The room stood silent. No one moved, no one even dared to breathe. Buffy repeated, “I can’t,” in a whisper so forlorn it broke all their hearts.

Giles finally stepped forward. “Are you sure?” he asked, “They told you…they told you that…”

Angel fought for words. “The Oracles said that we would meet under the moon, form a circle, and Buffy and I would fight. One would die.” He returned his eyes to Buffy’s face. He placed both hands on the sides of her tearstained face. “But if you win, if you can defeat the demon, I’m mortal.”

This time his words were greeted with gasps from all around.

“Angel,” Cordy said, taking a step forward. “Human?” she asked him softly.

He nodded. “Buffy,” he said tenderly, ”…you have to remember that. You’ve defeated Angelus before. You can do it again.”

She threw his hands down. “You don’t know what you’re saying! You don’t know what you’re asking me to do!” she cried. “I can’t kill you again. I won’t.” She pushed away from him, turning her back to his fallen face.

Willow stepped forward. “I don’t understand. How can you become human if she kills you?”

“The Oracles said we would be surrounded by a circle of love, by you,” he said, indicating the group, “and we would fight. If Buffy wins the demon is defeated. They said I will Become. I…I don’t know exactly how. They said it was written.”

“Written where?” Cordelia exclaimed, throwing her hands up. “Things are always written. We have got to get this book.”

“And if Angelus wins?” Wesley asked, dreading the answer.

“They said I will Become. Chaos will reign.”

“’It is written, you will Become,’” Xander mimicked. “Become what? Cryptic little higher beings, aren’t they?”

“Become,” Giles said, amazed, “It means to transfer, to move to a higher level, to ascend…generally to become more powerful. Angel will either ascend to human status or the demon will be all-consuming.”

“That’s one heavily tipped scale,” Oz muttered.

“And none of this is gonna go down until tomorrow night?” Gunn asked, taking Cordy’s hand. Her face had gone ashen.

“Under the moon,” Buffy said, her back to them.

Willow walked over to her. “Buffy?” she asked, wringing her hands. “Isn’t this a good thing? Angel will be human.”

“If I can beat him. He almost killed me last time. And we don’t even know how I’m supposed to do this. What happens to Angel if I do win? More centuries in Hell before he’s returned? And how is he even brought forth? When do we form the circle? And where? And--”

Xander cut her off by pulling her into his arms. “Buffy, we’ll figure it out,” he told her, stroking her hair. “We still have a day and a half to work on this and no one is going anywhere. But you can’t fall apart on us now, no matter how much you deserve to.”

He held her for a moment and she clung to him in turn before pulling back and wiping at her tear-stained face. Kissing him on the cheek they shared an intimate smile before she moved to Angel and held out her hand to him. Angel took it in his own, squeezing it gently.

"Let's get out of here," Buffy suggested wearily.

“Fine by me. There are still giant snake parts all over. Don’t these things recycle, you know, ‘return to the earth?’” Cordelia said, walking to the doorway.

“Oh, right. This is where the Mayor or whoever turned himself into a snake to end the world,” Gunn said, catching on.

“And then he got all blowed up by Buffy and several thousand pounds of TNT,” Xander answered him. “It was really cool.”

“I thought your favorite part was when the Mayor ate Principal Snyder,” Willow asked as they walked down the hall.

Xander smiled, his eyes dreamy. “Yeah, I still replay that part in my mind sometimes.”

Oz looked at him strangely. “You’ve got some issues to work out, don’t you?”

“A few, yeah.”

They entered the sewer system and began the short walk back to the Magic Box. Buffy and Angel were silent. Giles watched her carefully, concerned, as Wesley watched Angel. Ahead, the rest talked quietly to one another. “I don’t think we can stop this from happening,” Giles admitted to Wesley.

Wesley pondered this. “No, I don’t suppose we can. It’s in the hands of higher powers. They’re the ones calling the shots now,” he said grudgingly.

“I don’t know how to tell her,” the Watcher admitted, casting an eye on the petite blonde walking slowly ahead of them.

“I think she already knows, Rupert. As does Angel. The important thing now is to make sure that Buffy can hold it together long enough to see this through. If she falls apart…we don’t stand a chance.” Giles nodded in agreement.

Buffy and Angel walked side by side. “I can’t believe this,” she said.

Angel shook his head. “Me neither.” He looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Are you okay with all this? I mean, I know it’s a lot to absorb. I’ve had 250-odd years to think about dying, about redemption.”

“I wouldn’t use the word ‘okay,’” she said, sighing. She stepped to the side to avoid a dead rat. “Completely thrown. That about sums it up.”

“Can you do it?” he asked softly.

“Kill you?” she said, her tone off-hand. “Sure, no problem. Been there done that.”

“I’m serious,” he said. “You know you have to. I’m sorry, I know this is hard, but think of the consequences if you don’t do it.”

She snorted. “I wouldn’t use the simple word ‘hard,’ either. I just want to understand. Why does it have to go down like this? Why violently? Why can’t they just *poof* you’re human? I mean, is that beneath them? The equivalent to parlor tricks in their world?”

“I guess because I’m paying for my sins."

"And me?" she asked. "What am I paying for?"

His heart broke with her words. "I don’t know. I don’t know why you have to be involved in this,” he said, then apologized quickly. “I didn’t mean it that way, I want you involved, I just don’t want you to have to suffer, again.”

With a heavy sigh she touched his cheek, resolve sneaking its way into her eyes. "Loving you is worth anything, Angel. We'll find a way, I promise."

They reached the ladder that would take them to street level, to the alley behind the shop. One by one they climbed up and walked into the store, once again taking seats at the large round table. Cordelia was the first to walk in and she headed straight for the coffeepot. Wesley threw a pained expression at Giles, who hurried over to help her brew.

Cordelia stopped suddenly. “Uh, guys?” They all turned to her. “Who’s that?”

Sitting at the top of the alcove stairs sat a man, wearing a suit with a loud shirt underneath and leather fedora sat on top his head. He smiled, winked.

Angel and Buffy moved forward to get a better look. “I know you,” Buffy said, confused. “You’re Whistler.”

Angel looked at her in surprise. “How do you know him?” he asked.

“Cutie and I have met before. You weren’t there,” he said to Angel, walking down the steps. “You were off with psycho-girl and that vampire friend of hers trying to end the world.”

“Who?” Angel asked.

“Faith?” Willow guessed.

“Darla?” came from Cordy.

“Drusilla,” Buffy corrected them. “When you were trying to wake up Acathla,” she explained to Angel. “We…talked.”

Whistler raised his eyebrows and looked from Angel to Buffy. “You got that kinda record with women and you let this one go? I’ll never understand you, Angel,” he said, shaking his head. “Well, let me get a look at ya. You certainly smell better than the last time I saw you.”

“Exactly what kind of relationship did you two have?” Buffy asked, looking from Whistler to Angel.

“Angel and I go way back. When was that? 1996…Manhattan, I believe.”

“You lived in New York?” Cordy asked, impressed. “Did you ever stay put?”

Angel ignored her. Whistler continued. “Angel here was living the high life…on Skid Row. Eating a rat once a year, if he could even scrounge that up. God, the smell…it’s with me to this day. Luckily, I was asked to intervene.”

Buffy turned to Angel, amazed at this bit of information. “That’s enough,” Angel said menacingly, “Why are you here?”

Whistler smiled, biting down on his toothpick. “You need me.”

“For what?” Angel asked.

“’Cause you guys have a rough time ahead. Need a little extra guidance.”

“The Powers wouldn’t tell us anything concrete, and twenty minutes later you’re here?” Buffy asked suspiciously.

“Let’s just say that the Sister has a thing for romance. For love. She sent me.”

Anya’s eyes lit up. “Oohh! Tell her Anyaka says “hi” next time you talk to her. She’ll remember me.”

Xander raised his hand. “Um. Hi... What’s going on? What’s with the Fandango Kid? The Powers That Be have their own pimp?”

“Hey!” Whistler said, offended. “Lay off the clothes. Sheesh,” he said, straightening the collar on his jacket. “I’m another connection to the Powers That Be. Sent here to help you all figure out what to do with this Angelus thing. But if you don’t want me here…” he said and started to walk away.

Buffy moved and blocked him from leaving.

“How can you help us?” Giles asked.

“Slayer,” he said to Buffy. “I told you once that in the end, all you have is yourself, remember that?” She nodded. “Well, way to prove me wrong.”

Buffy looked confused. “What?”

“As it turns out, you need something else. You need Angel.”

She said nothing, not sure how literally he was talking.

Whistler turned to Angel. “That goes for you, too, champion,” he said, rolling his eyes. “A long time ago I showed you something, something that made you want to change that life you were living, if you can call it that, to fight the good fight. To become someone. Remember?”

Angel’s eyes flickered with annoyance.

“Good, you do. So you travel here, to a Hellmouth, to the Hellmouth, actually, and you start fighting along side a brand new Slayer. She’s fresh, she’s exciting, and she’s just in from LA. Eventually you two become friends. Then you become super-good friends and things go to Hell. That wasn’t supposed to happen. You were supposed to be there to stop Acathla from coming forth, not to play the key role in his awakening.”

“There a point to this story?” Angel asked, jaw clenched.

“Yeah, there’s a point,” he said sincerely. “You changed destiny. Destiny has more than one road, but with this one little detail, you managed to change most of the important factors in your life. In both your lives.”

“What are you talking about?” Buffy broke in.

“I told you then: It wasn’t supposed to go down like this. No one saw you coming. You and Angel were supposed to work together to stop the Looneybin and Peg or Stake or whatever his name is from awakening Acathla. Instead, well…you know what happened.”

“It’s Spike,” Anya corrected him helpfully.

“So Buffy and I were together and we changed history. What does that mean?” Angel asked.

“It means that destiny is working to restore the natural order of things. You were supposed to stop the apocalypse, Angel. It would have proven you’re worthy. Instead, you got yourself sent to Hell and our side lost an air-quote ‘warrior.’”

I’m not worthy…Angel’s words from the day before echoed in Buffy’s ears. “Angel would have been worthy?” she asked, stricken.

“But I was returned from Hell. The Oracles told me I was here to help people. That I wouldn’t be redeemed until I had atoned for my sins.” Angel’s voice was flat, his heart ached at what he had lost.

Whistler nodded and began pacing the shop floor. “We needed you. The Sister…I told you. She’s got this hankering to see the two of you work out your issues. She pointed out to the Powers that your turning wasn’t your fault, you didn’t know what could change you, had no way of stopping it. They relented, under the condition that Fate worked to fix this mess.” He paused and looked at Angel meaningfully. “And they were impressed with what you gave up later on, for her.”

Buffy looked from Whistler to Angel. “What? Gave up what? What’s he talking about?”

Angel glanced at her and cursed Whistler’s existence. Before he could say anything the demon messenger spoke up. “Well, Fate’s been putting in overtime on this one. It’s time. Tomorrow night. You get your second chance.” He paused dramatically. “Are you ready for it?”

“Ready for it?” Buffy cried. “We don’t even know what’s going to happen.”

Giles, seated at the table with everyone else, cut in. “Angel and Buffy were supposed to fight side by side…you came here only to help her? I always assumed…well, assumed you were here on your own,” he said to Angel gently.

Angel looked away, avoiding Buffy’s eyes.

“It was Buffy that Whistler showed you, wasn’t it?” Wesley asked. “That made you want to become someone. LA. 1996. You said you saw her Called. It all fits.”

Angel said nothing.

“So you came here, to Sunnydale, to be with her, to help her. You didn’t even know her…you’d never even talked to her…” Willow said, touched.

“You worked together, killed the Master, fought the big bads…and then you became the big bad…” Cordelia said as they all pieced together the story. “You know, you’ve Become a lot of stuff,” she told him.

“Then you get sent to Hell and returned here all Dark Avengery. But it doesn’t work, because you changed the way things were supposed to be. You and Buffy couldn’t work because too many factors had been changed. So you left,” Xander followed up.

“Bu-but you can’t stop thinking about each other, even after all these years, your paths always manage to cross, because if destiny hadn’t been altered you two would be together now!” Willow cried gleefully.

“And now, years later, you’re here, back to where it was supposed to take place, back to the beginning!” Wesley said excitedly. “Back to the beginning of your teaming up with Buffy.”

“See!” Gunn shouted, slamming a fist down onto the table. “I was right! It’s all about the two of them.”

The group sat around happily, pleased they had solved some of the puzzle. Buffy and Angel stared at them, stunned.

Whistler rolled his eyes. “You guys are quick, let me tell ya,” he said sarcastically. He turned to Angel. “Did you think it was just a big coincidence that you were contacted by the Powers days before blondie was Called? You two were a set from the beginning. This has been in the works since your soul was restored. The Powers were just biding time until she was ready,” he said, indicating Buffy. “And born for that matter. They just didn’t factor love into it.”

Slowly, Buffy turned to Whistler. “So what does this mean? What are we supposed to do?”

“Sorry, kiddo. It’s up to you two from here on out. You’ll know what to do when it happens. If you do it right, destiny will be rerouted. If you don’t, well, I’ve never seen the Powers give a guy a third chance.”

“You can’t even tell us about the spell?” she asked.

“Spell?”

She sighed. “The spell that gets us all in the circle.”

He shook his head. “Can’t, sorry. Probably already said more than I’m supposed to. You guys are smart. You’ll figure it out. You got this far, right? I’m just here to give you some extra incentive.” He turned to Angel. “You’ve done this before. You’ve pushed Angelus down. I just hope you can do it again.” He turned from them and walked to the door. Opening it, he looked back once again to the ten people staring after him. “Make it right.”

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Chapter Nine: The Visionary and The Weapon