AN: Hey there! This story is the 7th in the Interaction series, so yes, there's lots of character development and relationships that this story is built on, but I do try to provide the important context as we go along. They are meant to be read in order, though, so if you find yourself enjoying the world and wanting more context, go back and read the other ones first.

The basic assumed context is that Angel is living in Galway, Ireland and the year is 2223. Connor is living in an Alzheimer's unit there, and Angel has recently (like, ten years ago) taken up the mantle of Seer for the PTB again. The Champions he's Seeing for are friends of his whom he essentially helped raise from childhood (not on purpose), and they're now in their mid-20's and grappling with adulting as well as demon-slaying. Cordelia is also (still) a PTB Champion/Seer, but Next Level. She lives in a different dimension but pops by occasionally.

There is a fun cameo/Blood & Time series bit at the end, for those of you who follow my co-authored Angel/Doctor Who crossover series. No context necessary.

Chapter One

All in all, Calder thought being a young adult was pretty awesome.

Minus the job. The job sucked. It was a 9-5 office thing that Calder had thought sounded cool when he applied ("Leading corporation in the gaming industry!") but turned out to be a whole lot of data entry, basic programming, and other thankless logisticals.

But everything else was awesome. School was done, university was done. The job did give him money to afford his own apartment, which meant he could host friends and girlfriends anytime he wanted. He could stay out as late as he wanted, and often stayed out later than he wanted patrolling the streets of Galway and feeling like a badass with a wake that monsters didn't want to cross. He and William had even gone traveling a bit on their own and come to the other side of the debacle with the vengeance demon and the woman whose love they both accidentally scorned (it turned out, she was deeply upset when she'd made separate dates with each of them and gotten stood up when they were distracted by a sudden invasion of Kestler demons in the Roman catacombs). Angel would periodically get a vision for them, which he would pass along; something challenging, dangerous, and in the end a little fun, and it added just the right amount of spice to counteract the drudgery of Calder's work life.

Yes, Calder was feeling at the top of his Life game as he and William sat at a table at the Dragon's Crown, each two beers deep and laughing over something Calder had just said.

"But okay, seriously," Calder said as the laughter died. "What am I supposed to take from that?"

"That she's not actually interested in you," William repeated Calder's joke, but a little more seriously. "Cal: you've been dating nearly a year. If this was going somewhere, she would have at least talked to you at this party." They both chuckled again because the idea that Calder and his girlfriend had gone to this party and hardly interacted at all was a ridiculous sort of amusing.

"C'mon, it was her cousin's birthday," William went on. "Her family was there. If you were a boyfriend she was serious about, her grandma wouldn't have had to ask who the hell you were." William raised his eyebrows at Calder, resting his case.

Calder let that sink in through the buzz of alcohol. "...Oh," he finally said. "Damn."

William reached across and gripped Calder consolingly on the shoulder.

"Guess I'm on the market again," Calder sighed.

"You like it that way," William told him, reaching for his beer. "Not that I thought that Abby was necessarily the one for you - I mean I liked her, of course - but I think you're just as Not Interested as her. She probably picked up on it."

Calder frowned a little more deeply. Was William nicely calling him a self-saboteur? Probably. But it was also true that Calder liked the freedom of not being in a long-term relationship, so was that really sabotage?

Both Calder and William's phones rang at the same time and when they checked the rings on their fingers, they saw that Angel was calling both of them at once. They had a long-established protocol in this situation. It only needed to happen once, and that was several years ago: both of them had answered at the same time, and the resulting echo of a three-way call with two of them standing next to each other prompted Angel to tell one of them to hang up. Without consulting each other, William and Calder had both hung up, and while Calder was trying to call Angel back, Angel was trying to call William, who hung up so that Angel would be free to answer Calder, but in trying to stop his outgoing call, ended up declining Calder's. Then all three of them waited for the other to try again until it was clear that everyone was waiting, and that prompted the calling to start again. It was several minutes before they were finally connected, and the first thing Angel did was instruct William not to answer if he and Calder were together when Angel tried reaching both of them again.

It was a good system, now that it was in place.

William declined the call while Calder pulled his actual Palm device out of his pocket to answer with video, and positioned it in the middle of the table so they could both lean over and see.

"Hey," Angel said when the screen came on. He was sitting on the edge of his couch, looking half distracted by something out of view on the apothecary table. "Vision came in. Pack a bag, we're heading to London."

"London?" both Calder and William repeated. Calder added, "Cool! Tonight?"

"No, last train's gone already," Angel replied, still half focused on whatever was off-screen. "I'm getting us tickets for the high-speed train leaving at 5:15 tomorrow."

"Morning?" Calder asked incredulously.

"Evening," Angel replied. "First class has necrotempered windows, and that'll put us in London by about 7:45, when you factor in the stop at Liverpool. You guys still have up to date passports?"

Both Calder and William said that they did, and Angel nodded in satisfaction.

"What's the job?" William asked. "And any idea how long we're going to be gone? It's just not a great start if I bail on unpacking during the first few days of living with my girlfriend…"

"You can help unpack tomorrow," Calder pointed out.

William nodded. "Yeah. And make sure to buy her plenty of flowers and chocolate and maybe a diamond necklace to remind her what a good choice she made with me…"

"Shouldn't be more than a few days," Angel told him. "I'll fill you in on the details on the train, but we're going to the Watcher's Council. Better to keep time spent with them to a minimum."

Calder grinned, excitement filling him. They had heard stories about the Watcher's Council - mostly about the cool yet professional relationship Angel had with them - but the place was legendary. "Sounds good!" he said. "See you tomorrow."

Angel said a cursory, "Yup, see you," and hung up.

"How cool is that?" Calder said as he put his Palm away again. "We're going to London! Want another drink?"

William shook his head, gathering up his jacket. "I gotta go. Maybe if I get the furniture arranged tonight we can get the place looking half-liveable before I have to leave. I wish Angel had said what the vision was about. It's much sexier if I could say that we're going to save the world… What are you going to tell your work?"

Calder shrugged. "Probably just call in sick. Hey, quick question, does it count as cheating if Abby and I are basically broken up anyway?"

"Yes," William told him, straightening his jacket over his shoulders. He slid out of the booth, but picked up his beer to take one last swallow. "Why don't you just end it now? Then you can freely look for someone in London. You know, when we're not saving the world or whatever."

Calder nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess so," he agreed. In the suddenness of the trip and the potential danger that visions always invited, he'd been interested in finding someone right then, but maybe Abby would be interested in break-up sex. She might be, if the end of the relationship was as obvious as William thought. Maybe she'd be relieved and in a good mood.

Or he could postpone the breakup until after they got back and just have regular sex with her tonight; although now Calder realized how she'd been less interested lately. No, it seemed like breaking up now had the best chance of him getting laid tonight. If not Abby, then he'd be free to find someone else. He got up, too.

"See you tomorrow," William said as he set down his glass. He had a stressed look about him, like he was the one planning to break up with his girlfriend.

"Tomorrow," Calder agreed, watching William go as Calder pulled on his own jacket. "Good luck with Keiko," he called after him. William waved with grateful acknowledgement.

The whole William-moving-in-with-his-girlfriend-thing was weird, Calder decided, although he couldn't quite pin exactly why it was weird. He supposed it just had to do with priorities, but this was why Calder didn't especially like long-term relationships. It got to a certain point where he felt the expectations shift toward commitment and the future, and "Is this guy ever going to grow out of carrying around a sword like it's freaking Halloween?"

No. He wasn't. Calder didn't tell most of his girlfriends about his Champion status, and that was partly because he was never with someone long enough to matter. But he had definitely been with Abby long enough, and he still hadn't told her. He just hadn't gotten the sense that she'd be that supportive of it. Calder had asked William how he introduced Keiko to it, once. Apparently, Keiko's aunt had been killed by a vampire, so she was all for William hunting them down. Maybe that was part of Calder's problem. He just hadn't found someone already in the know.

Of course, what if Calder did find someone in the know? Someone who supported his demon-slaying lifestyle; who maybe found it kind of sexy? Could Calder see himself moving in with a girl like that?

Calder wrinkled his nose as he exited the Dragon's Crown. Someday, maybe. But that seemed like a little too much "adult" to bring into his free, badass young adult life.

All in all, William thought that being a young adult was pretty awesome.

School was done, he had a job doing something he enjoyed (personnel coordinator at a medical science lab on the cutting edge of researching cures for genetic diseases), and he was very much in love with a wonderful woman, with whom he was old enough to move in and it being a good thing rather than something his grandmother looked askance at. (Actually, William's mother had said that Maimeó definitely would look askance, but that he shouldn't worry about it because Maimeó was hopelessly old-school about such things.)

Keiko was beautiful; her soul sparkled through her eyes and she always seemed to have a smile for everyone, even at the end of a long day. She searched for meaning in the mundane, and if no meaning was to be found, she made it. She taught basic programming at "Upward Ireland," an organization that literally pulled people off the streets and gave them housing, food, medical attention, and job training. In fact, that's how they had met: after a particularly odorous and dirty mission in the sewers under Lake Atalia, William and Calder had been misidentified and briefly pulled into Upward Ireland's system, receiving excellent care for their minor demon-fighting injuries and a deliciously nourishing bowl of soup before anyone (Keiko) finally agreed to check that their IDs were valid and showed their current home addresses. They all laughed about it now and Keiko joked that they were their fastest re-entrants of all time. ("From sewers to your own bed in one night!")

William's mother loved her, but as Calder pointed out, Keiko was currently Judith's best shot at becoming a grandmother, so of course she'd love her. Still. Keiko liked Judith in return, and that was just as important to William.

Moving in with Keiko felt...exhilarating. William had only lived with a girlfriend once before, in college, and that was more of a sleep-in-each-other's-dorm-every-night kind of moving in rather than a true moving in. It had not been a good experience in the end, which was why William had waited until he was sure with Keiko before agreeing to it.

Their new place was larger than either of their old flats, having two incomes to put toward it. They even had a guest room, just in case they had out-of-town guests. (Which as of right now was no one - Keiko's dads lived in London, but, though she loved them, insisted that they would be getting their own hotel room if they ever decided to come to town. William hadn't met them yet, except through videochat, and he left that choice up to Keiko.)

It was an older flat, but well maintained and bright, and had a nice, if somewhat distant view of Lough Atalia. Pets were allowed and they'd been half-joking about getting a cat. William had been up half the night arranging all the furniture, which Keiko had appreciated the next morning and then informed him of all the placements that were wrong and had to be changed. Once the furniture was right, and after William had bestowed upon Keiko chocolates and flowers and promises to help unpack as much as humanly possible that day, William had even gotten her grudging blessing on his sudden trip to England.

So yes, William felt pretty good about his adulting status as he ripped open the box of books Angel had given him over the years in his new, freshly-arranged living room.

"Will?" Keiko called through the doorway from the kitchen, where she was unloading plates. "What do you think about plants?"

"Plants?" William called back, carefully taking as many books out at once as he could and setting them on the nearest shelf (he'd arrange them properly when he got back). "They're nice. They help us breathe."

"Exactly," Keiko replied. "I was thinking of getting us some plants to put by the balcony door."

"In case we run out of air?"

"Don't be stupid, Mr. Cole," Keiko laughed. "I'm going to get us some plants."

"Right on," William replied. He dug into the box with both hands to heave out the demon reference volume. "You should get a whole pot of Sweet William. Oh! And a maple tree for you!" Keiko's middle name, Kaede, meant maple in Japanese, which turned out to fit her deep love of maple candy.

"A maple tree inside, huh?"

"So we can breathe, obviously."

A block of packing foam hit William on the elbow. "Hey," he said, laughing, "did I ever tell you about the time Calder and I went to a fairy sex dungeon when we were teenagers? There was a whole forest inside!"

"I...didn't know you two were into that," Keiko replied diplomatically. "Pop me back that foam, I need to repack this box and leave you."

William shifted to a more comfortable position on the hard floor, pulling the box closer to himself. "It was our first mission, actually. I can't believe I haven't told you this story."

"I think you have," Keiko replied, sweeping her empty box off the counter to the floor. It looked deeply satisfying to William's inner child. "You just phrased it much differently. Probably were trying to impress me or something."

"Oh yeah, that's the story I'd choose to impress you," William rolled his eyes, but then he turned from the bookshelf to grin at her. She was facing him from where she stood unpacking glasses onto the island. She wore comfortable sweats and a t-shirt, and her hair was pulled back flippantly to keep it out of the way. She hadn't bothered with makeup except for a bit of lip gloss, and William could honestly say she'd never looked more beautiful to him. Not out loud, of course. Out loud, the most beautiful had been when he'd taken her to the ballet for their anniversary this year and she'd gone out to get her hair and makeup done and bought a new dress and shoes (the features of which William took care to remember for when it came up later).

But right now, casually in their home, William looked at Keiko and fell in love all over again.

"Don't give me that look," Keiko scolded through a smile, sticking her fingers into as many glasses as she could to carry them over to the cabinet. "I told you: we'll try out the new bed after the kitchen's organized."

So William did the logical thing and temporarily abandoned the books to help with the kitchen.

"Do we get free drinks in first class?" Calder asked, craning his neck to look for an automated drink cart in the train's aisle. He'd never traveled in such high style before.

"We've barely started moving, Cal," William told him. "At least wait until we get up to speed."

"The first drink is free," Angel replied. He was sitting in the chair across from them, swiveled around backward so he could face them. "So make it count."

"Cool," Calder nodded, settling back into his seat to wait. "Alright, so we're dying to know what the job is."

"Yeah," William agreed. "Please say it's saving the world. I told Keiko it might be saving the world. She agreed that would be an acceptable reason to miss moving week."

Calder looked over at William curiously. "What'd you tell your mum?"

"That it might be a diplomatic mission," William replied, grinning. "Safer and more grown up."

Angel half-smiled at him. "There's probably going to be a bit of both, so you can be right to both people."

Calder and William frowned at Angel. "Probably?" Calder asked. "You don't know?"

Angel waved his hand vaguely. "It's a vision," he said. "It's not like it's a detailed schedule. The vision was of the Watcher's Council. Something dark is going on there, I think in one of the subfloors. Could be something they know about, could be something they don't. It feels like a rescue, though. Someone down there is really afraid of something. And there was a strong feeling of returning home. That seemed important. And I also got a lot of flashing images of Slayers, which was kind of weird."

"Why?" Calder asked.

"Slayers don't typically live at Council headquarters," Angel replied. "They're out in the field usually, or in training up in Scotland. But I saw a lot of them in my vision."

"Were they afraid?" William asked.

"They…" Angel frowned as he thought back on what he saw. "They weren't the someone who's afraid of something in the sublevels. They didn't seem happy, but Slayers usually aren't." He half shrugged.

The train was picking up speed. Outside, the ground was moving faster and faster under them and the spring grass became a classic Irish green blur. An announcement came on the speakers saying they would reach Dublin in about half an hour.

"My father used to go to Dublin for work sometimes," Angel said thoughtfully when the announcement ended. "Took him two days to get there."

Looking out the window, William observed, "We're going a bit faster than a horse. Not that I've ever been on a horse…" He looked back at Angel. "So what's the plan? We're not...breaking into the Council, are we?"

"No," Angel replied, shaking his head and pulling himself together from his thoughts. "We'll go right in. I've got a certain amount of immunity with them and we're supposed to be keeping each other updated on, you know, world-saving stuff and whatnot. I can introduce you two officially as Champions and allies."

"Uh...Angel?" William said, raising an eyebrow. "You know we've been Champions for like, nine years, now?"

Angel waved his hand dismissively. "I'm an immortal. That's like, nine blinks of an eye. I'm very punctual."

William chuckled. "Okay…" he agreed. "So we'll just walk in, introduce ourselves, and snoop?"

"Yeah," Angel agreed. "How's that for a start?"

"Good enough for me," Calder said. He craned his neck again to look for the drink cart and spotted it at the front of the car. "Oh, good," he murmured, tapping the side of his seat so the cart would know to stop at him on its way down the aisle. He settled in again. "So where are we staying?"

Angel shrugged. "I thought we'd figure that out after the snooping part. They might offer to put us up if we successfully ingratiate ourselves to them. Which might be harder than it sounds, since they don't really like me…"

"Why not?" William asked.

"I'm a vampire that walks free and is protected under their own laws."

"Helps to date the founder, doesn't it?" Calder grinned. "Or re-founder, or whatever she did."

"Yeah," Angel agreed, chuckling. "Gave her such a headache making sure there weren't any loopholes to the whole, not-killing-me-unless-I'm-evil clause, but I really appreciate it. There've been more than one vampire-murdering zealots in charge who wanted to go after me over the years. Not that laws stop zealots, but…"

"You're still here," William nodded.

"I'm still here," Angel agreed.

They settled into a short, comfortable silence. The cart inched a little further up the aisle, and Calder asked, "So, Angel, how was dating a Slayer? Generally, I mean. I know you two had it rough."

"Generally?" Angel frowned thoughtfully. "Intense. But that could be because of the whole star-crossed thing. I don't think I'm a good objective witness if you're looking to date one yourself."

Calder grunted in the back of his throat. "I don't know," he admitted after a moment. "It just occurred to me that a Slayer already knows about vampires and demons and stuff, which would make that whole part easier."

William looked over at Calder, but it was Angel who asked, "Did you tell Abby about all this?"

"Nah," Calder shook his head. "We broke up."

Angel's expression went from sympathetic to confused, to scrutinizing, and back to confused. Calder guessed why.

"It was breakup sex," Calder told him.

Angel nodded, but with an expression of being embarrassed at having been caught. "Sorry," he said. It could have been either for the breakup or for smelling Calder's sex life, but Calder suspected it was for both. And since neither particularly bothered him and neither were Angel's fault, Calder shrugged it off.

"It's fine," Calder said. "Will pointed out that it was past time, so…"

"Still," Angel said.

"Thanks," Calder nodded. "So Slayers are intense, huh?"

"Yeah," Angel said. "I mean, I'm one to talk…"

William laughed as he turned to look back out the window. "I know I'd much rather date a Slayer than a vampire."

Angel pointed to William. "Exactly. I think it would be difficult if you're looking for something long-term. To say nothing of the traditionally short-term nature of Slayers' actual lives and not just dating lives."

"I don't know that I really want long-term," Calder replied. "I mean, how much can I long-term plan, really?"

Angel nodded toward William. "Will is," he pointed out.

"They're not really planning, though," Calder said before William could respond. "They're taking each next logical step. Right?" He glanced at William, who looked a bit put on the spot.

"Well- I mean, there's not no planning," William said. "But just because something's not on the table yet doesn't mean you don't think about it or work toward it. Step by step, like you said."

Calder stared at William for a minute. "You going to ask her to marry you?"

William's cheeks flushed a little and he shrugged. "If living together goes well, why wouldn't I?"

Calder thought about that a minute and shrugged. "I guess you would," he agreed. "So long as she's okay with...all of this." He gestured to their small group and the train they were sitting in that was whisking them off to London. "And our statistically shorter life expectancy. Hey Angel, there isn't any sort of retirement package we get if we make it to when our arthritis starts up, is there?"

"I'll check with Cordy," Angel replied, a smile pulling at his mouth. "I'm sure she's lobbied for something like that."

Calder grinned at him. "So speaking of relationships, how's that going?"

Angel gave half a shrug that Calder was sure was supposed to be nonchalant. "It's not a relationship, you know that."

"Yeah, but you still see her and still have a thing for her," Calder said. "How long has it been since she's come to town? I don't have vampire sex-smelling abilities, so I can't tell."

Angel glared at Calder, but the drink cart finally arrived, so Calder got to focus on placing his order instead. Angel and William also placed theirs, and the cart moved away to finish taking the orders of the rest of the car.

"It's been nearly a year," Angel replied after the cart was gone, like it might overhear. "Ten months, maybe."

If Calder knew Angel, he probably knew exactly how many months, how many weeks, and probably how many days it had been. Angel was just kind of obsessive like that sometimes.

"Wow," Calder said. "So we're expecting her again soon?"

Angel shrugged again. "So far, she's stopped by anywhere between three months and three years, so…"

Calder let out a whistle. He hadn't realized it was that variable. "That's rough, man."

"It would be," Angel agreed, "if this were a long distance relationship. Which is why it's not. We're free to see other people."

"Do you, though?" Calder asked.

"Yes," Angel replied a little too quickly. "When I want to," he added.

"And when was the last time you wanted to?" Calder asked.

Angel shifted in his seat. "Look, I might look like I'm 25, but I'm not 25 anymore. I can go more than a few months without sex, okay?"

"Sure, fine," Calder held up his hand in surrender. "That's not all I was asking about, though."

Angel watched Calder for a long moment and then finally shrugged again. "You know the situation, Calder," he said. "I love her, but I can't be with her. Kind of puts a serious damper on my wanting of anyone else."

Calder nodded slowly, his heart panging for Angel. He'd never been in love himself, but he could imagine that would be a horrible position to be in. "Sorry," he said softly.

Angel nodded in acknowledgement and silence fell for a moment. Then Angel asked William how unpacking was going and the conversation started up again, punctuated by the arrival of their drinks.