February 6, 1999

"So?" Cordelia asked when she saw Cordy walk down the stairs.

"Not really in the mood to dish, Cordelia," Cordy replied sitting on the steps.

"I figured," Cordelia said handing Cordy the pint of Double fudge Ice cream she'd found in Angel's fridge. "You look like you need this."

Cordy smiled, "I really do."

They sat on the stairs side by side as they shared the ice cream.

"We'll get you home Cordy," Cordelia promised.

Cordy looked upstairs to where she left Angel with Buffy, "She's interrogating him isn't she?"

"You know Buffy," Cordelia said. "She can't comprehend a future where she isn't the center of Angel's universe. I can't even comprehend that. How exactly does it happen anyway?"

"Stop Cordelia," Cordy said with warning.

"What?" Cordelia replied.

"I'm not volunteering any more information," Cordy replied. "You already know too much.."

"You're no fun at all," Cordelia said.

"Just for that I'm keeping all the ice cream for me," Cordy said grabbing the ice cream carton and walking out in to Angel's Courtyard

Cordelia was tempted to follow her but decided Cordy needed some time to herself. Cordelia opted to walk down into the basement to watch Gus train. Gus was in the middle of practicing on the punching bag when he looked up as Cordelia walked down the stairs.

"Where are the others?" Gus asked.

"Buffy's grilling Angel and Cordy needed some space," she said. "So, I thought I'd keep you company, Gus."

Gus stopped punching and looked at her.

"How about Liam?" Gus suggested.

"Liam?" Cordelia asked bewildered.

"Instead of calling me Gus," Gus explained. "Liam was my name before I was turned."

"I like Liam," Cordy said and then she smiled. "But Gus is just so much more fun."

"You enjoy torturing me," Gus said.

"You can be so unflappable. Getting under your skin is a surprisingly fun challenge," Cordelia said.

Angel was trying to be angry but found himself amused, "Are you that bored?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Cordelia replied.

"How is Cordy?" Angel asked.

"I think she's okay. It's just looking at those pictures brought up a lot of stuff for her," Cordelia said. "She misses her family."

"You sound surprised," Angel said.

"Having a family wasn't something I thought would happen for me," she confessed. "These glimpses into our future were so unexpected."

"I know what you mean," Angel said. "A family's the last thing I thought I'd ever have."

"It's a relief isn't it; to know it'll happen for us," Cordelia said.

"Yeah, it is," Angel said feeling guilty for looking forward to a future that might not include Buffy.

Gus and Cordelia stood there a moment just studying each other. They were both curious about how it would happen. How would two people who seem to have little in common come to mean so much to each other in the future?

"I never thought you were friend material," Cordelia began. "Make-out material certainly."

"Make-out material?" Gus repeated.

"That tall, dark, and broodiness thing you've got going really works," Cordelia said.

Gus smiled at her, "I guess since I'm 'Salty Goodness'"

"You heard me say that?" Cordelia asked surprised.

"Vampire hearing," Angel said.

"You never let on you heard me," Cordelia said slapping his arm playfully. "I always thought you were oblivious."

"I noticed," Gus said simply and then he looked at her. "Do you think they're together? Angel and Cordy."

"Yeah, I just don't think they know it yet," Cordelia said.

"It's just so..." Gus didn't know quite what to say.

"I know isn't it," Cordelia said, completing his thought.

He smiled at her, and Cordelia realized how much she enjoyed his smile.

"I think I'm getting it now," Cordelia said. "Why we like each other so much in the future."

Suddenly feeling uncomfortable Gus broke eye contact with her.

"You're dying to change the subject aren't you?" Cordelia said.

"You want me to show you that sword move Cordy was trying the other day?" Gus offered turning to take a sword from the weapon's cabinet.

"Sure," Cordelia said walking towards him.

Cordy ended up coming down to the basement and watching as Gus and Cordelia trained. Cordy couldn't help noticing Gus's hands off approach to training Cordelia. When Angel was teaching Cordy to fight, he was always wrapping his arms around her, adjusting her. But Cordy suddenly realized that was all unnecessary. Angel didn't have to be so hands on. She was suddenly amused to discover that Angel may have been coping a feel. Her laughter alerted Cordelia and Gus to her presence.

"What's so funny?" Cordelia challenged.

"This just brings back memories," Cordy said.

They heard people walking around upstairs.

"I think the others are here," Cordy said walking back up the stairs with Cordelia and Angel behind her.

--

February 6, 2002

They all stood sat in Buffy's living room. Except Anna who stood outside on the porch by herself. As Lorne was passing through the hallway, he paused to look at her through the window. He wondered what she was thinking. Her face was so serious, and he wondered why she isolated herself. Lorne considered going out on the porch to join her, but he knew he couldn't let Buffy's neighbors see him. He stopped pondering her and went ahead into the living room.

"He's just so cute," Dawn said.

"And he looks just like Angel," Willow pointed out.

Buffy held Connor awkwardly but was relieved that he wasn't fussy this time.

"Yeah, he does look a bit like him," Buffy agreed relieved that she didn't see a resemblance to Darla.

"His bottle's ready," Lorne said and Buffy handed the baby over to him.

"Wait, can I feed him?" Dawn asked.

Lorne gave her the baby and made sure she was holding him correctly. He turned his head when Anna walked back into the house and smiled at him. He returned her smile.

"Shouldn't Angel and Wesley be back by now?" Buffy asked Lorne.

"They haven't managed the switch yet," Lorne said. "They won't return until that happens."

"How do we know they haven't found a way around the switch?" Dawn asked.

"I wouldn't be inside Cordy's body anymore if they reversed things," Anna said.

"There's nothing we can do to help him from our end?" Buffy said.

"We can't influence the past from the future," Lorne said.

"I've been looking on the web and haven't come up with anything," Willow said.

"I hate this," Buffy said resenting the helplessness of the situation.

She looked over at Lorne and was tempted to sing for him so he could give her a reading. It might help. But Buffy wasn't ready. It took everything in her to resist sneaking out to see Spike and she hated to admit that she was disappointed that he hadn't come after her like he usually did.

"Can we talk a minute, Lorne?" Anna asked.

"Sure," Lorne said and followed her out of the room.

Anna went upstairs to the bedroom so she could speak with Lorne privately. She stood there a moment trying to find the right words.

"I wanted to say good bye," she began.

" Good bye?" Lorne said. "You've got to stop thinking of the negative. You're going to survive this."

"I'm starting to believe that but a good bye is still inevitable between us," Anna said. "I'm not sure I'll get any warning when Angel and Wesley reverse the spell. I didn't want to just go back to the past without saying good bye. You knew the worst about me, and you were still kind. You're the first friend I ever had."

"I'll miss you," Lorne said going to take her hand.

"I wish..." Anna hesitated. "Do you think I could come and visit you?"

"I wouldn't recognize you if you suddenly showed up at Caritas in 1999," Lorne said. "I'll hope you'll make an appearance at The Hyperion in 2002. But by then you'll have forgotten me."

Anna shook her head, "You're unforgettable."

"Well, the green and horns do make an impression," Lorne said smiling at her.

"Even without the green and horns, I wouldn't forget you," Anna smiled at him.

"Three years is a long time," Lorne said.

"I won't forget," Anna said. "We'll meet again."

She wasn't certain she meant those words even if she wanted them to be true. Lorne was the first person who made her feel she wasn't alone. Although she was beginning to have hope about her situation, Anna still had a bad feeling that she wouldn't survive. Her father always found her. She knew that this time if she met her father again he would kill her. She just had to hope that Angel and Wes defeated her father before they could meet again.

Anna shook off those thoughts and asked, "Could you do me a favor?"

"Anything for you, Doll," Lorne agreed.

"If there's a blow up between Angel and Cordy because of what I did, do whatever you can to make it right," Anna said. "I owe them that, but I don't know how to fix it. I think you can."

"I'll try my best," Lorne said.

"Maybe Angel won't tell her what happened," Anna said hopefully.

"Maybe," Lorne said thinking that some things were meant to be secrets.

--

1999

They all sat in Angel's living room arguing with Cordy. She'd just informed the others that she intended to face Jacob completely on her own without any back up from the others.

"There's no way I'm letting you face him alone," Angel yelled.

"We already discussed this and decided," Cordy said. "I don't see the point in wasting time arguing again."

"I never agreed to anything," Angel said stubbornly.

"You agreed to let me do what I had to do," Cordy countered.

"I also said I'd do what I had to do and that's protect you," Angel replied.

"You don't have to do this, Cordy," Cordelia said.

"The plan was supposed to be that you would face Jacob with us backing you up," Buffy said. "Why change those plans?"

"Why put yourself in unnecessary danger?" Wesley asked.

Cordy looked at Wesley wiling him to understand so he could help her make Angel understand.

"The simple truth is that you guys would be a liability," Cordy said. "He can hurt you, but you can't even touch him. It would be so easy for him to grab you guys and use you as a shield. You're in more danger than I am."

"He can kill you," Angel said. "You aren't invulnerable."

He was pacing angrily around the living room.

"I go against Jacob, and I have a 50 chance of beating him. You go after him and you will die," Cordy said. "Let me protect you this time."

"I won't just sit on the sidelines and let you kill yourself," Angel said.

"I'm really offended. Who says I'd lose? I'm going to kick Jacob's ass," Cordy said, furiously.

"She's right," Wesley said looking at Angel intently.

Angel looked at him as if he were a traitor, "You can do that. You can let her go out there without a safety net."

"Having us there will hurt her chances of winning in a battle with Jacob," Wesley said.

"If she's focused on protecting us she won't be thinking of protecting herself," Gus agreed.

Cordelia remained silent. She saw the logic, but still didn't agree with Cordy's decision. She was shocked to find herself speechless.

"It's her life to risk," Buffy said simply. "It's her choice."

Buffy respected Cordy's willingness to put herself on the line. She was more brave than Buffy had given her credit for. She didn't like Cordy putting herself at risk, but Buffy knew that if their circumstances were reversed that Buffy would make the same choice. Buffy looked over at Angel and knew like everyone else in that room did that there was no way Angel was going to give in. She wondered how they could protect him from Jacob.

"We'll do what we can to help you from here," Giles said. "We've actually made some headway in the research."

"Is there a way to make Smith vulnerable?" Buffy asked.

"We aren't certain," Wesley said. "It's early in the research, but we did discover one thing."

"Well, out with it already," Cordy said.

"Anna's a slayer," Wesley said.

"Or we should say she is a potential slayer. Her abilities are dormant," Giles corrected. "I think somehow Jacob has figured out a way to tap into and magnify Anna's power."

"The reason Anna's the only one who can injure Jacob is that she's what he draws his power from," Wesley said.

"So then he can't kill me," Cordy said. "He needs Anna alive to retain power doesn't he?"

"It doesn't matter," Angel said. "He may not want to kill you, but he's got too much rage. He will lose control."

"No matter how much he may need Anna there's nothing to say he won't kill if forced," Gus agreed.

"We all saw Anna's obituary," Buffy said.

"So now that we know the origin of his power, can we strip him of it?" Cordy asked.

"We're working on it," Wesley said.

"We don't have much time," Cordelia said looking over the obituary again. "Anna dies tomorrow."

Xander walked in the door than with a box of doughnuts, "Sorry, I'm late. I figured we could all use the sugar."

He noticed all the tension in the room. Cordy walked up to him and said, "You figured right."

Then she left the room and went out to the courtyard where she knew Angel couldn't follow. It was still daylight outside. The others would respect her choice. Angel would never agree. Cordelia followed Cordy outside.

"He's going to get himself killed," Cordy said.

"We won't let him," Cordelia said. "Buffy would probably help us with that. Even Gus would."

Cordy nodded determined to find a way to protect him from Jacob, but she didn't know how to stop Angel from going after him. Angel watched her from the window equally determined to protect her. Gus went to stand beside him.

"You have to let her go," Gus said.

Angel made no response and continued to look out the window.

"I thought Willow was with you," Buffy said to Xander.

"I'm surprised she didn't beat me here. She stopped off at that magic shop," Xander said. "She said there's a book there that might help."

--

Jacob watched Willow as she left the Magic Shop and went to stand at the bus stop. He smiled.