knew that if she didn't sign over her job that they would probably kill her. And if she did, she wondered what would happen to her.

            She put the pen to her paper and signed on the dotted line. Then she handed the paper back to Gunn.

            "Thank you," Gunn said, "Bye bye."

            With that, Eve turned and stormed out of the White Room. She was furious with Angel. There would definitely be revenge for what he did.

            "Well that was pleasant," Spike said.

            "Yes, no more Eve getting on my nerves," Angel added.

            "Get back to work," Gunn said.

            "What was that?" Spike asked.

            "Get back to work!" Gunn demanded.

            Angel and Spike didn't comment on that. The two turned and walked out of the White Room, their jackets flapping behind them. The form of Gunn turned and faced another man. This man was dressed very business-like. He was sporting a nice suit and was very tall.

            "Keep your eye on them," Gunn said, "I don't want them causing any trouble."

            "Will do," the man said.

New York City:

            "So now there's no slayer to take Faith's place?" Buffy asked.

            "That's right. The slayer line is completely gone," Whistler informed, "Which makes you the last slayer."

            "So what happens after I die?" Buffy asked, "I mean who's left to fight the vampires."

            "I'm not exactly sure," Whistler replied, "But there will always be people out there fighting the vampires."

            "Just civilians?"

            "Yes, like your Watcher or like the two vampires with souls."

            "Angel and Spike."

            "That's right. And those two will continue fighting the good fight until they are a pile of dust."

            "They can't do any good through Wolfram and Hart," Buffy said.

            "I'm sure you will be surprised at what they can do," Whistler said, "And I'm sure that your help would be greatly appreciated."

            "I can't go there."

            "And why not?"
            "I have to get some answers to some questions."

            "Well then, ask away."

            "I need to seek out these answers myself. I'm going back to the roots of the slayer. I'm going to Africa."

            "And then what?"

            "And then maybe I'll return to fight the good fight," Buffy said.