"Amends"
Based on the Episodes "The Wish" Written by Marti Noxon and "Amends" Written by Joss Whedon
The following story is copyright © 2022 by Mark Moore.
In the park, a monster with a pair of green scaly legs firmly planted to the ground had Buffy pinned high against a tree by her neck. Buffy's legs were dangling and kicking. The monster made gurgling noises and low-pitched roars. The monster's face had tentacles coming off the back of his head as well as the front in place of lips. His teeth were placed vertically between the two center tentacles. His scaly green skin glistened with slime.
"Nnnrrf! Nnnrrf!" Buffy yelled out desperately.
Near a picnic table, Amy and Katrina frantically searched through their bag of demon-killing implements.
"Oh, God! Demon! Demon! What kills a demon?!" Katrina asked.
Buffy struggled with the monster's hand at her neck but couldn't get it to budge and had a hard time breathing. "Nnnrrf! Nnnrrf!"
Amy found a knife and ran with it to Buffy's aid. She tossed the knife to Buffy, who blindly grabbed it from behind out of mid-air and stabbed the monster in the chest. The monster immediately fell over, dead, taking Buffy down with it. Amy and Katrina helped her up.
"Okay. That was too close for comfort. Not that slaying is ever comfy, but...you know what I mean?" Buffy took a deep breath. "If you guys hadn't been here to help..."
Amy put a hand on Buffy's shoulder. "But we were, and we did, and - and we're all fine."
Buffy smiled and looked down at the monster. "I'll call it in in a bit."
They walked over to the picnic table. Buffy sat cross-legged on one end of the table, Katrina sat on the other, and Amy sat on the bench below and between them and grabbed a bottle of Gatorade.
"So how come Faith was a no-show? I thought mucusy demons were her favorites." Katrina munched on a fried pork skin.
"Couldn't reach her...again. She hasn't been hanging out much." Buffy reached for a fried pork skin. "I'm a little worried. Slaying's a rough gig. Too much alone time isn't healthy. Shit gets pent up." She munched on it.
"What should we do?" Katrina asked.
Buffy shrugged. "I dunno. I guess she's just spent so much time without any real friends that she's used to it. She's had a rough life."
"Well, police business aside, does this cap us off for the day?" Amy asked, munching on a fried pork skin.
"You got plans?" Buffy asked.
Amy shrugged. "I was thinking we could hit the mall. Do some Christmas shopping."
Katrina nodded. "I'm in."
Buffy shrugged. "Okay, but I can't stay too long. I'm helping Cordelia give our newest Slayerettes some field training."
Buffy drove her van down a street. Cordelia was sitting in the passenger seat. Nancy O'Brien and Nicole Bilderback, the two newest Slayerettes, were sitting in the back seat. Nancy had long brown hair, and Nicole was Asian and had long black hair.
"How long is this gonna take?" Nicole asked, bored.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Patience, Nikki."
Nancy nodded. "Yeah, you in a hurry to get killed?"
Nicole stared at Nancy.
Suddenly, they came across Harmony fighting two vampires in the middle of the street. Buffy hit the brake, and the van screeched to a stop next to Harmony. Cordelia opened her door and jumped out with a large cross in hand to ward the vampires off. They had to back away. Buffy trained the crossbow on them. Nicole opened the sliding door, and she and Nancy jumped out, Nicole with a stake held ready, Nancy with another cross.
"I've got them! Get Harmony!" Cordelia ordered.
Nicole and Nancy picked Harmony up and carried her into the van. The vampires growled angrily as they watched their prize being stolen from them. When Nicole and Nancy had Harmony safely inside, Cordelia fought one of the vampires. The other tried to attack her from behind, but Buffy fired a bolt into its back, making it fall to the pavement in pain. Cordelia staked the first vampire and then quickly turned and plunged her stake into the second vampire's heart. Cordelia hopped back into the van. They slammed the doors shut, and Buffy took off.
Harmony poked her head between the front seats and looked at Cordelia. "Thanks for saving me."
"What were you thinking, walking around alone at night?" Cordelia asked her.
"The parking lot was full, so I had to park elsewhere, and it was just a short walk to the Bronze, so I figured I was okay." Harmony paused. "Guess I wasn't, huh?"
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "You're lucky we showed up."
Nicole smiled at Harmony. "Nice bag. Prada?"
Harmony smiled. "Good call! Most people around here can't tell Prada from Payless."
Cordelia looked back at Harmony's handbag. "Hey! I got one just like that last week! Copycat."
Harmony frowned. "Am not."
"Harmony, if you had an original thought, your head would explode."
The next evening, Cordelia visited the Sunnydale shopping district. In the window of an audio/video store, a TV was tuned to KTLA, an affiliate of The WB in Los Angeles.
"It's going to be sunny and warm with temperatures continuing in the high 70s throughout the holiday weekend. Just a little warm to light the Yule log, but it should make for a very nice Christmas."
Cordelia walked past the shop window and crossed the street. Somewhere on the block was a group of carolers singing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". Cordelia passed a Santa Claus ringing a bell and collecting for the Salvation Army. A passerby dropped some coins into his pot.
"Merry Christmas!" Santa cheered.
Cordelia stopped short when she unexpectedly ran into Angel. They were both surprised and didn't say anything for a moment.
Angel broke the silence. "Hi."
"Angel..."
Another awkward silence set in for a while.
"So...are you shopping?" Cordelia realized how silly that that sounded. "You're probably not shopping."
"I couldn't sleep."
"Vampires probably not that big on Christmas, now that I think about it."
"Not as a rule."
"But you're good?" Cordelia asked him.
"I'm - I'm all right. You?"
"Yeah!" Cordelia smiled. "Yeah, I'm good." She looked down at the boxes that she was carrying. "I, um, I was just getting some Christmas gifts for the gang. Um, I'd better go before the magic store closes."
Angel was looking behind her.
Cordelia noticed Angel's distraction. "Angel?" She looked behind herself and saw nothing, then turned her concerned attention back to Angel. "What is it?"
Angel was frozen with fear.
The next day, at Sunnydale High School, the bell rang, and students began to pour out of the classrooms, into the halls. Buffy, Cordelia, and Tara walked out of one and headed over to their lockers.
"And then he just bailed. He didn't say anything. He just took off. It was so weird."
The girls all worked their locker combinations.
"Do you think something's wrong?" Tara asked Cordelia. "Maybe you should tell Mr. Giles."
They all opened their lockers and got what they needed.
"No. I don't wanna bug Giles. He's still kinda twitchy when it comes to the subject of Angel." Cordelia took off her jacket and hung it in her locker, then closed the door.
Buffy took a paper bag from her locker and then closed the door. Tara zipped up her bookbag and closed her locker as well. They all started down the hall.
Tara shrugged. "Maybe Angel just has the holiday blues. Everybody gets 'em. Especially when they're alone."
"It's just so frustrating. I'm trying to do the right thing and stay away from him and get over it, and then, boom, there he is. I just want a nice, quiet Christmas vacation."
The gang headed into the student lounge. A Christmas tree was set up there.
"So...you doing anything special?" Cordelia asked Buffy and Tara.
"Tree. Nog. Roast beast. Just us and Mom and, I hope, an excess of gifts. What are you doing for Christmas?" Buffy asked Cordelia.
"Mm. Nothing fun. Parents are attending a corporate Christmas party. I may or may not go."
They took the steps up to the couches. Harmony was sitting on one of the couches with Nicole. Buffy took her bag over to the Holiday Food Drive collection box behind the couches and started pulling cans of food out of her bag and putting them in the box. Cordelia and Tara sat on the couch opposite Harmony and Nicole. Buffy joined the group again.
"What about you Cordettes?" Cordelia asked Harmony and Nicole.
Harmony smiled. "Well, I'll be in Aspen. Skiing. With actual snow."
Buffy smiled in amusement. "I hear that helps."
"It must be a drag to be stuck here in Sweatydale, but I'll be thinking of you guys." Harmony smiled.
Buffy and her mother walked through a Christmas tree lot, trying to find the right one. Other shoppers were also selecting trees. Off to one side, the tree merchant was spraying fake snow onto a tree.
Joyce looked over one of the snowed trees. "Do you wanna get one with snow on it? Be very Christmasy."
They continued through the tree lot.
"I think those are just for display."
"Oh. You know, honey, I was thinking. Maybe we should invite Faith to spend Christmas Eve with us."
"I don't know. Faith and I don't really hang out. Or talk or make eye contact lately."
Joyce looked over another tree. "Do you really wanna let her spend Christmas Eve all by herself?"
"She has Ms. Calendar...who, I now realize, doesn't celebrate Christmas." Buffy smiled and gave in. "I'll ask her. Worst she can do is - well, the worst she can do is serious bodily harm, but she'll probably just say no."
"You're a doll."
"What about Giles? I mean...he doesn't have any fam-"
"No, I'm sure he's fine."
"We could at least ask him and see-"
"He doesn't wanna spend Christmas Eve with a bunch of girls." Joyce took a deep breath. "Let's split up." She went off to her right.
Buffy sighed and continued looking. She noticed an area where a bunch of the trees were all brown and walked over to them for a closer look.
The tree merchant came up to her. "Bunch of them up and died on us. Don't know why. If you want one, I can make you a hell of a deal."
"No, thank you."
"Oh, honey, this one's perfect!" Joyce called from a distance.
Buffy went to see what her mother had found.
Buffy walked up to Jenny's apartment and knocked on her door.
"Yeah?" Faith called.
Buffy opened the door and walked in.
"Hey, what's up?" Faith asked.
Buffy closed the door. "Hey."
Faith turned off the TV. She stood up and faced Buffy. "What's going on? Scary monsters?"
Buffy stepped further in. "No. Um, we're having Christmas Eve dinner at my house, and I thought that, um, if you didn't have plans..."
Faith smiled sharply. "Your mom sent you down, huh?"
Buffy was taken aback. "No."
"Well, thanks, but I got plans. There's this big party I've been invited to. It should be a blast." Faith smiled evasively.
Buffy was unconvinced. "Okay. Cool. But if you change your mind, the offer-"
"That's nice of you. Thanks. But I got...I got that big party that I've been invited to, so..." Faith smiled dismayingly.
Buffy stepped toward the door but looked around and noticed the Christmas lights that Faith had strung up around the room. "I like the lights."
"Yeah. Well, 'tis the season. Whatever that means."
In Giles' kitchen, he was cooking dinner and took a taste. There was a knocking at his door.
"Just a minute!" Giles went to the door, opened it, and was surprised to see Angel standing there.
For a long moment, neither of them said anything.
"Hello."
"Um...I'm sorry to bother you."
Giles found himself unable to keep from laughing bitterly. "Sorry. Coming from you, that phrase strikes me as rather funny. 'Sorry to bother me.'"
"I need your help."
"And the funny keeps on coming."
"I understand I have no right to ask for it, but there's no one else."
"All right." Giles walked back into the apartment and tossed his kitchen towel onto the counter. He headed down the hall.
"I...I can't come in unless you invite me."
Giles got a crossbow out of a closet, loaded it, and returned from the hall, raising it at the ready. "I'm aware of that." He walked back to the door. "Come in."
Slowly and not without reservation, Angel stepped into the apartment. Giles' aim did not waver.
"I've been seeing...I've...I've had dreams lately about the past. It's...It's like I'm living it again. It's - It's so vivid; I...I need to know. I need to know why I'm here."
"Here? Back on Earth?"
"I should be in a demon dimension, suffering an eternity of torture."
"I don't feel particularly inclined to argue with that."
"But I'm not. I was freed, and I don't understand why."
"Knowing why you were back would give you peace of mind?"
"It might."
Giles decided it was probably okay to put down his weapon and bent to his side to set the crossbow down. "You think that's something you ought to have? Because, sir, to be blunt, the last time you became complacent about your existence turned out rather badly."
Angel began to pant with short, rapid breaths.
Giles noticed the look of fear on his face focused behind him. "What?" He looked around his apartment.
"Don't you see her?"
"Who?"
Angel began to make his way to the door. He began to freak out. "I can't!"
He ran out of the door, into the night. Giles was left standing there, very confused.
Cordelia found herself at a dinner party in a house. The affair was very formal. The guests conversed. A woman climbed the stairs while two other guests came down. Underneath, Angelus was talking with a maid.
Margaret was nervous. "Sir, please, I should return to the party."
"Margaret, Margaret, there's no hurry."
Margaret tried to pull away. "Mistress will be wondering-"
"Shh. Mistress will be wondering how to get the good Reverend Chalmers into bed and will not notice the absence of canapé." Angelus stroked her chin. "Stay with me."
Margaret was worried. "Sir, people might talk. I'll be put out in the streets. My little boy would...I can't lose this job."
Angelus grabbed her firmly. "Then you must keep quiet."
"You're hurting me!"
"Ah! Cry out. Call for help. I'm sure Mistress will believe your behavior beyond reproach." Angelus sneered.
"Please!"
Angelus shook her. "Come, make a scene, huh? Shall I?"
"No."
"No, no. We'll be as quiet as mice."
Margaret looked down, defeated, having no choice but to give in. When she looked back up at him, his fangs were bared.
"No matter what."
Margaret was terrified. "Sir! My son!"
"Oh, he'll make a fine dessert, huh?"
She gasped as he grabbed her roughly and bit her. He drank her dry and let her body collapse to the floor. Cordelia stared at him in shock. When he looked up, he was shocked to see her.
Cordelia awakened with a startled twist of her head and stared into the darkness of her room, surprised and confused.
The next day, Cordelia went to Giles' office at the library and told him about her dream.
"You had a dream about Angel."
"I was in Angel's dream."
Giles took off his glasses. "I'm not sure that's-"
"Giles, there was shit in this dream that I couldn't possibly know about. It was Angel's past, he was dreaming it, and somehow I got sucked in."
Giles looked up at Cordelia.
"There's something wrong with him."
Giles looked down, then drew and released a measured breath. "I know. I've seen him. He wanted to know why he was back."
"Is there a way for us to find that out?"
"Uh, possibly. I-I've been looking." Giles put his glasses back on.
"Well, let me look, too."
Giles gave her an inquiring glance.
Cordelia met Giles' coldly appraising eyes with her own steady gaze. "I'm not seeing him anymore. I'm trying to put all this behind me, and I'm not gonna be able to as long as we're both doing guest spots in each other's dreams."
Giles leaned back in his chair and considered the truth of that.
"So we'll help him?" Cordelia asked.
Giles realized he had no choice. "Yes."
"Where do we start?"
Giles stood up. "Well, we start, not surprisingly, with research." He went to a small bookcase and handed her a book. Um, the Black Chronicles." He handed her another book. "And, uh, the diary of Lucious Temple, an acolyte of Acathla, expert on demons. You can skip the passages on his garden unless you're keen on growing heartier beets."
Cordelia was eventually joined by Buffy and Tara, who had stopped by the library. The three of them all sat at the center table, doing research. Giles dropped off a few more books for them to look through. Buffy eventually ordered a large supreme pizza and went outside to receive it. She returned with it and dropped it on the table. The researching continued. Cordelia eventually went up into the stacks and soon fell asleep with several books lying on the floor around her. She rolled from her side onto her back.
Cordelia was lying in her bed, and she slowly opened her eyes. Angel was sitting at her side, looking down at her, waiting for her to awaken. He reached for Cordelia's hand with his. They touched fingertips briefly before intertwining their fingers and clasping hands.
Next, Cordelia was facing Angel, sitting on his lap with her legs circling around his waist. They were kissing passionately, holding each other as closely as possible, caressing each other tenderly. Cordelia tugged at Angel's shirt, and he helped her pull it up and off, baring his chest.
Now, it was Angel's turn to slip the satin pajama top from Cordelia's shoulders. They held each other tightly as they kissed longer and more intensely.
Cordelia and Angel were lying in bed together, making gentle, passionate love. They changed positions as Angel rolled on top of her, the muscles of his back flexing under his tattoo. They caressed each other for several moments. Angel tenderly kissed Cordelia where her neck joined her shoulder, and he slid his hand up and along her outstretched arm, reaching and clasping her hand as they continued making love. Suddenly, over Angel's shoulder, Cordelia saw a figure, sightlessly observing them from where he was standing at her door. It had no eyes but instead had runes branded in the flesh where eyes should be.
There were several sudden flashes of light. Angel removed his hands from their tender clasp and then, as a thunderclap was heard, grabbed Cordelia's wrists hard, forcibly pinning her down to the bed. He rose over her and then bit her savagely on the neck.
Cordelia woke in startled shock. She walked out of the stacks and down the stairs.
"Here, Cordelia. Take a look." Giles went to the table with a pile of very old and worn sheets of paper. "These letters contain references to a-a-an ancient power known as the First."
"First what?" Cordelia asked.
"Evil. Absolute evil, older than man, than demons. It could have had the power to bring Angel back."
Cordelia picked up one of the letters with sketches of the eyeless figure. "These guys, I-I saw them in my dream. I-I fell asleep up there."
"You had another dream? With Angel?"
Cordelia nodded.
"What happened?"
"Oh, we don't need to get sidetracked. Who are these guys?"
Giles sat at the table. "Um, they're known as the, uh, as the Bringers o-o-or Harbingers. They're high priests of the First. They, uh, they can conjure spirit manifestations and set them on people, influence them, haunt them."
"These are the guys working the mojo on Angel?" Cordelia asked him. "We gotta stop them."
"Y-You can't fight the First, Cordelia. It's not a-a physical being."
"Well, I-I can fight these priest guys. If I can find them."
"Find who?" Buffy asked, returning from the restroom.
Tara was right behind her.
The next day, Buffy and Cordelia entered Willy's Bar. He was wiping down a few bottles and putting them away when he saw them.
"Hey! It's the Slayer. What brings the, uh, Slayer down here?" Willy asked, deliberately loud.
Several vampires at the bar got up and quietly left.
Buffy walked up to the bar. "Hey, Willy, how you been?"
Willy poured a drink for a customer. "Keeping out of trouble, as God is my witness." He came over to them. "So...w-what can I do for you? Couple of drinks?"
Cordelia briefly exchanged a look with Buffy and then looked at Willy. "Yeah. Let me get a double shot of, um...of information, pal."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Three priests. They call themselves the Bringers."
Cordelia shrugged. "Bringers, Harbingers. They have a 'no eyes' kinda look."
"Doesn't ring a bell."
"How about I ring that bell for you?" Cordelia asked him menacingly. She looked at Buffy hopefully. "Does the threatening come now?"
"Maybe you shouldn't help." Buffy looked at Willy. "They would've come to town recently. They'd be holed up somewhere summoning the spirit of the First."
Willy looked around the bar carefully, then leaned in toward them. "Well...I heard a few things, you know, from the underground."
"The underground?" Cordelia asked.
"Yeah, you know. From things that live under the ground. Apparently, there's been a lot of migration out of Sunnydale from the lower inhabitants. Something's scaring them off, and these are things that aren't easily scared. Could be your priest guys are underground."
"Underground where?" Buffy asked.
"I do not know."
Buffy nodded. "Okay. Thanks."
Cordelia nodded. "See you around."
They started to leave the bar.
"Hey, kids."
Buffy and Cordelia faced him.
"Merry Christmas."
Buffy just gave him a look, and then she and Cordelia left.
They stepped into the heat of the day and started down the block, toward Buffy's van.
Cordelia wiped her forehead. "Damn, is it hot. It was so nice and cool in there."
Buffy was in a bad mood. "Yeah, a nice cool waste of our fucking time."
They stopped walking.
Cordelia looked at Buffy. "We know underground. That's a start."
"Sure, in a town with fourteen-million square miles of sewer."
"Plus a lot of natural cave formations and a gateway to Hell. Yeah, this does resemble square one. I don't know what to do."
Buffy gave her a smile. "I think, right now, the best plan is to deck the halls with boughs of holly. Hell, I'm lucky that we have a tree to deck, considering a lot of the ones at the tree lot were dead. Look, we'll catch the bad guys...sooner or later."
Cordelia hesitated and then gave Buffy a small smile.
That evening, at the Summers' house, Christmas music played in the background. Buffy and Tara put the finishing touches on the tree.
Joyce placed another log on the fire. She stood up and inspected the result. "There we go."
Buffy gave her an amused smile. "Nothing like a roaring fire to keep away the blistering heat."
"Oh, come on. It's lovely. Maybe I should turn the air conditioning on."
Buffy nodded. "Maybe you should."
Joyce rolled her eyes. Buffy and Tara finished trimming the tree.
Joyce held up an angel and a star. "Angel or star on top?"
Buffy thought about it. "Uh...star. Star."
The doorbell rang. Buffy and her mom exchanged an inquiring look, wondering whom it could be. Buffy went to the door, unlocked it, and opened it.
Faith looked at Buffy uncertainly. "Hey."
Buffy smiled. "Hi!"
"Uh, looked like that whole party thing was gonna be kind of a drag." Faith dropped her eyes for an instant. "I didn't really have anything..." She paused. "You know."
"I'm glad you came."
Faith smiled. "Uh...here." She handed Buffy three gifts.
"Why don't you come in from the entire lack of cold?" Buffy offered.
"Mm."
Faith stepped in, and Buffy closed the door.
Faith pointed. "Uh, that one is for your mom, and that one's for Tara. They're pretty shitty."
"Faith, you made it." Joyce took the gifts from Buffy. "Oh, that is so thoughtful."
Faith smiled, embarrassed. "They're shitty."
"You know, I'm gonna go upstairs and get your gifts. Excuse me." Buffy walked upstairs.
Faith walked further into the living room.
Tara smiled at her. "Hi, Faith!"
Faith smiled. "Hey, T."
"Uh, would you like some nog?" Joyce asked Faith.
Faith nodded. "Uh, yeah." She paused briefly before remembering her manners. "Uh, please."
Cordelia walked down the hall and into her room. She had opted to stay at home, and now she was feeling lonely.
Once in her room, she heard her door slam behind her. She spun around to find Angel there. He looked very tired and somewhat disoriented.
"Angel."
"Huh...Cordy."
"What is it?"
Angel looked around apprehensively and cleared his throat. "I gotta...I...Look, I, uh, I had to see you, um..." He saw her bed, and it confused him. "I don't know, I...You shouldn't be..."
"Just tell me what's going on."
Angel's gaze focused on her neck. "You have to stay away from me."
Cordelia was bewildered. "You came to see me to tell me that I can't see you?"
Angel panted heavily and struggled hard with himself for control.
"Angel, something is doing this to you."
He started to move toward her.
Cordelia backed away, worried and frightened. "You just have to control it, okay? I-I know that you're confused."
"I think you're the one who's confused. I think you need to..." Angel struggled for control of his mind. He grabbed his hair with his hands in desperation.
"Angel, how can I help you?" Cordelia implored.
"Leave me alone!" Angel ran toward her window and dove out.
Cordelia was in shock over it all.
Cordelia went to Giles' apartment.
"Giles, we have to do something. Soon. Now."
"I'm still not sure what."
Cordelia was desperate. "Find me these priest guys. Find me something I can pummel."
"Let's not lose our heads."
"Giles, he's slipping."
Giles had no response to that.
"I think we're losing him."
"Look..." Giles put on his glasses. "You realize if he...truly becomes a danger, you may have to kill him. Again. Can you do that?"
Cordelia couldn't bring herself to answer.
A while later, Cordelia read aloud from a book. Behind her, Giles sat on the stairs and read to himself from another.
"'A child shall be born of man and goat and have two heads, and the First shall speak only in riddles...' No wonder you like this shit." Cordelia closed the book. "It's like reading The Sun."
Giles found something. "Yes. Ah."
Cordelia looked up at him. "Priests?"
"Um..." Giles paused. "Yes, but, uh, more - more posturing, I'm afraid. Um, 'For they are the Harbingers of Death. Nothing shall grow above or below them. No seed shall flower, neither in man nor...'" He gestured that it went on and on. "They're rebels, and they'll never, ever be any good. Nothing specific about their haunts."
"Let me see that."
Giles handed her the book.
"'...the Harbingers of Death. Nothing shall grow above or below...'" Cordelia was suddenly lost in thought.
"What?"
Cordelia kicked open the gate to the Christmas tree lot and sought out the dead trees. Once there, she studied them for a moment. Six trees that had died were arranged in a circle. All of the trees around them were fine.
Cordelia looked around for something to dig with and found a long-handled ax. She swung it at the ground, and, after a couple of hits, she broke through. A few more swings, and the hole was large enough for her to get through. She crouched down and dropped herself into it.
Cordelia dropped down into a cave. There were groups of candles burning here and there. She cautiously looked around and started to make her way deeper into the cave. She could hear chanting coming from nearby. She didn't have to go far before she found a table with the priests sitting around it.
"All right, ten more minutes of chanting, and then you guys have to go to bed."
The priests got up, and Cordelia jumped down to fight them. She swung the handle of her ax into one priest's stomach, and he went down. She swung it into another one, who doubled over. She followed up with another swing to his head, and he went down, too. The third one ran away. Cordelia used the ax to destroy the arrangement of artifacts on the table. The next thing that she knew, Oz was in the cave with her.
"Hmm. I'm impressed."
Cordelia hesitated at first, surprised to see Oz there, but quickly realized it was not really him. "You won't get Angel."
"Hmm. You think you can fight me? I'm not a demon, little girl. I am something that you can't even conceive. The First Evil. Beyond sin, beyond death. I am the thing the darkness fears. You'll never see me, but I am everywhere. Every being, every thought, every drop of hate."
Cordelia lost her patience. "All right, I get it. You're evil. Do we have to chat about it all day?"
"Angel will be dead by sunrise. Your Christmas...will be his wake."
"No."
"You have no idea what you're dealing with."
"Lemme guess. Is it...evil?" Cordelia asked sarcastically.
The apparition of Oz shrunk and was replaced for an instant by an image of a huge horned and clawed beast coming at her, roaring and with eyes glowing red. It faded as quickly as it appeared. Cordelia stared in shock at the place where it appeared.
"Dead by sunrise!" the First screamed.
Cordelia ran from the cave, terrified for Angel's life.
Cordelia ran into Angel's mansion. "Angel!"
She looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. She walked toward the doorway to the atrium and looked out. She saw the steps leading up and ran toward them. She ran up the steps and ended up at the hills behind the mansion.
Cordelia ran through the bushes, frantically looking for Angel. She climbed further up Kingman's Bluff and found him standing at the top of the cliff, looking out over a peaceful residential area of town.
"Angel."
He briefly glanced in her direction before looking back out over the rooftops. Cordelia slowly walked over to him.
"I bet half the kids down there are already awake. Lying in their beds...sneaking downstairs...waiting for day."
Cordelia was out of breath. "Angel, please. I need for you to get inside. Th-There's only a few minutes left."
"I know. I can smell the sunrise long before it comes."
"I don't have time to explain this. You just have to trust me. That thing that was haunting you-"
"It wasn't haunting me. It was showing me."
Cordelia was confused. "Showing you?"
"What I am."
"Were."
"And ever shall be. I wanted to know why I was back. Now, I do."
"You don't know. Some great evil takes credit for bringing you back, and you buy it? You just give up?"
"I can't do it again, Cordy. I can't become a killer."
"Then fight it."
"It's too hard."
Cordelia was desperate. "Angel, please, you have to get inside."
"It told me to kill you. You were in the dream. You know. It told me to lose my soul in you and become a monster again."
"I know what it told you. What does it matter?"
"Because I wanted to! Because I want you so badly! I want to take comfort in you, and I know it'll cost me my soul, and a part of me doesn't care." Angel sobbed.
Cordelia was at a loss for words.
"Look, I'm weak. I've never been anything else. It's not the demon in me that needs killing, Cordy. It's the man."
"You're weak. Everybody is. Everybody fails. Maybe this evil did bring you back, but, if it did, it's because it needs you. And that means that you can hurt it. Angel, you have the power to do real good, to make amends. But if you die now, then all that you ever were was a monster." Cordelia looked out at the sky as it began to lighten. "Angel, please, the sun is coming up!"
"Just go."
"I won't!"
"What, do you think this is simple? You think there's an easy answer? You can never understand what I've done! Now, go!"
"You are not staying here." Cordelia grabbed his arm. "I won't let you!"
"I said leave!" Angel jerked his arm free of her grasp.
In her anger and desperation, Cordelia punched him. He reacted by shoving her away from him roughly, making her fall face forward, hard, to the ground.
"Oh, my God..." Angel went to her and crouched over her, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her around to face him.
Cordelia feared his intentions. "No! No!"
Angel grabbed her roughly by the arms and held her firmly. "Am I a thing worth saving, huh?" He shook her. "Am I a righteous man?" He shook her. "The world wants me gone!"
Cordelia was in tears. "What about me? I love you so much..." She paused. "And I tried to make you go away..." She paused again. "I killed you, and it didn't help." She shoved him off her and got up. "And I hate it! I hate that it's so hard...and that you can hurt me so much." She sobbed. "I know everything that you did, because you did it to me. Oh, God! I wish that I wished you dead. I don't. I can't."
Angel got up now, too. "Cordy, please. Just this once...let me be strong."
"Strong is fighting! It's hard, and it's painful, and it's every day. It's what we have to do. And we can do it together. But if you're too much of a coward for that, then burn. If I can't convince you that you belong in this world, then I don't know what can. But do not expect me to watch. And don't expect me to mourn for you, because-"
Cordelia stopped in mid-sentence, because it had inexplicably begun to snow. She and Angel both looked up at it coming down, lightly at first and gradually heavier. Snowflakes swirled around them in the gentle morning breeze, and the ground around them started to become white. Angel looked around in amazement. Cordelia walked to the edge of the hill and looked out at the town as the roofs on the houses below also started to become white. She turned to Angel, and they looked at each other, stunned by this apparent miracle.
Cordelia and Angel walked along, hand in hand, still looking up at the snow as it came down. They entered the shopping district. The trees in the street were aglow with Christmas lights. The street and a few parked cars were covered with about two inches of snow. The street was otherwise deserted. A weatherman could be heard on the TV in the window of the audio/video store.
"And while most of Southern California is enjoying a balmy Christmas, an extreme cold front has sprung up out of nowhere around Sunnydale, where they are reporting heavy snowfall for the first time in, well, ever. Sunnydale residents shouldn't expect to see the sun at all today. That cold front isn't going anywhere. With temperatures in the high 30s, means you better bundle up if you're planning to go outside and enjoy the change in the weather."
Cordelia and Angel continued walking in silence down the street. Cordelia looked over at Angel. He looked exhausted but at peace. He noticed her gaze and smiled at her.
"Cordy!"
"Did you hear that?" Cordelia looked straight ahead. "It sounded like Buffy."
"Cordelia!"
"And Giles."
Angel looked straight ahead. Soon, Buffy, Faith, Tara, Amy, Katrina, Jenny, and Giles arrived on the street. They were bundled in heavy clothes.
"You guys!" Cordelia waved.
Her friends walked over to her.
"What's going on?" Cordelia asked in surprise.
"Thank Goddess you're okay!" Tara exclaimed.
Faith indicated Buffy with her thumb. "B tried calling you last night to see if you wanted to come over, but you didn't answer."
Cordelia was surprised and patted her jacket. "I left home in such a hurry that I forgot my cell phone."
Amy gave her a small smile. "Well, anyway, we were so worried about you. I even tried doing a locator spell."
Cordelia smiled warmly, overcome with emotion. "Awww, you guys, you were searching all night for me?!"
Buffy hesitated, a bit embarrassed. "Well, actually, we ate dinner, opened presents, watched TV, then my mom took us to Midnight Mass, and I refilled my holy water supply, then we came home, then I tried calling you again, then I called Giles-"
"And woke me up."
"Uh-huh, and then I got really worried and organized a search party."
Cordelia's smile faded somewhat. "Oh. Well, it's the thought that counts." She quickly looked to Angel for confirmation. "Right?"
"Right."
Katrina smiled. "Well, we're just glad that you're all right."
"Are you two back together?" Jenny asked, noticing Cordelia and Angel were holding hands.
Cordelia briefly looked at Angel and then back at Jenny. "Yeah. It looks like we are. Uh, we're being careful, though. No happiness here. Wow, how am I gonna explain this to my mom? She's expecting me to leave town after graduation."
"Is that what you want?" Tara asked her.
Cordelia shook her head.
Buffy smiled. "Well, we've got that New Year's Eve concert at the Bronze, right?"
Cordelia was confused. "Yeah, so?"
"So I've got a plan. But that's for later. Right now, you guys are all invited over to our house for Christmas morning reheated leftovers."
The gang started walking.
Buffy grinned. "You guys are in for a feast. I'm talking roast turkey, roast beef, roast pork, roast chicken, macaroni salad, potato salad, yams, cranberries, cheese, pierogi..."
Cordelia sighed. "There goes my diet."
Six days later, Buffy and the Slayerettes were performing at the Bronze. Harmony was recording their concert with her video camera.
"Okay, I know there's only a few minutes left until midnight, but we've got one more song before then. This is for our good friend and manager, Cordelia Chase." Buffy nodded at Cordelia.
Cordelia, standing in the center of the dance floor, nodded back at Buffy. Her mother, Charisma, was sitting at a table, watching.
Tara started playing the opening notes on her keyboard. Buffy added her guitar, Katrina added her bass guitar, and Amy added her drums. Buffy sang the lead vocals, but the others joined in occasionally:
"Welcome to your life.
There's no turning back.
Even while we sleep,
We will find you
Acting on your best behavior.
Turn your back on Mother Nature.
Everybody wants to rule the world."
The crowd parted. Angel, wearing a tuxedo, approached Cordelia.
"It's my own design.
It's my own remorse.
Help me to decide.
Help me make the
Most of freedom and of pleasure.
Nothing ever lasts forever.
Everybody wants to rule the world."
Angel offered his hand. Cordelia took it. They held each other close and danced together.
"There's a room where the light won't find you,
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down.
When they do, I'll be right behind you.
So glad we've almost made it.
So sad they had to fade it.
Everybody wants to rule the world."
Cordelia and Angel let go of each other. Cordelia took Angel's hand, and the two of them walked over to her mother.
Cordelia smiled. "Mom...this is Angel."
Charisma looked warily at Angel for a moment, but then she smiled and offered her hand. Angel shook it. Cordelia grinned.
The band finished the song. Everyone cheered and applauded.
A local radio station was put through the Bronze's sound system. As the new year approached, the entire crowd started counting down.
At midnight, everyone cheered. Couples kissed. Buffy kissed Tara. Amy kissed Katrina. Cordelia kissed Angel. Jenny kissed Giles. Faith and Harmony felt left out, since they weren't dating anyone. Faith initially paid her little regard but then gave her a second glance, which turned into an appreciative look.
"What the hell?" Faith put her hands on Harmony's cheeks and kissed her full on the lips.
Harmony was a bit surprised and was about to protest but then changed her mind.
When their lips parted, Harmony stared into Faith's eyes. "You better call me."
Faith gave her a noncommittal smile.
Tara started playing her keyboard and sang:
"Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And auld lang syne?
"For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne."
Buffy raised her arms and grinned. "Happy 1999, everybody!"