Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They all belong to the creator, Joss Whedon, and anyone else who owns rights to them. This is just for fun, no harm intended. The title was borrowed from the song "I Still Do" by the Cranberries. It will be used later on in the story. I don't own that either.
Distribution: My website, http://gethzerion.tripod.com, and anyone else who wants it, just let me know where it's going.
Author's Notes: My version of a season finale crossover. I believe "I Will Remember You" didn't happen for nothing. There's a reason behind it, and this is how I think it should go. Enjoy!
******
"More will come!"
"Together, you are powerful. Apart, you will fall..."
Angel sat up in bed, metaphorically breathing heavily. He pressed his hands against his face, trying think. For the third time that week, he had had the same dream. Or, more accurately, the same memory. He knew that he had not given up his humanity for nothing. There was definitely something going on when the Mohra demon had warned him of the End of Days.
Just six months ago, when Buffy had visited the first time around in November, they had fought the Mohra demon, he had gained his humanity, and he had given it up the next day because he knew that as a human he could do nothing. And he could most definitely not stay human if the cost would be lives of people. So he had spoken to the Oracles and they had taken back the day.
It never happened.
Simply thinking about it was hard. But he couldn't dwell on that. He had to make sure he had done what was right. Now it was up to him, Cordelia, and Wesley to figure out just why he was suddenly having "prophetic" dreams. Or maybe it was nothing. He figured he shouldn't panic until Cordelia actually got the visions.
Getting out of bed, he pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt, and stepped on to the elevator to talk to Cordelia, who was at the office.
******
"More will come!"
Cordelia Chase grabbed the edge of the desk and slowly dragged herself up. With a groan, she reached for the drawer to get some aspirin. God, did she hate those mind-splitting headaches that accompanied the visions.
She looked up just in time to find her boss entering the room with a troubled expression. He glanced at her briefly.
"Morning," he muttered as he reached for the days old coffee.
"'Hello, Cordy, how are you this fine morning?'" Cordelia said sarcastically. "'Why thank you for asking, Angel, I'm feeling okay, except for these stupid migraines that I get every time I get a stupid vision!'"
Angel blinked and looked at her. "You had a vision?"
"That's what I said..."
"What did you see?"
Cordelia sighed and sat down. "Some army of demons with a jewel on their foreheads, very nice, by the way, and these winged things that totally creeped me out..."
"Jewel on their forehead?" Angel interrupted. "Mohra?"
"Uh, right," Cordelia replied, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "'Cause you know how well I know these things..."
Angel shook his head. "What else?"
"I got this feeling of... I dunno, like they were expecting more or something. Way creepy."
Looking thoughtful, Angel lifted a hand to touch his chin. So much for thinking his dream meant nothing. "Anything else?" he asked.
Cordelia rolled her eyes and stood up, opening the refrigerator door and grabbing a glass of water to swallow the aspirin. "I don't know! It's not like these visions come with surround sound and DVD quality, you know. It's all really blurry and confusing, and, have I mentioned how much I hate Doyle for this?"
She sighed. "No, I don't. I'm sorry..."
Angel put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Any idea where the army was headed?"
Cordelia looked thoughtful for several moments. "Come to think of it, it kinda did remind me of Sunnydale, but I don't think..."
"I'm not going back to Sunnydale."
Cordelia shrugged. "No one's asking you to," she muttered.
Angel nodded. "Good."
******
"More will come!"
Buffy's eyes snapped open and she sat up straight in bed. Where did that come from? She knew that as a Slayer she had prophetic dreams, but that had just been weird. Angel human for a day... well, she couldn't say she hadn't dreamt of that three thousand times, but the rest of it, it had seemed too real. The part that had mostly gotten to her was where the demons told her that it wasn't the end.
Shaking it off, she glanced at her bedside clock and realized it was time to get up. She glanced at Willow and moved to wake her up.
"Will," she whispered.
"Hmm?" came the moaned reply.
"We have class in half an hour."
Willow opened her eyes and blinked a little. "Psych?"
Buffy nodded. "Yup, come on."
With a grin, Willow threw off the covers and walked over to Buffy. "You're just exited 'cause you get to see Riley."
"Maybe," Buffy answered with a sly grin. "But it's not like I don't see him every other minute of the day."
Willow laughed and walked to the bathroom. "So," she said absently, "what were you dreaming about last night?"
Frowning, Buffy glanced at the door to which Willow had just disappeared to. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," came the slightly muffled reply, "I heard you tossing and turning a bit. You were actually sweating."
The blush that graced Buffy's face could not be helped. She couldn't remember the details, but it was definitely not something she wanted Willow to know about. "I was?"
"Hmm, hmm," Willow answered. "Something about Riley?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Not everything is about Riley, Will."
Willow appeared at the door again, holding a long skirt and a shirt together. "Does this look okay?"
"Sure," Buffy said with a shrug.
Willow smiled and walked over to her bed to start changing. "Well, lately it has been. Just like everything used to be about... uh, slaying."
Buffy knew that Willow had been about to say Angel, but she chose not to comment on it. "You really think I've been spending too much time with him?"
"Riley?" At Buffy's nod, Willow shrugged. "I guess. I mean, we don't really spend as much time together as we used to. Not that there's anything wrong with you wanting to spend time with your boyfriend, but..."
"It's okay, Will," Buffy said with a sigh. "I guess maybe I have been 'over spending' time with him. It's just that normal relationships like this don't come everyday. Or semi-normal, anyway."
Willow grinned. "That's okay, Buff. So, about that dream?"
Buffy tossed her pillow at Willow and then headed for the bathroom. "None of your business, thank you very much. It was nothing..."
******
"More will come," Giles repeated.
"That's what they said," Buffy answered. "Or he, or it, or whatever."
"Hmmm..."
"I don't like that 'hmmm,'" Buffy said. "When you go 'hmmm' it means that there's something wrong and I don't like wrong. I like right."
"And you thought it meant something?" Giles asked, ignoring Buffy's comment.
Buffy shrugged and shifted her weight in the chair. "I guess. I mean, that wasn't really a normal dream..."
"And what exactly is a, uh, normal dream?" Giles questioned.
A small pout formed on her lips and she shook her head. "Nothing you wanna know about."
"Uh, yes, well." Giles cleared his throat. "I suppose we will have to look into this. It, it could refer to a multitude of things. A new demon, or a new master, or perhaps an Apocalypse, End of Days..."
"End of Days?" Buffy interrupted. "Not liking the sound of that. Though actually, now that I think about it, he kinda mentioned something about that."
"End of Days?"
Buffy nodded. "Even my dreams come fully equipped with doom and gloom."
"Buffy, I am afraid this is, um, quite serious."
"Right," she answered. "So, you go research, and I go to class." She glanced at her watch. "Which is in ten minutes. Bye."
With that, she picked up her purse and headed out the door. Giles was left to ponder her words.
End of Days.
Now.
Not exactly something he would look forward to. With a sigh, he picked up a nearby book and got to start research. Indeed, a normal day in the Hellmouth.