Prologue

The darkness swirled with the smoke of ritual. The chanting grew louder, imbued with magic power that reached across the dimensions to achieve terrible purpose. The magic stretched like monstrous hands, to grab a soul and tear it from its place. Then it tore the soul apart and remade it in its image. Smoke swirled, condensed, solidified, then stood in the form of a woman. A demoness.

Chanting surged once more from the darkness, and she opened her eyes. She looked human, but within her pulsed the magically imbued power. It begged to be used, to be wrought on its target before a moon was over. From the depths of the darkness the chanting came to any end, and then a deep male voice whispered, "Buffy Summers."

The newborn demoness had a mission. Given her target, she stepped alone into the night. With the name came information - location, appearance, friends and allies. Seven people to see, to deal with, and in the end destroy. She felt her power beg to be used, screaming within her to be released. She could not help but listen. She listened to her power sing. Walking down the streets of Sunnydale, the demoness smiled.

She was temptation.

Just another Monday at Sunnydale High School. For Willow, that meant she had a computer class to teach, classes to attend, a tutoring session to conduct, and finally a meeting in the Library the latest in demonic and vampiric activity. Such was life in Sunnydale, when you're friends with the Slayer.

On her way to the library, Willow went out of her way to meet Oz by his locker. She was happy that she had made up with Oz, that they were together again after what happened with her and Xander.

(And then there's this massive gap, where the demoness wreaks havoc, granting wishes to the unsuspecting Scooby Gang... Suddenly, among other things, Buffy is no longer the Slayer, and is still living in L.A.)

Angel was dreaming. It wasn't his usual sort of dream, nightmares where he relived his past, but it wasn't a good dream either. He was with Buffy. They were in his old apartment from before he lost his soul, and they were arguing. It was pretty much a replay of their most recent conversations -- she was saying they couldn't be together because of the risk to everyone, he tried to deny it and find a way around it. Angel was plagued by "if onlies" -- if only he wasn't a vampire, if only he couldn't loose his soul again . . .

Then the dream took an unusual turn.

The argument was being observed by a shadowy woman. Angel couldn't see her, but he knew she was there. She subtly made her presence known, though she was still unseen. Buffy and he stopped arguing as she spoke.

"You think the heavens owe you something," she said to them both. "Well, we always pay our debts." With that she turned and walked out the door.

And the telephone rang.

(It's Buffy on the phone, panicked because no one knows her - she remembers that she's supposed to be the Slayer. For some reason, though, the changes in the world have not effected Angel, much to Buffy's relief. She rushes to Sunnydale to meet with Giles and the Slayer and see if they can figure out what happened and if it can be fixed. Meanwhile, Angel encounters the temptation demoness.)

"I had no idea this was going to be such a challenge. This is just fun!" The voice came from behind Angel, outside in the garden. The demoness stood in the moonlight, making a pretty picture with her dark hair cascading down her back.

Angel turned to face her. "What do you want?" he asked impatiently.

The demoness chuckled. "That's supposed to be my question," she laughed. "May I come inside?"

"If you don't mind," said Angel, "I'd rather you didn't."

"Fine." The demoness took a seat outside, clearly not planning on going anywhere. She looked back at Angel standing in the doorway. "Aren't you going to join me?" she asked.

"No, I'm not," Angel said sharply. "Please leave."

The demoness stuck out her lip in a mock pout. "Oh, but I so wanted to talk you," she said.

"Go away!" yelled Angel angrily. "I am in no mood to play word games with demons of any kind today! I am busy -"

"I know," interrupted the demoness. "Trying to help your Slayer. But she's not the Slayer anymore, is she?"

Angel was shocked for a moment before exclaiming, "You! How -"

She smiled again. "I had no idea being sent against the Slayer would be so much fun!"

"You did this."

"Yes. But I couldn't have done it if she didn't want it." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Don't you want to talk to me now?" Angel joined the demoness in the garden, and she continues to speak. "So interesting, being sent against the Slayer," she said. "So many emotions, so many desires. So much fun to fulfill them all. And such interesting friends. So intriguing, to visit them one by one and peer into their thoughts. Until I'm left with you." The demoness turned and faced Angel then , her grin gone. "I can't read you. Not clearly. I wasn't made to be sent against demons. I can't tell what your desires are."

Angel frowned. "You're a temptation demon."

"Good boy, got it on the first try! So, since I can't seem to read you, I thought I'd try a more direct approach." the demoness grinned again, eagerly. "My turn to ask," she said. "What do you want?"

(A scene break, as the current Scoobies and Buffy separately figure out what is going on.)

"No."

"What?"

"I won't tell you what I want."

The demoness frowned. This wasn't the response she'd been expecting. "Why not?"

"Because I remember a thing or two about temptation demons. You fulfill desires - "

"Yes!" smiled the demoness. "Don't you want that?"

Angel frowned sadly. "But at a terrible price," he concluded in a whisper. "If you succeed, if you fulfill all desires, every person effected by you can then be manipulated - controlled - by the one who made you."

"Is that so high a price for your heart's desire?"

"Yes," replied Angel. "It is. Especially for the Slayer and anyone close to her. You've changed Buffy's entire life, proving yourself exceptionally strong, and speaking for your creator's power as well. I can't let Buffy or myself fall under someone else's control."

"But she's not the Slayer anymore! This is what she wanted!" the demoness cried. "If I fail, everything returns to how it was."

"Exactly."

"But - she wanted this!"

"No, she didn't." Angel stood again to face her. "You didn't hear her this morning, panicked because everything had changed. This isn't how it's supposed to be!"

The demoness smiled slightly and asked, "Oh? How is it supposed to be?"

Angel ignored her second blatant attempt to find out what he wanted. "Sometimes," he began to try and explain, "people wish for things they really don't want, reach for things they know are best not gained, desire things . . . they know they should never have." He faltered for a moment before confronting the demoness again. "You're working from half-felt, momentary desires! Yes, for one moment Buffy may have wished she wasn't the Slayer. It wouldn't be the first or last time she'd wished to be a 'regular kid.' But fulfilling that wish and leaving her with the memories of what she'd been . . . . It isn't this reality that she wanted. You should know that!"

"Why should I?"

"Because you were human once," he continued in a gentler tone. "You should know - remember - that sometimes people wish for things partially because they know they can never happen."

The demoness hurt inside from the desire to use her magic and from some deeper, suppressed place. "I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered.

Niether of them spoke for a long moment. Finally, Angel stated softly, "I will never tell you what I want."

The demoness did not look at him. Instead, she turned her eyes upward, to the moon. "I have time," she said calmly. "Perhaps you will not tell me, but I will find out."

"You'll be waiting a long while before you find out anything."

"I can wait."

All was silent in the garden as the night stretched on. In the moonlight the demoness watched her chosen prey. Her insides twisted with anguish. She needed to fulfill her mission. She had come to be only days before and been empowered with a single task - to observe the Slayer and her allies, then destroy them with their own wishes. Her mission accomplished and they would be under the control of the one who had made her. Perhaps then she could rest. But now she could not - her magic screamed to be used, yet she could not. True, she was unable to fulfill her final target's wishes because she could not read them. But at the same time she did not want to.

So the night went on, and grew darker. The figures in the garden watched each other intently. Angel watched the demoness warily, afraid that any moment she would fulfill her final wish, causing all that was to be changed forever. causing them all to fall before temptation. In return, the demoness regarded him with a penetrating stare.

(The night continues, and Angel keeps trying to stop the demoness from fulfilling her final wish, while the Scoobies discover that if they 'unmake' her before her task is complete, things will return to normal. As Angel tries to appeal to the demoness' human side, the spell casters are hard at work. Finally, Angel is holding the demoness as she is dying, and she remembers who she was and those she once loved. She has time to grant one last wish, to fix things, before she disappears as if she had never been there.)

Just another Wednesday at Sunnydale High School. For Buffy, this had meant assorted classes to attend, followed by a meeting in the library to discuss the latest in demonic and vampiric activity. Such was life in Sunnydale, when you're the Slayer.

Buffy and her friends left the library still discussing recent events. They were all rather confused, for none of them seemed to remember the same thing. Willow and Oz remembered spending a rather blissful two days that were suspiciously without usual concerns. Xander, oddly enough, remembered spending a large amount of time talking to Cordelia. Since she was avoiding him again, it was pretty clear things were back to normal there. Buffy remembered a day where she was not the Slayer, where she had never come to Sunnydale. Obviously, that too was back to normal.

The only memory all four of them had in common was a hazy -- on the slayerettes parts -- recollection of the previous night's ritual. They had spoken it over with Giles, and since they all remembered the strange day to day changes, they concluded that they had been victims of a temptation demon. And since things were back to 'normal' they also concluded that the demon had been defeated before completing its task.

"So," said Buffy finally. "Who didn't the demon manage to get to?"

"Well, obviously it got to each of us," Xander stated.

"And Giles," pointed out Willow. "He wouldn't tell us how, but --"

"It got to Cordelia, too," joined in Oz. "I saw her acting more confused than usual today."

Willow looked at Buffy. "So, for friends and helpers, I guess that leaves Angel?"

Buffy nodded as they walked down the steps in front of the school. "Guess so. I'll talk to him later. See . . . if he remembers anything."

Oz was looking distractedly down the street. "Why not now?"

Willow answered instead. "Because . . . it's daytime, and . . . oh."

Buffy looked at them in confusion as both Oz and Willow, then finally Xander, stared at something a little ways off that was obviously far more . . . interesting . . . than any discussion of demons and wishes. So Buffy turned as well to see what they did. What she saw there made her stop in surprise. Only a couple of yards away, leaning against a tree, stood Angel. Buffy forced her feet to move again, and he watched with a nervous expression as they approached. For a moment no one said anything.

It was Xander who broke the silence. "Dead Boy," he said flatly by way of acknowledgement.

Angel, instead of objecting, simply smiled. Then, to everyone's surprise, he stepped from the shade into the sunlight. "Not so 'dead' boy," he said.

Buffy stared in shock. "Angel?" she asked in a whisper.

"Hi, Buffy," he said softly in return.

Buffy stepped closer to him and raised a hand to his cheek. It was warm. "How . . . what . . . I don't understand."

Angel slowly began to explain. He told them of his hours spent talking to the temptation demon, trying to keep her from fulfilling her final wish. He told them about when the ritual was being performed, how he'd held the dying demoness as she'd disappeared. "I must have . . . lost consciousness," he said. "When I awoke, the sun had risen. I was in the sunlight."

Hesitantly, Angel reached towards Buffy. She gasped in surprise as he gently took hold of the cross around her neck, the cross he had given her. He smiled, wonder showing in his eyes. Buffy took his hand on her cross in her own.

"I . . . panicked at first," Angel continued. "But . . . the sunlight . . . it didn't burn me." There were almost tears of joy in his eyes.

Gently, Angel took Buffy's hand and placed it on his chest. Buffy looked up at him in wonder as she felt it rise and fall with each breath.

Suddenly, Buffy could stand it no longer. She flung herself forward and embraced Angel in a movement that was part clasp of desperation and part tight hug. He was here, really here, and in sunlight. Oh God, alive! His head tilted down above hers and his warm breath stirred her hair. She knew there were tears of joy running down her cheeks. When she looked up she saw a single tear running down Angel's cheek as well. For a long while they simply stood there, holding each other.

Finally, Xander broke the moment. "So," he said. "Dead Boy's standing in the sunlight."

"And can touch crosses," joined in Oz.

"And breathes," Willow said.

Buffy looked straight into Angel's eyes. "And has a heartbeat," she said softly. She pulled away then, wiping her eyes and smiling at Xander. "I think you need to find a new nickname. 'Dead Boy' kinda doesn't fit."

Willow, Oz, and Buffy smiled and laughed. "So," said Oz, "guess we're going back inside to talk to Giles."

Buffy took Angel's hand again and, happier than she'd felt in a long time, walked with her four friends back into Sunnydale High School.

Wednesday, 3:30 pm

As Buffy and her friends left the Library, Giles paused to think about their latest adventure. A temptation demon. They had all fallen victim to a temptation demon. Though he had told no one about it, Giles too had found a moment's wish fulfilled. He had wished "his" Slayer was more . . . responsible - and for a day she was. For a day Giles remembered having a Slayer who wasn't Buffy at all. Then, last night, they had all managed to come together and banish the demon, and with it all its effects. Things were rather confusing as a result, and Giles wished he'd have time to think it all through.

This was Sunnydale, however. Giles was sure that he would not have the time he wanted before another crisis arose. Though all seemed calm at the moment and there were no dire events apparent on the horizon, it was only a matter of time before the Hellmouth would throw something new at them.

Still, Giles thought it best if he took advantage of the moment's lull. Perhaps he could catch up on some rest tonight, maybe even read a good book. Preferably one that had nothing to do with demons and vampires.

While still dwelling on that pleasant thought, Giles heard the library door open again, accompanied by the voices of those who had left just moments before. "Giles!" he heard Buffy call, and he was sure there was some new disaster afoot.

But he wasn't at all prepared for the reality.

"Hey Giles," Xander piped up. "Guess who we ran into outside. In the sunlight."

Giles regarded the group in silence.

Well, he finally thought, it appears as though I'll be spending another night consulting my books.

Even as she called for her Watcher, Buffy squeezed his hand reassuringly. Then Giles stepped out from his office. Angel watched as Giles appraised them all, then started in surprise as he saw Angel.

It was Xander who tried to voice their situation. "Hey Giles," he said by way of introduction. "Guess who we ran into outside. In the sunlight."

No one else spoke. Giles continued to stare at them, or, more specifically, Angel, in silence. For his part, Angel could think of nothing to say. It was an uncomfortable silence, full of unexpressed anger and pain. There was nothing to be said here, yet at the same time there was so much.

(This story was simply going to be an interlude between the first story, and the next story which actually started the whole thing...)

The day couldn't have been more perfect. The sky was a gorgeous shade of blue without a single cloud. The sun
shown a brilliant gold that made every color more intense; the leaves greener, the water bluer, the roses redder.
Buffy stared at the sunlight glinting off the hair of the man next to her, bringing out highlights she had never seen
before.

"What?" Angel asked, confused at the attention.

"Your hair is brown."

Angel looked at her quizzically. "Yes, and it has been for some time."

Buffy laughed, slightly embarrassed. "No, I just meant . . . I was admiring it in sunlight." She smiled. "I like seeing
your hair that way."

She reached out and touched his hair. Angel smiled in return. "I like seeing you in sunlight, too. You do look good
in direct light." They leaned towards each other, then proceeded to do something they had both missed for months.
They kissed.

(Pathetic, I know, but that's all I ever wrote of this one. Believe it or not it was actually going to have a great deal of plot with who sent the temptation demon in the first place and Angel attempting to adjust to humanity - not so well, as the title suggests.)

I can't imagine what you'd have to say about this one, but feedback is always cool.
Back to Cynamin's Fan Fiction ------------0xKhTmLbOuNdArY Content-Disposition: form-data; name="userfile"; filename=""