Disclaimer: BtVS and Angel are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and The WB and UPN respectively. I own nothing and make nothing from it. Please don't sue because I've only got debts, which you're welcome to.

Onto the story:-

Author: Correl Solo

Happy Beginnings

Cordelia

Slowly, the bright light around Cordelia faded, or maybe her eyes had faded. She realized with a start that being a higher being meant that her corporeal body was kind of obsolete. She now existed on a higher plane, beyond that of the physical. She felt her senses spread and grow, she could see so far though she had no eyes, she could taste so much though she had no mouth. The sensations overwhelmed her, not just the usual five; she could feel the hearts, souls and minds of every being on earth. She figured she could probably see further than earth, but she wasn't ready to look yet.

'Just let it all settle down' she heard Skip say next to her. 'It hits you pretty hard at first, but once you get used to it it's just more background noise'

Cordelia felt herself being pulled in a thousand different directions. She could feel so much; love, hate, loneliness, friendship, anger, gratitude, and all the emotions in between. It was as if the feelings of the whole planet were being poured into her, and then trying to get out.

At length, the feelings started to lessen, and Cordelia felt the boundaries between herself and the worlds' emotions come back into place. 'Whew!!' Not the most articulate thing to say, but… 'That was a reality changer. How come you didn't warn about …it?!' She exclaimed, annoyed.

'Do you think any description could do that justice?' Skip asked. 'Well, no' she replied, 'but still, you could have said something. Given me a warning maybe. Y'know “The whole worlds about to invade your head, hang on for the ride” would have been better than “Surprise, deal with it.” If I wasn't used to people invading my head from those visions, my mind would be a mess on the floor right now!'

'Cordelia, if you hadn't had those visions you wouldn't have been able to ascend to become a higher being.'

'Right' said Cordelia. She wasn't sure how she said it, as she didn't have a mouth anymore. None the less, she and Skip were definitely having a conversation. She decided not to worry about it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

'So what next? Do the powers have some dangerous new mission to send me on? Or am I about to get fitted for my wings and offered a harp?'

'Cordelia, you're not dead. You're a higher being now. You still work for the Powers That Be, but it's more of a freelance role. You can see into the hearts, souls and minds of most beings now – '

'Most! Most! Why most, why not all?!'

Skip looked at her, exasperated. 'Cordelia, you want to play 20 questions, or should I finish explaining this to you?'

'Sorry' she said ironically.

Skip paused, letting the tension build. Cordelia rolled her metaphysical eyes and sighed, looking more bored than tense. Kip gave up on the tension building and continued. 'As I said, you can see into the hearts, minds and souls of most beings. You can see their intentions and desires, and aid or destroy them with the help of champions, like Angel, and until very recently, you. You'll be given some guidance early on, but basically you get to pick your own projects, and work them as you see fit'

'Wow. That's a lot of responsibility' Cordelia murmured, daunted by the new powers being handed to her.

'We know' Skip smiled, 'that's why the Powers chose you. They could see into your heart, saw the strength of your will to do good. The demon you were given and the powers that came with it were a test, make no mistake about it. They were a test which you passed with flying colours. You have seen and done and experienced too much to continue as a physical warrior for the light. You will carry on the fight, just on a different level'

'But what about the others!' Cordelia cried. 'Angel, Gunn, even Wes…. And what about Buffy or Willow or Xander?' They've all fought just as long and hard as I have, if not longer. Why weren't any of them chosen?'

'Very few people are even considered by the Powers for this kind of ascension' Skip tried to explain to a dazed Cordelia 'of those considered, even less are tested, and not all of them pass the test. Your friends, well, some of them have to find redemption in this form before they can move to the next. As for the slayer, it is her destiny to fight the physical fight, not this one. Others are on the right path, but not there yet. You have to realize that the visions, fighting to keep them, even giving up your dream life for them and accepting the demon into you put you way ahead on points in the whole suffering for the good of others stakes.' He paused, 'One of them was tested though. She failed. We were hoping you would make helping her, helping all your corporeal friends, your first project.'

Cordelia stared at him not understanding what she had just heard. She knew she was beautiful and smart and sure, she had survived some crappy times, but all the time she had spent at Sunnydale High School, working out how to be the most popular and Queen Bitch over everyone. She figured she was slap bang in the middle of the whole good or evil 'ometer. She told Angel where to go and who to help, but she had only joined in the actual fighting recently. Plus, her parents, those people who were really supposed to know you, hadn't given a crap about how smart she was or how nice she was. They only noticed that she looked good. Didn't that say it all really? But then, this was the Power's That Be. Maybe they knew something she didn't.

Then again, maybe not.

Looking around, Cordelia realized that their essences had somehow molded themselves into shining images of their physical forms. Skip was still spiky, although more silver than grey now, and she could see what looked like her own body except it glowed a pale gold colour. She decided she must look like the astral image she had seen of herself in the mirror of her apartment earlier that evening. Had it really been only a few hours ago? She wasn't sure. She wasn't sure how time worked up here.

Suddenly, Cordelia latched onto something Skip had said 'One of them failed?' 'One of the original Scooby Gang failed!?' She didn't think it was possible! 'Which one?'

'You tell me' Skip replied. Cordelia harrumphed, annoyed. She wouldn't have asked if she already knew would she! Skip tilted his head benevolently 'Stretch out your feeling'

'You're not Obi'Wan you know' Cordelia scowled at him.

Skip looked momentarily nonplussed, and then decided on another angle of attack. 'All the emotions you were feeling before, they've quieted now haven't they?' Cordelia nodded her agreement. 'You have to learn to listen to it without letting it overwhelm you. In time you will learn to separate individual's emotions without even thinking about it. Now, you will probably find it easier to concentrate on your friends, the people you know. Then you should be able to single them out as individuals.' As Cordelia opened her mouth to ask more questions, Skip murmured, 'I suggest you try Sunnydale first. It's the easiest place to find, and it's where you are most needed'

Cordelia looked at him, not understanding what he meant at first. He nodded encouragingly. Slowly she started to concentrate on her new senses, directing them towards the earth. The darkness pouring out of the Hellmouth stood out like a beacon to her. It wasn't the only dark place, but whilst all the others were shades of grey, Sunnydale was obsidian. It seemed to be trying to suck the light out of everything.

She glanced back at Skip, concerned. Whilst she was looking into the darkness, the darkness seemed to be looking back. It was not a sensation she enjoyed. Skip nodded again, 'Look further, find those who need you'

'Okay' Cordelia concentrated again. It was easier this time, now she knew where to look. The darkness seemed to know where to look too though. The feeling of malevolence brushing against her essence was chilling. Still, she was Cordelia. Something nasty trying to get in her way had never stopped her before. She brushed past the darkness and continued her search. The feelings radiating around her were becoming easier to distinguish: human, demon, happy, sad. She started to sense different individuals. The stronger the emotions, the easier it was to find a person. She could feel one above all others, the cocktail of emotions being given off screamed at her newly developed senses. She could feel guilt, despair, anger, grief, confusion, rage and sorrow, all pouring forth from one soul.

Before she realized what she was doing, her essence had traveled back across the great divide and was reforming on a cliff top, beside the person she had sensed.

*****

Willow knelt in Xander's arms sobbing uncontrollably for what had happened, and what she had done. Her emotions surpassed anything she had ever felt before. There were no words for the despair she was feeling. How could she have done all the things she had done? She'd attacked Buffy and Giles. She didn't even know if Giles was still alive. She had threatened to turn Dawn back into The Key. Her mind shied away from thinking about what she had done to Warren, she couldn't face that yet, and underscoring it all was the well of grief for Tara, her lost love. They had just got back together and everything was working out. It wasn't fair that she had been taken from her now. Tara had done nothing to deserve it. Far more fitting, to Willows way of thinking, would have been for her to be the one shot through the heart, to die from a bullet meant for someone else. Tara had never fallen into dark magicks, never risked her friends lives because she got out of control. Maybe that was why Tara was the one taken. Losing her was Willows punishment, whilst Tara was allowed into heaven. No matter how much Willow wanted her back, and knowing that she had the power, Willow knew she would never see Tara again. She wouldn't pull Tara out of heaven like she had Buffy, and after the rampage she had just been on she wouldn't be joining her there later.

Holding Willow in his arms, fearing that her bones would shatter from the sobs wracking her body, Xander felt helpless. When he had been fighting the darkness within Willow, telling her how much he loved her and really hoping she wouldn't end the world, he had had, kind of, a plan. Now he knew there was nothing he could do to make her feel better. No way to ease the pain she was feeling now and no way to smooth the difficult path ahead. So he held his best friend tight, and allowed her to sob her heart out to him.

Looking around, Xander noticed that the air seemed to be getting brighter. In front of him a glow had appeared, and it was growing, getting bigger and bigger until it was about the size of a person. Features started to become more defined through the glow, which was no longer quite so bright. He could make out that it was a female figure, a young woman, but the face lacked detail.

His grip on Willow tightened whilst the thing was appearing in front of him. At length she managed to bring her head up and wipe her eyes, to see what was making Xander's heart pound. Together, they stared as the face of the apparition became clear.

'Cordelia?!' They gaped together. For a second Willow's miseries were forgotten as she stared at the image before her.

'Great' the images snapped 'I ascend to a higher state of being, and I still find you two together.' Total shock radiated out from their minds to Cordelia. Up to me to get the conversational ball rolling then she mused. 'You know all about the vision thing, right?' Willow nodded. Xander was still looking at Willow, waiting for her to lose it again, so Cordelia decided a little bit of a recap was in order 'I got the visions from Doyle. He was Angel's original link to the PTB. When he died, he kissed me and passed the visions to me.' Willow looked at her questioningly, hearing the residue of pain in Cordelia's voice when she mentioned Doyles' death. 'Whole 'nother story.' She waved it away. 'Anyway, Doyle gave the visions to me, and I became Angel's link to the Powers. Problem was, the visions were never meant to be carried by a human. Doyle was half demon and they were awful for him. As a human, they were killing me. Literally. They were turning my brain to mush, and would have pretty soon blown the back out of my skull. I had a vision that was so powerful it knocked me out, and I went all astralley. The PTB gave me a choice, I could keep the visions, and die, or I could forget all this and live my dream life. Surprise, surprise, I picked my dream life. It was great, I was a star, I had my own sitcom and everything. Thing was, I knew there was something more important I should be doing. I didn't remember what at first…. I went back to Skip, the messenger the Powers had sent to me, and told him I wanted my old life back. Even if the visions killed me, what I was doing was more important than one life, even if that life was mine. Skip told me there was a way round it. I could become half demon. It wouldn't make me evil, the Powers would see to that, but it would cause some changes in me, and I'd be able to still have my visions without getting dead. Of course, it couldn't be that simple, it hurt like a bitch, but after all I've suffered with the visions, I handled it.'

'Wait a minute' something she had said penetrated the fog surrounding Xander's brain 'you're part demon now?'

'No. I was part demon, now I'm a higher being.'

Willow smiled. It was a watery, week version of her normal smile, but it was real. Xander stared. He hadn't been sure he would ever see Willow smile again, and of all people, Cordelia was the one bringing it out.

'Congratulations' Willow murmured. Then she sighed. 'It's all part of the balance. Have you come to punish me?'

'Balance? Punish!? Will, what are talking about? Cordelia doesn't get to punish anyone, unless it's Faith in my fantasies, and I'll shut up now cause she's glowing brighter.'

Cordelia glared at Xander. 'Willow, I'm not here to punish you, I'm here to help.'

'But I deserve to be punished. I need to be punished. The universe has to balance. There has to be balance. Actions have consequences, every time you use magick there are consequences. If you use as much dark magick as I did, there are major consequences. I hurt Giles and Buffy and Warren, oh God Warren….'

Cordelia and Xander stared at each other helplessly as Willow began to sob again. Cordelia stepped forwards and wrapped her arms' around Willow, drawing some of the pain and anguish away, and leaving comfort in its place. She looked back at Xander, 'we need to get away from here, back to the magick shop' she decided.

'Agreed' Said Xander 'but err ….. Don't take this the wrong way, okay? You are kind of conspicuous, even by Sunnydale standards.'

Cordelia glanced down at herself, glowing even brighter as she tried to comfort Willow. 'You're right…'

'You can transport all three of you, just like Star Trek.' Skip appeared next to her 'First you've got to get rid of that though.' He pointed to the alter Willow had created.

'Right. Couldn't have gone for something quiet and discrete could you? How the Hell am I meant to get rid of that?' Cordelia glared at Skip

'Cordy, erm, who ya talkin too?' Xander asked, looking around.

'Him! Skip! the big silver spiky guy standing next to me?… You can't see him can you?' She leaned round Willow to look at Skip 'they can't see you. Why can't they see you?!'

'This is Sunnydale. Come on kid, looking like this, the Slayer'd try and kill me or someone would try and get me to kill her. No sirree thank you Bob. I'll just stay invisible to everyone but you if that's okay.'

'Great. So I get to look crazy talking to the invisible man. Thanks a lot Skip.'

'You already glow in the dark, and the light for that matter. People already know that you're weird.'

'You're a great help, really. Now tell me how to get rid of this thing,' she gestured at the alter 'and feel free to leave any time.' She turned to Xander 'Skip's my invisible friend. I glow and I have an invisible friend, okay?!'

'That's fine Cordy, whatever you say, I don't have a problem with.' Xander backed away slowly as he spoke, hands open in front of him. He wasn't sure what Cordelia had become, and decided he'd hold off on pissing her off until he knew exactly how powerful she had become.

'Just imagine it gone.' Skip advised

Cordelia cast a withering glance at him over her shoulder. Still holding Willow in her arms, whose wracking sobs had quietened to silent tears, she concentrated on the alter. As Xander and Skip looked on, it seemed to fade from view, before disappearing completely. Some of the mud and stones that had been displaced when the alter rose skittered into the hole left behind. That whole was the only physical reminder of Willow's recent attempt to end the world.

'Nice job.' Said Skip, before disappearing.

Cordelia smiled, pleased with her work, and the leant back slightly from Willow 'are you ready to go to the Magic Box? I have to go check on Giles'

Willow looked scared, but nodded. 'Let's go'

Cordelia reached out and took Xander's hand, and together the three of them disappeared.

*****

Anya and Giles ducked under the fallen beams from the ceiling of the Magic Box, a legacy of Giles and Buffys' battles with Willow. As they reached the door, Anya's demonic senses jumped to a state of high alert. She glanced back over her shoulder, still supporting Giles, ready to push him through the door should it become necessary.

She could sense a higher being.

Higher beings could be fairly capricious in their temperament, and Anya had to admit, a vengeance demon dragging a beaten up, magickally drained man out of a beaten up shop did not make for a good first impression. 'Here we go.' She muttered, as she watched the light grow and coalesce in front of her. She ran through scenarios in her mind, trying to figure a way for this not to end badly for her or Giles. She could teleport out of there, but that would mean leaving Giles, who needed to get to a hospital fast. Anyway, the HB would probably follow her, so running would only delay the inevitable. Better to face it now and hope she could explain fast enough not to have to face any of the dire fates running through her head.

Cordelia blinked as the world reformed around her. She hadn't been in the Magic Box since Giles had taken it over, but she suspected this wasn't how it normally looked.

She saw Giles and what looked like a blonde, but felt like a demon, standing in the doorway. The strongest emotion coming from the demon was concern, mainly for Giles. She wasn't a threat, although what she was had yet to be decided. Being an ex-half-demon herself, Cordelia wasn't jumping to any conclusions.

She felt Willow let go of her hand and step away from her, heard her gasp and felt the wave of dismay that rolled through her at the wreck the shop had become. This used to be a place Willow had loved to spend time. Now it was destroyed, and even worse, she was the destroyer. 'Don't worry' Cordelia told her. 'This is not a problem. How many times did we rebuild the library after Hell came through the floor? Coupla days, you won't know the difference! In fact….' I wonder if I can. 'Picture it the way it was' She said. All four of them heard her and couldn't help but obey. It wasn't that Cordelia could compel them to do stuff against there will, they were all looking around anyway, and the memories of what the shop used to look like were easy to find. Locking all the different images together in her mind she closed her eyes. She had a feeling she was glowing again.

From Willow and Xander, she sensed mild surprise. They had seen her in action before, and knew she could pull off some pretty spectacular stuff. Giles and the demon, who seemed to know who she was, were in shock. To say they were gob smacked, flabbergasted, amazed and totally awed, all at once, would have been an understatement.

She opened her eyes and looked around. 'Much better.' The shop was back to how it used to be. Even the Black Arts books were back in the restricted section. 'Don't you wish I could have done that when we were in High School?' She asked irreverently. 'You can come in. I'm not going to hurt you.' She added, as the demon girl still felt a little uneasy.

'I need to get Giles to a hospital. He's not as bad as he was, but he's still really, really damaged. Unless you can fix him like you did the shop we have to go now.' How the hell Cordelia had become a higher being, Anya didn't know. When she had been called by her, to exact revenge against Xander, Cordelia had been your average high school Queen Bitch. Obviously a lot had changed.

For the first time since she had arrived in front of Xander and Willow, Cordelia looked nervous. 'Right. Shouldn't be too hard. I healed Conner didn't I? I can do this.' All of this she muttered to herself as she slowly walked towards Giles, rubbing her hands together as she came.

Giles, who had had one arm around Anya and the other propped against the doorframe, straightened painfully. Anya kept her arm around his waist, just in case.

Finally paying attention to the demon, Cordelia felt a jolt of recognition 'Anya? I thought you were human now, and you and Xander are getting married!?'

'Can we fix Giles now and catch up on the gossip later?' Xander called. Cordelia sensed some agitation from him, as well as a whole world of regret, but, she decided he was right. Fix Giles first, everything else could wait. Taking both of his hands in hers, she pictured Giles as he was when he was healthy. This was harder then she had anticipated, as examples of Giles's talent for getting knocked out kept leaping to mind. Eventually she opened her eyes, and before her stood Giles, all fixed. He smiled at her

'Thank you Cordelia. It seems a lot has happened to you since you moved to Los Angeles.' As he wrapped his arms round her, Cordelia felt pride and warmth and gratitude pouring out of him. She hugged him back, and held on for what felt like an age. She may not have seen him in three years, but the fatherly affection he felt for her was very real. She wondered for a moment if her own father had ever felt like that about her. If he had, she reflected, she had never known about it. She wondered if it would have made a difference in her life if he had.

She leant back so she could look at him and smiled, although tears were threatening. 'You're way too important for us to let you go yet.' She hugged him again, and then stepped back.

An awkward silence descended on the group. All immediate threats had been dealt with, no one was sure what the next was. Cordelia almost wished she hadn't rebuilt the shop. At least it would have given them something to do. Thankfully, whether human or demon, Anya was still about as tactful as a nuclear missile. 'So what happened? As an HB, couldn't you have stopped Willows' whole psycho murderer trip? What?' she demanded, taking in the pained looks around her. 'It's not as if you weren't all thinking it! As usual, I'm the only one with the guts to say it.'

'It only just happened. Geez, pressure much? Besides, I get the feeling there's some stuff I don't get to interfere with. If I could actually fix things before they went wrong, that would make life way to easy, and people wouldn't get to fight and suffer and all and then there'd be no heroes, and then what would we do?'

'Indeed' said Giles, drawing his glasses out of his pocket and beginning to polish them. 'It does rather beg the question of why are you here, though.' He smiled gently has he placed his glasses on his nose. 'It's not that we don't appreciate what you've done Cordelia. You've saved us a lot of time and money, and in my case pain, but fixing the shop, fixing me, transporting Willow and Xander here, all could have been done with out the use of your powers. No, I think there is a greater purpose behind your being here.'

'Have you already started on that whole cryptic HB thing?' Anya took a step towards Cordelia. 'Do you really know why you're here, and aren't ready to tell us yet? Cause you know, none of this wasn't our fault. It was Willow who went nuts, the rest of us were trying to stop her and should in no way have to make up for what she did. Not that people don't sometimes make mistakes, and shouldn't be forgiven for them. Just, don't blame their friends, even when their friends have made mistakes too….'

'An.' Xander interrupted Anyas' increasingly frantic sounding rant 'Cordelia's not here to punish Will. We already talked about it.' He turned to look at Cordelia 'But why are you here Cordy?'

'I don't know' the other's looked at her, disbelieving. 'Really. I don't. Skip just told me I was needed here, so I thought about here, and then I was here. The only thing I know is I have to do is help Willow. Well, help all of you, but mainly Willow. She's the most in need of help right now. That's it.'

'Skip?' Anya asked

'Yeah. Her invisible friend.' Xander answered wearily. It wasn't that he didn't believe that Skip existed. He'd lived on the Hellmouth all his life. As long as it was a friendly invisible friend, he was happy. He was also tired. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept. He knew it was before Willow killed Warren, before Warren shot Buffy and Tara, before he and Buffy had made up. He hadn't slept the night before that either. Guilt over how he had treated Buffy and Anya mixed uncomfortably in his head with anger at the both, and hatred of Spike. God, he didn't know when he'd last had a proper rest, but he needed one now.

A fearsome looking grey spiky guy appeared suddenly. He appeared in the same way Cordelia did, only much quicker. Xander took a deep breath and stepped in front of Willow. At least if this thing killed him, he'd get some sleep. From what Buffy said, heaven was a pretty cool place anyway.

'Skip?!'

'Anyanka?!' They both stared at each other 'Oh, you're the ex-demon who hooked up with the Slayer and her crew. I heard about that. Never would've guessed it was you though. Gotta tell ya' Anyanka, you're not looking too ex at the moment.'

'Long story involving men being evil and me being right about vengeance. D'hoffran offered me my powers back, and I accepted, but then Willow went all nuts and I couldn't just leave. So here I am, vengeance demon helping guard the Hellmouth. It's different.' Anya shrugged, looking around herself. 'What about you? You're working for the Powers now?'

'Yup. Have been for…oh…four, maybe five hundred years now.' Skip nodded earnestly. 'The hours suck but the benefits are cool.'

'Excuse me? Could we have this happy reunion some other time? If it's not too inconvenient, I'd really like to know why I'm here? Y'know, what my mission is?'

'Sorry, it's just been a while since we've seen each other. We used to have some times I can tell you…. But I won't. So you want to know why you're here. Short answer is, we don't know.'

'Wha-'

'The Powers know you are meant to be here now. There're a few other things you have to do, and then you all need to be here when it starts.'

'Do you think you could vague that up a bit for me? Cause you know, I might actually get a clue about what I'm meant to be doing some time in the next millennium if you keep things that clear.'

'Sorry. One of the things you'll find out about being a Higher Being is that you don't find more answers, just more questions. Okay. For now, you need to sort out the Slayer and her sister, who're gonna walk through that door in about five minutes. After everything's as smooth as you can make it here, you're gonna go and get Angel, the rest of that group and a few add ons. You all come back here, and it's talking time. After that, whatever's gonna happen, starts. Can't tell you much more I'm afraid. It's all misted after that.'

'Okay, so we know where we're up to at the moment. We'll deal with Buffy and Dawn when they get here. Giles, you heard of any immanent Big Bads?'

'Not that I can recall, no.'

'Okay you guys start on the research, I'll –'

'Cordelia, we're all exhausted.' Xander held up a hand to stop her from interrupting. 'None of us have slept in days. We won't be any good at researching now, because the minute we sit down we're all gonna fall asleep.'

'That's okay' Skip intervened, 'we've got a few days before anything starts to happen.' He turned to Cordelia 'right now everyone needs to relax and recuperate. Start dealing with things so they're not going to fall apart when the next fight comes. Everyone needs some down time.'

'Okay. I get that. Do I need to sleep anymore? I mean, I know it's not really relevant to the now, but do I still get to eat? Because missing out on chocolate fudge sundaes and cappuccinos would be a real down side to being a Higher Being.'

Skip titled his head, amazed by the switch from save the world seriousness to total irreverence. 'As long as you're solid you can eat and taste, you can sleep and get your haircut and go shopping if you want. It's up to you. You don't need to do any of these things, but that doesn't mean you can't.'

'Cool. Because if you'd told me I had to miss out on all those things, there'd be some serious reconsidering going on here mister.'

The bell over the door jangled, announcing the entrance of Buffy and Dawn. They both froze in the doorway 'What happened?!' Buffy gasped, staring around. When she had left the shop, chasing after Willows' fireball, it had been in ruins, as had Giles. Now it was back to normal, and Giles was showing no ill effects. Reaching back, Buffy grabbed Dawns' hand, but managed to resist the impulse to shove her sister behind her. After the way she had fought when they'd been stuck in the crypt, Buffy doubted she would ever have to protect her sister again. Still, old habits died hard.

Her gazed paused on Willow, who stood nervously beside Xander, staring at the ground and twisting the hem of her shirt between her fingers. Next was Xander, a little bloodied and battered, but not looking too bad considering he'd just saved the world. Giles looked fine, the cuts on his face completely gone. He squared his shoulders, and smiled at her. Walking over to her, he wrapped an arm each around Buffy and Dawn. 'I'm so glad to see you both. Cordelia told us you were on your way, but I needed to see you both for myself.'

Buffy reached up and ran her hand tentatively down his face 'You're really okay?'

'I'm really okay.'

'How? Not that I'm not really, really happy that you're okay, but how?' Buffy hugged him back, careful not to hang on too tight, but enjoying the solid feeling of the man she loved as her father in her arms.

'Cordelia.' Giles answered simply, and gestured to the corner by the counter.

Buffy and Dawn's eyes followed the gesture. At first they couldn't see anything, but then, slowly, a glow appeared, and resolved itself into Cordelia.

'Hi.'

'Cordelia!? What happened to you? What are you?'

'Are ya' dead?' Dawn interrupted

'Of course she's not dead. When I was dead did I come back and glow at you, and fix broken buildings?'

'I kind of ascended, not like the Mayor,' she added hurriedly, as Buffy's look turned suspicious 'It was the Power's idea, not mine!! Anyway, for my first mission I get to help you lot sort yourselves out, and then fight the next apocolypsey Big Bad with you.'

Buffy stared at her, incredulously 'You ascended? You're a Higher Being?'

Cordelia stared back, waiting for the sarcastic quip she was sure was on its way.

'Congratulations. Angel told me about the visions. I'm…. congratulations.' Buffy looked away, unsure of how to continue. She'd wanted to tell Cordelia that she was proud of her, how pleased she was that one of the Sunnydale gang had done so well, when she and the original Slayerettes were so screwed up, but she was scared it would sound patronizing, like she knew so much about being a Higher Being.

'Thanks. It's nice to know I can impress you, I never thought I would. And don't worry, we'll get you guys unscrewed pretty quick.'

'How did you know….?'

'Mind reading.'

'Huh?'

'It's one of the pluses of being an HB. I can read minds and intentions and all that stuff. I wasn't trying to listen in then, you were looking me in the eye and I just heard it all. Sorry.' Cordelia shrugged. Her new powers were part of her. The Scooby Gang would just have to learn to deal with it.

'No problem. Had a little experience with mind reading myself. You can turn it off though, right?' Buffy looked concerned, remembering her own brush with insanity in from that particular talent.

'I can turn it down, so I don't really hear it, but if something big happens, it punches through. Don't worry. I'm not going to go nuts. My mind's…. different from your now.' Cordelia smiled at Dawn 'hey Dawnie, how ya doing? Wow.'

'Wow? Wow what? What do you know Cordelia? What's going on?' Buffy grabbed Cordelia's arm, immediately worried by her sudden interest in Dawn.

'Easy protecto girl. Just saw something in Dawnie I wasn't expecting.'

Buffy relaxed fractionally, but still looked a little uneasy, as did Dawn. 'Look, Dawn was The Key, WAS. Now she's my sister and that's it. The monks made her from my blood, made all of our memories, but she's still my sister. As far as we're concerned she always was, and she always will be.'

'The Key?' A new memory appeared in her mind, probably information sent by the Powers she guessed. 'Ah, The Key. Well maybe she was The Key, but not anymore. That fact that she was made from you explains a lot though.'

'Huh?'

'What?'

'What are you talking about Cordelia?' Everyone started asking questions at once.

Cordelia took a step back, holding up her hands 'Hello, motor mouths? If you'd all shut up I might be able to finish a sentence here.'

For some reason this remnant of Queen C seemed to calm them all. This was still Cordelia, she wasn't a threat, well, not in the Big Bad sense of the word.

'Everyone finished? Good. Buffy, you and Dawn just had a battle with those mud, root monsters, right? And Dawnie helped you? She fought with you, alongside you, not just you protecting her, right?'

'Yeah' said Buffy, not really seeing where this was going.

'Dawn was really good in the fight. Not as good as you now, but as good as you were a few years ago?'

'Yeah… Are we actually go anywhere with this, or are you just gonna ask me a bunch of questions?'

'She's a Slayer.'

'What!?!' was screeched in various different voices.

'Dawn's a Slayer. Come on people. This shouldn't be a surprise to any of you. Think about it. Dawn was created from Buffy's blood. She was created to be 14, which means she's now 15. Buffy was called when she was 15. Take into account birthdays, or creation days or whatever you want to call it, and Dawn is the same age Buffy was when she was called. Being a Slayer is in the blood. When Dawn reached the age Buffy was when she was called, her Slayerness kicked in automatically. How can none of you have thought of this? Giles?'

'Is she right Giles? Is it true? Is Dawn a Slayer?' Buffy turned to her former Watcher, taking Dawns' hand again.

Cordelia fought the urge to duck, the thoughts and feelings flying around the room were so strong. She'd been focused on Buffy, so her responses came through loudest. Surprisingly, her first feeling was of relief I don't have to protect her anymore. Soon though, it was swamped by guilt, I don't want her to live the kind of life I've had to live. Always in the darkness, always fighting. She battled it back, and behind it, she found a spark of hope. Together. We can do it together. We can fight, and Giles can train her, like he trained me. If we work together, maybe we'll all make it. Looking back, Buffy's eyes met Dawns'.

I won't be a burden anymore. I can help, and we'll fight together, like we did in the crypt. Dawn smiled back at her sister, even as her eyes filled with tears. 'Is it true Giles? Am I a Slayer?'

'I don't know.' Giles took his glasses off and began to polish them. 'From what Cordelia says, it does seem likely. Unfortunately, aside from throwing a knife at your head, which I don't think Buffy would agree to, I don't really know what to do to find out. The Council may know of a test, but as they don't know that Buffy is alive again, I'm loathe to let them know about either of you.' He hooked his glasses back on again, and put away his hanky.

'So what do we do?' Buffy started to pace 'you wanna just send her out against some vamps and see how she does?!'

'Buffy. Calm down.' Dawn lay a hand on her sister's arm 'we'll think of something.'

'Err' Willow spoke for the first time since Buffy and Dawn had entered the Magic Box 'Maybe we could do a blood test. If we could find the Slayer ingredient in Buffys' blood is, we could see if it's in Dawnie's blood too. Then we'd know for sure. I wouldn't have to do the test. Someone else could do it. You wouldn't have to let me near you with anything sharp…. Or, or maybe I could just not be here, and never be around you all again.' Willow seemed to shrink into herself as Buffy stared at her, no emotion visible on her face. 'I should go.' She started towards the door, giving Buffy and Dawn as wide a birth as possible.

Xander caught her arm, stopping her forward momentum, but Buffy's look stopped him from saying anything. 'You could do that.'

Cordelia eyed Buffy. If she hadn't been able to sense Buffy's intentions, she'd have been jumping in with both feet by now. The fact that Xander and Giles both kept their peace when Cordelia could feel how badly they wanted to comfort Willow, was testament to their faith in Buffy. Cordelia had to admit, to herself at least, she was a little surprised at Giles's feelings towards Willow. Having healed Giles's wounds, she'd seen just how badly off he was, all of it inflicted by Willow. Giles wasn't mad though. Looking closer, Cordelia saw why. Giles saw so much of himself in Willow. The academic who found the wild side. He understood the pull of dark magicks. He admired Willow because she had been strong enough to turn away from it. It had taken the death of a friend to make him turn away. Willow had stopped before she had gone that far, only to be knocked back into it by the senseless loss of Tara. When Angelus had killed Jenny, Giles only thought had been to destroy. He hadn't practiced the craft in so long, he'd tried more conventional methods. If he'd had a loved one taken from him so soon after he'd given up the magicks, the Ripper would have broken free, and the Gods alone knew what he would have been capable of. He was certain of one thing. Once on the path Willow had started on, with all that dark magick inside her, he would never have got off it, never have had the strength to turn away from the evil inside him. True, it was the magicks she had drawn out of him, and Xander's love for her that had allowed her to fight against the darkness, but without incredible inner strength, the fight would have torn her apart. Cordelia pulled back from Giles's thoughts, a little ashamed at having listened in, but glad she understood.

Buffy stepped sideways, blocking Willows path to the door. 'You could run away from all the people here who love you. Or you could stay and fight.'

Willow gaped at her 'What? How can you say that? How can you say you love me, after all I've done?! Oh God what I've done?!!!....' she hugged herself and started to rock back and to as the tears ran down her face.

Buffy closed the gap between them, grabbing Willow and pulling her into an embrace when she tried to back off 'it's not going to be easy Will, it's going to make what you went through before look like a picnic, but we're not going to let you go away and disappear into the darkness. We all love you. That's why we fought so hard. Now we've got you back, we're never going to let go again.' By this time, Buffy was crying too, stroking Willows hair and rocking her gently.

Eventually, Willow pulled back. As Buffy wiped the tears from her face, she returned the favor. 'Thank you. I don't deserve it but thank you all so much.' She held out a tentative hand to Dawn, who smiled, and then wrapped her arms around Willow and Buffy. She was bigger than both of them. Looking over their heads, she met Giles's eyes. He smiled, and he and Xander joined the group hug. Anya pointedly looked the other way until Dawn reached out a hand to her and pulled her in too.

'Cordy, you gonna join us?'

'Nah, I'll just stand over here and glow. If there was any more emotion coming off you lot, the roof'd be coming in again.'

Slowly, they all split apart, with much sniffing and eye wiping. They continued to stand close together though. watching them, Cordelia realized something. This group had been through so much together, nothing could keep them apart. She snorted. She supposed she should have guessed that earlier, like when death hadn't managed it.

'I hate to say the thing that no one wants to hear, but hey, it's a habit. What about Warren?' Anya glanced from face to face 'this whole group hug, everyone loves each other is very touching, but what if the police come asking questions? These things have to be considered, and having a person arrested for murder in the shop might be bad for business!'

Giles put his arm around Willows shoulder, and looked reproachfully at Anya over his glasses. 'The shop really isn't a priority at the moment Anya.'

'Yeah, and just think, you'd get loads of free publicity if Willow got arrested here!' Dawn added brightly. 'Sorry. Only trying to help.'

Cordelia had spent most of this discussion looking at the ceiling. She was discovering that when the Powers decided she needed to know something, they just inserted it into her head. It was like an old memory resurfacing, the more she thought about it, the clearer it got. As Skip had faded out when Buffy walked in, it was the only way she was getting information at the moment.

'You don't need to worry about the police.' Everyone turned to look at her again. She was glowing brighter. This was a new experience to Buffy and Dawn, but they took it in stride. 'He never got on with his parents, there's no body, and he was seen hanging around the bus station and the train station. Plus, he was a geek. No one cares. As far as the human world is concerned, you got away with it.'

'What? But – No! That's wrong. I did this awful, terrible thing and I have to be punished!' Willow started to work herself up into a guilty frenzy again, but Cordelia cut her off.

'Whoa girl!! I said the human world. My world, that's a whole different thing.' Willow looked somewhat mollified by this, Buffy on the other hand, looked scared, and when Buffy was scared for her friends, it usually turned to anger.

'Look Cordelia., Willow has helped save the world I don't know how many times. Yeah, she screwed up, big time. But the Powers can't just make some arbitrary decision to punish her. I need her. The Slayer needs her! So they can't have her!'

'There she goes again, protecto girl. As I was saying…' She looked sideways at Buffy '…The Powers feel that what you did was way up there on the really, REALLY bad idea scale. BUT Warren had the makings of a major player for the dark side, so you actually did us a favor getting rid of him. Your methods leave a lot to be desired though. Embracing the Dark Arts like that, and having the ability to channel that much power makes you potentially a huge risk. The strength you showed in turning away from the darkness makes that risk worth while –'

'Never again. I'm never touching the magicks again. I know I said that before, but this time I've seen just how bad it can get. I looked into the darkness, and I wanted it all. I'm never going near it again.'

'Willow.' The look Cordelia gave her was full of compassion, and just a little bit of pity, and fear. 'You've lived on the Hellmouth all your life. Do you honestly think it's going to be that simple?'

Willow took a small step back, whilst Buffy and Dawn took her hands. 'W-what do you mean?'

Good Cordelia thought as usual, the Scooby Gang sticks together. Maybe with all their help, she's got a chance to make it through this.

'When you took all that magick into you, it changed you. Changed you physically. The good magick you took from Giles, and the love Xander offered you pretty, much cancelled out the evil in you, but the magick's still there. It's part of you. You're a magickal being now Willow. Your punishment is that you can't quit the magicks. It'll always be there, and you have to use it, or it'll explode out of you. You have to control it, or it'll control you. You've helped the Slayer for six years now, and that has been taken into consideration. You will continue to help her, but now you'll have a more active role in the fight.' All the time she had been speaking, Cordelia had glowed brighter still, and her voice had taken on a deeper, more resonant tone. Now her glow dimmed, and she returned to her normal speaking voice. 'Get Buffy or Giles to train you. Angel's been training me. It's actually kind of fun, and it takes all the guilt out of chocolate fudge cake if you've been kicked around a training mat by someone twenty times stronger than you for a couple of hours.'

'That's it? That's my punishment? Carry on helping Buffy. I'd have done that anyway! It's too easy.'

Giles looked at her sadly 'Do you really think so Willow? Knowing how much power you can wield? Remember what a little thing changing Tara's memory seemed to be? Every magickal action you take, you will have to weigh up, think over, second guess, but you can't just leave it, you have to do something, knowing you might be getting it totally wrong. Every spell you cast will remind you of what you have seen and done. You're not just one of the good guys now. You'll be on the path of redemption. A lot of people know about what happened here, and they'll come looking for you. Some to turn you, some to punish you. Just as Angel, and Faith became notorious, so will you. Are you ready to face that? Doesn't seem so easy now, does it?'

Cordelia looked around the room 'Just remember, you all have each other, and I have a feeling there are going to be more.' She looked up 'I've gotta go now, I'm being called. You guys get some sleep, and talk things out. I'll be back, maybe in a day or so.' With that, she glowed brighter, and then faded away.

'Well,' said Xander, giving Willow one last hug 'as exciting as all this has been, I need to get to a bed or I'm calling dibs on the counter.'

'Xander's right. We all need to sleep. How about we meet up again tomorrow, here at 10.00 and try and make some sense of all this?' Buffy hooked an arm through Willow's, and the other through Dawns 'come on guys, lets go home.'

*****

Faith

Faith sat in her cell, waiting. She didn't know what she was waiting for but she knew something was going to happen soon. She'd been having Slayer dreams again recently, nothing very clear, sometimes she was in Sunnyvale, sometimes in LA with Angel. Sometimes she didn't know where she was, but she was free and she was fighting. She knew that she was fighting for the right side again too. The darkness was a part of her now, it would always be there, but she recognized it and knew how to beat it. She wouldn't be seduced by it again.

Willow and Wesley appeared in her dreams a lot. She didn't know why. Sometimes they appeared as herself, when she was falling into darkness, other times she would see them in their everyday lives, but somehow twisted, as if they had been infected by evil, as she had. Willow seemed the darker of the two, but Wesley was catching up fast. She thought it might have something to do with how badly she had treated them both, showing that if they had given in to evil instead of her they could have done just as much damage as she did, or a whole lot more. Being a Slayer didn't make her a special target for evil, she had just been weak, easily manipulated.

She didn't understand and without Giles, or Wesley, there to help her interpret, she didn't figure she was going to.

Dreams weren't the only thing swirling in Faiths mind that night. Above all else was her appeal. She hadn't told Angel about it. He'd been gone when it had all begun, on his retreat, grieving for Buffy. When he came back she decided not to tell him about it. Part of her worried he would think she hadn't suffered enough and she shouldn't get out yet. Another part didn't want to tell him in case she lost the appeal, and didn't get out.

Back in August of the previous year, the Watchers Council had sent someone to see her. She'd known Buffy had died. No one told her, but she had known. She felt Buffy's soul leaving the earth, and realized she was the only Slayer now. It was a very lonely feeling. She figured that was why Angel hadn't been to see her in a couple of months, and she understood. The love the vampire carried for the lost Slayer was something she couldn't comprehend, but she envied it none the less.

The representative the council sent treated her with a mixture of terror, awe condescendtion and disgust. Faith still wasn't sure how he'd pulled off such a combo, but he had. Maybe it was a British thing.

He had explained to her that while the Council abhorred what she had done, she was the only living Slayer at the moment, and she needed to be out there fighting, not rotting in a jail cell. When Faith asked him why they didn't just kill her and activate the next Slayer, her visitor, who had introduced himself as John Cunningham, at least had the grace to blush.

'You must understand Faith, that in the current climate we need an experienced Slayer out there. The forces of evil have been on the advance recently and must be fought by those best qualified. The death of Miss Summers means that that person is you.' Faith was quite shocked by this. The last three times she had seen anyone from the council who wasn't Giles or Wesley, they had tried to kidnap or kill her. Now they wanted her back on the team. Weird. 'A new Slayer now would most likely get killed before she could begin to reach her full potential. She wouldn't be able to defeat whatever evil she was sent against, and may well end up exacerbating the situation. You on the other hand have a proven record of beating whatever you go up against, with the exception of Miss Summers and' he sniffed 'the vampire Angelus'

'Angel.' Faith snarled, leaning towards him.

Cunningham jumped in his seat. Until then, Faith had not lived up to his image of the rogue Slayer. She hadn't welcomed him with open arms, but she hadn't thrown him to the floor and threatened to 'pop his head like a grape' either which, considering her previous dealings with his employers, wouldn't have surprised him at all. The Councils wet works teams were notoriously good at what they did, meaning they were a bunch of nasty bastards. He doubted she had many fond memories of them. Her reaction to his mention of Angelus was the first time she had shown any emotion at all though. What was it about this vampire, he wondered, that inspired such loyalty from the Slayers? Even Kendra, much more a watchers' Slayer than either Buffy or Faith, hadn't killed him when she had had the chance.

Faith noticed the fear that played across his face at her sudden move, and the curiosity. She understood both. He obviously knew what she had done, and had every reason to fear her. As a member of the Council he knew all about Angel's history, and Angelus's. Like many people, he couldn't separate the two, and so couldn't understand how a Slayer, particularly this Slayer, could care about him.

Faith sat back in her seat and tried to calm herself. 'Look' she said, her loyalty to Angel forcing her past her current apathy towards almost everything 'Angel's one of the good guys now. You can even ask the Powers That Be.' At Cunningham's disbelieving look, she heaved a sigh. 'Put it this way. If it wasn't for Angel, you wouldn't be here asking me to join the fight again. I'd either be dead, or leading this “evil advance” you've got going on, so leave Angel out of this.' she paused, suddenly weary. 'Anyway, why don't you get to the point? You didn't come here to talk about Angel, and I can't see any reason for talking to me. In case you hadn't noticed I'm in jail for murder. I can't just walk out of here any time I choose without having to fight my way past a whole lot of guards, something I am not prepared to do.'

'We know that Faith.' Cunningham replied, relieved that she seemed to have calmed down again. 'We also know that you pled guilty to all the charges laid against you, and refused representation.' He leant forwards across the table 'we've had access to your psychiatric reviews since you were sent here.' Faith scowled, not liking the idea of the Council knowing about her sessions with the shrink and the councilor. They were private. She was finally learning to speak of the past, a heavily edited version of what she'd done and why she'd done it. To know that the organization that had tried to kill her knew all about her inner most fears and feelings left her feeling vulnerable, exposed. She hissed angrily.

'Now Faith, think about this' Cunningham continued quickly, not liking the anger spreading over her face 'How could the Council in all conscience offer you the opportunity to become an active Slayer again without first scrutinizing your mental stability?'

Faith subsided into her chair. She wasn't happy about it, but she supposed after everything she had done she wasn't really in any position to complain.

She nodded for him to continue 'as I've said, from your psychiatric evaluations we feel you are now ready to carry out your duties as the Slayer. Having studied your criminal record and the events leading up to your being sent here, the Council feels we have excellent grounds for appeal to get you released, and have engaged the services of a prominent LA law firm in this matter.'

Her head came up sharply, her eyes hard on Cunningham. 'What law firm? It better not be Wolfram & Hart!'

Cunningham was somewhat taken aback by this sudden vehement reaction. He knew a lot of people disliked lawyers, but her behavior was somewhat extreme, even when taking that into account. 'No, the firm is called Kuzak, Sefwentez & Van Owen. They've been around for about 10 years and are very well respected. Before that all three of the partners worked for MacKenzie Brackman, one of the oldest and most respected law firms in the city. They have a very good reputation.'

'Trust me, doesn't mean much.' Faith muttered, but then motioned for him to continue.

'Michael Kuzak, the senior partner, has agreed to represent you. He's already looked at the evidence and says he'll be able to get you out of jail as soon as they can get your case into court. You might even get an apology.'

Faith looked at him questioningly 'Mr. Kuzak is unaware of your special ….gifts. The physical evidence proves you couldn't possibly have committed the murders or the assaults. How could a 5'3” girl ram a wooden stake into the heart of a young, fit man, with enough force to punch a hole in his breastbone, but fast enough not to shatter it? Similarly, there was no physical evidence of you having been in a fight when you were arrested. If you had beaten people up the way they claim you did, surely your knuckles at least would show some bruising? Your guilt over your treatment of your best friend, which was mentioned in passing during your confession, meant you felt a need to be punished, hence your refusal of counsel, when continuing psychiatric evaluations prove that you were mentally unstable at the time and severely depressed, to the point of suicide even. You should have been tried as a minor and given counseling before any decisions about locking you up were made. Instead, over zealous assistant district attorneys decided to make an example of you, a girl the system had let down time and again, and threw the book at you.'

'That's the defense we're going to use. Pretty convincing I think.'

'It's very convincing. It almost has me believing it. There's only one problem.' She slammed her palms down on the table, angrily leaning towards Cunningham. ' I'm guilty. All those things they accused me of, I copped to them because it was right. I did all those things and now I'm getting what I deserve. I don't deserve to get let out of here, to run around free, whilst so many of the people I hurt are still having to deal with it, whilst Buffy is lying in the ground, dead because she had to fight a hell God by herself whilst there was another Slayer in jail because of how badly she had screwed up, instead of there helping her like she should have been!!' Faith's indignation grew with every word. Who did this guy think he was? Coming here and telling her how they were going to prove her innocent and make everything okay!? Couldn't he see things would never be okay again? She was doing penance, working towards her redemption. Getting out now would be giving up on that.

Cunningham looked at her, dead in the eye 'and is it fair that the whole world suffers because there isn't an active Slayer at the moment?' Faith looked startled 'You have to understand Faith, when Miss Summers died, no new Slayer was called. The Slayer to follow Miss Summers had already been activated, Kendra, and you followed her. Whatever it is that a Slayer dieing does to call the next Slayer, apparently only works once. Coming back from the dead doesn't recharge that particular battery.'

Faith sat back, shocked. So she was it huh? She thought back over all the things she had done, good and bad. Maybe this was her chance after all. Instead of sitting on her arse, rotting, she had to get back out there. She would fight and maybe die, but that was what being a Slayer meant. She had fought before, saved the world even. She would do it again.

She straightened in her chair. To Cunningham, it was as if the spirit of the first Slayer had entered her again, giving her back her purpose. She nodded to him 'Okay. I'm in. What do I have to do?'

'In simplest terms, what you're told.' Faith raised an eyebrow 'The Council will get in touch with further instructions, but the basic rule is do what your lawyer tells you. Kuzak has an excellent reputation, if he tells you to wear pretty dresses and behave like the demure, scared child you're not, you do it. The wheels of justice turn slowly, and we need you out there as soon as possible. Whatever he tells you to do, you do. He's the expert, and we would prefer if at all possible that Mr. Kuzak does not find out what you truly are. Your identity is supposed to be secret remember.'

'Okay, I can handle that.'

Looking back, Faith hadn't realized just how long her appeal would take. Almost a year. It would have really sucked if she had been innocent, she mused. She was surprised it had gotten this far. After Buffy had been brought back she thought the Council would drop her like a hot brick, leaving her to rot. Either that or they would have her killed now, seeing as there was again an experienced Slayer. She could fight the immediate battles, and the new Slayer would have time to get up to speed before she had to face any real Big Bads and still be the Councils pet. To her surprise, neither had happened. She realized some time later that the Council didn't know Buffy was back. Faith supposed that wasn't really a shock, no one had told her, again. She had felt Buffy return, felt some very powerful magicks at work, but she couldn't explain it. It was all just Slayer senses telling her stuff no one else knew. Buffy had never got on well with the Council, she probably wasn't going to announce to them she was back so they could annoy her all over again. Faith figured it was in everyone's best interest if she kept her mouth shut.

Angel started visiting again. He apologized for not coming to see her in so long, but Faith reassured him that she understood. She hugged the secret of her appeal to herself, and when Angel confirmed that Buffy was back, she hugged it a little tighter. His visits became less frequent. Faith decided she must be on her way to being a better person because she wasn't really mad. When Angel had told her about Connor, she had been delighted for him, she'd even cried a little. Neither of them ever mentioned that again. It gave her some hope. Angel had been given this great gift, maybe a reward?, for all his had work. Maybe one day, if she worked hard enough at her redemption, maybe she would be given someone to love too. When Angel told her about Wesley giving Connor to Holtz, and Holtz taking Connor to the Kurtogh, Faith had truly feared for him, and what he might become. Although she was angry with Wes, she could never hate him. She had caused him too much pain to ever feel able to judge him. And now Connor was back. Angel told her he knew it would be hard work, earning his trust and his love, but then if anyone understood hard work, it was Angel.

So she waited, staring at the ceiling of her cell. Her cellmate was a newbie, she'd been sent down less than a month ago. Terry, that was her name, had heard of Faiths' rep as soon as she had been marched in the door. As long as you didn't bother Faith, and didn't pick on any of the weak ones in front of her, she didn't bother you. And you didn't want Faith to bother with you. So Terry kept quiet and Faith stayed content.

She had to be in court tomorrow. Her day of reckoning had arrived. Michael said she should be let out immediately and that it was a travesty that she was being kept in now. It was almost a forgone conclusion that her conviction would be quashed. Added to the mountain of physical evidence they had, was the fact that the detective leading the investigation had been 'chucked off the force cos she was a basket case' was Michael's description. Detective Kate Lockley. Ex-detective Kate Lockley now. Angel said she was doing much better, although Faith didn't mention that to Michael. He had been Michael since about a week into her appeal. The only person she'd ever been able to call 'Sir' without sneering was the Mayor. Mr Kuzak made him sound too much like an old geezer, and being who she was, Faith had told him that. He had suggested Michael, as it was his name. If he was going to call her Faith, she may as well call him Michael he said. So she did.

She remembered her first meeting with her lawyer. Her first impressions had been of competence, and confidence. She'd judged him to be in his late forties, wavy brown hair with a hint of grey at the temples, melting brown eyes and a strong chin with a sexy dent in it. She'd been in an all female prison for over a year now, and girls had just never done it for her. This guy really got her motor running. Unfortunately, Cunningham was there to chaperone so she had had to behave. She had a feeling he'd been expecting her reaction, and he had spent fifteen minutes before the interview with Michael telling her how she must behave herself, and how lucky she was that Michael had taken her case. She was really hoping to get lucky.

After the first half hour of Cunningham jumping on everything she tried to say, Michael chucked him out of the interview room. Told him Faith was his client now, and he'd send Cunningham a progress report when he had time. Cunningham tried to splutter something about remembering who paid his bills, but Michael reminded him that it was he, Cunningham and his organization, who wanted Faith out of jail. They were paying for the best. They would only get the best if they let him do his job. Faith decided there and then that she liked him, and would do her best to trust him.

As time passed, she discovered that he liked her too. Not in the way she'd been hoping, but he liked her as a person, and she didn't have enough friends to start turning them away. It was a bit like being with the Mayor again, having a father figure to care about her again. Of course, Michael wasn't obsessive / compulsive about germs and didn't tell her to kill people, but he cared. It was comforting. It made it difficult for Faith to lie to him at times. He was so genuinely outraged by the way she had been treated, not just her conviction, but her placement in foster homes, and then the system losing track of her completely. That, of course, was when she had been called as a Slayer, and had hooked up with her first watcher, Linda. Linda was dead now. Faith had watched as she was murdered by Kokistos. She tried not to think of it too much. Still, Michael was talking about public apologies and compensation. A public apology would bring her way too much publicity. Wolfram & Hart, amongst her many enemies would see it and come gunning for her. Actually, Wolfram & Hart might just try and get her sent back to jail, but Michael would fight that. Faith didn't want Michael in danger, especially because he had tried to help her. She wouldn't feel comfortable taking compensation either, it would feel to much like blood money, getting paid for all the wrong she had done. On the other hand, maybe she could give the money to Angel, and they could use it to fight evil. She was planning on asking Angel for a job when (if) she got out. She knew that idea might cause some problems for Cordelia, and Wes if Angel ever forgave him.

She'd cross that bridge when she came to it she decided.

So now she lay in the dark, waiting for her day in court. Dawn was coming, she could tell. The vampires and the demons would be going home to bed, full from whatever innocent they had devoured this night. Maybe tomorrow night she would be out there, hunting the monsters.

She stared at the ceiling, she could just make it out in the darkness, and she willed time to go faster, so the waiting would be over.

When the bell rang for morning inspection, Faith climbed off her top bunk. She hadn't slept a wink, but then, as a Slayer she'd never needed much sleep. Two or three hours a night was a max, and she could quite happily go three days without any.

Terry timidly put a hand on her arm 'Good luck'

'Thanks' Faith looked at her, really looked for the first time. She saw the fear in Terry's eyes. One thing Faith had never felt in here was fear of violence. She hated being locked up, but she'd never feared a good fight. She was built for fighting. After a couple of throw downs in the yard, everyone had realized Faith was pretty much indestructible. The occasional transfer would try and make a name for herself, but even that stopped after everyone saw her catch the knife Loopie Martinez threw at her head and then lift her 250lb bulk off the ground with just one hand at her throat, without even breaking a sweat. Yeah, the people here knew Faith was different. They didn't talk about it though. It was all part of the code. She realized now she should have done more to help people, protect the weaker ones. Sure this was prison, and they were all guilty of something, but there were degrees of guilt and innocence. She new that better than anyone. Damn. This helping people thing was harder than it sounded.

She looked back at Terry 'If you need any help, ya' know, when you get out, look me up. You'll be able to contact me through Angel Investigations…assuming I get out' Faith laughed at the end, trying for a joke. It was pretty weak, and Terry didn't seem to know what to say, but she smiled shyly and nodded her head.

As first steps went, it hadn't been to painful Faith decided.

The guards came for her then. She had to get changed into a dress, pretty and innocent looking. Michael had had one of the partners at his law firm pick it out for her. It wasn't as flowery and flowing as the one the Mayor had given her, for which she would be eternally grateful. More fitted, it could have been worn under a suit or to a dinner party. Wouldn't Xander have a fit if he saw her now! The thought occurred to her out of nowhere, and made her smile. Michael chose that moment to walk into the interview room she was waiting in. He looked her up and down 'What do you think Gracy?' he asked the distinguished blonde who came in behind him. She was beautiful, Faith thought, that kind of cool, unflustered beauty that she herself would never be able to pull off.

'Classy, cool, responsible. Grace Van Owen' she said, holding out her hand to Faith. Faith, having wondered who this woman was, made the connection as she reached to shake 'You're one of the partners in Michaels' law firm. Nice to meet you' A thought suddenly occurred to her 'There aren't any problems are there? You're not backing out on me are you!' The last came out sounding like more of a threat than she'd intended. She smiled weakly to try and cover it, but Michael just smiled, used to her temperament by now. He understood it was fear of betrayal, and experience, that made her jump to the worst conclusion. 'No one's backing out Faith. I asked Grace to come because I want her to sit as second chair today.'

Grace smiled warmly 'Think of it as making sure all your bases are covered. There shouldn't really be any need for Michael to say anything today, the judge should just make his decision, but you know what it's like….'

'As soon as you relax something tries to bite you in the ass?' Faith calmed down again. 'Sorry, guess I'm kind of tense.'

'Don't worry Faith. Gracey here used to be a judge, and was known as a fairly strict one. If Judge Carter sees her backing you, because he knows Gracey wouldn't take second chair if she didn't back you 100%, it might add just that little bit more weight to the case.'

'Not that your case isn't already weighty' Grace added hurriedly, 'but a little extra is never going to hurt.'

Faith smiled at her properly then, and Grace got a glimpse of why Michael had come to care so much about this young woman. Life hadn't been fair on her.

'Lets go then' Michael said. 'There are a few things I want to go over with you on the way to the court house, so I'll be in the van with you. We'll meet Grace there, okay?'

'Okay'

The guards nodded as Faith was lead out. For people in their job, it was tantamount to throwing their arms around her and weeping. The guards knew that Faith had made their job a lot easier, keeping order in the prison, and she could have made it a lot harder. Things were going to change with her gone.

Both Michael and Grace noticed. Michael had become used to the guards' treatment of Faith, but Grace was shocked. She had never seen an inmate, particularly a murder convict treated in that way, even if she was on her way to appeal.

During the ride to the courthouse, Michael did his best to reassure Faith, explaining what he thought would happen, and because he knew she liked to be prepared for the worst, what he didn't think would happen but was possible. Faith appreciated his efforts, but couldn't tell him how much she feared Wolfram & Hart were going to show up and wreck everything. She'd been careful, refusing Michaels suggestions on publicity, but even so…. They were a demon law firm. Was there anything they didn't know? All she could do now was hope for the best and if the time came, protect Michael.

Outside the courtroom, Grace and a very good looking Hispanic man, whom Grace introduced as Victor Sifwentez, waited for them. He smiled as he shook Faiths' hand 'After all the things Mikey told us about you, I had to be here.'

'Mikey' Faith raised an eyebrow.

'Let's get inside, shall we' Michael ignored the comment completely and led Faith to the door. He paused, taking her by the shoulders so he could look her straight in the eye. 'We're going to win this. I'm going to get you out of there.' He promised. 'You just need to have a little….faith. I care about you and I'm not going to let them send you back there, not one more day.'

Faith looked away, tears burning in her eyes. She didn't deserve this kind of devotion. 'I know you do.' She struggled against the urge to ay something flippant, anything to decrease the tension, but held it back. Michael didn't deserve anything but her greatest admiration. The only way she could see to pay back his kindness, his support and belief, was to win this appeal, and start to fight again. She raised her head, and looked him in the eye. 'Lets do it.'

As Victor opened the door, Faith braced herself, certain she was going to see Lindsay or Lilah, or whatever the one she had beaten the crap out of was called, waiting for her, ready to crush her hopes and send her back. But there was no one. Just a few law students taking notes, and what looked like a couple of office workers looking for somewhere different to have their lunch. Michael took her arm, leading her to her seat, with Grace standing close on the other side. She saw the judge nod at Grace while she stood waiting for the instruction to sit. After that it was all a blur until -'Defendant is found not guilty. All convictions are hereby quashed with the apologies of the California judicial system.' Crack! The gavel came down. Faith realized she was standing again, and she was staring at the judge, not believing it was real. 'You're free to go Miss' the judge spoke directly to her, smiling. Faith just nodded, dazed, and then Michael had his arms around her, and Grace too, and Faith was crying. She hadn't cried like this since the night she had begged Angel to kill her she realized. She had come along way since then, and she would keep going.

Eventually she stopped crying and Michael helped mop her up with his handkerchief. When they got outside the courtroom, he hugged her again, and then holding her face in his hands, pressed an exuberant kiss to her forehead. 'We did it Faith. You're free. You can do anything you want now. What do you want to do? You can pick anything!' He seemed so pleased, so excited, and so did Grace and Victor. Faith found it infectious.

'What I really wanna do is….eat! Prison food sucks, I want a steak and a burger and Chinese. God, anything but that crap that I've been eating!'

'Let's go out to dinner then. All four of us, my treat. A celebration dinner just for you.'

Her guilt tried to kick in, but then she realized she couldn't rain on Michael's parade. He was so pleased for her. He had, from his point of view at least, righted a great wrong, and he really cared about her, and she really wanted some decent food!! 'Five by five. Let's eat.'

Three hours later, even Faith couldn't eat anymore. She'd stuffed herself on steak and new potatoes, lasagna, smoked salmon and the best chocolate fudge Sunday ever for dessert. Grace stared at her 'where do you put it all?!' she exclaimed 'I swear, if I ate that much, I'd explode!'

Faith grinned in reply 'It's all in the metabolism. Besides, you try prison food for two years….' She trailed off.

'Faith,' Michael began 'I know a terrible thing was done to you, and you have every right to your emotions, but you have to try and move on. You've lost two years of your life and that's a tragedy, but to lose more because you can't get past your anger and hate… that would be far worse. I've come to care about you a great deal over the last year Faith. We've discussed this,' he indicated himself, Grace and Victor, 'and we'd like to offer you a job. It'd just be filing and stuff at first, but you're quick and you're smart. We'd be prepared to fund you if you wanted to go to College. I helped get you out of there Faith, now let me help you get your life going again.'

Faith just stared at him, lost for words, unable to name the emotions churning inside her. She knew that in the old days, she would have thrown the offer back in their faces, sneering at their weakness, wondering what they wanted from her, and more than anything, she would have refused it because she wanted it so badly. She could taste it. If people gave you something you wanted so badly, there were strings, they could take it away from you, and then the pain would come back, and it would be even worse. Better to say no now, and not have to deal with the pain later. Part of her still wanted to react like that. But, she reminded herself, she had changed.

She wasn't a totally different person though. 'Why? Why would you do that for me?'

'Because you've had a rough ride. A lot of bad things have been done to you that should never have been allow-'

Faith cut Michael off with swipe of her hand. 'Don't make me out to be some saint Michael.' She recognized the emotion now. It was guilt. These people had gone out of their way to help her, and she didn't deserve it. They had believed in her, and she had lied to them. 'I did some pretty terrible things, and I deserved to be in there. I never tried to get the world sucked into hell, but I wouldn't have tried to stop it if someone else did.' Michael, Grace and Victor exchanged meaningful glances. They didn't believe her, and she would never, could never tell them the truth about what she was. It would put them in too much danger, but at the same time she couldn't handle the sympathetic, compassionate glances they all kept shooting her. They thought she was so brave and stoic, not being angry at the system that had screwed her, hording her misplaced and amplified guilt over her treatment of her old friend. She seemed to remember that comment from court. She hated the lies that stood between them. 'If the circumstances hadn't changed, I'd still be in there now, like I'm should be.' She took a deep breath, calming herself 'please don't think I'm not grateful for everything you've done for me. You've been wonderful, more than I ever thought was possible, but there's stuff I've gotta do now. Some of it's to make up for what I did before, but mostly it's just doing what I was meant to do. What I was born for. I'll never forget what you've done for me, and if you're ever in trouble, the weird kind anyway, please call me. You'll be able to contact me through Angel Investigations I hope.' When Michael moved to interrupt again, she placed a gentle hand on his arm. 'This is what I have to do.' She said simply.

'Whatever you want to do Faith, we'll support you in any way we can.' Grace smiled at her gently. 'But you have to promise that you'll keep in touch, and you'll let us know if there's ever anything you need help with.' Michael and Victor nodded in agreement.

'Thank you. Thank you so much. I promise I'll keep in touch, and actually, there is something you could do for me now.'

'Anything you need Faith' Michael smiled at her, letting her know he wasn't offended by her rejection of their offer.

'Can I have that pencil? The wooden one.' They all just looked at her, bemused. 'It's a comfort thing' she explained hastily, 'just in case I need to leave someone a note. Are we ready to go?'

'Sure. Do you have somewhere to go tonight Faith, because if you want, you could stay with me or Gracey for a few days whilst you get used to life again.'

Faith smiled at Michaels' offer How can he be a cute, rich lawyer and still be that nice? It shouldn't be possible! 'I'm five by five, thanks though. I've got a friend I can crash with. He owns a hotel, so there'll be loads of room. I'll just walk you guys to your car and then head on over there.'

'Well come on then girl, at least let us give you a ride over there. We want to know where we can find you if we need you!' She was about to refuse Victors' offer, when she saw the look that passed between them. They thought she was lying, that she didn't have any place to go, but was too proud to admit it. The fact that no one had turned up at her appeal did lend credence to the theory that she didn't have anyone out there willing to take her in.

'Sure that'd be great.' She grinned, and started walking down the now darkened street towards the car, which was parked in a little ally off to the side. Shit, shouldn't have eaten as much. We stayed way to long in there. Now it's past sundown, still, it's a pretty busy street. Hopefully we can get to the car before – suddenly, Faiths spider sense went haywire – too late.

'Get in the car!' she yelled, trying to get between the three lawyers and the two vamps that had appeared in the ally. She heard a gasp behind her, and turning sideways and taking a couple of steps back, saw that a third vamp had Gracey, his arm wrapped around her throat from behind, pulling her head back and exposing her jugular to his fangs.

'Wolfram & Hart has a proposition for you Slayer' the one holding Gracey spoke. 'Come back and work for us, and everything can be the way it was. We used to do a lot of business with Mayor Wilkins you know. It'll be just like a family reunion' He jerked Gracey's head back further, knicking her skin with his fang, and causing a trickle of blood to run down her neck. Gracey let out a strangled gasp, but managed to stay still. She sensed that the thing holding her would take great delight in hurting her more if she struggled. 'What'll it be Slayer? You're gonna be needing new representation in the very near future. Why not let the people who understand your true nature look after you?'

'Let them go! Just let them go and I'll come with you.' Faith actually had no intention of going with the vamps. She was playing for time, frantically running through scenarios in her head. She knew she could take out the two vamps who had come out of the ally without too much trouble, but if she attacked them, the one holding Gracey would doubtless bite her, and keep her as a hostage. Going for him would be trickier, but even if she could get him, the other two would go for Michael and Victor. 'Michael, Victor, I want you to get in the car –'

'Take one step and your friend's dead before she hits the ground.' He licked the blood that was sliding down Gracey's neck. 'No games Slayer, we know who you are and what you've done. The Special Projects Director wants you unharmed, but Wolfram and Hart doesn't like people steeling their clients! So if you want your friends to walk away from this, you do exactly what we –' A look of amazement crossed the vampires' face, before he exploded into dust.

'Heard you were getting out today. Thought they might have heard too.' Kate Lockley stepped out from behind Gracey, a stake held in her right hand. She nodded her head 'behind you'

Slightly confused by Kate's attitude, being willing to take it at face value for now, Faith grinned 'Thanks,' As she turned to face the two remaining vamps, her grin turned feral. Until that moment, they had been unsure what to do. Their leader had impressed upon them how important it was to get Faith for Wolfram & Hart, and just how much of a bad idea it was to disappoint the law firm. On the other hand, their leader was dead, and they were faced with the infamous Dark Slayer. 'Gonna make me chase you boys?' Faith purred. The two vamps looked at each other and ran. 'Oh goody. It's been a long time since I've had a proper workout.' Taking three steps, Faith launched herself at the fleeing vampires. She landed on the shoulders of one, causing him to crash into his companion, all three of them landing in a heap on the floor.

Michael finally came out of the daze he'd been in and moved forward to help Faith. Kate caught his arm. 'Leave her councilor. You won't be able to help, and you may well get in her way.' Seeing the look of disbelief on his and Victors' faces, she pointed 'look'

Faith and the smaller of the two vampires scrambled to their feet. He took a wild swing, just clipping her jaw. Her head snapped round and then she looked back at him 'that all you got?' she threw a round house, followed up quickly by an outward crescent kick, sending the vampire reeling. With a jump back kick, he crashed into a wall and crumbled to the floor. 'Don't go anywhere suga. I'll be right back.' As she turned back to the larger vampire, she saw he was already on his feet, and charging at her. Accepting his momentum as he hit her, Faith dropped and rolled onto her back. Posting one foot into the fast moving vamps' stomach, she sent him flying over her head, to crash into the wall just next to his friend. Marching over to the undead pile of limbs, Faith grabbed the biggest one by the shoulder and hauled him to his feet. 'I'm sure B would have some clever quip for ya' but I really just want you gone.' Saying that, she drew the pencil she'd gotten from Gracey earlier out of her pocket and rammed it home. She dimly heard Michaels' gasp of dismay, which turned into a yelp as the vamp turned to dust. Grabbing the second vamp, Faith staked him before he had chance to fight back.

Rolling her shoulders, she walked back to the others. 'Damn. Didn't even break a sweat. Those guys were newbies, and weak with it. Wolfram & Hart must be slipping.'

'Don't be too hard on them' Kate replied, smiling. 'The last vampire you fought was Angel. He is a bit different from your everyday blood sucker.' Taking in the stunned faces of the three lawyers, Kate's smile turned mischievous. 'I take it they didn't know?'

'No.' This is not going to be fun. 'Michael, Gracey? Are you okay? He just grazed the skin didn't he?' she stepped closer to examine the wound on Gracey's neck. 'Yeah. It's already stopped bleeding.'

'What the hell just happened?!' The words exploded out of Michael as his head swiveled between Faith and Kate. Victor had wrapped his arms around Gracey, and was hanging on like there was no tomorrow. 'What was that!?'

Seeing that Faith had started to look unsure of herself, Kate stepped forward. 'Councillor, my name is Kate Lockley.'

Michaels' wild eyes locked on Kate. 'You're the one who arrested her. You had Faith sent to jail for crimes she couldn't possibly….' Faith saw it in his eyes, the moment what he had just seen caught up with what he already he knew. His eyes, that had always been so warm and caring, turned cold. 'Explain.'

This is it. This is what I'm going to have to face everyday when people find out what I did. Shit. He cared about me. He cared about me and now he's wondering what to believe. No one said this redemption trip was easy though, so here goes… 'It's kind of a long story, and a lot of it's difficult to believe, even after what you've seen tonight. Shit, this is difficult. I don't even know where to start.'

'What just happened? How about you start with that?' Victor joined the conversation, his arms still tight around Grace. 'Because I gotta tell you, I had one glass of wine with my meal, and that ain't enough for me to start seeing vampires!! That's what those things were, wasn't it? And they seemed to know you Faith. And what the hell have Wolfram & Hart got to do with it? They're one of the oldest, most respected law firms in the city!' He took a breath, and lay his forehead on Gracey's. Angel used to do that, Faith suddenly remembered, with Buffy, after a big fight. Just for comfort, to physically feel that she was still whole.

Faith glanced at Kate, who nodded in support obviously a lot's changed there since we last met. Right now, I'm not going to question it. She looked a Michael, who gazed back implacably, and then over at Victor and Grace, who were still wrapped in each others arms, but now looking at her. She sighed. 'I'm a Vampire Slayer.'

Michael laughed. Faith couldn't decide if the noise came from disbelief or sheer amazement, but she figured that this was going to be a fairly long conversation, and that having it in a dark side street as not the best plan.

'I'm a Vampire Slayer. I promise I'll explain more, but can we please get in the car. This is a dangerous area.'

Victor snorted at this, whilst Michael mumbled sarcastically 'ya think?' Gracey dug in her bag for the car keys, and then bleeped the locks. Once the five of them were settled, with the central locking engaged, Michael once again turned his dispassionate gaze on Faith. 'We're in the car now, so talk.'

'Geez, where's a British guy when you need one.' She took a deep breath, trying to remember how Linda had explained all of this to her that first time, so long ago. 'Okay, the short version is earth didn't start as a paradise, like it says in the bible. The bible is way wrong. It started as hell, or at least, a hell. There are a few hell dimensions. Anyway, demons lived here, humans didn't. Eventually though, people came in, and chucked the demons out. One of the demons bit a human on the way out, mixing their blood, and creating vampires. As long as there have been vamps, there's been a Slayer, a Chosen One, given the speed and strength and yada yada yada to hunt the vampires, and demons, and save the world. I'm a Slayer.' She kept her gaze trained on Michael as she spoke. 'I told you I deserved to be in there.'

Michael blinked, and then asked 'so how much of what you told me before is true? Is any of it?'

'All of it's true. The only bit I lied about was when I was 16 and the system lost track of me. That's when I was called, and living with my first watcher.' Finally, Faith looked away, trying not to get dragged down by the memories of Linda. God, she'd be so disappointed in me. She shook her head. If she's watching, she'll see me change. I'll make her proud again. 'She was murdered, by a vampire, and I moved to Sunnydale. After that, it's pretty much as it says. The first guy I killed, it was an accident. Me and B, we were in a fight, the vamps just kept appearing. He grabbed my arm, B pulled him off and I went in with the stake. I can still hear her yelling, telling me NO, just as the stake goes into his chest. I knew as soon as it went in he was human, but it was already too late. I was scared, I was so scared and so angry. After that, well, they tried to save me, but I was determined to meet the darkness head on. I remember Angel telling me I could never imagine the price for true evil. He was right.'

'Who's B?' Gracey asked softly.

'B. B is Buffy Summers. She's another Slayer, the first person who ever really tried to reach out to me, to be my friend. She's not perfect, she's got her fault's has B. I think that was a lot of my problem. I kept seeing Buffy as perfect; Perfect Mom, perfect friends, perfect Watcher, perfect life. I think if I'd realized her life could suck on occasion, that she's made some fairly major mistakes, I wouldn't have felt the need to beat her at something, even if the only thing I could do better than her was be bad. Turned out I was wrong about that too. She stuck my own knife in me and pushed me off a roof. She put me in that coma. Yeah, B can be bad when she wants to be.' She glanced around the car, saw the astonished looks on the faces of the three lawyers. She grinned at Kate 'I didn't know how much of a kick it can be, telling someone for the first time. I don't think I've ever seen a lawyer speechless before!'

Michael finally managed to get his voice to work again 'She stabbed you and pushed you off a roof, and no one did anything about it? She just got away with it!'

He still cares. He's angry and he's confused, but he still cares. Faith felt a warm glow role through her. 'It's not like I didn't deserve it, I'd just shot her boyfriend with a poison arrow. Besides, they blew the high school the next day, during graduation, and I guess my case just got lost in the shuffle.'

Kate joined in the staring and choking at that revelation 'Blew up the high school!?'

Guess Angel didn't tell her about that one. Faith sighed 'Yeah. Long story. Big demon. It was necessary, trust me. Look guys, unless you wanna be here for a really long time, we don't have time for the history of the Scooby Gang. It's way too long.' As they were all staring at her, speechless, Faith figured she might as well continue. 'When I woke up, it was eight months later, and man was I pissed, so I went after Buffy and all her little friends.'

'You told me about this,' Michael interrupted 'You told me you had a fight with her and took something from her, and then slept with her boyfriend. Is that what really happened?'

'Oh yeah, that's all true. I told you Michael, I didn't lie to you, I just left the weirder bits out. You see, the thing I took from her was her body. The Mayor left me a little surprise, wanted me to go out with a bang I guess.' As Victor raised an eyebrow, Faith hurried to explain, 'The Mayor, Mayor Richard Wilkins of Sunnydale, was the current big bad. He was this psychotic, immortal demon guy who was obsessive compulsive about germs. He planned to become a demon of the first circle on graduation day. First circle demons are always huge, therefore the blowing up of the high school.' She paused, lost in the memories, 'He loved me though. He was crazy and he was a killer, but he loved me like a father. And he thought I was better than Buffy. I would have done anything for him. I knew he was evil, but there he was, telling me I was beautiful, in the way a father should, not the creepy way my step dad used to. He really meant it too. I would have died for him, but I couldn't, because I was in hospital, in a coma, because of Buffy. He became a fist circle demon, and she killed him. I knew he thought of me though, because he left me a tape, and a present. He recorded it after Buffy took me down, the night before graduation. All I had to do was get B to touch this thing whilst I was touching it, and our souls switched bodies. Man what a trip. It was weird though, it's true what they say, about walking in other peoples shoes. Hers weren't as comfortable as I thought they'd be… Anyway, somehow the Council found out I'd woken up, and sent some dudes after me. Of course, they got Buffy in my body, so while I was doing her toy soldier, the council were trying to kill her because they thought she was me. I don't think she was too happy about it all.'

'Wait a minute, Council? What are The Council?'

'You listen to all that Mikey, and the only thing you question is this Council?' Faith could hear the hysteria rising in Gracey's voice. Really, she's done pretty well to hold it together this long. Most people totally freak after their first vampire attack, she reflected. 'Look Faith, I don't know what those things were, but there's no such thing as magic or vampires or demons. I know you feel guilty about how you treated your friend, but you have to stop making this stuff up to comfort yourself –'

'Comfort myself?! Lady, there is very little that's comforting about my life.' Calm Faith, keep calm. 'Sorry… look, I know it's hard to believe. I know you're all trying to find some way for what you just saw not to be real, but that's not possible. All the stories you heard as a kid, all the monsters you knew were hiding in the darkness but told yourself weren't real… They are. Witches, vampires, werewolves, all that stuff, it's all real.'

'Look' Kate finally decided to join the conversation. 'I know it's hard to believe at first. Hell, I had a vampire standing in front of me, full fangs and yellow eyes, telling me it was true and I still didn't want to believe it. But it is true. All these things are out there, and a lot of them don't think of humans as anything more than their next meal. My father was killed by vampires. When the psychiatrists thought I was going nuts, when I got thrown off the force, it was because I'd finally started seeing the truth. All our lives we're trained on an unconscious level, not to see what's out there. Those who do know, work to keep it hidden. But once you know, you can't ignore it anymore. That's why Faith didn't tell you about any of this Councilor. Not because she didn't trust you, but because she wanted to protect you.'

Michael looked at Faith, and then out the window. Tiredly, he rubbed his hands over his eyes, then back at Faith. 'It's true, isn't? It's all true.'

'Yeah' Please don't hate me, please don't hate me, please don't hate me. I only did it to protect you. 'It's all true. What I've told you is true….and what I was accused of is true.'

'Why Faith? I understand the guilt now, the need to be punished. Why did you let us appeal?'

'Because they needed me' Faith answered with a shrug

'Who needed you?'

'The world.'

Silence greeted her answer. Although Kate had been aware of the battle between mankind and demons for two years, she tended to think of it only in terms of LA. Angel worked pretty much exclusively in L.A, and he was her frame of reference in these things. The lawyers were only just starting to get their heads round the idea that vampires existed. Battling to save the whole world was beyond anything they could conceive at that point.

'Cunningham, the guy who hired you? He works for The Council of Watchers. They're meant to train and assist the Slayers, although it doesn't always work like that. They're the ones paying all the bills. Well, after Buffy died, they figured they needed an active Slayer-'

'Buffy died? But I thought….'

'Buffy was dead for about 4 months, then she got better.' Taking in the goldfish impressions all around, Faith sighed. 'Death isn't always a permanent condition in my world. I'm not really sure how it happened, but there was some wicked powerful magicks flying around…. same as there is now actually. It's the same person too.' Faith fell silent, stretching out her Slayer senses. Subconsciously, she'd been aware of this building up all day, and the day before. She knew there was nothing she could do about it though. Whatever it was, it wasn't for her to handle. She decided to get back to the issue at hand. 'Anyhow, The Council decided they needed an experienced Slayer. The fight is going hard at the moment, and a new Slayer would likely just screw things up, otherwise they'd have killed me and activated the next Slayer. Believe me, it's happened before.' She added, to forestall any questions. 'The Council still don't know that B's back, and I wasn't gonna tell 'em, so they paid the bills and I get to go back to work.'

'That's it? You just go back to work. You forget everything that's happened?'

'I know what I did Michael. It's not something I'll ever be able to forget. But right now the Powers need all the help they can get, even if it's me. Fighting's the only thing I've ever been really good at, apart from being bad. I'm built for fighting, and I can help people. I know the road to redemption is long, and it's hard. You have no idea how hard it is, but I'm trying, and I've got people out here who understand, and can help me. I've helped saved the world before. That's gotta count for something?' Faith ended on a desperate sounding plea.

'One thing I don't think you understand Michael.' Kate touched his arm gently, 'for Faith, prison wasn't that hard. In prison, strength counts for everything, and Faith was stronger, faster, more resilient than any ten other people in there. She ruled that prison. The guards were sorry to see her go because she kept everyone in line. She stopped most of the bullying, the casual cruelties that are a part of prison life. I'm sure she hated not having her freedom, but the fact is, if Faith hadn't been sent to prison, she'd probably be dead by now. It's almost unheard of for a Slayer to survive past 25. If she survives her first year or so, her odds go up slightly, but the average Slayer is dead before she's old enough to drink in this country. In prison she faced human foes who couldn't possibly beat her, instead of the demons and monsters she is meant to fight.' Kate took a deep breath, and continued. 'When I arrested Faith, I hated her, and everything she represented. She was part of the same world that had killed my father. I wanted to destroy everything from that world. I hated it. If not for Angel, that hate would have destroyed me, and I'd've killed myself. Angel saved me, and I changed. I did a lot of thinking. One of the things I realized was that Faith being in prison was no good for anyone. I know some of the guards in that prison, and they told me what she was like in there. The life of a Slayer is deadly. They go out and fight the monsters every night. Faith knows what she's up against Michael. She knows that in going through with the appeal, she has pretty much signed her own death warrant. Whether she deserves to die for what she did,' Faith looked down, hunching her shoulders, and Kate laid her hand on her in support. 'That's not our call. But what she's doing now is the right thing. She's facing her past, and the people she hurt. She's doing it to try and save us all. She personally never harmed us, and like she said, she has helped save the world. Maybe if we help her, she can do it again.'

'Wow. Speechless again? This must be some kind of record!' Faith joked inanely. She was desperate for Michael to say something, although she feared horribly that he was going to condemn her. At the same time, she couldn't believe the things Kate had just said on her behalf. This is how Angel carries on, she mused, because sometimes you do get through. And they forgive you. A single tear ran down her face as she smiled tremulously at her 'thanks.'

Kate nodded in return. 'I've got faith in you. You don't prove me wrong, or I'll make you regret it.'

'I know.' Faith wasn't offended by this, strangely, it was kind of comforting. She was used to being threatened by authority figures. She understood it a lot better that she did Kate's support.

'You can drop me off at my car if you like. It's getting kind of late, and I'm sure you guys have a lot to think about.' Kate said briskly, changing the subject before either she or Faith could be overwhelmed by the emotions they were feeling.

'Wait a second. You can't just drop all that on us and then leave. Are you telling me that I got Faith out of jail so she can die?! That's not going to happen!!'

'No Michael. You got me out of jail so that I can live.' Faith put her hand on his arm, forcing him to meet her eyes. 'How can I work on my redemption when I'm locked in a cage? Being a Slayer means I was meant to die young, but I get to make a difference before I do. I get to live more in my few years than a lot of people do in a lifetime. I screwed up big time Michael. Being out here is the only way I can make it right.' Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. 'Please don't hate me, any of you? Just give me a chance okay? I promise I'll make you proud of me.'

The three lawyers looked at each other. Eventually, Michael spoke. 'This is…wow… I mean. I've just had my entire worldview turned on its head, and I have a feeling we only got the briefest outline. You always told me you were guilty of some really bad things Faith, I never believed you until now. Now I do.' Faith stiffened, waiting for the rejection she was sure was about to come. 'But you saved Gracey's life. How can I hate someone who saves my best friend's life. Your life is something I don't understand. From what you've told us tonight, I think your life would terrify me. I know now isn't the time, but at some point, I'd like you to sit down and tell me all about it. In the meantime, the offer still stands. We're all here for you whenever you need us.'

Some trick of Slayer strength and agility allowed Faith to throw herself at Michael through the gap between the front seats. She hugged him hard, and would have hung on longer if he hadn't started gasping for breath. 'Sorry. Slayer strength can be a bit of a problem when I'm this emotional. Thank you. Thank you so much. Now let's get out of here. You guys need some sleep, and I need to speak to Angel.'

They dropped Kate off at her car and watched her drive away, then Faith directed Michael to the Hyperion Hotel. She'd looked it up on a map when Angel first told her Angel Investigations had moved there.

She hugged Michael, and then Grace and Victor before she got out of the car. 'You might want to invest in some water guns with holy water in them, and a couple of crosses' she warned 'and don't invite anyone in after dark. Vampires can't come in unless they're invited. I know it sounds weird, but pretty soon it'll be second nature.'

'Faith, you've got all our cell numbers, right? And you promise you'll call in a couple of days, just to let us know you're okay?'

'And you'll come and see us soon?'

'And you'll call sooner if you need us?'

'I promise.' She paused. She was still getting used to this being nice to people shit. Not just being nice, but being honest. 'Thank you. I'll never be able to thank you enough for what you've done. Not just getting me out, but trusting me now that you know the truth.'

'Everyone's entitled to a second chance Faith' Michael smiled 'you keep saving the world, we'll call it even.' He couldn't get his head around how this scared little girl was meant to save the world, but somehow, he believed her, and he wanted to help her.

'Deal' Getting out of the car, Faith waved, and then turned, and started towards the Hyperion Hotel, and her redemption.

*****

Angel

Reappearing in the non physical realm, Cordelia glared at Skip 'what did you do that for?! We were getting somewhere, but there are so many ways that that lot could still screw up that touching reconciliation! I need to get back down there before Xander makes the lame crack that ends the world.'

'No Cordelia. As a Higher Being, all you can do is guide people, put things in their proper place. After that, you have to leave humans to do what they want.' He sighed. 'This whole free will thing's a bitch.'

'What? I do all that and then I just have to leave it all up to them! Do you have any idea of how many bad decisions they are capable of making? I mean, I know Buffy spent the night in a crypt, but even so….did you that outfit! Is she trying to remind us she was dead by still looking like it!'

'Calm down. Your involvement with that group isn't finished. Now you need to get some of the other players into the game though.' He paused; this was going to be tricky. 'It's important that you remember what you've become Cordelia. You aren't human anymore, and neither is your heart.'

'What does that mean?' Cordelia asked, slightly annoyed. 'Do I need to practice being all crypticie and unhelpful to anyone who's actually trying to do some good?'

Skip sighed 'No. We are trying to help you know. You'll start to understand just how much we help soon. You're one of us now. You have to bare that in mind, even when you don't want to.'

'What aren't you telling me Skip? Why the sudden pep talk?' She eyed him warily, where is he going with this? Why do I get the feeling the catch in this free lunch is about to make it's self known?

'It's not that bad Cordelia, really.' He smiled at her encouragingly.

She stared back at him, and suddenly did the non-corporeal equivalent of stamping her foot. 'No fair reading my mind. I can't read your mind – Hey, why can't I read your mind? If you can read my mind, why can't I read yours?'

'You are reading my mind Cordelia. We don't have mouths or ears up here. How else do you think we communicate? You don't have the experience to pick up anything other than the thoughts I'm directing at you. Give it time, and you'll be able to pick up whatever I'm thinking. We do try and be polite about it though, and not listen in on the really private stuff. Total honesty makes for a really uncomfortable work place!'

'Riiight. Okay Skip. Now you've sufficiently weirded me out, could we get back to the whole remember you're not human trip?'

'Sure. You're next assignment.'

'Uh huh?'

'It's Angel.'

'Oh.'

'Yeah. Oh. Look, I know you were in love with him, and he was in love with you, but the thing is, you aren't meant to be together. What you two feel for each other is based in comfort, and missing the one you are meant to be with. And the fact that you're both hot. He's meant for someone else down there, and you are meant for someone else up here.' He smiled gently. 'You already knew that though, didn't you? You knew it as soon as you saw Buffy.'

'I….yeah, I guess….I really did love him though. Do love him. Shit. I'm not going to change who I am because I've become I higher being. You can't tell me who to love.'

'I know that Cordelia, we wouldn't even try. But who do you know who's already been tested, made the ultimate sacrifice? Who loved you when you were human, even though he knew all your faults, and has loved you ever since?'

She stared at him, stunned. Hope filled her voice as she stretched out her senses, looking for some sign of him 'Doyle? Doyle's up here? Where is he? I want to see him!! Why can't I sense him?'

'He's on assignment right now. The job he's doing is really important, and he hasn't been told about you. If he had, he'd just blow it off and come and see you. He's in D.C, trying to sort out a couple of whacked out FBI agents. Anyway, if you get this job finished, maybe you can go and join him. Hell,' ha muttered to himself, 'they might have got themselves killed by then and he'll be back here with you.' He straightened, concentrating solely on Cordelia again. 'Right now, your priority is Angel. Find him, save him, sort him out, get the rest of the group together and get them all back to the Hellmouth. The relationships in your little group make the Medici look simple and straightforward.'

'That's it. Fix that group of emotional screw ups? Why don't you give me something simple for my first job, like, I don't know, world peace? Fixing the environment? Getting Britney Spears a decent wardrobe? That lot have done nothing but tie themselves in emotional knots for the last six years, and you just tell me to fix it!'

'Yeah. No one said it was going to be easy.' He paused and looked at her as if assessing her. 'They're your friends Cordelia, and the world needs them. They all need to be working together to be effective in the future.' Again, he paused. Cordelia got the feeling he was weighing how much to tell her. 'Your ascension was foretold, and your part in uniting the champions. You can do it, but not if you sit on your ass up here whining about it. Time's a'whasting. Get down there girl.'

'Fine. Thanks for the advice! It was really useful in a totally not at all way. If you're through with not telling me anything useful, just adding a whole heap of pressure, I'll go and find Angel… And I do love him. So there.' Great exit line Cordy, maybe you could blow a raspberry next!

There's nothing wrong with loving your friends Cordelia. And you can do this; no one doubts that except you.'

Cordelia just glared at him, then faded out. She tried focusing her senses while she was still fuming over what Skip had said, but found she couldn't see anything past her own anger, so she shunted it aside, calming herself so she could find Angel amongst the population of L.A. Think Yoda… fear, anger, hate, all dark sidey. Don't wanna go there. Okay, I'm calm. The Power's never told me anything simple before. Why should that change now? And I get to see Doyle again! Oh thank you thank you thank you. Okay Cordy, focus. Find Angel. Shouldn't be too difficult. Think big guilt and not Willow… Gotcha – Huh? What are you doing in the middle of the bay? I really hope part of this Higher being stuff is having water resistant hair!! Here goes!

Concentrating on Angel, Cordelia found her essence under about ten meters of water, and facing a big metal…coffin? Whatever. Explanations later, save Angel now. Reaching through the steel holding him, she wrapped her essence around him, and transported them both into the Hyperion's lobby.

'Cordelia?!! Wha-? Huh? I don't understan-, Conner! Oh my God. Cordelia! He thinks I killed him, but I didn't, I swear I didn't! I know you told me not to go, or to tell Conner, and I didn't, but I should have, and now – Oh God. I swear it wasn't me! You have to believe I didn't do it, but now he hates me even more –'

As Angels emotions were as confused as his words, Cordelia didn't have a clue what was going on. All she was getting from him was a messy swirl of pain and darkness and confusion. 'Wow there. Take a second Angel. I'm here to help, but I need to know what happened…and how did you end up at the bottom of the bay?'

He stared at her, finally taking in their surroundings, and the fact that Cordelia was glowing. 'What happened to you? How – how did we get here?'

'You know we arranged to meet at the cliff, and we were gonna have that talk and all that, and I didn't quite make it?'

'Actually, no. You were late, and then Connor pushed me off the cliff and electrocuted me. I never realized you didn't make it.' A horrible thought occurred to him. 'Are you dead? Did something happen to you because I wasn't there when you arrived?'

Sensing his habit of blaming himself for things that he couldn't possibly control kicking in, Cordelia answered him quickly. 'Not everything revolves around you, you know. I was on my way to meet you, when time stopped.'

'What?'

'Don't interrupt, okay? So, yeah, time stopped and Skip appeared. Long story short?' Angel nodded 'The PTB gave me a promotion. Cause of the visions and everything, I'm a Higher Being now. And for my first job, I get to sort out you lot. Good thing I never asked for an easy life!'

'Wait a minute.' Angel was struggling to get his head round what Cordelia had just told him. 'You're a Higher Being now?'

'Uh huh'

'And you have even more powers?'

'Uh huh'

'And you're here to help all of us?'

'That was quite the recap. Do you think we could move this conversation forward now?'

'Sure. Sorry. So, how are you here to help us?'

'Well, I've just been to Sunnydale, and started things off. They're all…not dead. Things are kind of screwed up at the moment, but with my help, it's getting sorted.' At Angels raised eyebrow, Cordelia became indignant. 'What, you think I couldn't help the all powerful Scooby Gang! They're screwed up even worse than we are! Wes might've stolen Conner, but at least he didn't try and end the world! And I fixed the Magic Box, and Giles! I – ' She paused. An idea flickered in the back of her mind. It was important, she knew, but she couldn't quite grasp it. '- That's not important now. What's important is you. Tell me what happened with Conner.' She could have just taken the information from his mind, but Angel needed to talk about it, or he'd go into major brood mode. Also, all the emotions whizzing around him, including those of the demon inside him, were making her nauseous.

He let Cordelia lead him over to the couch, and collapsed onto it. Everything that had happened was chasing round in his mind. He just couldn't get a handle on everything that had happened. 'He was waiting for me, on the cliff where we were supposed to meet. All the stuff I taught him, the fighting, he used it against me. He pushed me down the cliff, and we fought more on the beech, but he had a tazor. Eventually he knocked me out with it.' He clenched and unclenched his fists as he spoke, still unable to believe what had happened. He'd thought he was finally getting through to his son, making some sort of connection. Oh God.

Cordelia took both of his hands in hers, holding them gently. She felt the tickle of that idea again, but it was gone before she could work out what it was. 'Go on.'

'When I came too, I was already in the box. He was nailing me in, and Justine was there too. He told me I'd murdered his father, and now I'd have eternity to think about what I'd done. But I didn't do it Cordy. I swear to you, the last time I saw Holtz, he was alive, and he wanted Conner to be with me. He said so. I couldn't convince him. I tried, but I couldn't make him believe that I love him, and for that reason alone, I would never hurt Holtz.'

Angel's conversation was erratic, jumping from subject to subject with out any indication of who or when. Without the whole soul reading thing, I'd have no clue what he was talking about. The idea came again, brushing the edges of her conscious mind, but not letting her grab onto it. Still holding Angels hands, she sighed, then glared at the ceiling. 'If you want me to do something, just tell me already!! Enough with the cryptic. I'm one of you now, remember!?'

Cordy's angry conversation with the ceiling brought Angel back to reality. 'Cordy? Who are you talking to? Because we sealed the rift to the Kurtogh you know.'

'The Powers are trying to tell me something, except they're not actually telling me. It's more like “We know something you don't know, and you've got to guess what it is” Aargghh! You'd think they could just tell me!'

Skip appeared suddenly. Not the usual slow glow to reality, more like a flash, then there he was.

'Nice entrance. Needed a puff of smoke though.' Cordelia glared at him as she got to her feet, and then stalked towards him. 'What's going on? If it's so important to the Powers that I help this lot, why the cryptic? Why not just tell me what I need to do?'

'Because you have to learn to think like one of us.' He nodded to Angel, who nodded back. 'Hey.' Turning back to Cordelia, he continued 'you're not human anymore. You have to stop thinking like one. There's something you can do, right here, right now, which will go a long way to sorting this group out. Also, it puts an end to all sorts of bad ideas people have planned for Angel here.' As Cordelia continued to stare at him, none the wiser, Skip shrugged. 'Already said more than I should of. You gotta figure this one out by yourself. I'm outta here.' With that, he flashed out.

They were left staring at each other. After so many years, neither of them could believe that what Skip had not at all subtly hinted was that easy.

Angel spoke first 'it couldn't be that easy. No way. He must have meant something else, right?' He stared at the floor, afraid to let Cordelia see the hope in his eyes. Of course, she could sense it from him, but his thought process was well below realizing that. 'No. He had to mean something else. I mean, I know it says that I'll have my shanshu eventually, but I've got so much more to make up for first…last year…'

Cordelia looked at him, really looked with all her new senses. 'No.'

'What?'

'No. You don't have anything to make up for.' Angel looked at her like she was insane, so she tried to explain what she had seen when she looked at hard at his soul. 'Your soul didn't do anything wrong. Sure, your body did some really horrible things, but not when the soul was in charge.' As Angel's expression hadn't changed, Cordelia tried a different tack. 'Look, who do you blame if there's a car crash, the car or the driver? Your body is like the car, and either your soul or the demon is the driver. Your body doesn't have control over what it does. If Fred crashed Gunn's truck, we wouldn't blame Gunn, just because his name's on the owners papers.'

'Then why was I told I had to find redemption? Why did Whistler find me and show me Buffy? Why…' he gestured around him 'all of this?'

'Because of the guilt.'

'What! I thought you just said I wasn't guilty! I'm the car?'

'Not the guilt you should feel, the guilt you DO feel. See, when the gypsies cursed you, and you - you the soul you – came back, the first thing you were told was that you should feel guilty for everything your body had done, when you weren't in it. All the memories came back, and the only thing the soul understood was that it should feel guilty. It had the memories of what it's – your body had done, so it felt guilty. People have been unable to tell the difference between you and the demon, and he still lives inside you. You have to fight him everyday. I can see that now. You have to fight for redemption, not because the Powers need it, but because your soul needs it. Your soul has been tortured for so long; the only way it will ever rest is if it atones for the crimes done by its body when it wasn't in residence. Unless I can convince you it really wasn't your fault. It wasn't. I believe that. I can literally see the truth of that now. When I look in you, I can see your soul. It's different from most of the souls I've seen. Admittedly, I've not seen that many, but I have seen one. One that matches your soul completely. They're not the same exactly, but they belong together. The darkness and the light, the fear and the courage in your soul, belong totally with only one other, and oh my God I can't believe I'm saying this. You were right. Buffy Summers is your one true love. Your souls match up in a way that I think doesn't happen very often.'

Angel was feeling pretty much every emotion possible at this moment. Cordelia had to do the sixth sense equivalent of sticking her fingers in her ears and screwing her eyes shut so she didn't get washed away by all that emotion. 'So you're saying that I should never have left her? That all of this –' He made a sweeping gesture with his arm, indicating the Hyperion, and the offices of Angel Investigations, which is what Cordy figured he actually meant '- is wrong! No I don't accept that! Look how many people we've saved Cordy. This isn't wrong. It hurt like hell, literally, and still does, but it can't be wrong. It can't be.'

'No, it's not. That's not what I meant. You were right to leave her, and Sunnydale, when you did. The reminders of the past, and the guilt there were always too close. She was to close. You never could have stayed away from her, and you always would have been in her shadow. Hell, if you hadn't come to L.A, I'd be dead, Wes'd still be dressing in leathers, which is a fate worse than death. Fred'd still be in Pylia. God knows where Gunn would be. You had to come here. You've changed so much. You've become so much more confident. You smile now, you laugh. You used to brood. That was pretty much it.' She smiled at him, proud of what he had done, and of knowing that she had helped. 'You had her on a pedestal before. That wasn't healthy, for either of you. Now you can meet her on equal ground. You're destined for each other.' She could feel his happiness, his fear, and she caught another whiff of guilt, this time directed at her. 'Oh please. You think you broke my heart!? Ha. I love you Angel, I really do. But can you really imagine us together? As someone explained to me recently, it was familiarity and comfort between us, not true love. We're both destined to be with someone else, and we both know who they are.'

'I'm sorry. You were just always there… You were safe.'

'You were the same. I guess I knew subconsciously that Gru wasn't the one, so I turned to you as an escape route.'

'Wait a minute, if not Gru, then who? Who are you destined to be with?'

She grinned at him, then answered simply 'Doyle.' Before Angel could ask any of the questions that were swirling in his mind, she said 'We can do Q and A later first, let's get you sorted so we can move on. This may take a while.' She said as she placed her hands on the sides of his head, the heels of her hands running along his jaw, her thumbs just below his eyes. 'Also, I have no idea how I'm gonna do this.' She started to glow brighter.

'Wha-' Angel tried to step away from her, but she hung on, and the glow intensified slowly, until the room was filled with light so bright it was like looking at the sun.

As the light finally dimmed, Angel was on his knees in front of Cordy, his hands clamped over hers. When she let him go, he slumped down, letting his head touch the floor.

'Angel?' Cordy asked hesitantly. She wasn't sure if what she had tried to do had worked. 'Angel? Can you hear me?'

Slowly, he managed to push himself into a sitting position. As soon as she could actually look at him, she could see it had all worked perfectly. She let out a sigh of relief. 'What did you do Cordy?' He stared at her, filled with awe. He could feel his heart beating again, racing, thudding, pounding. Holy Jesus. 'What did you do?'

'Well, I remembered when you told us about getting the Oracles to turn back time, so I knew I couldn't make you normal human. Besides, even though you don't have anything to atone for, you have way too many enemies, not thinking of any demon law firms in particular, to just become a regular human. I'm not sure I could give you any new powers, so I concentrated on letting you keep the old ones.'

Angel nodded. 'With you so far.'

'Okay, so. The only thing keeping you well, undead, was the demon. I had to keep part of the demon, or your body would turn to dust while I was changing you. So, I took the strength, the healing, the eyesight, the hearing and the memories, and I kept them as part of you, while I got rid of the rest. Outcome is you're human, mortal, but with super powers. Kind of like a male Slayer in fact.

'Why did you make me keep the memories? I mean, thank you, this is….amazing. Unbelievable. I could never thank you for this. But why do I have to remember what I did?'

The pain in his voice defused a lot of Cordelia's annoyance at him. 'You have to remember. Do you think you'd be able to fight so hard if you didn't remember just how much evil there is in the heart of a vampire? What would you do if you were faced with someone from your past, but you didn't know who they were? Wh