THE KEY’S VESSEL by Kiara

There’s quite a lot of this taken from the Angel S5 episode ‘Origin’. I got the scrip from Twiz TV.

Deliver Me From Evil by Kiara

PART SIX C- ONE DAY, PART 3 aka- the Day that never ends

6:24pm/ 10:24am, 30th December

Harmony handed a pile of folders to Wesley. “These are everything the clerk had on Vail and this…” she stepped aside to reveal Illyria standing next to her, “was down wandering around human resources.”

“Spike is resting.” Illyria intoned.

“Thank you, Harmony.”

Harmony left, leaving an ancient God king, lime green demon and former-watcher in the office. It was an odd crowd, but certainly not the oddest Wolfram and Hart had seen. The trio sat in Wes’ office, a dim glow illuminating from a lamp on the desk. The atmosphere was tense, as it had been for most of the day. It had taken a long time for the former- Angel Investigations crew to come to terms with the new dynamic of working at Wolfram and Hart. They had a boss other than Angel in ‘the partners’, one that kept secret and played to its own agenda. It affected all of them in one way or another, they weren’t as close as they once were and, in a way, they were like mini-celebrities. People whispered and pointed as they walked the halls, they each had several underlings to do the menial tasks they used to do themselves. Now Angel was acting differently, even more so than usual. He was keeping something from them, and treating them like common employees. Wes didn’t like it.

Lorne read through one of the files. “Here we go. Vail listings under ‘accounts paid’.”

“Wolfram and Hart did business with him?”

“Yeah. Looks like he was one of their go-to warlocks when it came to the magical mojo. Specialized in memory reconstructing, mind control, temporal shifts… Oh boy, you could buy Bolivia for what we paid him on this one.”

Wes took the folder and scanned its contents, a knot growing in the pit of his stomach. He just knew he was onto something now. “Not just him. He supervised some of the most powerful sorcerers on the west coast.”

“Manpower like that, I’m guessing he wasn’t doing card tricks.”

“Some sort of temporal shift,” Wes mused, “and it- Oh…”

“What?” Lorne took the folder back as Wes broke off; looking to find what had stopped him in his tracks. “It happened on the day we took over Wolfram and Hart.”

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7:14pm/ 11:14pm, 30th December

“He wants me to kill somebody!?” Connor exclaimed, but he reconciled with the idea quicker than the average person might have. Connor wasn’t average. Connor happened to have a father who began teaching him unforgivable curses before he’d mastered a levitation charm. Lucius had been grooming him as a Death Eater, a murderer, since birth.

“A demon named Sahjahn. We’ve fought him before.” Angel moved round the other side of his desk, getting closer to Connor to see his reactions.

“Why me? Why do I have to do it?” Was Lucius testing him?

“Because you’re special.” Angel said gently. “There’s a prophecy that says you’re the only one who can kill him”

Wes frowned. Surely Angel could not be considering this? “Why are we even entertaining this?”

“Vail’s made some convincing threats.” No one missed the glance Angel sent Connor.

“He’s threatening my family, my brother, right?” Connor said dully. As awful as it sounded, threats against his parents didn’t bother him even half as much as threats against his brother.

Wes shook his head. “We can't trust anything from Vail. Angel, he did a massive spell the day we took over Wolfram & Hart. Until we understand why-”

“-Is he pretty strong, this Sahjahn?” Connor interrupted.

“That’s a bit of an understatement.” Wes said quickly, seeing Angel was about to talk and not trusting him to be honest at this point. “Last time you fought him, Sahjahn nearly killed you.”

“Is that true?”

“This is different.” Angel met Connor’s gaze, hoping that he would believe him. If he didn’t then everything would change and it would have all been for nothing. “Like I said, you’re special.”

“We don’t have a choice, do we?” Connor had made his decision the moment he’d known his little brother was at risk.

“Of course we have a choice. We jest need time to figure out what Vail did.”

Angel didn’t meet Wes or Connor’s eyes. When he spoke, it was obvious to all around that he didn’t like the decision. “We don’t have time.”

“If I kill Sahjahn, Vail will leave my family alone?” Angel nodded and, after a millisecond to think it over, Connor stood up. “What are we waiting for?”

Angel spared a glance at Wes before following Connor into the training room Spike and Illyria had been using earlier. He’d known Wes long enough to know that when he wasn’t happy with something, like this, he wouldn’t just let it drop. He hoped that the former-watcher wouldn’t find anything, but at the moment he had to focus on Connor or he wouldn’t survive.

“You’re not alone in this.”

“You gonna hold Sahjahn down while I kill him?”

“Prophecy doesn’t say you can’t have a little help.”

“Hardly seems fair.” Death Eaters aside, wizards usually had a fairly strict sense of honour. There were rules to be followed in duels and for the most part, they were followed.

“Fair’s not something we worry about.”

“Maybe you should. If I’m going to do this, you’ve got to let me do it my way.” Connor started pacing the room. “Now I’ve just got to figure out what that is.”

“You’ll have your whole life for that.”

“Might as well start now.” Connor insisted.

“All right. Let me show you a few things.”

“Well. yeah. I might have honour, but I’m not stupid. I know magic won’t work on this guy and I’ve never been one for muggle brawls.” Connor looked at the weapons that lined the walls. His hands itched to take one. “Should I take one of these with me? An axe, or whatever this thing is…” ‘This thing’ dropped to the floor as Connor knocked it. He shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Angel picked up the weapon and tossed it into the corner, far, far, far away from Connor. While he was glad that his son had never needed to learn to fight, the vampire part of him was a bit disappointed. “That’s okay. Probably best to stay away from the weapons for now.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

So now can the difficult part: imparting knowledge onto his son. Something he had to do right, or else Connor wouldn’t live through the fight. They didn’t have much time. They would have to focus on the strengths Connor already had. “Look, you’re faster than Sahjahn- use it. He talks a lot, he’ll try to lull you into slowing down. Don’t listen. Hit him quick and keep moving.”

“Do you really think I can do this?” Connor asked doubtfully.

‘You have to.’ Angel thought, but instead he said, “I know you can.”

Because the alternative didn’t bear thinking about.

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8:03pm, 30th December

Snape clutched at his forearm as a familiar pain began pulsating. He looked around the living room at Grimmuld Place, grateful to see that no one was paying him any attention, they were all too preoccupied with their own things. He just had to ride it out until the pain subsided in a few moments.

“Is he calling you?” Dawn asked quietly from beside him.

Snape jumped at her voice, he’d been focusing on not drawing attention to himself, waiting until the pain had passed and he could find Dumbledore and leave.

He looked down into his daughter’s concerned face and nodded tightly. She placed her hand on top of his and muttered a cooling charm. Snape’s lips quirked into a brief thank you smile as the pain lessened. All witches and wizards had the potential to learn wandless magic but few bothered with it, preferring to depend on the more reliable wand magic. Surprisingly, wandless magic was something often seen in children, but rarely in adults. Untrained wizards often caused things to happen magically without having ever owned a wand when they were emotional, but few developed their ability in later life.

Severus had been surprised when his daughter had shown such natural ability when he had started teaching her, almost as if she had been around it for years, and had decided to keep her talent quiet- only himself and Dumbledore knew- so that Voldemort would not find out, he didn’t want her being even more of an attractive target to him. It wasn't something she used often, a wand was much more convenient and didn’t need the fancy rhyming or Latin chanting, but it was nice to have the option there if needed.

“I must go and consult with Dumbledore before I leave.”

Dawn nodded. She knew he had to go, but that didn’t mean she liked it. “Be careful.”

He nodded again and went to find the headmaster before leaving the Order headquarters.

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8:14pm/ 12:14pm, 30th December

Illyria followed Wes as he weaved through the basement archives of Wolfram and Hart. Although she rarely showed any expression, she did seem mildly interested by the happenings of the day. “You are so concerned with names, dates, times.”

“Reality’s been changed.”

“Define change. The world is as it is.”

“Not necessarily.” Wes said as he opened one of the cabinet drawers. He was quite fascinated by Illyria’s view on the world. In some ways it was so simplistic; she wants what she wants and will get it without human emotions getting in the way. In other ways her views were so complex he struggled to comprehend them.

“You are a summation of recollections. Each change is simply a point of experience.”

“We are more than just memories.”

“And yet Fred changed the moment her memory did.”

Wes started at her matter of fact declaration. If Fred’s memories were changed, then that meant his were too. What were they before? Why were they changed? What was the price? “Fred’s memories were changed?”

“In places.”

“Can you see what they were before?”

“No. They’re gone.” Illyria blinked, watching as Wes selected one of the many files from the drawer. Humans were so weak. To have one’s very mind altered by mere magic would be incomprehensible to a god. Once again she cursed the shell for its weakness. Once again she puzzled her guide’s reaction to the weakness. “Does this change your view of Fred? Is she still the person you thought she was?”

“No.” Wes all bust gasped as he reread the contract. The contract that Angel, his co-worker and friend, had signed in blood. “None of us are.”

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10:26pm, 30th December

Dawn’s foot froze from where it had been tapping against the chair leg for the last two hours as she saw the kitchen fire flare green. A second later a body rolled out and Dawn jumped to her feet. The other people in the room sighed in relief. Dawn had been getting on all of their nerves with her nervous pacing, tapping and clockwatching.

“Dad! Are you okay?” She looked him over critically, looking for any injuries.

“I’m fine, Dawn.” Snape said, half irritated by her fussing, half touched.

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“Severus?” Dumbledore said from where he’d been watching the exchange by the doorway.

Snape nodded and followed him out, giving his daughter’s shoulder a quick squeeze on the way past. He liked that she cared for him, but didn’t like that he caused her worry. She shouldn’t have to worry about him.

“You okay?” Buffy asked when Dawn sat back down.

“Yeah, it’s just hard watching him go and not knowing if he’s coming back.”

“But he has to keep going.” Buffy acknowledged.

“Yeah, I just wish I could help more.”

“He doesn’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know. But its hard being left behind.” Dawn said softly.

The two of them held each others gaze for a moment, something passed between them, an understanding of sorts. They could recognise how the other felt, but that didn’t mean they liked the way things were. But reality broke in once again as Dumbledore came back into the room looking worried.

“Miss Summers, I think you should be hearing this.”

“What is it?” Buffy asked, immediately picking up on his urgent tone.

“Demons.” Everyone looked around to see Snape standing in the doorway.

“Where?” Buffy raised herself to her full height, suddenly all business.

“I overheard him talking with Lucius. They’re gathering them somewhere on the Manor’s grounds. I don’t know where abouts, they didn’t say.”

“I can find out.” Dawn spoke up suddenly drawing all attention onto her. “Connor invited me to visit for new years. I can try and find out where they’re hiding.”

“No. It’s too dangerous.” Snape said quickly.

Dumbledore looked at Dawn critically. “That’s a very generous offer; you will perhaps allow me some time to consider it?”

“Of course, professor.” Dawn said stiffly. What was there to consider? They needed someone to find out where they were and she was going to be there. This had to have something to do with her father. She glared at him harshly.

At the same time Snape frowned at Dumbledore. The old codger better not let his daughter go looking for demons. That was not the risk-free involvement Dumbledore had promised. The only reason he’d let Dawn join the Order was because the headmaster had promised not to let her do anything dangerous- he did not share Molly Weasley’s opinion that it was dangerous for the children to know what was going on in the Order. No matter how much he hated it, they were involved and he trusted Dawn with what he told her. In fact, it was probably safer than all the coddling that went on around Potter.

“There is nothing more we can do tonight.” Dumbledore said, seeing but wisely ignoring the father-daughter glaring contest. “I think we could all do with an early night.”

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11:28pm/ 3:28pm, 30th December

Connor wrinkled his nose as they walked into Vail’s receiving room, his nerves momentarily forgotten. “This place smells like St. Mungo’s.”

Vail stood up, an unreadable expression on his face. “Welcome, I’ve been waiting for you.”

Connor stared at the monstrosity in front of him, noting the various tubes attached to his person. “Oh Merlin, look at him.”

Angel shushed him. “Listen, Vail, we won’t be staying long-“

Connor stepped forward, moving much closer to Vail than he ever would have wanted to. “Here’s how it is going to work. I kill Sahjahn, and we leave. You come near my family and I will slit your throat.” Connor thought some more as Vail touched his throat contemplatively. “And if that doesn’t kill you, I’ll cut your whole head off. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll just keep…stabbing you until you bleed to a very painful death. Understand?”

Both Angel and Vail were looking at Connor, the posh, rich British schoolboy, in surprise. Maybe there was some of the old Connor in there after all.

“I understand.”

“Good. So…where is he?”

Vail pointed to the next room. “Right through there.”

“Okay.” Connor looked into the room and then back to Angel, biting back his nerves. Okay, so he hadn’t really done anything like this before, but he had been involved in, and won, a bunch of duels at Hogwarts. So his magic wouldn’t work on this Sahjahn guy, but he had been trained by a vampire of all things, one who’d managed to trap this guy in a bottle. He could do this. He mustered up a small smile for his mentor. “See you later.”

Angel jumped forward to Connor’s side as he started towards the room. “Listen, he’s gonna talk to you. Don’t let him distract you.”

“I won’t.”

“Even if he’s on the ground, do not take your eyes off him.”

“Okay.”

“Whatever you do, do not-“

Connor stopped walking. “You’re starting to make me nervous.”

“Right. Sorry.” Angel stepped back, only to grab Connors arm and start straitening his shirt collar, much to his eternal surprise. “Sorry, go get him. I’ll be right over here.”

There was a table at the other side of the room. Connor went over to it, looking at the various weapons set out on it. He had learnt that he didn’t deal particularly well with weapon, other than his wand of course. There was also an urn on the table, presumably holding Sahjahn. He turned to ask Angel what he was meant to do now, but a wall had appeared across the entrance to the room. There was no backing out now. Angel must be freaking out.

“Okay.” He took a deep breath, psyching himself up for the task that he now had no hope of escaping. “Open sesame. Or whatever.”

He took off the top, and a silvery smoke spilled out of the top. It swirled in the air until it took the form of Sahjahn; tall and ugly. When the demon turned around, Connor thought he did rather well not to run and hide.

“Thank you mortal, for releasing me from my cursed prison. In gratitude, I grant you three wishes.”

“Really?” Connor perked up.

“Nah. I’m just messing with you.”

“Oh.” Connor frowned.

Sahjahn chuckled at the kid’s disappointment. “I do appreciate it though. That urn wasn’t exactly a day at the spa. I owe you one.”

“Right.” Said Connor, a bit freaked out by the demon’s cordial attitude towards time. They were meant to fight to the death after all. “Well I should probably tell you that you and I, well, we’re supposed to fight.”

“Is that right?” Sahjahn wondered why this kid could possibly thing he would ever stand a chance against him.

“Yeah.”

“Now, why would you want-“ He broke off, looking at Connor in a new light. He was suddenly taking him a bit more seriously. “You’re him.”

“Yes, I’m me. Hello. You can take a moment if you want. There are some weapons over there if you think you’ll need them.” Connor offered, pointing to the axes and swords on the table.

“Thanks.” Sahjahn snorted, still not intimidated by the child. He seemed different, not the formidable warrior he was said to be. He seemed like a normal boy. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. How did Quor-Toth work out for you anyway?”

Connor took a step back. Quor-Toth? What in Merlin’s name was Quor-Toth? He could practically hear Angel berating him for talking to the demon (which he was doing on the other side of the wall). “Uh…it worked out well. Thanks for asking.”

“You know, I’ve had a long time to plan for this moment. I figured you would be a lot more intimidating.”

“Yeah well, I was meant to be playing quidditch with my brother tonight, but I’m here. Learn to cope.” Connor bit out. It wasn’t enough that he was attacked and forced to fight this guy to protect Draco, now he had to put up with his insults too?

“I’ll work on it.” Sahjahn said before punching Connor quicker than any human would ever be able to do so. Connor fell to the ground with a groan.

“Ow! Merlin, that really hurt!”

“Did it?”

“Yeah!”

“I’m sorry, do you need to call a time out”

“No, I’m alright.”

Connor got back to his feet, glad and confused that he managed to recover so quickly. Sahjahn swung at him again, but acting on instincts he didn’t know he had, Connor ducked and followed up with a punch to the demon’s face. While Connor was still basking in his hit, Sahjahn returned the favour and Connor went down again.

On the other side of the wall, Angel rushed forward, trying to get to his son. The barrier stopped him from getting in so he turned to glare at Vail, his eyes flashing dangerously yellow.

“Sorry. Not your fight.”

Angel growled, feral and low. “Open the doorway. Right now.”

Vail held the glowing yellow cube in his hands. All the time he held the cube, he had an ace still to play. And they both knew it. “Or you’ll what? Relax. Your son has to grow up sooner of later. Sit back and watch his future unfold. There is no need to bring back the past if we don’t have to.”

Angel watched as Sahjahn punched Connor twice, but this time Connor only stepped back and managed to stay on his feet. Connor tried to punch his opponent, but Sahjahn caught his fist and slung him over the other side of the room. As Connor got up, he kicked out, but it didn’t faze Sahjahn who hit him again, sending him to the floor once more.

“You know, I went to a lot of trouble to get rid of you. What a colossal waste of time that turned out to be.”

Angel’s face hardened as he heard Sahjahn’s taunt. He flinched as Connor received a kick to the ribs hard enough to life him off the floor. “Open it now-“

When Angel turned to Vail, he was frozen in time and the yellow cube was missing from his hands. Angel whirled around until he saw Illyria standing next to Wesley. Wesley had the cube.

Wes glared at Angel. He still didn’t know what was going on, but the yellow box must have something to do with it. “You changed the world.”

Angel kept his eyes fixed on the cube; he couldn’t risk anything happening to it. For Connor’s sake. “Wes, what are you doing?”

“You sold us out to Wolfram and Hart.”

“Be careful.”

Wes was shocked that Angel didn’t even try to deny it. Was that what had cost them Fred’s life? What could be so important to risk Fred? He noticed Angel’s eyes were fixed on the yellow box he held in his hands. “Is this your thirty pieces of silver?”

“Wes, give me that.”

“He doesn’t follow you any longer.” As Angel stared toward his friend, Illyria stepped forward and backhanded Angel so hard that he flew across the room. In the other room, Connor was getting the same treatment from Sahjahn.

“These prophecies are turning out to be pretty overrated. I gotta tell you kid, you’re making a good case for the whole concept of free will.”

“You changed the world.” Wes repeated, not noticing Sahjahn thrown Connor into the table in the other room.

“He’s my son, Wesley.” Angel said desperately, trying to catch Wes’ attention long enough to get the box. “Connor is my son.”

“Did you trade her?” Wes spared a brief glance at Illyria. “Did you trade Fred for your son?”

“What?”

“Everything that’s happened since we took over Wolfram & Hart; everything that’s happened to… her. Did you know? Was Fred the price?”

“No, Wes.” Angel promised, aghast that Wes would think him capable of trading Fred’s life for anything. “I can explain. Just put that down.”

“Why are you so afraid of this? He said it would bring back the past. Will it undo what you've done?”

“No. It won’t bring her back.”

“Let’s find out.” Wes raised his arm, fully intending to smash the cube. If there was even the slightest change that it would bring Fred back…

Angel rushed forward desperately. “No! Please, you have to trust me.”

“I can’t. Not anymore.”

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11:55pm, 31st December

Slayer dreams were a bitch.

Faith had long ago accepted that…well, not so much ‘accepted’ but she recognised it was so and allowed the frustration it brought out in her to fester until it could be settled in a suitably violent way.

She had been dreaming of the boy and the girl for the last few days. She didn’t recognise them, but she did know them. She just didn’t know how. It didn’t make much sense, Faith herself didn’t even know how she knew these things, but she did. It was like a gut instinct, only ten times stronger. She felt a strong kinship to the dream duo, all she wanted was to protect them in the same way she wanted to help the Scoobies or Angel and his crew. But she had no idea why she was feeling these things.

After over five years of slayer dreams, Faith had resigned herself to a seemingly endless confusion. She just had to have faith, no pun intended, that things would make themselves clear in the end. And then she would beat the baddies and get her happy ever after. At least until the next mystery came along.

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12:00am, 31st December

She wasn’t alone. There was someone else there in the room, but she didn’t know who. She couldn’t see them, but they were definitely there. As Dawn was looking around for the invisible people, a man and woman walked in. They paused briefly to look into the next room where, from the sounds, a fight was going on, but then continued their journey and Dawn got a good look at them.

The man was older than the woman, he was roughly shaven but that was his only distinguishing feature. She, however, stuck out like a sore thumb. She wore a dark red cat suit and had a blue tinge to her skin and hair, but still looked human in shape and size. They held a glowing yellow cube. She was definitely drawn to that cube.

The man, who she thought she ought to know, hesitated for a moment. ‘Wes.’ Dawn thought, though she didn’t know where the name had come from. There was an argument between ‘Wes’ and another man; dark, dark, tall forehead. Dawn instinctively knew he was a vampire, though he’d done nothing extraordinary. She knew him too, or might do. It was confusing. Blue hit the vampire and he went flying, further than anyone ought to be able to hit. ‘Wes’ picked up the glowing box and smashing it on the ground.

There was a massive yellow flash which blinded her for a minute.

Then things became clear again. She noticed that her dad was in the room with her, he’d been one of the invisible beings she’d sensed earlier. The slayer was there too. All three looked at each other.

They remembered.

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A/N: And so ends the longest day EVER. Over 15,000 words for one day. My brain hurts a bit.

Please review!!