Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville, Supernatural, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Based on Buffy Season 3 "The Wish" and Supernatural Season 4 "Wishful Thinking"
"Angel?" Chloe whispered, turning fully, unable to believe it.
And yet the figure bathed under the street lamp at the far end of the street was definitely the vampire who'd been haunting her mind since his departure.
There was clear hesitation in that stance before the vampire began making his way towards them in the shadows.
Sam was silent behind her, tense.
Chloe's mind was in a whirl of confusion and chaos, a battlefield of conflicting emotions as she watched Angel until he was just outside the light of the porch she stood under.
Sam moved to leave.
Terror filled her at what she might do if alone, and Chloe reached out, grabbing his hand and holding it tightly, stopping his movement.
Both men's gazes went to those joined hands.
Angel's slid away before clearing his throat. "How are you?"
"What do you care?" She whispered, knowing it was spiteful and childish, and yet unable to stop it.
He winced, pain passing over his gaze before returning to her. "I deserve that."
"Damn straight you do." She couldn't understand what he was doing here.
"Can we talk?" He asked softly, gaze pleading.
"Not tonight." And yet she wasn't sending him away like she should. "We're busy."
"Date night?" Angel chuckled darkly, voice far from amused.
"Not that it's any of your business, but our lives haven't been sunshine and rainbows since you left. I've been forcefully tapped into," she snapped, annoyed with his attitude. "Twice."
"What?" Angel's gaze swung to her, narrowed. "Are you okay?"
"What do you care?" She repeated the question from before. "Sam and I need to be somewhere. Where are you staying?"
He cleared is throat. "There's an abandoned factory on Fort Street—."
"Wimebly's?" Seeing him nod, Chloe swallowed. "Good. Don't come back here. If I'm ever ready to talk to you, I'll go there." Turning to Sam she motioned towards the car. "Let's go. It's going to be a long night and everyone's going to want those coffees."
Sam nodded, sending a look over at Angel before walking towards his car, hand still clasped around Chloe's.
She entered the car and leaned hard against the seat, refusing to look at Angel, whose gaze she could feel hard on her.
No, the blonde ignored the vampire watching as Sam backed out into the road and drove away.
Silence reigned in the car until finally the witch sighed. "Are you okay?"
"I'm angry," she whispered truthfully, gaze going out of the side window. "I'm so angry and hurt I wanted to…"
He sighed, reaching out and placing his hand on her thigh.
Closing her eyes as a silent tear made its way down her cheek, Chloe rested her hand over his, their fingers threading together.
The rest of the drive was made in utter silence.
"He's back?" Cordelia gasped in horror as Chloe sat on Buffy's bed, the three girls who made up the Scooby Gang hung in there as the blonde told them of her encounter with her vampiric ex lover. "Why is he back?"
Chloe shrugged, staring ahead of her, obviously still digesting the news herself. "I don't know…he just said he needed to talk to me."
"You told him where to stick his conversation, right?" Cordelia pressed.
"I told him I was busy and not to come back to Sam's." Chloe sighed. "I said I'd go see him if I ever was ready."
"Chlo-eee!" Cordelia groaned. "You should have told him to go back to whatever little cockroach infested place he's just crawled out of! Do you want to be that weak girl that keeps going back to the guy who keeps hurting you?"
Chloe's head hung low.
"Cordelia, that's enough." Buffy interjected, going to kneel in front of Chloe, staring up into her agonized face. "How are you holding up?"
Chloe's lips trembled as she closed her eyes, tears trickling down her cheeks.
Empathy filled the Slayer as she embraced the crying girl, holding her tightly as Chloe hugged her and cried into her shirt. "I'm so sorry Chlo. I know this must be so hard on you. You've been so strong."
"Why is he back?" Chloe whispered, holding onto Buffy as if to life. "He left! He told me to go on with my life! Told me to move on!" She choked out a sob. "So why is he back?"
"He obviously expects you to take him back." Cordelia pointed out, so annoyed it was ridiculous. "He's always been selfish with you. He leaves you high and dry when you need him the most, and now that things are starting to finally be how they should have always been, he comes back to mess things up again!"
Buffy rubbed Chloe's back. "What do you plan on doing?"
"I don't know." She whispered back. "I just don't know."
"I can't believe he's back." Giles sat down on his favorite chair, looking up at Sam and Dean in shock. "I thought he'd told her he wouldn't return?"
"He never said those words exactly." Sam leaned hard against the wall. "But it was obviously implied in their last exchange."
"So what does this mean exactly?" Dean asked from where he was chewing on some chips thoughtfully. "I know this really isn't our business, but at the same time it is. He used to be a part of our group. Sure, he lost his Soul and became a major douche bag, but that was because of Spike…who was here not so long ago and was treated quite nicely in my opinion." He plopped a chip into his mouth, chewed and swallowed before continuing. "So, if Angel plans on staying around these parts, how are we supposed to react? Do we let him back into the group? Do we punish him for what Angelus did?"
"You seem to be of the mind to let him back into the group." Giles commented, intrigued.
"Don't get me wrong, Soul or not I'm still a bit pissed at him for kidnapping my baby brother and keeping him as a pet for months on end…" Dean cleared his throat. "But Sam's said so himself, he was treated very good by them, especially considering who and what they were. Also, Angel was my friend back in the day, and that means something to me. Plus, I can be somewhat of a dick at times and I'd want to be given a second chance if I fucked up majorly as well…especially if it really wasn't me who was in control."
Sam sighed, gaze going to the ceiling. "You have a point."
Giles nodded in agreement. "It would be a bit awkward though, if things do not return to how they were between him and Chloe."
"Their issue, not ours." Dean pointed out all maturely. "In the end, this is between Chloe and Angel. All we can do is watch and see what happens."
"Stop being so mature." Sam grumbled, staring up at the ceiling. "It's freaking me out."
Chuckling, Dean winked as he plopped another chip into his mouth.
"Don't let a human drive you out of your own bloody chateau," Spike snickered, chugging back a bottle of scotch as he and the alien commiserated on their woes in his new place. "If push comes to shove, I could always bleed her dry for you. Make it look like some other bloke did it so your bird doesn't suspect our involvement."
Kal took a long gulp of whisky before answering. "Tempting…but I've already been warned that if the girl so much as gets a scratch on her I'll be held responsible."
"Ah, Luce…she's by far smarter than you." Spike chuckled darkly, shaking his head. "And eviler too-so she knows what to expect before you'd even think about it."
Not insulted, Kal snorted in amusement. "She's quite the woman, my Lucy."
"Hear hear. A fine woman, just like her cousin." Spike raised his bottle to that.
Kal knocked his own bottle against it in a cheers before taking another gulp. "I saw her today by the way, Chloe I mean."
"Oh?" Spike grinned, looking up. "How's my favorite Nibblet doing?"
"Fine, we just talked for a while as we walked." Kal made a face as he leaned forwards. "I must admit that one of the things I'd missed from Clark's existence was their friendship. She's remarkably…relaxing."
Spike had a lecherous little smile on his face yet thankfully didn't comment.
"So, how are things with Drusilla going?" The alien tilted his head to the side. "She pledging her undying love for you yet?"
"Got to find her first," Spike replied with a shrug.
"You mean you haven't found her yet?" The alien blinked. "But you've been so…normal lately. I figured you had her chained up somewhere."
"Nah." Spike shook his head. "After leaving Cali I just felt more…relaxed. Not so desperate anymore for some reason."
Kal eyed the vampire, wondering if he realized it was because he'd confirmed his position in Chloe's life, and that he was still very much a part of her family and thus not alone anymore.
No matter how tough the vampire liked to act, the alien knew his desire for family and the feeling that he belonged somewhere, that he was wanted and accepted.
Spike was incredibly human, and like Chloe, had horrible abandonment issues.
It was probably one of the reasons why they'd connected with each other the way they had.
Kal opened his mouth to comment when his cellular rung and he winced when he saw the Caller ID. "Gotta go."
Spike just lifted his bottle. "Remember, there are ways to make it look like an accident!"
With a chuckle, Kal shook his head and then was gone in a flash.
Waking up was a mixture of pain and confusion, Sam groaned as his eyes flickered open to reveal the reason why he was in such pain. Sometime during the long night of going through old, obscure, and disturbing tomes trying to figure out what in the world was going on-while also working on trying to understand the Winchester curse by trying to find another similar-Sam had managed to fall asleep in a very uncomfortable position. Everyone else had as well, except for Cordelia, who had somehow managed to secure the whole sofa for herself at some point or the other. No one else was as lucky as she'd been in sleeping arrangements. Giles slept half on top of the coffee table, Dean was half falling off of the chair he was on, and Buffy was curled in the love seat. Sam himself had ended up sleeping sitting up, leaning against the side of the sofa. Next to him, lying on the ground, Chloe whimpered at something in her sleep and turned towards him as she settled back into whatever dream she was in the middle of.
Sam reached out, brushing her hair out of her face softly.
In her sleep, Chloe smiled.
Clearing his throat, Sam slowly stood, the muscles in his body screaming out against him for having slept the way he had, his neck sore.
Grabbing his wallet, knowing that everyone else was going to feel just as hellish as he did, the brunet slipped out of the house as he went towards his car and started the engine. Giles had commented on a new little restaurant that had opened recently a couple of blocks down that served a great breakfast menu, and the young man knew that everyone was going to need it by the time they got up.
He drove until he saw the Lucky Chin's sign Buffy had mentioned and parked outside the small yet cozy looking place. With a name like that he had expected it to serve asian cuisine, but once inside he realized that everything was very much Americanized, especially the menu. The place might have just opened, but it was packed with people, and after giving his order he went to stand in the corner and wait, watching the people in the booths and standing around waiting to pick up their orders.
In the middle of the room was a fountain with the words "Lucky Chin's Well of Good Fortune".
Sam wanted to point out that it wasn't a "Well", but that was just nitpicking he supposed.
A girl entered the shop, walked straight towards the fountain, and closed her eyes, her lips moving in what almost seemed like a prayer as she pulled out a coin from her pocket. Her eyes finally opened and taking in a deep breath, she tossed the coin into the fountain. A small smile tilted her lips before she turned and left the store, excited.
Sam raised an eyebrow.
"They've been saying that if you make a wish and toss a coin into the Well, that it comes true." The guy bringing him his order declared, passing him his plastic bags. "I personally don't believe in that sort of hocus pocus, but from what I've seen people at least think it works."
"Do they?" Sam snorted, hand going to his pocket, where his change weighed heavy.
"To be truthful, I get tempted myself to give it a try, but I feel a little silly." The guy chuckled before turning and walking, muttering to himself as he went. "I guess there's nothing I'd want strong enough to risk looking silly for."
Sam turned to leave, making it to the door before growling to himself and turning right back. "I can't believe I'm doing this." Going towards the fountain, the young witch pulled out a coin from his pocket and stared at the water, feeling like a complete idiot for even trying this…but what could it hurt?
Dancing a coin over his knuckles, Sam stared at it, concentrating on his wish, before flicking the coin into the fountain.
As the coin slowly descended to the bottom of the fountain, Sam turned and headed back towards the door, shaking his head in self-ridicule.
He never felt the wave of magic that rippled out from the fountain and changed everything.
Sam stepped out of the shop and realized he was no longer in the right neighborhood anymore. He stopped, looking around him in shock, rubbing his eyes in utter confusion. The tall brunet turned to go back into the shop and while the Chinese restaurant was still there it was not only closed, but there were chains on the front doors and the dirt on the windows proved that it had been abandoned for quite some time now. Not only that, but this abandoned Chinese store was now across from the Bronze.
Dear god.
The Bronze.
He was in Sunnydale!
Not only that…but when had it become night?
Confusion grew in him as he dropped the bag of food and walked towards the Bronze, eyeing the two huge bouncers that stood on each side of the doorway.
They saw him and smirked, opening the door for him.
"She's been wondering where you've been," one of the bouncers warned him.
"Who?" Sam asked curiously, wondering why they were acting as if they knew him.
The bouncers shared looks and laughed.
Confusion over the roof now, Sam entered the Bronze, finding the lights strobes like crazy inside of the otherwise dark place, people dancing and having a great time. More than a couple of them turned and waved at him, some winked, others called his name. All as if they knew him and liked him, a lot. Things were getting curiouser and curiouser and he felt as if he were Alice, having fallen into the rabbit's hole and seeing Wonderland for the first time.
"Sammy!"
He turned at the familiar voice, eyes widening when he saw Dean coming towards him. "Dean!"
"Where have you been man?" Dean clapped him on the back, winking at a pretty redhead as he began to maneuver them through the crowd. "You're late. She's unhappy."
"Who?" Sam could only ask that again.
Dean seemed just as amused as the bouncers. "Are you gonna play amnesiac? Is that your ploy? Damn bro, you better have a better excuse than that!"
"What is going on?" Sam asked his brother, following him trustingly. "What are we doing in Sunnydale?"
"I know right?" Dean chuckled. "Even after we spiced things up it's still kind of lame here." He led Sam up the stairs to the balcony part above, but it wasn't filled with teenagers like it used to be. Now there were bouncers at the bottom, it was cordoned off unless they were given access (which they were) and upstairs had been transformed into some sort of a VIP room.
Sam stopped short once he reached the top step and his surprisingly sharp gaze took in the sights.
Chloe laid on her stomach on what looked almost like a bed and yet was obviously supposed to be a chair of some sort. She wore a long white dress that was form-fitting and betrayed the fact that she wore black underwear beneath.
Wow, just, wow.
Almost as if she could hear his thoughts, Chloe turned her head towards him. "You're late."
Dean chuckled, hands up as he backed away, heading back towards the stairs. "Good luck bro!"
Sam turned to watch Dean start descending the steps before returning his gaze back to Chloe. "I'm so confused it isn't even funny-but you look great by the way. Thought I should mention that."
Her lips twitched slightly as she turned on her side to gaze at him better. "What has you confused?"
"Why are we in Sunnydale?" He came towards her, hesitating a second before sitting down on the edge of the-bed, he was going to call it a bed-eyeing her.
She pushed up to her knees. "You don't like it here anymore?"
"It's not so much like, uh, but I'm confused." He gulped, eyes widening when she straddled his lap, playing with his shirt. "C-Chloe?"
"Yes Sam?" She smiled toothily before pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
He was stunned still, a heat wave jolting down his spine at the mere touch of her lips to his.
"I am a little bored here…" Chloe began nibbling up his jaw, giving a little buck with her hips that had him biting his bottom lip to keep from hissing.
Sam nearly choked on his saliva, eyes wider than he thought possible, unable to understand what was happening and beginning to wonder whether he was actually asleep and had never actually left the house that morning. It would make the most sense. This had to be a dream. A great dream.
"And here everyone was sure you'd be in trouble." A darkly amused voice announced to their right.
Sam turned his head, eyes wide to see two people he hadn't expected. "Spike? Drusilla?"
"He acts as if we hadn't arranged to have fun tonight." Spike rolled his eyes at Sam before turning to Dru, who was eyeing Sam curiously. "What is it my Dark Princess?"
Dru didn't answer, merely tilted her head as she eyed Sam inquisitively.
"He's confused apparently." Chloe slid off of Sam's lap and slinked over to where Spike and Dru were, pressing a kiss to both of their cheeks. "How is the Master doing tonight?"
"Quite well, thank you." Spike grinned brightly. "There's a bint down below I'm thinking on draining." At the look Chloe gave him he chuckled. "If she's in this club, she's asking for it luv." He turned a grin down on the dark haired beauty on his arm. "Plus, Dru and I need some us time."
"Wait." Sam stood, utterly confused. "Spike is the Master? But-what happened to the last Master?"
Chloe turned towards Sam, smile melting from her face and worry replacing it as she drew nearer. "Baby?"
"Just how confused are you, mate?" Spike even looked somewhat concerned as he stepped forwards to knock his knuckles softly on Sam's head. "You haven't gone amnesiac on us, have you?"
"The Hellhound seems more like a Puppy, whimpering not snarling." Dru pouted, reaching out to trail her fingers down the side of Sam's face. "There's magic around him."
"Someone's put a spell on him?" Chloe snapped, turning to Dru.
Dru pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I can't see clearly, it's, vague."
"You really don't remember what happened to the last Master?" Chloe looked so worried, so confused.
Sam shook his head.
Chloe took in a deep breath, reaching for Sam's hand and bringing him back to the bed, sitting him down. "Do you at least remember the Harvest?"
"Yeah." He nodded, relieved to finally be on the right track. "We stopped it."
There was silence.
Chloe's features were betraying her worry more and more. "We didn't."
Sam went still. "What? Why didn't we?"
"Well, we didn't know about it until it was over and the Master had arisen and begun the Apocalypse." Chloe spoke slowly, as if to a child. "It came out of nowhere and we weren't prepared for it. We failed spectacularly against him."
What?
That made no sense!
"The Master rose, was all dramatic and theatric from what I've been told-Dru and I were still in Vienna." Spike shrugged. "Killed the Watcher first, and as she mourned his death, the Master ripped the Slayer's head right off." He made a face. "That was a cheap shot if any. If it had been me I would have wanted to fight her first when she was in her right mind so that it'd be more fun."
Chloe looked away at that.
Sam felt like he'd been punched. Giles and Buffy were dead?
"And of course, he sired your brother." Spike mumbled.
"What?" Sam stood, the blood rushing to his head, everything almost too hard to bare.
Chloe looked like she could slap Spike. "What part of 'he doesn't seem to remember anything' are you not getting?"
"You're really mouthy considering I'm the Master around this parts." Spike raised an eyebrow at her.
Chloe stood, glaring at Spike. "Do not piss me off, Spike!"
And, incredibly enough, Spike backed down.
Sam was beginning to feel dizzy with confusion.
What the hell was going on?
"What about Cordelia and Angel?" He found himself asking, not having heard about their fate as yet.
"Who?" Chloe made a face.
Sam's eyes widened in horror as suddenly a doubt began to ring in his ears.
"Wait, wasn't there a Cordelia that used to go to school with us? A real bitch?" Chloe gave a little dark chuckle before turning her greens on Sam. "She died that night in the Harvest, someone told me she was the first one who was drained for the ritual. And I don't remember any Angel. Was she's one of the Cordettes?"
Chloe's words were echoing all around him, haunting the boy just like the blank expression on her face.
"We were once under the wings of our Angel." Dru sighed sadly. "Until his wings turned from black to white."
"I doubt he's talking about our ponce of a Sire, princess." Spike declared, wrapping an arm around him. "They've never actually met Angel, and it's a good thing too. I don't know how I'd be able to live down the embarrassment of being related to him. I have a reputation to uphold you know."
Sam's world stopped spinning in utter shock.
"To continue our little story, Dean was turned, and the Master planned on doing the same with us, but he when he tried to kill me-it killed him due to the fact that my blood is deadly if it's taken without my consent." She smiled softly. "That totally destroyed his "Luke, I am your father" monologue before he got all fanged."
"He really had balls of steel though, claiming you as his child." Spike sneered.
Chloe chuckled softly, nodding. "Afterwards, with no Master in Sunnydale it broke out into all-out war as vampires came from everywhere to claim it as their territory."
"It was an easy win. The dunderheads I had to fight were the same crowd who liked to say they were at the crucifixion. Once one says that you know that they're full of shit." Spike snorted in derision.
Chloe reached out to cup Sam's face. "You really don't remember any of that?"
Sam stared at her as he finally allowed himself to admit what was happening here. This wasn't a dream. He really had gone out that morning and had made that wish. It had come true.
The young witch gulped as the pretty blonde stared at him in worry.
This was Sam's wish come true in living color.
This was a world in which Chloe had never met Angel.
"We didn't have to come back home." But even as he said that, Sam was amazed as he spun around slowly, trying to take in the large, beautiful house that was apparently the home he shared with Chloe Sullivan.
"Someone has put a spell on you to make you either amnesiac, or recall the past differently." Chloe threw down her bag, eyes narrowed. "I wasn't about to stay out in the open like that." She went to the window and pulled the curtains aside, the moonlight bathing her. "An attack on you is an attack on me, it could have only been the White Hats." She made a face. "Spike has his best witches on the case, trying to figure out what is going on." She then twirled around and faced him. "Don't worry, Red will figure out what's happened to you, and when she does I'll reverse it."
Sam licked his lips. "Chloe, there's something I need to tell you." He then paused as something she said registered. "White Hats?"
Chloe sighed as she moved closer towards him. "The 'White Hats' are a group of radicals who say they want the best for Sunnydale and the world, and for them that can only be achieved by controlling me. Some years ago they thought it was through my death, but they realized my death would destabilize the balance of the whole world and probably end everything so they decided that I was a piece on the chessboard of life that they needed to have in their possession and under their control." She placed her hands on Sam's chest, her greens staring up into his blue/greens in worry. "They're obviously trying to get to me through my conduit, trying to make me weak by making you weak." Her hands rose to cup his face. "But they don't understand what we've had to go through together, what you've sacrificed-they don't understand the bond between us. You could never make me weak." Her smile was tender as she pressed up on her tip toes and brought his face down to meet her lips. "You're not just a conduit, you give me strength."
Sam's arms went around Chloe's body as he pulled her into him, opening his mouth to the kiss and molding her body against his, savoring her taste in his mouth. He didn't understand half of what she was telling him, White Hats and balances, and while it was important and should take precedence, he'd wanted this too much for too long. He couldn't keep his desire in check, kissing her deeply, desperately, backing her against the wall harshly and swallowing her wanton chuckle as she kissed him harder.
There was a knock on the door.
Sam groaned as he pulled away.
"Come in!" Chloe called over as she fixed her hair.
"Seriously, you two disgust me." A statuesque brunette rolled her eyes as she entered, lips curled in a teasing smile as she entered the place. "Shouldn't you be out of the honeymoon phase already?"
Chloe smirked as she shook her head. "Says the woman who keeps giving us sex toys for Christmas and our birthdays."
"Hey, I'm a good cousin, and cousin-in-law." The brunette turned to Sam. "I know for a fact Sammy and you made good use of those handcuffs and edible panty/bra set I gave you. In fact, Sammy gave me a bottle of rum the next day with a note that merely said: 'Lois, you rock'. And I do. I rock."
Sam's eyes widened as he realized that this was the famous Lois Lane he'd heard so much about, Chloe's older cousin. What was she doing here in Sunnydale?
Chloe opened her mouth.
The brunette raised a finger. "Bette's fine."
Instant relief filled Chloe's face. "When I found out what happened to Sammy—and when she wouldn't answer her number—I started to fear—."
"She's fine and heading back here immediately," Lois assured her before glancing at Sam. "So, the Master said that Sammy-Boy's been Abracadabra'd?" The brunette made a face as she came closer to Sam, pursing her lips as she circled him. "Something about his memories?"
Chloe nodded. "How he remembers it, the Harvest was stopped."
Lois snorted. "Someone was gravely misinformed."
The door opened and Dean entered the house. "So! Were they at it when you arrived or what?"
"We totally called it." Lois smirked. "Slap my hand, dead soul man."
Dean smirked and gave Lois a high-five before turning to his brother, folding his arms over his chest. "How's the melon, bro?"
"Fine?" Sam cleared his throat, still not sure how he was supposed to act around his undead brother.
"Where were you?" Chloe raised an eyebrow at Dean.
"I was out looking for info, and I lost my appetite thanks to it. I mean, the girl wouldn't stop looking at me. I mean, I'm trying to eat, and she looks at me." Dean shook his head. "Thing is, no one seems to have any idea why Sam's like this."
Sam took in a deep breath. "I do."
Everyone turned towards him.
Lois smacked him on the forehead. "Say something sooner, Sasquatch!" She folded her arms over her chest. "Go on then, spit it out. Who did the whammy on you and what exactly was it?"
Sam stared between everyone before he finally turned his gaze on Chloe. "This is my wish."
Her eyes narrowed. "You wished to not remember?"
"No." He shook his head. "I wished that you had never met Angel."
She blinked in confusion. "Who is Angel?"
"Exactly!" He threw his hands in the air and took in a deep breath. "Angel is Spike and Dru's sire, or, well, Dru's sire and Spike's grandsire-the technicalities aren't important. What's important is that I wished that you hadn't met him, and-you didn't. And this reality happened."
The group looked between themselves in silence.
Dean cleared his throat. "Whoever put that whammy did a number on him."
"Seriously." Lois blinked. "I mean, for one, they have him thinking 'Angel' is a dude's name."
Chloe, who had heard Spike mention Angel previously, turned her gaze to Sam. "Why wouldn't you want me to meet this Angel person?"
Sam took in a deep breath. "You have a romantic past with him."
"I see." The blonde licked her lips as she went towards Sam and rested her hands on his chest, a small smile playing on her lips. "You're jealous. That's so cute."
Sam blushed as he glared down at her. "No it's not."
"Honey, baby, bunny…" Chloe completely threw him with that last one as she placed her hand over his heart. "I've never met this Angel guy. I've never been in love with anyone but you. And whoever put this whammy on you is messing with your mind to have you emotionally unstable so your magic will be wonky." She pressed up on her tiptoes and removed her hand so she could press a kiss to his heart. "But don't worry, we'll figure out who did this and how to reverse it and everything will go back to how it was before."
Another knock sounded on the door.
Chloe sighed and pulled away. "You can come in, girls."
Sam raised an eyebrow at Chloe's knowledge of who was on the other side of the door.
It opened to reveal two girls, one a blonde and the other a brunette, both very pretty and filled with attitude as they entered the house, their eyes bleeding black as the door swung closed behind them.
Animus Demons.
"There's no White Hat activity in the vicinity around the house," the one with long blonde hair declared. "Meg also checked around the Bronze and found no recent activity."
"Ruby's right." The one with shoulder-length brown hair frowned. "Whatever they did to Sam, they didn't do it recently."
Lois folded her arms over her chest. "Are we sure it's the White Hats who are behind this then?"
"Who else?" Dean wanted to know.
"I'm telling you, I'm the one who did this." Sam stepped forwards.
No one paid attention.
"What do you want us to do?" Meg, her voice holding a hint of a southern twang, turned her black gaze to Chloe. "Tom's still not back."
Chloe eyed the two women before she took in a deep breath. "Tom's fine." She took in a deep breath. "Ruby, go see our little Grey Hat, maybe he knows what's on."
Ruby nodded before turning and leaving.
"Meg." Chloe turned her gaze on the other demon. "Grab yourself a White Hat."
Meg grinned. "Fun."
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Remember, I need the White Hat alive."
"I know, I know." The demon was still grinning as she turned to leave.
Dean turned towards Chloe. "I'll help."
Meg paused. "I don't need help, Vampire."
"I'm not going to help you." He rolled his eyes. "They did this to my brother. Plus, I want to have some fun too."
"Fine." Meg eyed him up and down. "But you better not try to eat our hostage."
"That only happened once," Dean snorted as he walked out with Meg.
Lois shook her head. "When are those two just going to jump each other and get it over with?"
"I ask myself that all the time." Chloe admitted. "That's her third host and still the unresolved sexual tension is palpable between them so it has to be something between her and him and not just her physical appearance."
Sam shook his head. "No way. She nearly killed him. If it wasn't for you, he would be dead."
Chloe and Lois frowned as they turned their heads towards him.
"What are you talking about?" Lois blinked.
Chloe looked just as lost.
Sam realized that that wouldn't have happened in this reality either. Meg wouldn't have blackmailed Dean into going to their father's warehouse. She hadn't sent him on a suicide mission and then tried to kill him when he'd managed to survive. Not in this timeline.
"They really got you good, huh, Sasquatch?" Lois made a face. "Actually makes me pissed." She turned to Chloe. "I'm going to go and see what I can sniff out."
"Thanks." Chloe smiled at her cousin.
"No prob." Lois smiled at her before going to Sam and slugging his shoulder. "Don't go full-on crazy, we'll figure something out." And with that, she left.
Chloe moved to hug Sam's arm, resting her forehead against it with a sigh. "Let's go to bed."
Sam knew he should press the issue of how he'd gotten here, of how this reality had come into being, but he was a man and he was weak. "Yes."
This was his wish come true, in a very morbid way, but there were too many things wrong with this world. Giles, Cordelia and Buffy shouldn't have to be dead, his brother shouldn't have to be a vampire, for Sam to get the girl. It was why he found himself back at the closed down Chinese store the morning after, Chloe having left with Meg earlier for some reason or the other. She'd left him to rest and he'd taken the opportunity so he could be alone and do some investigating on his own. No one else seemed to buy into his theory that he'd wished this reality into existence and Sam knew that the next time that he approached them with the theory he was going to have to have some sort of evidence to back up said theory, which was why he was back at the Chinese restaurant. It was the middle of the day so there was no threat of vampires of any sort of thing-not that he had to worry about that considering it seemed he was on the side of the vampires-something he figured he should have more problems with but really didn't.
Shaking his head, not needing this sort of distraction, Sam made his way towards the fountain in the middle of the restaurant, which looked like it hadn't been used in months. He couldn't believe that he'd been there only yesterday morning, and that it'd been bustling with customers. Could his flipping a coin into this very fountain truly have been what had caused the change? But why had it even changed locations to Sunnydale? There were just so many unanswered questions!
"So…" an unexpected voice asked behind him. "How does this rundown joint factor into your supposedly having wished this whole thing up?"
Sam turned to see Lois Lane leaning against the doorway, eyeing him with a frown. "What are you doing here?"
"Following you." She flicked at a cobweb before she pushed away from the doorway and made her way towards him and the fountain. "Thing is, Sammy, all last night I've been unable to keep what you said out of my mind." She let out a sigh. "Chloe's never going to believe your story because she's never going to believe that there could have been someone else for her other than you. Me? I'm going to keep my mind open to all sorts of possibilities despite how implausible they seem. It's how I accepted what my baby cousin was and how I survived my first day in Sunnydale, after-all." She shucked her hands in her jacket's pockets and sighed as she gazed into the mucky waters of the fountain. "So despite how whackadoodle your story sounds, I'm going to push my disbelief aside and assume that you come from a reality in which the Harvest was stopped, Meg tried to kill Dean, and my cousin knows some guy with a girlie name who she has a romantic past with that isn't as much in the past as you would like it, otherwise you wouldn't have wished that she wouldn't have met him."
Sam nodded in silent.
"Okay." Lois took in a deep breath. "What does that have to do with this nasty-ass fountain?"
Sam licked his lips. "I made the wish by flipping a coin into this fountain. Only, I wasn't in Sunnydale when I did it. The restaurant changed locations after the wish came true."
Lois gave a slow nod. "Okay. First thing's first." She pulled out her wallet and removed a coin. "I'm going to test to make sure this is really a wishing well."
Sam took in a deep breath. "What are you gonna wish for?"
"Shh!" She flipped the coin into the dirty water. "Not supposed to tell. I'm sure there are rules about that."
Sam nodded as they waited, the two sharing expectant looks.
Suddenly Lois began to scream as she held onto her stomach and bent over, her body shaking.
"Lois?" Sam hurried to her.
"Oh my gods!" Lois cried out as she straightened up as much as she could, revealing a protruding belly, her shirt having ridden up.
Sam's eyes widened. "Lois-you're-."
"I had to think of something out of the ordinary that I couldn't explain away rationally!" She cried out.
"So you made yourself pregnant?" Sam squeaked.
"I'm infertile." Lois turned towards him, hand on her back. "I knew if I got knocked up it would have to be some major magic."
Sam just stared at the woman who had to be around six or seven months pregnant, at least. "You-uh-you should probably sit down."
"I think so too." Lois took in deep breaths as Sam helped her towards one of the benches, the brunette sitting down. "You need to drain that damn fountain and see what it's made out of because wishes usually never come without a price tag, and usually, it's a deadly one."
"It took the three of us to bring this one in," Tom announced as he unlocked the jail cell in the basement for her and motioned to the male shackled to the wall.
"The three of you?" Chloe raised an eyebrow as she eyed Tom, Dean and Meg with raised eyebrows.
"I know right?" Ruby snorted. "I couldn't believe it when I heard it too."
"He's different than the others." Meg made a face.
"He's a vampire, for one." Dean sneered.
Chloe's eyes widened in shock as her gaze turned towards the prisoner with new appreciation. "A vampire working with the White Hats? Please. They'd never trust a nightwalker into their ranks."
"According to him, he's different." Dean looked disgusted. "According to him, he's got a soul."
Chloe's eyes widened further. "But that's impossible. There's no such thing as a vampire with a soul."
"Exactly." Dean sneered. "But he's sticking to the story. No matter how much we interrogated him."
Meg's gaze went to Dean. "Sun's up. You should rest."
Dean smirked. "Worried about me?"
She rolled her eyes. "You're no use to us exhausted."
"What have I missed?" A new voice asked as a door opened and closed, and the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard descending the stairs rapidly. "I heard something about someone getting the jump on Sam?"
"Hey Spitfire!" Dean yelled up at the approaching girl. "Don't run or you might fall and break your neck!"
"What are you, her father?" Meg rolled her eyes.
"Would that make you her mother?" Tom smart-mouthed.
Meg slugged her brother's arm with a glare.
'Spitfire' ignored the others and, the second her feet hit the last step, pushed off and hurried towards Chloe. She was slender, with flowing black curls, tanned skin, and hazel eyes. "Are you okay? Do we know who attacked?" She stopped in front of the blonde and started looking her over. "Is it the White Hats? I've tried calling Red a couple of times to get the skinny on the sitch but her boytoy says she's busy doing some sort of spell for you. Are you okay?"
Chloe's only answer was to hug the girl and pull her close. "I was worried about you. When I call, answer, Bette."
"I'm sorry, there was a situation but I handled it and got back the second I could." Bette hugged her back before tensing when she noticed the prisoner. "Who's the house guest?" She tensed. "Did he attack Sam?"
"Not that we know of, but he might know what's going on." Chloe pulled away from Bette and turned to the prisoner before entering the cell through the open door. He was still unconscious from the "interrogations" Dean and the others had put him through during the night, the vampire shivering hard. A part of her wanted to feel pity for him but he was a White Hat, and that made him nothing more than an enemy, and she'd cultivated nothing but apathy for White Hats.
Eyes narrowed, the blonde reached out and shook him. "White Hat. Wake up."
He blinked his eyes as he awoke and looked up at her, a look of recognition appearing on his face.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "If you don't want another night like the one you went through at the hands of my friends, you'll tell me what the White Hats did to Sam and how to reverse it."
The vampire stared up at her. "We've done nothing to your conduit."
She reached out and grabbed his chin harshly, her pupils enlarging. "Don't play with me, White Hat. If you aren't the ones messing with his mind, then who?"
He spoke softly yet determined. "Whatever has happened to your conduit, we aren't responsible."
She stared deep into his eyes, tightening her grip on his chin before she let go with a glare. "Maybe so, but you're still useful to me. The White Hats have been a thorn in my side for far too long and I'm going to wring you for all the information you have inside of you until you have nothing left."
He shook his head. "It wasn't supposed to be this way."
Chloe gave him a little smile. "Is that so?"
He nodded.
The blonde came closer and ran her fingers down the side of his face, tauntingly tender. "And how was it supposed to be?"
"None of this would've happened if I hadn't been taken captive by the Initiative, if I hadn't been held for all those years." He frowned. "I talked to a seer. She said that I should have been there. We should have stopped the Harvest. None of this should have happened." He stared deep into her eyes. "I was supposed to help you. But I failed you. I'm sorry."
Chloe's eyes widened as she stared into those eyes, Sam's words about the Harvest coming back to haunt her. She then licked her lips as she narrowed her eyes on him. "What's your name, White Hat?"
"What does it matter what his name is?" Tom wanted to know, but was silenced with a glare from her.
Chloe narrowed her eyes further on the vampire as she reached out and grabbed his throat, Hellmouth energy seeping out painfully, punishingly, into him. "I asked you a question."
The vampire stared up at Chloe with a flinch of pain. "My name… is Angel."
"Typical fountain, plaster Buddha, nothing I can see would make this a magical wishing well." Sam made a face after having drained the fountain of the yucky water and completed his examination of the fountain itself.
Lois, who had been no help whatsoever but had ordered him around quite a bit, stood over him and pointed at something. "What is that?"
Sam made a face. "Some kind of old coin." He leaned over towards the middle of the fountain. "I don't recognize the markings." He tried to pick it up but couldn't. "Damn."
"Lift with your legs," the pregnant brunette instructed.
Sam ignored her as he tried with all his might to lift the coin from the fountain but couldn't. "It's like it's melded onto the bottom of the fountain."
"Oooh! Go outside and in my car's trunk you'll find a hammer and a crowbar, that should do the trick since physically you're such a weakling today." Lois leaned with her hands on her back. "Oh right, you don't remember what my car is. It's the beat up red Camaro."
"Nice." Sam smirked as he hurried out to get the things from her car, returning with the hammer and crowbar, but even with them he couldn't dislodge the coin from the fountain, instead managing to somehow break the hammer.
"Coin's magical." Lois nodded, as if she'd known this all along.
Sam eyed her before he shook his head and decided to fight magic with magic. He grounded himself, feet apart, and held his hand out towards the coin as he concentrated hard on dissolving whatever magic was affixing the coin to the fountain. He could feel it immediately reach out and counterattack him, that had been expected, but what hadn't been expected was the rush of incredible, crushing power within him that swept through his body and easily overpowered the magic surrounding and protecting the coin. Sam could feel an ancient, incredibly power and indescribable power and darkness inside of him, it was Hellmouth and yet it was more, and he knew this was Chloe. This was-this was his connection to Chloe in a way he'd never experienced it before and it was magnificent. It made him feel alive and powerful and unstoppable and-and-pleasure rattled through his body as every defense of the magic around the coin was destroyed, the protections helpless against him and his connection with Chloe.
Finally, it was over, seeming like almost a matter of seconds, the magic protecting the coin gone and the coin itself hovering in the air before shooting into Sam's palm.
"Bravo!" Lois clapped her hands before she pulled her phone out and took a picture of both sides of the coin. "I'll see what I can on this. I should be able to find some sort of match on Chloe's database. I still have the Xan-Man on loan from the Master, so I can send him to get any books referenced that haven't been uploaded to the system yet." She placed her hand on her stomach and flinched slightly. "You should probably drive though. I don't think I'll fit behind the wheel anymore."
Chloe walked passed the wall of whips, chains and other instruments of torture, now alone with the vampire, the others having left. All except for Bette, who leaned against the wall with her slender arms folded over her chest, watching with a dark expression and raised eyebrow. Whenever Sam was not around Bette usually took his place as Chloe's shadow, and now that she was back from her mission she wouldn't be moved. Plus, Chloe had a feeling Bette really wanted a go at Angel because, like Chloe, she wasn't buying his story one bit.
"I'm friends with a lot of vampires, so I know that daytime's the worst for your kind." Chloe trailed her fingers over the leather binding his wrists to the table. "Cooped up for hours. Can't hunt."
"I don't hunt." Angel struggled against his binds, but it wouldn't be any use, he wouldn't get free, she'd made sure of it. "I don't hurt humans."
Bette snorted and shook her head.
"Ah, right, the soul." Chloe smirked at the thought of that story and shared a condescending smile with her protector. "You might have the White Hats bought with that one, but you don't have anyone else buying it."
"It's true." He continued to struggle. "I was cursed with a soul by gypsies."
"So it was a gypsy curse." She ran her fingers over his abs, digging her nails in and drawing blood, Hellmouth energy escaping her fingertips and burning him. "Still not original."
He grit his teeth in an effort to keep from screaming from the pain.
She dug her nails in deeper, pupils growing larger as Hellmouth energy visibly began to emerge from the floor around them in black wisps that scorched all they touched. "You might want to start talking before you start to melt."
Angel groaned as with one fluid movement she straddled him on that examination table, the Hellmouth energy raising up and slicing bits of him. "I won't say anything."
"Do yourself a favor, White Hat, and talk while she's still amused by your stupid lies," Bette muttered from the darkness as the Hellmouth energy circled her yet didn't hurt her like it did Angel. "You don't want her amusement to fade. You don't want her annoyed."
Chloe freed one of her hands from Angel's chest and rose to caress his face, the action a mockery of tenderness. "It's almost as if you're enjoying this." She then grabbed him by his hair and jerked his hair viciously to the side, the vampire moaning from the rough treatment, seeming short of breath. "Believe me, you won't enjoy this if I really start playing hardball with you. I'll pluck your wings, Angel boy, one by one."
He pulled on his binds. "You don't have to do this."
She stared down into his face and pressed a soft kiss to his lips before she sat up, straddling him with a little twisted smile. "But I want to." Her green gaze met Bette's as she held a hand out towards the other female. "Let's play."
"I thought you'd never ask." Bette's lips curled into a smile as she pushed away from the wall and came towards them, body beginning to glow.
Chloe wasn't answering her phone and that was making Sam a little uncomfortable. He tried not to think too much of it though as he got Lois the ridiculous amount of food she was craving and returned to the "command center" Chloe was using in Sunnydale in this alternate reality. He got back to find Lois being sick in a garbage can and another Animus demon, who he overheard her calling "Brady".
"Is everything okay?" Sam asked, worried.
"Other than the fact that you've gotten her pregnant?" Brady wanted to know, testily. "Fucking hell, Sammy!"
"I didn't get her pregnant!" Sam's eyes widened.
Lois slapped Brady's stomach before taking the bottle of water he handed her, swishing the water in her mouth, and spitting it into the garbage container, which Brady took away. "The wishes turn bad, Sam." Her voice was strained and her face pale. "The wishes turn very bad."
"How bad?" Sam's gaze went to the very large stomach she was resting her hands on top of.
Lois, who must have gotten Brady to bring her some maternity clothes, lifted her shirt to reveal a symbol etched under her stomach. "I'm gonna give birth to the antichrist."
Sam's eyes widened as he put down the bags of food. "So… very bad."
Lois nodded as she grabbed the bags and went through them for her sandwich. "Yeah."
Brady returned. "The coin that you two found in the wishing fountain is Babylonian, and cursed." He went to stand behind Lois and massaged her shoulders as she began to chow down on the sandwich. "The serpent depicted is Tiamat, the Babylonian god of primordial chaos. Tiamat's priests must have been working some serious black magic and made the coin to sow the seeds of chaos." He paused. "It's brilliant, really. I'm guessing that whoever tosses the coin into a wishing well and makes a wish turns on the well. Then it starts granting wishes to all comers."
"Like little Damien here." Lois pointed to her stomach. "And your alternate reality."
"But then the wishes get twisted," Brady agreed. "From what we read on Chloe's database. This coin has turned more than one town upside down over the centuries. It's even wiped a few off the map. One person gets their wish, it's trouble, but everybody gets their wish…"
Sam's eyes widened. "It's chaos."
"And Bingo was his Name-o." Lois nodded.
"You've got to love how something so compact can cause so much damage." Brady smirked.
Lois, once more, glared at him.
Brady cleared his throat. "But, of course, Damien has got to go."
She still did not look happy with him.
"I mean, he's not even mine." Brady made a face.
Lois looked even less happy.
Brady looked around, somewhat desperately.
Sam smirked, highly amused.
Brady turned to Sam and cleared his throat. "So, bad news for you is I'm not sure how to stop this thing."
Sam's smirk melted. "What do you mean?"
"Well, supposedly the way to go was to go to the first wisher, the one who'd dropped the coin in the well in the first place, and get them to remove the coin." Brady made a face. "But you nulled that option when you removed the coin from the fountain yourself."
"Technically that should have gotten rid of it," Lois made a face. "I don't know what to say, Sam." She licked her lips. "If this reality is one that's been created by a wish, you might be stuck in it."
Better hurried up the stairs and yanked the door open to reveal Meg had been standing guard with her brother, Tom.
Meg peeked in. "Yes?"
"Go see the Master and let him know we're going to have company." Chloe's pupils were still large. "The White Hats are about to be annihilated, and I think he'll wanted to have front row seats."
Sam felt it the second it happened. Chloe was doing something, doing something big. He could feel it through their connection and it made him stumble as he brought his hand to his head and try to blink away the piercing awareness that jolted through him.
Brady and Lois' phones rang at the same time, both receiving messages.
Lois placed her hand on her stomach. "Damn it! I just had to go for mystical pregnancy when this was going down!"
Brady sat her down. "Just stay here. We'll let you know what's going on."
"You better keep me informed!" Lois growled.
Brady nodded before he turned to Sam. "Come on, Meg's just texted me the location where it's all going down."
"What is going down?" Sam frowned as they hurried out of the building towards Brady's car.
"We've finally been able to find the White Hats' headquarters and Chloe is leading the attack against them." Brady grinned darkly, in anticipation. "We're going to crush them into the ground!"
Sam frowned as they slipped into the car. "What?"
"We're gonna make them wish they never messed with us." Brady's smile was a sinister sight as he started the engine and sped away. "Tonight she shows them, and the whole world, not to mess with the power of the Hellmouth."
Sam narrowed his eyes. "She's managed to harness the power, to control it?"
Brady smirked in amusement. "I think you're in for a big reality adjustment, Sammy."
Sam was confused, wary, and then he thought about the immense power he'd felt when attacking the coin and it made sense. If Chloe had never met Angel then she wouldn't have been taken away by Angelus and all these years she would have been studying magic like Sam had. She would have been practicing, growing stronger. It made sense that she was so much stronger in this alternate reality.
He must have been deep in thought, because the drive was quicker than he would have expected, and the only thing that brought him out of his thoughts was the Hellmouth energy around him, rising from the ground like black wisps and Brady slamming on the brakes. Sam braced himself and grunted as the car came to a stop, eyes wide as he stared in front of him as demons and humans fought, the ground opening up like cracks all around them, Hellmouth energy rising from the ground. The demons though, they seemed almost supercharged, fighting viciously against the humans as they massacred them without any sort of sympathy.
Brady chuckled. "And here I am, missing out on all of the fun."
"Fun?" Sam whispered and turned to look at him, but the door was open and Brady already gone.
Screams and pleads for mercy echoed throughout the air.
A Desoto with tinted windows was parked off to the side, the Ramones blaring from within. Obviously Spike was having a good time watching the carnage from within… And then Sam saw a flash of platinum blonde hair in the middle of the fray and realized Spike was out, joining the fight himself. And now that he thought about it, Spike wasn't one to not join a fight, was he? He'd get bored.
Sam emerged from the car in time for a teenaged girl to have her head ripped off and for it to come rolling by his feet. He stared at it, her eyes staring up at him in horror, and he felt sick to his stomach.
This was wrong.
This was all wrong.
Movement above caused him to raise his gaze to see dark shadow-tentacles of Hellmouth-energy emerge from Chloe and pierce through a Watcher-type male, her smirk dark as she stared deep into his eyes, watching him die. She was visibly pulsating with Hellmouth energy, not allowing anyone to get close to her, and those that tried collapsed, spasming as the poison set in quickly. The closest person to Chloe was a redheaded witch who was standing between her and a group of White Hats, the redhead viciously exterminating the group of witches by tearing their skin right off of their bodies. Also next to Chloe was what appeared to be a huge bonfire of some sort, which was catching people and things around it on fire.
Meanwhile, Chloe's pupils had expanded, her face paled, and her smile sharper, twisted. Unlike the Chloe Sam knew, she didn't seem to do much physical fighting, instead Hellmouth-magic seemed to be her go-to weapon. Then again, Angel hadn't been around to teach her hand-to-hand combat in this world, had he? And because of that she'd relied more and more on the Hellmouth energy and it was consuming her.
Lois' words from before haunted Sam's mind: 'The wishes turn bad, Sam.'
And now, as he watched the death and destruction, and Chloe's eager, sadistic smile throughout it all, he could truly believe it.
Finally, the last White Hat fell, and the Hellmouth energy dissipated, a cheer rising from the victorious demons.
Chloe smirked as she stood amongst the death and decay.
In the real world things weren't like this. Even when in the company of the three most sadistic vampires of all history she'd managed to keep her humanity intact. He was not going to let her lose it so he could have her.
Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out the coin of Tiamat before closing his fingers around it tightly, determined.
"What's wrong?" Brady wanted to know a couple of hours later as he arrived and passed Lois a glass of warmed milk. "Other than the fact that you're pregnant with the antichrist, of course."
Lois didn't answer immediately, merely drank the warm beverage in thought, a hand on her stomach. "This isn't our Sam."
He sighed and threw himself on the sofa next to her, lifting her swollen feet and resting them on his lap. "I figured that after the whole..." he motioned to her stomach. "But wish or not I don't think we're just a reality he wished into being."
"I don't either, I think he's either switched places with our Sam, or taken over his body. I think somehow this is a worse case scenario for him, although I don't know how exactly." Lois took in a deep breath. "I have no idea how to help him go back and how to get our Sam back though. He broke the well."
"Something will work out," Brady assured her. "We won against the White Hats, let's just celebrate that today and think about the rest tomorrow, okay?"
Lois glanced up at him over the rim of her glass, a small smile playing on her lips. "Okay."
"Don't be silly." Chloe rested her cheek against his heart, a contented sigh escaping her lips. They'd celebrated their win, and while Sam wanted to believe that he would've been strong enough to turn her away, to say something about the massacre, he hadn't. Instead, when her lips had found his, he'd lost all self control. Now they lay curled up in bed, the blonde pressing small kisses to his heart. "For the first time in a long time we can breathe a sigh of relief. Those White Hats are dead, and until the next upstart makes himself known, we can enjoy ourselves."
Sam frowned, running his fingers through her hair.
"I met Angel today, by the way. The vampire with the supposed soul."
Sam's eyes widened in shock. "What?"
"Don't worry." Chloe pressed a kiss to his chest. "I got the information I needed out of him, and then I killed him."
Sam went still. "You did what?"
"You don't have to worry about me and him, I love you, Sam. You don't have to worry about any wishes. I'm here and he isn't." She ran her fingers over his abs, which spasmed under her touch. "I am, have always been, and will always be, yours. Nothing, and no one, will change that."
Sam closed his eyes tightly.
"And if anyone tries to change that, we'll torture and kill them, together." She smiled against his chest and pressed a kiss to him as she cuddled closer before she paused. "What's that?"
He opened his eyes. "What's what?"
The girl leaned over and reached for the coin, curling up against him once more. "Is that Tiamat?"
Sam's eyes widened. "Yeah."
"This is in mint condition, where did you get this?" Chloe eyed him curiously.
"The Chinese restaurant across from the Bronze," he decided to answer truthfully.
"What were you doing there? It's been closed for ages." Chloe licked her lips as she eyed the coin. "I wonder what this coin was doing in that store though. I mean, Tiamat, she's Babylonian, not Chinese."
Sam cleared his throat, taking opportunity that Brady and Lois had agreed to let him talk to Chloe about what was going on, though they hadn't known why he'd wanted to keep it a secret from her. "What do you know about Tiamat?"
"Not that much, just the basics really." Chloe eyed the coin curiously. "That's odd."
"What?" Sam frowned.
"It's just that Marduk is on the other side. You see this spade? It symbolizes him. I would have expected anyone but Marduk to be on the other side." She sent Sam a little sideways look. "He's the one who killed Tiamat."
Sam did his best not to look too eager for the information. "How did he kill her?"
"I'm a little rusty on my Babylonian mythology," she admitted sheepishly, looking so much like his Chloe that it kinda hurt. "But if my memory serves me right, he traps her in his net, blows her up with his winds, and then pierces her belly with an arrow."
Sam blinked. "I see."
"Yeah. God slaying is nasty business. Even the Babylonian sun-god who has thunderbolts sometimes has to go out of his way and and use inconvenient methods. I never got why he didn't just throw a thunderbolt at her." Chloe laughed as she reached up to press a kiss to Sam's lips and passed him back his coin. "Anyway, I need my beauty rest."
He kissed her, hard, as he closed his hand tightly around the stone, calling on their joined magic to conjure a flash of vicious lightning in his palm.
Sam's eyes flew open, and he found himself standing outside of Giles', bags of food on the floor, a charred coin in his hand.
He looked around him, he should feel relief, and yet he realized that although he'd been fighting to get back here all the time he'd been in the alternate universe, now that he was back here he wished he was back in bed with Chloe, kissing her, deep inside of her. A dark voice inside of him was screaming at him, screaming that who cared if she'd lost some of her humanity? Who cared if she'd led a group of demons against some humans? Those humans had first tried to kill her and had then been trying to control her! What was wrong with what she'd done? She'd just wanted to be free? To live in peace! Why couldn't he have just stayed there? What was so great about back here that he had to get back to?
The front door opened and Chloe's eyes widened in surprise. "Sam!" Her gaze went to the ground. "Is that food? And if so, why is it on the ground?"
He took in a deep breath. "I, uh-."
"Chinese for breakfast." She grinned as she looked up at him and then that smile melted. "Sam? Are you okay?"
He nodded. "I-."
The blonde stepped over the bags of food and hugged Sam. "What happened?"
He gulped loudly around the lump in his throat and just hugged her tightly.
"What happened?" She asked again, voice worried. "Sam? What happened?"
He couldn't tell her.
He couldn't.
Sam couldn't bring himself to admit to her, or even to himself, how much he'd loved the world in which she'd never met Angel.
TBC