Chapter Twenty-Seven

I added a little something to the end of the last chapter, so I'm just going to give it to ya here.

THEN

Dean looked over at the ten people gathered in the foyer behind the witch. There was a middle-aged guy that looked like he had a dark past, a real dangerous-looking woman wearing biker boots, a young African-American man who was bald, a mousy young woman with brown hair, a stunningly beautiful young woman with short brown hair, three young girls who looked like they were extremely uneasy about where they were, and a young man with brown hair who looked even more dark than the middle-aged guy.

But the one that drew Dean's attention was the tall, dark and brooding man all in black at the front of the group, the one who had about as much emotion in his face that Castiel did, the one who looked Buffy straight in the eye as he spoke.

"Hi, Buffy."

Buffy stared back at him, frozen in stunned disbelief. "Angel."

NOW

"Wait, this is Angel?" asked Sam.

"Yep," said Dawn as Buffy stared at the vampire with a soul.

"How are you?" Buffy asked him.

Angel shrugged. "Can't complain. You?"

Buffy nodded a little. "Same. What are you doing here?"

"I come bearing gifts," Angel told her, pulling something out of his pocket and holding it up for everyone to see.

It was a small silver ring with a pale green stone set into the top, strange markings carved into the sides of it.

"We're getting class rings now?" asked Xander.

"Cordelia had a vision," said Angel, nodding at the woman with short brown hair next to him. "She said that it was important and that we should head here."

Buffy took the ring from him, looking at it. "What does it do?"

"It belonged to a powerful being creating havoc through plague and disease," the middle-aged man said with a British accent. "He claimed to be one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse."

Dean's eyes widened, looking over at the ring with new understanding. "Pestilence…" He looked up at Angel. "Did Gabe put you onto this?"

Angel frowned over at him. "I don't know any Gabe. Who are you?"

"Sorry," said Buffy as she walked over to Dean and handed him Pestilence's ring. She faced Angel and his gang once again. "Guys, this is Dean Winchester. Dean is actually the latest Slayer."

"Slayer?" said the dangerous woman, a frown on her face as she stared at Dean. "He's a guy."

"We know," nodded Buffy. "He's still a Slayer."

"How did that happen?" she asked.

"Long story," Buffy brushed off. "We'll tell you later." She gestured to Sam and Bobby. "This is Dean's brother Sam and their friend Bobby Singer." She looked over at Castiel. "And this is Castiel. He's an angel."

Dean glanced over at Castiel when Buffy introduced him, noticing a strange frown on the angel's face.

"Angel?" asked the bald black man. "Like, wings and halo?"

"Uh, no halo," Buffy explained. "And his wings are—"

"Cas?" asked Dean. "You okay?"

Castiel's gaze did not waver from the group, nor did his frown de-intensify. "The girl…"

Dean followed his gaze to the beautiful brunette girl next to Angel, the one the vampire had called Cordelia.

"Who, Cordy?" asked Willow.

"There is something wrong," said Castiel.

Dean immediately went on edge, pulling the demon knife out of his jacket and turning to face Cordelia. If Castiel was concerned about someone like that, then they probably were not human.

"What?" asked the mousy brunette girl.

"She is not who she seems," said Castiel, slowly walking towards her as Sam and Bobby also drew weapons.

"I think I would know if I was someone else," said Cordelia, frowning at the angel.

"Trust us, it's her," said Angel, starting to glare at Castiel as he approached Cordelia. "We just went through hell to get her back."

"Literally?" asked Dean, beginning to suspect the girl had come back from hell with a little more demon than when she left.

"No, not literally!" shouted Angel.

"What is wrong with you people?" yelled Cordelia as Castiel stopped in front of her. "I am Cordelia!"

"No," said Castiel. "You are not." He raised his hand towards Cordelia's face.

Cordelia flinched away from him, trying to block his arm, but Castiel pushed past her struggles and laid his palm on her forehead. Light burst from Cordelia's eyes and mouth as her head flew back, screaming.

"What is he doing?" yelled Angel, charging towards Castiel as his friends did likewise.

As Buffy stopped the others, Dean leapt forward, using all his strength to hold the vampire back. "Wait! Let him work!"

"Cordelia!" Angel shouted.

Castiel stared hard at Cordelia as she screamed, wincing in concentration. Cordelia bucked violently in his hold, and Castiel grabbed hold of her shoulder with his other hand, clenching his jaw. Cordelia's head suddenly dropped, seemingly glaring at Castiel through the light pouring from her eyes.

"Celestial filth!" Cordelia spat at him. "You will never banish me!"

"Oh, my God…" breathed Angel, his struggles against Dean lessening in shock.

Castiel closed his eyes, frowning in exertion as the light grew in intensity. The thing inside Cordelia growled, writhing in Castiel's grasp, until her head flew back once again. The thing screamed as the light flashed through the whole room and disappeared. Castiel fell to the floor as Cordelia did also.

"Cordy!" Angel exclaimed, rushing over to her.

"Cas!" Dean shouted, hurrying to his friend. "Cas, you okay?"

Castiel nodded weakly, propping himself up from the floor. "I believe so."

Dean looked over at Angel holding Cordelia in his arms.

"Cordy, are you alright?" asked Angel. "Are you hurt?"

"Oh, my God!" exclaimed Cordelia, tears in her eyes. "Angel!" She threw her arms around him, holding him tight. She looked over at Castiel. "Thank you."

"What happened?" asked Angel. "What was that?"

Cordelia pulled away from him, wiping the tears from her face. "The power that hitched a ride from the higher plane."

"The what?" asked the mousy girl.

"She was one of the Powers That Be before she went off the deep end," said Cordelia. "She needed a corporeal form on Earth, so she chose me."

"Chose you?" asked the British man.

Cordelia nodded. "She arranged so much in order to get here: Lorne and Angel coming to Los Angeles, Doyle giving me his visions, me becoming part-demon, Connor being born, me ascending to the higher plane…"

"She arranged all that?" asked the bald black guy.

"You guys hadn't even seen the half of it," said Cordelia. "She was planning on releasing this Beast thing to prepare for her arrival. It would've near-decimated L.A. And then, she would, um…use me and Connor to be born."

Angel stared at her. "Her plan was to get the two of you together and have her?"

Cordelia nodded again.

"Why?" asked the bald black guy. "Why did she want to get here so badly? Start the apocalypse?"

Dean chuckled a little, looking up at Sam. "She's gonna have to get in line."

"No," said Cordelia. "She wanted to bring world peace."

"Yeah, right," said Sam. "She's gotta have some ulterior motive, right? I mean, evil higher beings don't just bring world peace."

"Her idea of world peace is complete lack of free will; everyone brainwashed into following her. Meanwhile, she gets to eat all the humans she wants while no one bats an eye at it," Cordelia explained.

Dean groaned angrily. "What is it about higher beings that makes them think they can do whatever they want? The angels want to bring on paradise by roasting half the planet, and this higher power wants to bring on world peace by turning everyone into zombie steaks."

Sam shrugged. "Power does tend to corrupt."

"Yeah, yeah…" muttered Dean.

"I'm sorry, angels?" asked the mousy girl. "Like him?" She gestured at Castiel, who was slowly pulling himself up to his feet. "I thought angels were good."

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, so did we."

"I think we're missing a story here," said Angel as he helped Cordelia up.

"Yeah, you are," said Buffy. "We'll explain in a minute. First, I see quite a few new people with you. Intros?"

"Yeah, sorry," said Angel. "Um…" he looked over at his friends and gesturing to each in turn, "well, you guys already know Cordelia, Wesley and Faith."

Dean looked at the dangerous-looking woman. "So, this is the psycho Slayer that came after you." He pointed at Buffy.

"Actually, she was called when Kendra died," Buffy told him.

"Oh, right," said Dean.

"Hm, I'm famous," smiled Faith, walking over to Dean.

"I thought you turned yourself in and got locked up for killing people," said Dean.

"Sure did," said Faith. "But thanks to Cordy's vision, I got let out on good behavior."

"Oh, so, you're a good Slayer now, is that it?" asked Dean.

"So what if I am?" said Faith, looking him up and down. "I bet I could still show you a thing or two."

Dean smirked suggestively at her. "What did you have in mind?"

"Alright, enough, you two," Bobby said.

"Anyway," began Angel again, gesturing to the bald black man, "this is Charles Gunn." He pointed to the mousy brunette girl. "This is Winifred Burkle."

"But everyone calls me Fred," she told them with a smile.

Angel motioned to the three young girls behind him. "These girls are the Potentials."

Giles leaned forward, staring at them. "Good Lord, really?"

"Yes," nodded Wesley.

"What are Potentials?" asked Buffy.

"Potential Slayers," Giles explained, "waiting for one to be called."

"Oh," said Buffy, looking over at the three girls. "Well, welcome to Sunnydale."

"Thanks," said one of the older Potentials.

"And this," said Angel, turning to the young man next to him with brown hair as long as Sam's, "is Connor."

"The same Connor that Cordelia mentioned earlier?" asked Willow.

Angel nodded. "Yes." He hesitated, looking over at Buffy. "He's my son."

Buffy stared at Angel in what looked like shock as all the Sunnydale gang did, also.

"Your what now?" asked Xander.

"Wait a minute," said Dean. "Vampires are dead. They can't have kids." He looked over at Giles. "Right?"

"Yes, that's absolutely right," said Giles, staring at Connor. "Vampires cannot bear children."

"That's why that higher being had to arrange his birth," speculated Anya. "It's because his father was a vampire."

"Not just his father," Angel went on. He hesitated once more, sighing and avoiding Buffy's eyes. "Darla was his mother."

Buffy's expression turned to hurt and betrayal. "You had a son this whole time, and you never told me?"

"No, no!" said Angel quickly. "It's not like that. He was only born last year."

Everyone looked from Angel to his nineteen-year-old son in confusion.

"This man, Holtz, kidnapped him when he was a baby and raised him in a hell dimension," Angel explained. "Time worked differently there. A few days after he was taken, he fought his way back here, all grown up."

"But if this happened last year, Darla couldn't be his mother," said Buffy. "You killed her six years ago."

"It's a…long story," sighed Angel.

"Speaking of, don't you think we should be getting to sharing time?" Gunn pointed out.

"Yes," said Wesley. "What's been happening in Sunnydale?"

Buffy sighed, looking around the room. "Who wants to tell it this time?"

************************************************** *SPN/BTVS***************************************** ******

Dean stepped out onto the back patio of the Summers house, finding Castiel leaning his arms on the railing and staring up at the stars. He stepped up next to the angel to do the same. There was silence for a while before Dean spoke.

"You okay?"

"Yes, I have recovered," Castiel responded.

"You sure?" asked Dean. "'Cause that looked like some heavyweight throw-down in there."

"I will be fine," said Castiel. "My grace, however…"

Dean glanced over at him. "Your grace?"

"I appear to have been significantly weakened by my encounter with the Devourer," Castiel explained.

"The Devourer…" said Dean. "That's the higher being that possessed Cordelia?"

Castiel nodded.

"Well, what does that mean?" asked Dean.

"My power has diminished greatly," said Castiel, looking down at his hands. "I am now limited to smiting, healing and flying."

"Wow," said Dean. "She really took that much outta ya?"

"She is one of the Powers That Be, second only to celestial beings," said Castiel.

"Well, how long are those powers gonna last?" asked Dean.

Castiel hesitated, looking back up at the stars. "Maybe a few weeks; a month, at most."

"Damn…" breathed Dean, looking down at his hands and back up at the angel. "You gonna be ready for that?"

Castiel looked over at him with a frown. "It will happen whether I am ready or not."

"No, I mean, will you be ready to…be human," said Dean.

"It is true," said Castiel, straightening from the railing and turning towards Dean, who stood from the railing also. "I am not as versed on human behavior as my brethren." He raised his arm and placed a hand on Dean's shoulder. "I guess I'm lucky to have a good friend to show me the way."

Friends, huh? Dean thought as he gave Castiel a companionable smile.

************************************************SP N/BTVS******************************************** ****************

Buffy sat up on the roof outside of her bedroom window with Angel, watching the neighborhood. "So, for a couple weeks…you had a little boy to take care of."

"Yeah…" sighed Angel. "Believe me, I was freaked at first. Ask any of them; I wouldn't let anyone hold him. But eventually, I learned that we were all a part of Connor's life, and we would all be there to protect him."

They sat in silence for a while, just watching the night go by.

"What's it like?" asked Buffy. "Being a daddy?"

A smile snaked its way onto Angel's face, unable to be held back. "Amazing. To think of all the evil I had done my whole life, and I was getting this…precious little life to love and care for." He paused a moment, chuckling. "Just after he was born, he wouldn't stop crying, so as a last ditch effort, I vamped out. Surprisingly, that calmed him right down." The smile faded from his face. "Now, though…" he sighed, "he hates that face."

Buffy placed a comforting hand on his arm. "He grew up in a hell dimension, raised by a man who twisted your story around to make him hate you. I have no doubt that sooner or later, he will warm up to you. You are the most noble human being I know."

Angel looked over at her sadly. "But I'm not human."

"Which just makes you all the better," said Buffy. "The fact that you're a vampire and you're better than most humans…"

Angel looked back out at the street, not convinced.

"Angel, you were given a son for a reason, and I don't think it was just so a supreme being could make its way to Earth," said Buffy. "After all the good you've done in this world, you deserved something in return."

Angel looked over at her, a smile finally making its way back onto his face. Buffy stared up into his eyes, suddenly remembering all the times they had together. Yes, she knew that spark still lay between them, but they had decided long ago that they could not be together as long as evil was still out there. But, perhaps, that wouldn't be a problem anymore after they stopped the apocalypse. Maybe, just maybe…she could be with Angel once again.

Cordelia stood in Buffy's room, watching the Slayer and the vampire she had come to love through the window. She had seen it all before; she knew that look on Angel's face. She wasn't stupid; Angel and Buffy were soul mates, always would be. She had just been hoping lately that maybe Angel could spare part of his soul for her, too.

************************************************** ****SPN/BTVS************************************** ******************************

Faith sat on the kitchen island, well into a story, as Sam sipped from a beer on one of the bar stools next to it. "So, I come tearing out, stark nude—"

Sam held his hand up to stop her. "Uh, I think this story is more suited to Dean's taste."

"Oh, don't worry, I plan on showing him personally," Faith winked at him, taking a drink from her own beer.

Sam winced in disgust. "And that's something I never needed to hear."

"Hey, your brother's a fully grown, blow-your-mind-sexy adult," shrugged Faith. "What Dean does in his personal time is no mystery."

Dean walked into the kitchen. "I heard my name. We talking about me?"

"Unfortunately," muttered Sam, taking another drink.

Dean grabbed the beer bottle from Sam as he was taking a drink. Sam sputtered a little, trying not to spill his mouthful down his front, glaring at his brother as Dean began drinking it, ignoring Sam. Sam rolled his eyes and got up to get a new beer.

"What's the word on your Cas friend?" asked Faith, turning towards him. "He okay?"

"Well, Clark Kent in there has lost most of his Krypton mojo, but he's hanging in there," Dean explained as Sam sat down at the island again.

"Good," said Faith. "So…new Slayer. How's that going?"

"Depends on the day," Dean grumbled.

"And that Horseman ring Angel brought…" said Faith. "That's gonna lock Lucifer up again?"

"Well, for Sammy's sake, we won't have to resort to that," said Dean. "But I've been thinking."

"Yeah?" asked Sam, taking a drink of beer.

"What if the angels—or demons, even—find out our plans?" speculated Dean. "They could do a lot of damage before we've had a chance to strike. Now, as our back-up plan, it has to be for sure in case something happens to me or Michael, right? Which means," he pulled Pestilence's ring out of his pocket, "we need to keep these rings safe."

"You're thinking Gabriel," said Sam, taking the ring and holding it up.

"Who better to protect the keys to Lucifer's cage than an archangel?" Dean pointed out.

"Alright, then. Um…" Sam closed his eyes, clearing his throat, "Gabriel, can you spare a moment? We have something here for you to keep safe." He opened his eyes, looking around.

Dean looked around the room. "He ignoring us?"

"I wish," said Gabriel as he appeared in front of the back door.

Faith jumped a little, staring in shock at the archangel.

"Are you at all serious?" said Gabriel. "I just got onto Famine's trail."

Sam held out Pestilence's ring towards him.

"Huh…" said Gabriel, walking over and taking the ring, "looks like you two monkeys aren't that hopeless after all." He shoved the ring into his jacket pocket. "That's one bro down, three to go. This plan just might work." He smirked at them.

"Yeah, about that," said Dean. "This is our back-up. We're gonna—"

"Use Dean to use Michael to kill Lucifer," finished Gabriel.

Sam, Dean and Faith stared at him in shock.

"I keep tabs on you boys through our dear little Cassie," explained Gabriel. "Although, recently, he's dropped off the radar."

"Yeah, he killed a higher power, and it weakened him," said Faith.

"Figured," said Gabriel. "Well, back to ring searching, not that that plan really matters anymore."

"No?" asked Dean, brows raised in surprise.

"I have been watching you two for years now," began Gabriel.

"That's not at all creepy," Dean grumbled.

Gabriel closed his eyes and clenched his jaw in annoyance. "The point is…" he looked up at Dean, "if anyone can break through Michael's hold and kill the devil, it's you."

Dean did a double take, frowning at him with a slight smile. "You seriously think we have a shot at this?"

Gabriel shrugged, smiling fondly. "Well, you boys do have a habit of proving hell, heaven and everyone in between wrong."