| Title: Turn Back Time Author: Kizmet Chapter 4 "Warrior, you were expected," The male oracle said as Angel and Cordelia entered their domain. "Do you not appreciate the world you created?" the female asked. "See, I told you it was your fault," Cordelia said. "How is that possible?" Angel demanded. "I didn't do anything here. I haven't even existed here for two-hundred and forty-eight years." "Precisely," the male said sharply. "It is your absence that forms this circumstance," the female clarified. "No, I don't matter," Angel insisted, "It's people like Buffy that matter." "Where is your Slayer without you?" the male asked. "It's my fault Buffy was killed?" Angel asked uncertainly. "In your former world the gift of a cross gave your Slayer a small respite in a battle she was not ready for. That reprieve turned utter defeat to a momentary falling back," the female explained. "In this world the gift was un-given, its barer having rotted long ago," the male added. "You're the PTB," Cordelia exclaimed. "Couldn't you have found someone else to give her the stupid cross?" "To what end?" the male asked. "So that Buffy would live," Angel said. "To be killed by the Three?" the female asked. "No!" Angel exclaimed. "To drown in the Master's lair?" the male asked. "That wasn't even me," Angel snarled. "I couldn't give her CPR." "Neither could have he if you hadn't led him to her," the female oracle pointed out. "Even if she doesn't die she wouldn't be the person she must be," the male declared. "The love you shared, and the pain, is part of who you both are," the female said. "Our experiences are that which make us." "Liam cannot become Angel without first being Angelus," the male oracle stated. "Angel isn't worth Angelus' existence," Angel said. "Find another warrior; someone worthy of her love." "The First was correct," the female commented. "You do tend toward self-pity." "It is not just about the Slayer," the male snapped. "For your lack the ranks of light are badly thinned." "And those of darkness reinforced," the female finished. " `Cause Willow and Xander got turned?" Cordelia asked. "But that's because of Buffy dying again," Angel argued. "In that you are correct. Certain events are linked. If the Slayer Buffy does not stand against the Harvest those two are turned. But there are others who become or remain dark without your intervention; the telekinetic, the lawyer, among others," The female said. "And those are only the past losses, the future still remains." "For now," the male said, his tone dire. "The end of days will come," the female continued. "In this time your friend's death was without purpose and his visions were irrevocably lost." "The one who found his confidence in fighting along side you, has not. He will be an unsuitable vessel when he is called on," the male said. "The Key is lost to both light and dark and in losing her darkness infects those of light who chose to take an innocent life." The female said sadly. "As you have recently learned, darkness cannot be fought by lowering yourself to its level." "But it must be opposed," the male said. "And you, Warrior of the Powers that Be, will not exist to oppose it." "As we have done before, we may swallow this time," the female said. "Allow you to choose anew," the male replied. "But what about all the people I killed?" Angel demanded. "What about my family?" "You cannot erase the evil without erasing the good," the female oracle said. Angel stared at her. "I can't standby and let it happen. You can't mean for me to do that!" "Either choice brings death," the male stated. "One choice also brings apocalypse," the female added. Angel looked ill. "I can't," he repeated. "You know the movie was a lot nicer than this," Cordelia said glaring at the oracles, furious on Angel's behalf. "Act, do not act, either is a choice," the male oracle said. And then they were back in the beginning. Angel's ax bit into the demon's back, killing it before it could harm Cordelia. A flash of magical energy burst from its body and when it cleared Angel was lying on the ground beside a cobblestone road a mile from Galway again. "Cordelia?" he asked looking over the stone fence. "Couldn't they have moved the puddle?" she muttered. Then she looked up at Angel, her eyes filled with sympathy. "What are you going to do?" she asked. "Talk to Kathy," he replied. "I'll meet you back at the Inn." ______________________________________________________________________ Angel stood at the foot of the tree beneath Kathy's window. He couldn't let the future he'd seen come into existence. According to the oracles that meant letting his human self become Angelus. "You can become someone, a person, someone to be counted," Whistler had told him. Why the PTB couldn't have found someone better to count on Angel didn't know, but they hadn't and so he had to let this happen. Even so he couldn't let this chance to make things better disappear completely. Surely it wouldn't hurt anything just to save these three, to not have killed the little sister who had trusted him without question or hesitation. He climbed the tree easily, it was practically a staircase, and tapped on the glass. Kathy opened the window then sleepily stumbled back toward her bed without comment. "Kat!" Angel called. "Kathy, wake-up." Slowly the girl returned to the window. "What did ye do to yer hair Li?" she asked peering at him in confusion. "Kathy, I need you to promise me something," Angel requested. "What?" "Promise you'll never let me into this house again," Angel demanded. "What's happenin' Liam?" Kathy asked frowning. "Please Kat. If you love me, swear you'll never invite me in to the house or even talk to me again. I need you to swear it. Please Kathy." _____________________________________________________________ Angel returned to the Inn and for three endless days he and Cordelia waited: Waited for the magic to wear off. Waited to be returned to their own time. Waited to see if their world still existed. On the third night the body of the man who tended the cemetery was found, drained of blood. Cordelia hadn't needed to ask, one look at Angel's face and she knew it had started. Less than an hour later Galway, 1753 flickered, faded and was replaced with a warehouse in LA, 2001. The body of the demon slowly collapsed between Angel and Cordelia, Angel's ax still embedded in it. Cordelia looked around, noting Wesley and Gunn standing together, teammates again. "It's good to be back," she sighed happily. "Cordelia, Angel, are you alright?" Wesley asked. At the sound of his name Angel stiffened. "She still named me," Cordelia heard him say under his breath. "I still killed her. I couldn't undo even that one act of evil." The End (c) Kizmet, "Turn Back Time, Chapters 1-4, 2002. |