I thought it would be nice to recap a little about each character before the first season finale.

He hadn't done it in a while. The room was dark, the office empty. Angel took a seat at his chair. He placed his hands beneath his chin and began his rumination. He wasn't sure how long it had been since he last did this or whether it was because of the lack of time he had or lack of need to do so. He winced slightly at the thought that he could possible find thinking over his past unnecessary.

It bothered him a bit that he couldn't change his old habit of sitting in the dark. Everyone had already informed him of his unhealthy nature, but he persisted nonetheless. This is what brought him there that day anyway. Everyone around him was changing and he felt the same as always. Sure, he was helping people and each time he could sense the positive impact he was making, but he didn't really feel any different inside.

On the flip side each person around him had changed. Evolved. Matured. Whether or not this was a good thing had yet to be seen in some cases, but seemed like he was stationary while the world around him kept turning. Cordelia had obviously changed the most. She had taken in Doyle and become his primary caretaker, barely letting anyone who came into his proximity so much as touch him without her permission. She still bickered continuously with Wesley, but would occasionally let him win once in a while. Somehow, knowing Doyle was a half-demon who was willing to die to save others made her much more tolerant to their less than human clients. She was still her sarcastic, money driven self, but the visions and Doyle were helping her see the other side of things.

Wesley's change a little more subtle, he still maintained his slightly clumsy, nervous personality making up for it with his intelligence and allegiance. He still argued back just as fiercely as he received with Cordy but something else had changed. The first time Angel smelled the scent faintly, unable to recognize it. The next time, he was able to vaguely identify it and by the third he was absolutely sure. Every week, Wesley visited her. Maybe it wasn't a change. Maybe he felt it was his duty as her old watcher but Wesley visited Faith for whatever the reason. He kept it secret, or just didn't bring it up at any rate. If it hadn't been for his sense of smell Angel wouldn't have known and as far as he could tell Cordelia was clueless. Probably too preoccupied with whatever was happening in her life to notice the odd but routine behavior on Wesley's part. It was possible that he knew that Angel knew, seeing as how Angel would occasionally visit the girl as well, but it was so far left out of conversation.

She herself has shrunken a bit since entering the confined life of prison. She kept up a slight facade, cracking the occasional joke, but Angel could tell being left alone with her thoughts was not as helpful to her as it had been for him. He would never tell her, but he sensed that these visits from both men were certainly helping. Her biggest regret aside from the murder of the deputy mayor in Sunnydale was obviously all she had done to Buffy. She seemed determined to make amends to her first.

This was much to the chagrin for Angel as she sometimes made mention of the girl he had left behind. It had been a while since they had spoken before their encounter. She still thought it had just been a few moments one morning after thanksgiving. She had no idea it had been so much more to him. She had changed without him. She had someone else, she was in college. He no longer fit in her world. If he ever did. He considered going out to see her after their fight when she had come to find Faith. He had gone so far as to get into his car and turn the ignition, but stopped himself. He wasn't going to interrupt her new life. He would have to stay here. The fight was merely verbal, thought they came close to blows. Maybe if it had he would feel guiltier for what he said and did and had been able to travel the distance between them physically to mend the distances emotionally, but ultimately it was better if he kept himself at a distance. For both their sakes.

He thought of his newer allies and enemies. Detective Kate Lockley still blamed him for her father's death because it was at the hands of vampires. He was there as well. Since she had arrested him, even before that, speaking was a non-occurrence with them, but he was still concerned about her downward spiral upon entering the demon world. He had only recently met Charles Gunn, but knew he was in for a life change. Losing his sister, he would probably never recover, but with accepting the gray that came in their lives- especially with knowing a vampire with a soul- he could do more good than harm to those he still cared about.

The biggest mystery to him was Lindsay. The lawyer was willing to dispose of him completely just months earlier. All of a sudden they found themselves working together to eliminate a possible threat against some special children. There was a flicker of hope in Angel that maybe he could change for the better, but doubted any teamwork was in their future. Though the attorney's future seemed a littler dimmer at Wolfram and Hart than it had before but much to everyone's surprise reports informed them that McDonald was actually promoted.

Everybody was changing. He didn't feel the same.

------

"Some things never change I'm afraid." The Charge said a little less gently than either would prefer.

Their murder was clearly orchestrated for a while, but it was always assumed that if they changed the past to help the vampire with a soul they stood a much larger chance of survival. Apparently not the case as both Oracles stood confrontationally but futily before Vocah.

To make matters worse they weren't allowed to even give up a fight. They were to surrender their immortality to help a cause they would never see the end of. The female looked to the Charge once more in hope then back to her furious brother. He was not accepting the terms very well. She however saw things differently. The Charge quickly dissolved himself from the room. Placing her hands gently folded into each other she closed her eyes and waited for the darkness to completely come over her.

Meh. I don't think this was my best work, it was kind of an after thought after writing the next chapter to fill in the blanks before continuing but please review and let me know what you think...