"So you're really…?" Angel continued, trailing off. Everyone remained in the office, staring at Gwen, some understanding who she really was, others not so much.

"Well, Angel, as part of the rules, I can't flat out tell you who I am. I can only confirm or deny your guesses."

Angel was fairly certain he knew who she was. Actually, he was 100% certain he knew. But still, he couldn't bring himself to say her name, much less stand up and give her a hug and tell her how good it was to "see" her again. So he stayed sitting by Connor, unable to fully understand what he should be saying. He looked up at Gwen-who-was-not-Gwen. And he thought about the true person inside of her right now. Could it really be? Was it really Cordelia, or just another cruel joke?

"I know you know, Angel. And so do you: Fred, Wes, Gunn, Lorne. I mean, look into my eyes and tell me you don't see."

He did see. Behind Gwen's eyes, Angel could clearly see the brightness and light and hope that was Cordelia. He didn't understand it. But he saw that she was no doubt the one they had all lost not too long ago, before this whole Illyria deal.

Angel opened his mouth, ready to say her name out loud. That would make it so real, though, and he wasn't sure if he was ready for that. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, and now this was happening. It felt surreal to him, to everybody who understood, that she would actually be here with them right now.

"Cordy… Cordelia." He finally stated with a pause. He didn't say it in such a way where it would've sounded like a question.

She smiled widely, confirming what Angel was saying. This caused smiles to erupt on not only Angel's, but Gunn's, Wes's, Fred's, and Lorne's faces as well. Buffy and Willow looked at each other and at other people in the room, shocked. Lilah, Spike, and Drogyn remained emotionless, unsure of what to do.

"Now, now, don't all tackle me at once," she said sarcastically. "I guess we'll get to the hugs and greetings later. You guys must really be looking forward to this explanation."

"Sorry," Fred apologized. "It's just…shocking."

"Yes. And rather, we don't want to get…shocked." Wesley, by Fred's side, said.

Cordelia waved a hand in dismissal. "Don't worry. The electric powers are gone now. One shot was all I got." She looked around the office at everybody. "So, where exactly should I begin?"

"The beginning would be nice," Buffy opinionated.

Cordy laughed. "Oh, Buffy, it's good to see you. You too, Willow. It's been so long. Sorry about the whole 'evil-me' thing when you were last in L.A. But you're right, Buffy. The beginning is a fantastic place to start. The day Illyria nearly killed half the world. Believe me, Angel; the Powers That Be were extremely shocked at that decision."

Angel nodded. "We couldn't lose Fred. I had no choice. I thought that decision would lead the Powers That Be to forget about me and focus on the other champion with a soul." Angel nodded his head towards Spike.

"On normal circumstances, they would. But it wasn't just you who made the decision to save Fred, Angel. Spike was there with you as well. He could've stopped you or argued against you or anything, but he didn't. He stuck by your side in killing so many people. That meant in just one day the Powers lost both their champions. So, they decided on a way to make things more…equal. Since you both made the decision, what you guys did cancelled each other out. That means the whole debate about the Shanshu prophecy is still all up in the air. The Powers will still look over both of you."

Although Angel hadn't really thought about the Powers much, he was relieved. He could still get the Shanshu prophecy. Things weren't over yet.

"Okay," Cordy said, moving on to the next subject. "So Gwen. I guess I should explain what actually happened with her. The first half of what I told you guys was partly true. She wasn't in L.A. She was directly hit by Illyria. The problem was that military device thing on her. Illyria kind of hit Gwen through the device. Needless to say, whether a curse or a miracle, it didn't kill Gwen. It placed her near death. Since Illyria hit the device, it caused crazy things to start happen to Gwen. She was so near death and with no one to help her out. Her electricity was flying off, going around in random placed that she couldn't control, sometimes even hitting herself. I never thought I'd say this, but I actually felt bad for her. She was so hurt, and lost, and alone…" Cordelia shuddered. "Anyway, knowing you guys needed help, the Powers decided to send someone down to guide you along. I was clearly insistent that it be me to come down here. They saw the opportunity with Gwen's weakened body and state of mind, so they told me to take it."

Everybody took a few seconds to take in what she was saying so far.

"You said electricity was what we needed, even if we didn't know it?" Willow recounted from just a few minutes ago.

"Well, we knew about Connor/Illyria, and we also knew about Anne and her sacrifice." She took a longing look behind her, at the frozen statue of Anne. It hurt Cordelia deep inside to think about the inner pain that Anne had to go through with the spell and all. Gunn followed her gaze to Anne, but found he couldn't look at her. It was just too haunting, and maybe even a little creepy. Tears welled in his eyes.

"We knew the spell you were planning on doing," Cordy continued, turning back to everyone else. "While a spell like that would work in normal circumstances, it wouldn't with an Old One. It wasn't your fault, Willow, you were just missing something that would truly connect Anne and Illyria inside, causing both of them to freeze, not just Anne. Thus, electricity! And since Gwen was really in no condition to operate on her own, I sort of worked my way inside of her and have control over her powers and everything. It was really just an extra bonus that Gwen was a familiar face, so you guys wouldn't be too freaked out."

"So that's it?" Angel asked. "That's everything? The Powers knew we needed help and sent you down here in the form of Gwen who happened to have the electric powers that could help freeze Anne and Illyria?"

"Essentially."

"What about the store?" Fred spoke up. "Why were you there? You could've just come to Wolfram & Hart."

"I had to remain…anonymous, shall we say. I thought an 'accidental' run in with Gwen would be better off, make you all less suspecting. Apparently that didn't work with you, Fred."

Fred chuckled.

"Now that you know everything, enough with the depressing stuff!" Cordy said, growing more excited. "You guys won. It's over. Connor's 100% okay."

"It's still bitter sweet, though." Gunn said, looking back at Anne. "We still lost people. Anne, Harmony. Not to mention about half of the freakin' world."

Cordy walked over to Gunn and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Gunn. Anne cared about you, and you cared about her. Anne's not gone, because you'll remember her forever. And you'll honor her memory."

Start a shelter, Anne had last suggested to Gunn, with a little smile. There was a way, Gunn realized, that he could honor Anne's memory, her sacrifice, and never forget about her. Gunn hugged Cordelia, even though it looked like he was hugging Gwen. He let a few tears fall. Cordelia didn't move; she just remained there for her friend.

When Gunn was good and done with the hugging, they shared one last smile and then parted. Cordelia made her way over to Buffy and Willow. They shared quick hugs.

"It's always great to see you guys," Cordy told them. "Tell Xander I wish he could've been here. Then again, maybe it was best the Zeppo wasn't here to mess things up," she joked. Now, she looked closely at Buffy. "You have an idea, Buffy. It's the only one. It'll all work out."

Before Buffy could ask how she knew what she was thinking about, Cordy was walking off. Almost surprisingly, she skipped over Angel and Connor. There was a way about her stride, though, that told everybody she would come back to them. Like she was saving the most important person for last, or something.

"Wesley, Fred," Cordy smiled, looking down at them still holding each other's hands. "It's so great to finally see you guys together. How long has it been? About almost three years of constant attraction?"

"Yeah, well, we're together now. Nothing will change it." Fred said. She and Wes quickly kissed each other.

"I'm sure you guys will be very happy together." Cordelia hugged Fred, and then Wes. "Don't mess things up, buddy," she told him sternly. "I know what an ass pansy you can be."

Wesley laughed. He remembered that, way back when he, Gunn, and Cordelia were fired by Angel because of his whole obsession with Darla.

Hypocrite, Wes had shouted at Cordy.

Ass pansy! She had shouted back.

They pulled away, and Cordelia moved on. Spike and Lilah were near each other. She approached Spike first.

"I'm not gonna hug you," she flat out told him with a small smile.

"Didn't wanna be hugged anyway," he responded.

"Spike, you've come a really long way. You helped Angel and everyone here these last few days, and you've clearly been a great help." She looked around the room. "I don't know what else to say."

With a little bit of a grin, Spike reached over and patted Gwen/Cordelia's arm. "Move on then, love."

"Lilah," Cordelia spoke with a sigh. "Where do I even begin?"

"I don't need to be addressed," Lilah replied.

"Lilah, you think you're here because of the Senior Partners and your 'mission.' Okay, well, technically you are, but it doesn't have to be that way."

She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You helped everyone here, too. It was your help that lifted the memory spell. It was originally your idea to sort of freeze Illyria inside of somebody. Without you here, I'm not sure any of this would've happened. Hell, everyone could be dead right now if not for you. As much as every fiber in my being screams 'no' I have an offer the Powers want me to give to you. You don't have to go back to Hell. Instead, you'll stick around with Angel and everyone else."

"Hey!" Angel shouted. "I don't get a choice?"

"I know it's not ideal," Cordy admitted, "but it couldn't be that bad. You still wouldn't be alive, Lilah, but you'd be in corporeal form. You'd be undead, essentially, except without all the extra vamp-ness. And you'd just stick around with Angel and Spike and everyone else until one of them got the Shanshu. Somehow, the Powers think that you could be a help, and they'll do anything to terminate your deals with the Senior Partners."

Lilah didn't know what to say. It couldn't be that easy, could it, to just leave the Senior Partners? She'd signed a contract. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to stay, anyway.

"Relax; you don't have to answer now. You'll have three days, and then some kind of form of the Powers That Be will approach you. You can tell them your decision then. Based on what you say, you'll either become corporeal again or you'll be sent back to Hell."

Next, she greeted Drogyn, told him thank you, gave him a hug, and that was pretty much it. But then there was Lorne.

"Oh, it's so good to see you, sweetie," Lorne hugged her. "Even if we're not really seeing you, it's still you. You're just in Gwen's body. Oh, gosh, you know that. Sorry, I'm babbling. It's just so great that you're actually here."

"I know, Lorne. It's great to see you too. Ugh, you have no idea how much I've missed you."

They shared a few more seconds of conversation and then another hug. Finally, Cordy went and confronted Angel. He was still sitting with Connor.

"When will he wake up?" Angel questioned.

"I don't know. He's been through a lot. It shouldn't be too long, though."

Angel laid Connor's head gently on the floor and then stood up so he was facing Cordelia.

"These rounds, all those hugs, I guess that means you're not staying, huh?"

"Oh, Angel, I wish I could. I guess in reality it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but I couldn't do it. Gwen deserves her own mind, her own body back. You need to help her. I don't know how, but there has to be a way you can help her get everything under control."

"I will," he promised. "I'll help Gwen."

Suddenly Angel and Cordelia found themselves hugging each other tightly. An overwhelming feeling came over Angel. He didn't want her to leave, not again.

"Thanks for all your help," Angel whispered in her ear.

"Please, no need to thank me. I'm Cordelia Chase, it's what I do." There was a new tone of sadness in her voice. She didn't want to leave. "You know, this doesn't have to be the end," she said. "Say there's another disaster or emergency or something, I could get sent back here to help you out."

"So I'll see you again?"

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Angel."

They pulled apart and took one last look into each other's eyes. For some reason, staring into her eyes and actually seeing Cordelia instead of Gwen, Angel got the feeling that it really wasn't over. He'd see her again, whether it be permanent or temporary. There was still more to come of Cordelia Chase. There always would be.

"I guess I should go," Cordelia stepped back, talking to the entire office again. "My time here is up for now. I'll see you all again, I hope. Knowing you guys and all the luck that surrounds us, I'm sure another emergency will come up that demands me coming down here to help you all out. Goodbye for now, everyone. I love you guys so much." She took one last look at Angel and paused. "I love you."

Then within an instant Cordelia had left Gwen's body. It was evident by the fact that the second it happened, Gwen collapsed to the ground. She was alive, but she wasn't awake.

At the same time, a loud gasp came from Connor, and then hysteric coughing. When he stopped, he sat up, awake. He had a frightened look in his eyes.

"Connor, are you okay?" Angel rushed back over to his son, trying not to think about Cordelia being gone all over again.

"I…" He blinked and looked around the office at mostly everyone staring at him, although a few people had rushed over to Gwen to make sure she was okay. "I'm free," he stated so simply.

Angel laughed shortly. "Yeah, Connor. You're free. You're free."

"All…all those people. That-that she killed." There was worry in Connor's voice.

"It's rough, Connor. I know. Half the world is gone though, there's nothing we can do to change that. But now we can focus on it. We can do something. Everybody who died, they won't just be…forgotten souls, or something. The world can still survive everything that's happened." Angel meant it. All those deaths would never be forgotten. And Angel would save everyone else in L.A. who was still alive to show they weren't forgotten either, that everybody mattered. And in a good way, Fred would be the constant reminder that everybody needed to stick together and that nothing was more important than family and the ones you cared about.

Connor shook his head. Angel was misunderstanding. "No. The people that Illyria in me killed. Faith."

Angel couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it. All those people Illyria killed when trying to build an army, were they okay? Or were they dead? A few people ran out of the office to go find out.

When Illyria had finally been pulled out of Connor and stopped, Faith felt an immediate pain in her stomach, were she'd been stabbed, where she'd been killed by Connor/Illyria. At first, she didn't think it meant anything. But then the pain kept growing and growing and growing.

She felt down to her stomach and she felt it. Blood. A lot of it. Like she'd been stabbed all over again.

She fell to the ground, unable to move.

Some time later (Faith didn't know how long, it all seemed to blur) people came running into the office. She thought she saw Willow (she must've undone the spell), Buffy, Wes, and Fred. They noticed the wound. Buffy ran over to the guy who was in the office with Faith, who apparently was in some kind of pain too, but Faith had been too hurt to notice what was going on with him.

"The wounds are coming back," Faith heard Fred say. "However they died by Illyria, the wounds are coming back." She sounded increasingly worried.

"We can still save her," Wes rushed over to her. He took off his shirt and attempted to bundle it up and push it against her wound to stop the blood from flowing out. He didn't know if it was working, though. It might've been too late. Faith was still alive, but he had no idea for how much longer. "There has to be someone who knows medical or something in the building. Please, go check. Hurry!"

Willow knew he was talking to her. She was frozen in her stance, though. She wanted to move, hoped she could, but she couldn't. A part of her wanted to use magic to help Faith, to heal her. But…she couldn't. Not too soon after everything that just happened. Magic wasn't an option. And Faith was lying on the floor, dying.

Seeing her shock, Fred went running off to find someone to help Faith. Wesley hoped it wasn't too late.

It wasn't only happening to Faith. Everyone affected by Illyria were beginning to die again, and this time there'd be no coming back. Everyone who was planned to be a part of Illyria's army were dying with nobody there to try and save them like others were trying to save Faith.

There were only a few dozen people who were killed by Illyria. Even though they died again, some of L.A. was still alive, having never come into any contact with Illyria.

"Well, what do you think?" Kennedy asked Oz.

"Interesting."

They were downstairs, in the basement of the apartment building where the apartment was. There was a type of cage down here. It must've been for some kind of storage use, but it looked sturdy enough to hold a wolf.

Kennedy was lucky she knew it was down here. "Will it work?"

Oz shrugged. He wasn't sure if in the basement of an apartment building would be the best place for the wolf to come out.

"Well, okay," Kennedy slammed the gate door shut. "I was just trying to help. If you can't bother to tell me if it's good or not, then whatever. Find your own cage."

"Wait," he stopped her from walking away. "Sorry. It'll work. It's just, the full moon-"

"Isn't for another night, I know. I just wanted you to be prepared. I wanted…to help."

"Willow?" Oz suggested.

"Okay, yeah. So she suggested I help you. So that's what I'm doing. You could just say thank you."

"Thank you."

A few seconds of silence followed.

"I know things haven't exactly been…smooth sailing," Kennedy went on. "With half the world gone and all, well, everyone—including me—has been on edge. And I want to try to be your…friend…if you want. Because Willow cares about you, and I care about her. So, Oz, what do you stay? A fresh start?"

Oz nodded. "Yeah. I'd like that."

And the more he thought about it, the more he liked the sound of it. A fresh start. Not just for him, but for everybody.

A fresh start.

Well, this is almost over. There's going to be one more chapter to wrap everything up, and then it's over. Thank you!