Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Author's note: This is where things start to go wrong for a particular character in some aspects. Once again, this will not be bashing any particular characters, but it's going to be a realistic look at everything, especially the characters that many fans hold in such high regard but don't really question big decisions. I've discussed this with a few people and we've agreed that there are certainly good aspects to a character, but when their actions lean toward more bad than good, especially with how they affect others, you start to become disappointed because of how they were put off as being so great but it's suggested being otherwise. Also, this chapter is going to introduce a plot point that showed up in Angel that would pretty much disregard everything as far as Buffy and Angel's 'destinies'. So sit back, relax, and try not to lose yourself in this rendition of the fallout.
Crawford Street Mansion
Sunnydale, California
Xander and Jonathan followed the ensouled vampire back to his previous base of operations. Xander had been feeling rage boiling up within him the minute he saw the vampire's spiky hair. Jonathan looked over to his friend and became worried. He had heard the stories about what Angel did when he lost his soul. But he found it odd that there hadn't been any mysterious deaths since his return.
"So this is him?" the short teen asked.
"Yeah that's him. I can't believe he actually made it out," Xander replied as he clenched his fist.
"Seems weird don't you think?"
Xander looked to his friend in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"We don't know how long he's been back, but he hasn't caused more trouble than we've had to deal with. From what you guys told me, if he caused trouble, he'd go out of his way to make sure you knew it."
"Damn. You're right. But he's also a good actor. Let's wait and see what happens," Xander said as they turned their attention back to Angel.
The souled vampire unwrapped the glove in his possession and began gathering ingredients when he was approached by someone. The two young men were shocked to discover that it was Buffy. They watched as the two talked when Buffy went up and kissed the vampire on the mouth. Xander became enraged to the point of no return as he stormed into the mansion with the lightning surrounding his body and white fire engulfing his fists.
Angel and Buffy whirled around only to find Xander storming in and radiating power that made them both very afraid. Buffy took a step forward as she asked, "Xander?"
"What the fuck are you thinking?" he asked coldly.
"Xander, it's not what you think. This is Angel. Not Angelus," she replied.
"How the hell would you know! Did you just magically know without even trying to find out for sure!"
"I trusted my heart! And I know Angel!"
"Is that why you let him run around for months when he lost his soul! He could've changed tactics just to fool you!"
"Is that the excuse you need to get him out of the picture? Then you'd finally have me to yourself?" she shot back.
"Get over yourself! I could find a number of girls better than you for me, especially after that lap dance you did to make him jealous!" Both Angel and Buffy were stung by that comment. For Angel, he was reminded that other people did matter when it came to things that he was involved in. For Buffy, she was reminded that she had essentially treated him like dirt, and while it seemed that he may have forgiven her, there was resentment there.
"How about we take this to the rest of the gang. Maybe someone there can see what's going on," Jonathan threw in, hoping everyone could remain calm. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as the power faded from Xander's body.
Library
Sunnydale High School
Giles and the other scoobies sat around researching various things when the doors were thrown open . Giles shot over to the weapons cabinet and pulled out a sword as he saw Angel walking in with the others. "What the bloody hell is going on here?"
"Tone it down Giles. We actually need you or anyone else to confirm something for us," Jonathan said. The older watcher lowered his weapon as he saw the intense glare that he had leveled at the vampire.
"Tara. You'd be the best person for this task. Would you mind any help setting up?" Giles asked.
"I-it's okay Giles. It's not necessary. I just need to take a good look at his eyes and I'll know," the young woman said.
Everyone stopped and watched as Tara approached the vampire and looked directly into his eyes. She would flinch every so often but remained steadfast as she took into account everything that she was seeing. She turned to the rest of the group with a serious look on her face. "It's definitely Angel the human that's in control. I could see the demon inside but otherwise the human soul is in control."
"If that's the case, I think someone has something to say," Buffy said intently towards Xander.
"You're right. You should be more careful," Xander said, making Cordelia and Willow wince. The redhead believed that Xander's jealousy was showing especially given their affair. Cordelia on the other hand believed that she was seeing what she could tell was probably some pent up resentment which she could admit she had shared.
"Is that really what you have to say?" Buffy snapped back.
"Since you didn't come to us in the first place, what do you expect me to say?"
"How can I come to you when you hated Angel in the first place? Hell, you and Willow wanted me to "kick his ass"!" Willow heard this and jumped into the conversation.
"I never said that! I told Xander to tell you I was trying the soul spell again!" Willow immediately put everything together. "You lied to her!"
"You made me send Angel to Hell? You're the reason I had to kill the man I love?" Buffy said accusingly.
"The man you loved was dead long before he got here. He was a ghost possessing his own dead body. As for him getting sent to the basement, I understand you did that on your own. And I wasn't going to trust Willow's lack of magical experience, especially with the most dangerous magic known to anyone!"
"Willow said she knew what she was doing!"
"And you believed her because you put Angel before everyone else! If you had known, you would've held back! And he would've killed you because he stopped trying to make us suffer and tried to end the world! And he would've succeeded, which meant you, me, Willow, Giles, your own mother, everyone in the world would've died the minute we got sucked into Hell! Is that what you would've let happen if you knew?"
Xander looked hard at Buffy trying to impress upon her the seriousness of the situation while Buffy looked lost and confused at her friend. Before anyone so much as moved, Buffy's fist came up and struck Xander in the face, whose head only turned to the side. Everyone, even Angel, looked shocked at Buffy's response. Buffy herself had stepped back after she got a hold of herself and looked horrified at what she did.
Xander turned to her with anger and sadness in his eyes. "You keep thinking I'm trying to hurt you when it comes to him. But I'm not. You keep hurting yourself, and he can only do the same to you."
Xander walked out of the library in a hurry, followed by Jonathan trying to catch his friend from doing something irrational or stupid. Faith decided to slip away while Diana and Cordelia were looking around trying to take in what just happened. Giles shook his head at the way his charges had been acting. Willow could only let the tear-streaks fall as she was torn between her two friends.
Cordelia finally left the library and went to see if she could catch Xander. She managed to spot him just walking off the school grounds when she called out, "Xander!"
The young man turned around and Cordelia saw that the anger had been replaced with weariness. "What do you want Cordelia?"
The former queen of Sunnydale High looked nervous about how she wanted to address him but she decided to bite the bullet. "I...I know we broke up. But Buffy was out of line for hitting you."
"I'm actually surprised you care so much."
Cordelia felt as if he had physically slapped her with his statement but she decided to stand strong. "I am still pissed at you for cheating on me with Willow. I'm surprised you had the guts to tell me about it."
"I told you because I realized that I was doing more harm. I've seen a side of you that the others refuse to. But I've had Willow practically my whole life. When it comes down to it, I'm not right for either of you."
"Right now, that doesn't matter. Funny. I always thought you were so overprotective of Buffy because you wanted her. But with everything that happened, like the week before she came home, and when she did come home. I'm surprised she didn't pick up on it."
"Because when it comes to Angel or life not going how she wants, she makes it about her. But what happened with Angel affected all of us. She didn't even think about how Giles would've felt if he found out Angel came back."
Cordelia remembered the night when they all found out that Ms. Calendar had died. She had wondered why the late technopagan had been alone and and was told later by Xander what happened when Angelus came to the forefront. Needless to say, she wasn't too happy with all of Buffy's decisions.
"So what are you going to do?"
"Nothing I can do about this. I saw this coming a mile away. But it still bit me in my ass."
"Just promise me something."
Xander took a good look at her. "What's that?"
"Don't die out there dweeb," she said with a small smile. Xander returned her smile before the former couple went their separate ways.
Back in the library, the remaining scoobies and the female watcher had been reeling after the implosion from the big reveal within the group. Buffy could sit and stare blankly at the table while Willow and Oz tried to comfort her with Angel standing off tot he side unsure of what to do. However, they were stunned when a bright light shone in the library and a brunette woman stood in the center, directly on top of the hellmouth entrance.
"Who are you!" Giles said as he hoisted the sword he had drawn earlier.
"Someone who can better help you understand the truth of your situation," she said.
"What do you mean?" Angel spoke up. He became visibly scared when he saw the woman's eyes briefly glow blue. That combined with the same feeling he felt from Xander made Angelus on the inside feel even more scared.
"What I mean, scourge, is that what you think you're fighting for is not what you believe it to be."
Diana jumped into the discussion as she could feel the aura of the newcomer. "You speak as if you're talking about Destiny."
"That's exactly what I'm talking about. All of your destinies have been an attempt at manipulating you into something worse."
"How could you possibly say this?" Giles asked. The woman revealed white feathery wings tot hem, making them all awestruck.
"My name is Ambriel. I served the highest power known to mankind. I cannot say the same for all of you."
"Excuse me!" Buffy said as the words struck her. "You guys were the ones who forced me to take on this role! How can you say I haven't been fighting for you guys?"
"Why do you believe that we chose you?" Ambriel said with genuine confusion.
"If you're really what you have shown us to be, than you know about that one slayer is chosen to take up the mantle to fight the forces of darkness," Giles replied.
"And you're under the pretense that any of the higher powers, including the Most High, actually gave that horrid power to a young girl?"
"Horrid power? What exactly do you mean by that?" Diana said as she felt dread form the angel's response.
"Here's something to think about: have you ever wondered why the half-breed demons are so drawn to the power of the slayer? Demons, be they half-breed or the Old Ones fear the Light."
Giles was taken aback by Ambriel's statement while Diana seemed to understand the angel's words. "You're saying that the power comes from a dark source."
"Yes. And the Powers would never have forced that power on anyone. They simply capitalized on the opportunity."
"Then who did give that power to the slayer?" Giles asked feeling as if everything he knew was being torn down in a simple argument.
"If you truly want to know the answer, ask the leaders of your council...if they care." With the reply, Ambriel disappeared as the rest of the group heard what sounded like a loud flap of wings.
One Week Later...
Jonathan had incinerated the last vampire that had come his way on the night's patrol while Faith had rejoined him after finishing off her opponents. The two had been trying to pick up any slack for anything missed over the last seven days, especially after Post was outed as a bad guy and taken away and the glove being destroyed. Faith was trying to come to terms with Diana telling her that the power she held was not given by a higher power, but she did her best to look past it as she had seen to put it to good use. However, much like Jonathan, she was worried about the way the group had been affected. Xander stopped hanging the girls so much and it made Willow cry and Buffy more annoyed. Cordelia had stayed away from the group although she seemed to be disillusioned by her so-called popular friends.
"Looks like that wraps up this patrol," Jonathan said.
"Guess so. You going over to Amy's?" Faith asked as she saw the change in their friendship.
"Maybe," he said with a smirk, but then faded. "What are you going to do?"
"Might check on someone on my way back home. It's so crazy how a tight group just falls apart."
"Maybe it was because of that that they fell apart." Faith looked at him in confusion. "Here's what I noticed about them: around anyone else they were always so tight-knit because of the circumstances. But then once you get personal, that's where it starts to unravel. I could definitely understand how Xander felt about the situation with Angelus. Whatever jealousy he had is gone. I can understand Buffy's feelings too. But in some rights, neither are completely right."
Faith nodded her head a bit as she understood. When she heard both arguments, she felt that she had agreed with Xander. While she understood the jealousy could cloud his judgment, that wasn't what fueled his feelings when the big reveal happened. At the end, she agreed with Xander because she also understood that putting someone before everyone at the risk of losing everything and everyone was a selfish ideal.
"You think there's anything we can do to help?" she asked.
"Only help keep them together. I doubt they'll really want to be pushed unless it becomes necessary." Faith agreed with a nod before she departed.
Harris Residence
Xander laid on his bed in his room as he thought about everything that had happened. He saw no point in being around people who would disregard anything he had to say no matter how useful. He wasn't surprised that Buffy had shut him out as she had always put him out to pasture in a number of ways since they became a group. Willow, he could see, had been increasingly following Buffy's lead. While he didn't expect Willow to simply side with or follow his lead, it became apparent that Willow would simply side with Buffy without much consideration. Xander was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a knock on his bedroom window. He walked over and opened it to find Faith smiling at him.
"Now this is quite a surprise," he said as he stepped away to let her climb in. "What brings you in?"
"Thought maybe I could take you away from this bad place and go somewhere nice and romantic," she said with a wide grin that Xander matched. The brunette pair laughed before they calmed down.
"So how are you? Really?" she said with a serious face.
"Could be better. I'm surprised Cordelia hasn't started sniping at me more than usual. But I'm not surprised that the girls are avoiding me like the plague. And Giles is just going along with it."
"What about Tara and Amy?" Faith asked.
"They've stopped by the last week. Thankfully my folks were...too busy to have noticed or cared."
"So you've been keeping to yourself this whole time?"
"Not much else I could do. I don't want to burden you guys with my lousy problems. But there's no point in going to grovel to the rest of the gang just to make them feel better."
Faith moved over tot he embrace him. Xander was reluctant to accept because he thought it was pity. But he could tell that she was sympathizing with him.
"I don't know how. But it's going to be alright."
"Thanks. So you're not doing anything tonight?"
"Nah. Just thought I'd check in on my bud. Unless there's something you want to do," she said with a somewhat flirtatious voice that set Xander on edge a bit.
The two decided to sit and talk for the rest of the night. Faith had phoned Diana to let her know what was going on. As they conversed with each other, they found that their lives were very similar. But where Xander had some sort of friendship and people who had his back, she didn't until she met Diana. They talked well into the morning when they feel asleep.
The two later awoke with Faith resting her head on Xander's chest. Xander sputtered out any words he could think of as Faith just smiled at him. "So what's up for today stud?"
"Don't know. Never have anything to do on my weekends," he replied.
"Perhaps I can help fix that," came Ambriel's voice before she appeared in the room.
"What are you doing here?" Faith asked.
"I'm here to give Xander a task. And he's going to need your help to do so."
Faith looked at her with a raised eyebrow before she commented, "Why me? The way I understood, you don't seem to like slayers very much."
"You misunderstand. It's not that I don't like slayers. There have been plenty who willingly gave their lives in battle to help keep this world safe. What I dislike is what was done to create what we know as the slayer."
"Why won't you tell us what happened?" Xander asked the celestial being. Diana had told him about what Ambriel's appearance as well as her hinting at the slayer not being chosen by the higher powers.
"If the slayer really wants to know, I could show her. And you if you feel so inclined," the angel said.
"Maybe another time," Faith said. She hadn't been much of a believer as a child given her mother's treatment. But she paid attention to certain parts of the bible. If an angel was warning her, she knew it should be something to take heed to.
"Very well," Ambriel said as she handed Xander a piece of paper. "Go to that address and follow the instructions. There's something there that can help you for what's coming."
"What is coming?" Xander asked feeling worried.
"All I'll say for now is to beware of the authorities in this town," the angel said before she vanished.
Xander looked down at the paper and at Faith. "So...roadtrip?"
