A young girl at the age of 15 waved goodbye to her family as the carriage took off down the dirt road. The young girls name is Caitlin and she's very gifted with the art of magic. Her mother and father saw it fit that she study to train and hone her powers. They kept it secret not wanting to stir up trouble and told those who asked that she was going away to school in London. That's where her tutor will be awaiting her arrival.
She had a very average family. A mother, a father, and two older brothers. Patrick and Angelus. Out of all her family members, her brother Angelus was the only one who understood her. Perhaps, because they were so much alike. They not only looked alike, they thought alike. Both Caitlin and Angelus wanted to be different. They wanted to be able to think what they wanted to and to make their own decisions. Who to marry, when to marry, who to speak to, what to do. Caitlin and her brother never realized how easy they had it until it was too late
-4 years later, Ireland 1779-
When Caitlin returned home from her studies, what greeted her was not what she expected. When the carriage stopped in front of her home she got out, and what had greeted her was not what she expected.
When she walked into the house, she saw the most horrific thing she could ever have imagined. The dead bodies of her family were strewn about the house. The blood was drained from their bodies; their eyes wide open in terror. Caitlin immediately knew that a vampire had killed her family, and her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the tell-tale bite marks on each of their necks. Her mentor had warned her about the creatures of the dark. How merciless they were, and how they thrived on pain and torture. But nothing could have prepared her for this, not in a million years would she think it could happen to her.
She ran away from the house as fast as she could, letting tears blur her vision. She stopped at the edge of a cliff overlooking the town. She contemplated jumping, there was nothing left to live for, but something held her back. Revenge. She would not rest until she killed whoever did this. It never once entered her mind at the time why she did not see Angelus among the bodies.
As dusk approached Caitlin sat in a pasture, armed with a stake and a cross. Knowing full well the demon would come looking for a meal. She also knew that even if she lost the fight this time, in the end she would overcome. After all she did have an eternity ahead of her. When her mentor gave her some spell books, he didn't expect her to actually cast the spells. They were to study from, and become accustomed to the concept of them, but she went beyond her teachings and cast a very old, and powerful spell. One that granted her immortality.
"Caitlin," she heard a dear voice call from behind her, "is that you?" Angelus asked.
Caitlin jumped to her feet and hugged him to her. "Angel, thank God you're all right. They're all dead, it killed them." she sobbed into his coat.
"Shh, it's all right," he cooed while stroking her hair "I'll take care of you."
Caitlin suddenly got a funny feeling. Realization struck her. She didn't hear a heartbeat underneath her ear, no heaving of his chest with every breath, and the tone of his voice sounded almost as if it was mocking her. She looked up into her former brother's face to see that of a demon's.
"No!" she screamed. "Not Angel, not him."
Sorry witch, Angel's dead and you're about to join him," Angelus sneered. "And please call me Angelus."
Caitlin was too stunned to move or even fight back, so when the vampire sunk his fangs into her neck she slowly let darkness claim her. It was time to tell if her spell worked.
She blinked her eyes to accustom herself to the bright rays of the sun. She had one heck of a headache and every bone in her body ached. "Well at least my spell worked, or I'd wouldn't be here now," she murmured to herself. Caitlin looked up into the sky and silently vowed to avenge her family and bring her brother back.
-The Present, Sunnydale CA, 1998-
Caitlin walked out of Sunnydale airport into the late afternoon sun. "So this is the Hellmouth," she muttered to herself. "Let the fun begin."
"I really don't want you guys to come hunting with me," Buffy started
"We just want to know you're safe," Willow assured.
"Safety in numbers," Xander reiterated.
Xander, Cordelia, and Willow had once again decided to go with Buffy on her hunt, much to her objections. It was a pretty slow night. Two vamps and no surprise threats from Angelus.
"So are you finished yet?" Cordelia spoke up. Ever since she and Xander got their so-called relationship out into the open, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She'd never admit it out loud, but she enjoyed being part of the group. And was thankful to them for accepting her when she wouldn't accept them.
"Yes, I just have to check in with Giles," Buffy answered. "He wants me to check in after every hunt. Ever since..." she trailed off. The group nodded their heads solemnly.
Further up ahead Caitlin was making her way to the library when a dinner seeking vamp decided to attack her. Not wasting any time she quickly dispatched the vampire with a quick burst of fire from her finger tips. Caitlin was so caught up in making her way to the Watcher, a one Rupert Giles, she was oblivious to the small group of onlookers including the Slayer.
"Oh, my God. Did you see that?" Buffy asked wide jawed.
"Uh, huh," Willow squeaked.
"Another super chic? Think she'll go out with me?" Xander asked. Cordelia elbowed him hard and gave him one of her famous glares. "Just wondering," Xander shrugged.
"I think Giles needs to know about this," Buffy supplied and took off towards the library. The rest followed close behind.
In a warehouse on the bad side of town Spike was scolding Angelus once again.
"What are you waiting for? New Year's 3022," Spike practically yelled.
"Patience is a virtue," Angelus retorted. "It's no fun if you rush things."
"It would be fun if she was dead," Spike snapped back.
"How are you going to have fun? Pop wheelies in your chair?" Angelus chuckled.
"Your going to be sorry when I get out of this chair," Spike conceded.
"I'm counting the years," Angelus wasn't fazed by Spike's threat.
"Spike darling. Leave well enough alone. Angel knows what he's doing." Drusilla assured him. "Isn't that right my Angel?"
"You got it baby," he answered. All of a sudden Drusilla started moaning and holding her head.
"Dru, baby. What is it?" Spike asked worriedly.
"Someone's come. Someone new and powerful. Come to change it all," she whined.
In the library Giles was reading through some spell books, searching for a spell to restore a person's soul. Ever since Angel had changed over, things had gotten worse. Buffy was in deep denial, believing the outcome of the past few weeks was her fault, and longing for Angel to come back. Willow and Xander tried to be strong for her, but were truly afraid of what Angelus might do given his past, and of course, no one was speaking with Ms. Calendar.
"Rupert," came a soft voice from his office doorway. He turned his head to see who was there.
"Jenny, what ah, what can I do for you?" he asked.
"I figured you would be here. Can we talk?" she asked hopefully.
"I'm a-a little busy right now and frankly I don't want to have this conversation just yet," he replied hotly.
"Well then just listen to what I have to say. Okay?" she almost begged.
Giles hesitated, but then nodded in response. "You have every right to hate me. I wasn't honest with you. Even after being in the loop," she paused and took a deep breath. "But you have to believe me when I say I didn't know this was going to happen, or I swear I would've told you," she stopped and waited for some type of response. Even a "get out" would do better then the silence she was receiving. When he finally spoke she sucked in a ragged breath.
"I don't hate you. I could never hate you. It just hurts that you didn't believe you could trust me, us, with your secret. Even after we told you all of ours," Giles made aware. "Angel's saved all our lives at some point and now he threatens that very same existance. I considered him a friend a valuable ally. I can't help thinking that if you didn't hold back such vital information, things would've tuned out differently," he stopped.
"I know," Jenny whispered.
"And I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. It's Buffy. She is the one who's hurting the most," Giles added.
"I've tried, but she won't speak to me," Jenny supplied.
"Do you blame her?" Giles stated more then asked.
"No," she answered smugly.
"Hello," a new voice rang out. "Is anybody here?"
"Yes, what can I do for you?" Giles greeted while stepping out of his office with Jenny in tow. There stood a tall girl about 18 or 19 with long thick brownish-black hair. Dark brown eyes and a creamy complexion. Her chiseled features highlighted her rominent cheekbones. She wore a black leather jacket, charcoal gray pants, and a black form fitting shirt with exposed a small amount of her muscled midriff.
"You wouldn't by any chance be Rupert Giles?" the girl asked.
"Yes," Giles answered looking perplexed.
"The Watcher, Rupert Giles?" she asked to be sure.
"How did you know that?" Giles blurted out.
"My names Caitlin. Angel's my brother," she informed him.
"Dear God," Giles gasped.
"You look just like him, except in a... girl way," Jenny observed.
"The resemblance is amazing."
"But Angel told us he killed all his family," Giles said with a questioning look.
"That's a long story. One I'm willing to tell if you'll agree to help me, help him." she bargained.
"Yes, of course. Please sit down," Giles agreed, and offered her a chair.
"Where to begin?" Caitlin asked more to herself then the others once she was seated.
Caitlin was deep in discussion with Giles and Jenny when the gang burst through the library doors. "Giles your not going to believe this," Buffy emitted loudly. The group stopped short when they saw the newcomer.
"Buffy, I'm glad you're here. Please why don't you all sit down," Giles proposed. "There's some things you should hear." When the group was seated Giles cleared his throat softly. "This is Caitlin," he introduced. "Angel's sister."
"Wow," Willow's eyes lit up.
"You look just like him," Buffy's eyes began to well up with tears.
"Wait a second," Xander interrupted, "I thought Angel killed his family."
"Have some sympathy." Cordelia complained.
"You must be Xander," Caitlin guessed.
"How did you know that?" he asked astonished.
"My brother describes you as ungrateful, oblivious to what's right in front of you, sarcastic, and annoying," Caitlin stated. "Am I right?" she asked the other occupants of the room.
"Yep," they replied in unison.
"Hey, I resent that!" Xander shouted.
"As for the how did I know question. I know about all of you or what Angel told me," was Caitlin's explanation.
" But Angel's dead," Buffy lowered her head sadly.
"It seems that Angel and his sister have some sort of tie that binds his soul to hers. He can speak with her when she dreams," Giles explained.
"I haven't seen Angel in over 200 years. So he never knew I was alive, but since for some odd reason our souls are connected, his can communicate with mine, subconsciously, he doesn't realize I can pick up on his thoughts. It's hard to explain," Caitlin mumbled.
"Why are you here?" Cordelia spoke up.
"I've come to restore Angel's soul permanently," Caitlin spoke matter-of-factly.
"You can do that? When? How?" Buffy couldn't contain her excitement.
Caitlin smiled. "Soon. The night of the full moon which is 3 days away. But it won't work unless all of you are willing to participate."
"We'll come back to the ritual later," Giles jumped in before anymore questions could be asked, but Xander beat him to it.
"You still didn't tell us why your not, well...." he stopped.
"Dead," Caitlin supplied
Xander nodded his head, "Not that I'd mind if you were. I'm sure you'd still look beautiful. Your not a vampire are you? Or a giant bug? Maybe a mummy? " Xander babbled.
"Xander!" Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia scolded him. Xander shrank back in his chair when Cordelia shot him a glare that could burn through him.
"No I'm completely human. Just immortal," Caitlin chuckled. "Maybe I should explain." For the next hour or so Caitlin told the group about the death of her family, her knowledge of magic, and her ambition to help her brother. "..... and ever since then I have wanted to find a cure to make him human again. Which has been in vain so far. Then I would be able to help Angel have that life that was taken from him and be able to avenge my family's death with the demon's." Caitlin finished.
"You don't seem that caught up on revenge," Willow observed.
"My family died without a cause. I just want to make sure their death doesn'tgo forgotten. I know that wherever they are now, they are happy and at peace.I don't want my anger to turn me into some physco killer who thinks about revenge day in and day out. I know they wouldn't have wanted that. It just not a way to live your life," Caitlin explained.
"I admire you for that," Giles complimented.
"Thank you," Caitlin said.
"You have so many of your brother's qualities it's remarkable," Giles smiled.
"He's very special to me. He always stuck by me through thick and thin, and I intend to do the same," Caitlin said informed.
"So do we," Buffy agreed. "So about this ritual." Buffy brought up once again.
"A little anxious," Caitlin asked her with a wry smile.
"Just a little," Buffy's smile brightened up her face.
"The ritual requires a circle of people who share a common bond. All of you are friends and fight the forces of darkness together. That creates a bond between you all, the more people who share the same bond the stronger the pull."
"The pull?" Jenny interrupted.
"The bond is supposed to pull the soul called upon into this reality and guide it to it's rightful place," Caitlin explained.
"That is quite intriguing. I would love to see the book you got this from." Giles directed towards Caitlin. Suddenly a large book encased in brown leather appeared in front of Giles. The group gasped.
"Very convenient. May I keep this and read through it tonight?" Giles asked.
"Sure, I know the ritual by heart, should something happen to the book," Caitlin assured him.
"Thank you. We should all go home and get some rest. We'll reconvene tomorrow. It's Saturday and Buffy you have training. Do you have someplace to stay?"Giles asked Caitlin.
"She can stay with me," Buffy offered. "I mean if you want to."
"Are you sure? I don't want to impose."
"Positive," Buffy replied with certainty.
-Back in the warehouse -
"Who is it?" Angelus questioned.
"A girl who knows of us. She's helping the Slayer," Drusilla responded.
"Wonderful!" Spike exclaimed sarcastically.
"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it," Angelus assured him.
"Oh? How pray tell do you intend to do that?" Spike inquired.
"I'll come up with a plan. In fact I already have one."
"Oh, please do tell."
"Well if this girl is helping the Slayer I'll just force my beloved Buffy to tell me," Angelus confided.
"Real great plan. Did you actually burn some brain cells thinking that one up. She's not stupid. You think she's just going to tell you?" Spike smirked.
"I have my ways," Angelus sneered.
"Your ways will spell trouble for us all," Spike informed.
"You don't have to worry about anything," Angelus started. "I'll take care of the important stuff. You just sit in your chair and look pretty."
"Go to hell," Spike gritted his teeth.
"I'm already there my friend," Angelus chuckled.
"She's going to change everything," Drusilla whined again.
"Where's your parents?" Caitlin asked Buffy as she led her up to her room.
"My mom and dad are divorced. My dad lives in L.A. and my mom's away on business. She owns an art gallery here, and she goes to New York often to buy art for it," Buffy explained.
"Is it hard having your parents divorced?" Caitlin questioned.
"Sometimes, but it's better that they're separated and on good terms with each other, than to be together and fighting all the time," Buffy answered. Caitlin nodded in agreement and glanced around Buffy's bedroom. "I know the room is kind of small, but I don't spend much time in here...well unless I get grounded which is pretty often. Never mind," Buffy smiled.
"I can imagine," Caitlin smirked.
"So," Buffy broke the awkward silence. "What did Angel tell you about me?" Buffy asked curiously.
Caitlin laughed and leaned against the desk. "He couldn't stop talking about you."
"Really?"
"Yep. He went on and on about how beautiful and smart you are. He also said you were caring, to trusting for your own good, loving, passionate, stubborn, and strong. As I said he went on and on," Caitlin laughed again.
"That makes me feel good," Buffy announced.
"It should. He loves you very much," she reassured
"Can we ever continue our relationship?" Buffy asked hopefully.
"It's going to take some time. It's going to be hard for Angel, but with you there for him he'll get through this and be able to move on. He'll push us all away at first, but it's important that we stick with him. And remember love conquers all," Caitlin answered firmly.
"I hope your right," Buffy whispered. Buffy went to her closet and took out a neatly folded sleeping bag then laid it out on the floor next to her bed. "This is all I have, unless you want the bed?" Buffy asked.
"No this is perfect. Thank you for letting me stay."
"No problem. Do you need pajamas?"
"Nope." Caitlin estured to herself and right before Buffy's eyes her clothing changed from the outfit she was wearing to green and blue stripped flannel pajamas.
"Wow!" Buffy gasped. "I actually have to go and change. I need to get some magical powers."
Caitlin smiled and shook her head when Buffy left the room to change. When she returned, Buffy handed Caitlin a pillow and got into bed. "Goodnight," Buffy said when she was settled.
"Sweet dreams, Buffy," Caitlin wished. And then the light went out to leave the room illuminated with the glow from the moon.
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