Angel stood on the sidelines, watching as Buffy and her friends walked the streets of Sunnydale on their nightly patrol. Although it had been quiet since Buffy came back from the dead, reports of strange attacks to the citizens of Sunnydale have been on the rise, and there was a new threat in town. Angel made his return to Sunnydale from Los Angeles when Willow had first informed him of Buffy’s death in case the enemy found out about the death of the slayer. As Angel watched and slowly followed behind, feelings and memories of what they once had filled his mind. Although he knew that there was no chance for them to ever be together in the way Angel had always longed for, he still wished that some miracle would happen and bring them together once more without any consequence. Angel’s thoughts were quickly dismantled when the sound of a deep growl filled the air. Out of nowhere an army of at least thirty blood thirsty demons were surrounding the Scooby-gang; like a pack of wolves ready to feast on a helpless group of sheep. It was six on thirty; things did not look good for the good guys. Each of these vampires wanted to be glorified for being the one to kill the slayer and the battle proved it. It was a brutal fight to say the least. In a matter of a few minutes three vampires had Buffy pinned to the floor, all-trying to go in for the kill. Angel growled and attacked the vampires with full force. Angel pulled two stakes from his coat and thrusted them into the hearts of the vampires with Buffy grabbing a third one and sending it into the heart of the other one. Something very strange happened they didn’t die. The biggest of the three, who was easily six foot five, grabbed the stake from his chest and with a very simple movement sent it right into Angel’s heart, sending him into the floor. All the vampires, all thirty of them, turned to watch the death of the legendary Angelus.
“Angel!” Buffy shouted at the top of her lungs running to the side of Angel
With Buffy’s help, Angel managed to stand up and pull the stake from his chest, throwing it to his side. He growled and stared at the vampire in front of him, that stake heart like hell. Buffy, the gang and the vampires stared at Angel; nobody understood what was going on. It was impossible for Angel to be alive; he should have been a pile of dust on the grass. It appeared whatever strange ability these vampires had, Angel had too. Before anyone could react, arrows made of silver flew past Buffy, Angel and the gang, killing at least half of the vampires.
The gang’s attention turned to the wall of the cemetery where five figures stood, each holding a cross bow and they all had swords attached to their belts and a row of stakes made from pure silver. Three of the figures were girls who all looked about seventeen years-old; one stood in the middle of the group and was roughly five foot seven with blue eyes and blonde hair that just fell slightly passed her shoulder and had blue and purple streaks through it. She wore a black tank top that covered her womanly curves and wore a pair of baggy black pants topped with a studded belt and various chains. There was another blonde standing on the right side of the group. She was shorter then the other blonde at five foot five and had beautiful chocolate eyes; unlike the other one she wore a white top that said ‘bad kitty’ and showed every muscle in her defined stomach and a black skirt also with a studded belt and chains. The final woman stood on the left side was the tallest of the girls standing five foot nine and had bold red hair and brown eyes. She dressed in a black belly top and a pair of baggy black and pink pants. Placed perfectly in between the three girls stood two men, one looked about seventeen while the other looked like he was in his mid-twenties. The younger looking one had short blonde hair with blue eyes and stood about six foot three. He was dressed in a black t-shirt and a pair of form fighting khakis. The older one however, had the most distinct of looks. He was about five foot seven with dark brown hair that looked nearly black and deep brown eyes that were full of mystery. He was wearing a black vest that was covered in patches for various punk & metal bands. His well-toned arms were covered in tattoos, as well as his neck. Each side had a different religious figure on it and wore a pair of black shorts revealing that his legs were also covered in tattoos. He also had two lip piercing and had what was known as a Monroe piercing.
“Thought you could use some help,” the curvier blonde said with a confidence that only Angel had been known to have. She jumped off the wall with ease as she threw her cross bow to her side and pulled a stake from her belt, “wood won’t kill these guys.”
The more defined blonde walked up beside her and threw a bag of silver stakes at Buffy’s feet, “However, silver can.”
Without another word said to one another, another full out fight broke out this time with good coming out on top. That is, of course with the acceptation of one vampire who just would not go down, not without a fight at the very least. The curvier blonde fought the vampire with a technique, skill and strength that would make Buffy envious. The vampire picked up a silver stake from beside him and threw it at the girl and right into her chest. She fell to a heap on the floor but quickly regained her strength. The vampire began to back up in fear, afraid of what she might be.
“The cro… cross breed.” The vampire whispered as he turned to high tail it away from her
The girl was much faster then the scared demon. She stood up and pulled the stake from her chest and growled, turning into a vampire. She got down onto one knee, throwing the stake as she went down and with perfect accuracy it went straight into the vampire’s chest and exploded into dust particles. The older male of the group ran over to her in a panic, while the Scooby gang watched in udder shock and confusion.
“Ashleigh!” he shouted helping her to her feet, “god dammit, you’re going to get yourself killed one of these days!”
Ashleigh couldn’t help but smirk, “I can’t die, remember? Not that way at least.”
“But you’re a vampire,” Dawn stated, “that should have killed you. Or does it only take a wooden stake?”
“Neither,” Ashleigh responded throwing her broken cross brow at the guy who helped her, “I’m not exactly a vampire and no quite a human. It’s really hard and complicated to even attempt to explain,” Ashleigh smiled and walked over to Buffy, it was almost surreal looking at Buffy, the legendary Vampire Slayer who wasn’t even at her peak yet, “I’m Ashleigh, and these are my friends.”
“I’m her younger sister,” the slimmer blonde said in a cheery voice, “minus the whole cool vampire effect and strength. The brunette over there is Ben, he’s Josh and she’s Trista, my name’s Joyce.”
“Where are you guys from?” asked Xander
“Around.” Replied Josh
“Where we are from is not important at this given time. We need to however talk to Buffy, Giles and Angel in a more enclosed space where there’s less chance of any of our enemy spotting us.” Ashleigh said firmly
“Very well,” Giles sighed heavily, “I think it would be best if you all went home, the rest of us… the library is a public place so it may be hard to hide out there.”
“Giles is right,” Angel stated, “all the vampires around know that’s the slayers lair. It’s not safe.”
“How about your mansion?” Spike pointed out, “any vampire I have spoken too is scared shitless of even going anywhere near there. Even if they did, they can’t come in unless they’re invited.”
“That’s a good idea, Spike,” Giles said looking at the slayer, “shall we then?”
-Angel’s Mansion-
“How are you feeling?” Joyce asked, handing her sister a drink as they sat by the burning fire, waiting as Buffy cleaned up her own wounds, “You took a real good beating out there.”
“I’m alright, Joyce,” Ashleigh replied softly, resting her head on the brick, “I’m just sore.”
Silence creped across the room as Angel, Giles and Buffy walked in. Sly, mischievous grins grew on the sisters faces, something Giles noticed but quickly dismissed. There were more important matters to attend to then teenagers who were up to no good. The mysterious teenagers all sat together in a tight group. Joyce and Ben were both sitting on Ashleigh’s sides almost to keep her protected and safe, Buffy and Angel each sat on opposite ends of the room while Giles remained standing. He preferred pacing to sitting. The room was full of a very awkward silence, one that made everyone uneasy. Giles knew he was going to be the one to break the silence, although he wasn’t really sure where he should start off.
“Why are you here in Sunnydale exactly?” Giles asked
“Why else?” Joyce replied standing up, pulling her sister up with her, “the world is going to end.”
“That and we need training,” Ashleigh added with a grim look, “we don’t get any practice back home. Our parents have done a good job keeping everything locked down there. So they sent us here and said that we need training from the two best in the business.”
“Buffy and Angel?” Giles asked, receiving nods from all of the teenagers, Giles caught a quick glace at the two former lovers. They were both staring at each other with confident grins, “yes, I’m not surprised. They have always worked well together and put up one hell of a fight one-on-one.”
“How’s the world ending this time?” Buffy asked, standing up from her and moving over to the couch beside Angel
“I’ll cover this one, Ash,” Ben said, talking for the first time since arriving in Sunnydale, “there are many different versions of you. More then one person is living your life but at different life times, like your future and your past,” Ben stood up and walked over to Ashleigh, taking her hand and wrapping his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder, “as you may have heard, the vampire who tried to kill Ashleigh referred to her as the cross breed. I’m sure that you have heard of the legend, Angel.”
“Half-demon, half-human, they are born with the power to save the world or destroy it. They are believed to be a slayer with unnatural abilities by many cultures. She is also known to have immortality.”
“No stake can kill her, no sword or knife can kill her on its own,” Angel said, cutting Giles off and began to pace, “only the blood of the chosen demon on a metallic blade can kill her.”
“Right,” Ben said, leading Ashleigh over to the couch beside Buffy, sat on it and pulled Ashleigh onto his lap, “well Ashleigh’s future self has gone array. She somehow turned evil and wants to be the only crossbreed, ever; she’s been using powers to transport herself from time to time, killing her self, sort-of-speak. She came after the Ashleigh you see before her but for some reason she hesitated and decided the only way to do it properly would be to kill her creators, hence why she’s heading here.”
“Wait, then that would mean that you’re from a completely different time.” Buffy said, sounding very confused
“That’s correct,” Trista said, “before you asked, we got here with my powers given to me by my mother. She’s a very powerful witch.”
“Well, who are your parents in this time?” Giles asked, “we can provide them with the proper protection they need.”
“That’s not necessary, Giles,” Josh replied, “we just need to figure out who this chosen demon is. She destroyed any and all of our resources at home and Ashleigh’s parents refuse to tell us who they are. They claim that we need to figure this one out on our own.”
“All our books got destroyed in the fire at the school a couple of weeks ago.” Buffy said sadly, there work was cut out for them
“I have some books that we could go through.” Angel replied standing up, grabbing a couple boxes off the table in the other room, all containing books on demons, vampires and everything of the sort
“Let’s split into research groups then,” Buffy ordered as she stood up, taking control of the situation, “Angel and I will go through the books still in the other room, you teens go through these books and Giles, help them.”
The two groups broke up and began to research the newest problem thrown at them. There was a chosen demon around, and it was the only to put a stop to this new threat. Many long, strenuous hours had passed and most of those who broke off into the groups had fallen asleep. In fact, one of the only ones still awake was Ashleigh. She was leaning against the corner of the couch with a book beside her and Ben asleep with his head on her lap. Angel walked out of the office with a cup of hot coffee and a book in his hands and noticed the young girl sitting against the couch was the only one left awake. He smiled. She looked a good deal like Buffy with her own distinct beauty and grace. There was just something about her that he found so intriguing. What is was however, Angel couldn't figure out. Not yet at least. Angel walked over to Ashleigh and sat down in front of her, offering his full cup of coffee.
"No thank you, Angel. I don't drink coffee. I never really liked the taste. My mom always said it was because of my age and that it would go away in good time."
"How old are you exactly?"
"Seventeen. I'm still considered a baby compared to how long I am expected to live. I mean being immortal and all."
"How long have you known about this whole ordeal?"
"Since I was fourteen," Ashleigh sighed heavily and ran her finger down Ben's soft face, "we have all been friends our entire lives. One Halloween, it was our first time out alone without our parents and we got attacked, well Ben. I attacked the vampire, I had no idea what I was doing I just wanted to protect him and I got hit and turned into a vampire and the strength that went through my body was... scary. I thought I was evil and I ran off. I sat on this hill that overlooked the entire city and I waited. I waited for the sun to rise and it did but I didn't die. My dad found me that morning, sitting there in the sun and he explained the whole thing to me. My parents weren't planning on telling me until I was sixteen, they wanted me to have some sort of a normal life."
"Is your mother the demon parent? Or can you even say?"
"Oh, I can say, I just prefer not too. I don't want to risk saying something that could ultimately change the future," Ashleigh said as she turned the page, catching the information that she needed, "I found it."
Not a second after those words left Ashleigh's mouth did the room fill with the sound of shattering glass coming from the tinted glass in the ceiling, quickly followed by a young women that looked identical to Ashleigh in every way, she even had the same "xXx" (Straight Edge) tattoo on her inner left wrist, landing perfectly on her feet. Ben, Buffy and everyone else in the room woke up the instant the glass broke. Ashleigh threw the book to Angel, the page with the information marked off and jumped to her feet with a long sword that had a pure gold handle with the most elegant Gaelic markings on it, ready to fight.
"Holy shit," Ben whispered, holding onto a smaller version of his girlfriends and stood closely behind her, "it's the psycho Ashleigh."
"I prefer Ash, thank you," she hissed, "my, isn't this adorable, protecting everyone just like a big bad warrior. It's pathetic Ashleigh. Why waste your time protecting these idiots when you could be strong, dominating, feared... just like me? You know, I just have to know, how does it feel knowing that daddy dearest blood is the only way you can die... oh that's right, you didn't figure that one out yet, now did you?"
Ashleigh froze, her body began to shake. She was lying, she had to be, her dad wasn't the chosen demon, he couldn't be, "Daddy?"
Ash laughed and kicked Ashleigh with a round house kick to the side of the head, sending her flying into the dining room table set up where some of the teens had been working on research, she then grabbed Ben by the neck and held him, nearly cutting off his air supply completely, "You wouldn't join me, Ben... you were supposed to love me no matter what came of me!"
Ben coughed and tried fighting his way out of the grip but it didn't work, she was too strong, "He left you because you're evil, you're killing people with no mercy what so ever, not because he doesn't love you."
"Lies!" Ash shouted, pulling Ben's neck to the side, exposing it and turned into a vampire.
Ashleigh jumped up and went to help Ben but it was too late, her fangs were already pierced into his neck. She was feeding for the kill. Before Ashleigh or anyone else could even attempt anything, she began to levitate about everyone. She removed her fangs from Ben's neck and laughed. She removed her grip from Ben and let him fall, Angel caught him mid air. He wasn't dead, but he would be in just a matter of minutes.
"Consider this my going away present, Ashleigh."
Ash pulled out her sword, it was identical to the one Ashleigh had been holding and stood in a fighting stance, she was ready. Ashleigh picked up her sword, furry, anger, and pain burned in her eyes. Ashleigh slowly walked towards Ash, slicing Angel's arm as she walked by and his blood tricked down the sword. Buffy shouted something at Ashleigh but she ignored it. Ash gasped in horror and jumped out of the reach of the sword and levitated above everyone again.
"You're not all that smart, are you Ash? We're the same person or did that some how flee your mind. Whatever can kill you, can kill me!"
"I'll be back for you." Ashleigh snapped
Ashleigh threw a dagger at Angel but Buffy jumped in front of him and took the dagger in the upper thigh. She let out a scream in pain and Joyce went to attack her, but Ash was too quick. She was already running down the walkway leading to the road with Joyce behind her. Meanwhile, inside, Buffy pulled the dagger from her leg and took off her shirt to cover the wound in attempt to help the blood stop. Giles began to help his slayer clean her wound while everyone else surrounded Ashleigh who was holding onto her dying boyfriend.
"I'm your father, aren't I?" Angel asked
Everyone's attention turned to Angel and Ashleigh. The teens knew the answer but everyone else was left in the dark. Joyce, who had walked into the mansion when the question was asked looked down at her sister and Ben and frowned, "Yes, you are."
"I am so sorry, baby," Ben whispered, his breath was labored, "I'm not as strong as you."
"Shhh... you're going to be fine."
"You're a warrior... you have a heart of gold... I... I...I love...you."
"God dammit! You can't leave me Ben! I love you, please don't leave me alone like this."
"Ashleigh!" Trista shouted out of nowhere, snapping Ashleigh out of hysteria, "you're part vampire!"
"Turn him," Buffy whispered, her voice was shaking, "he can't turn evil if you're a human. There's no way."
"I...I..I can't. I've never done it before, I don't know how."
Angel growled, startling everyone in the room around him. He grabbed Ashleigh's hand, grabbed the dagger that was kept a secret compartment under the fireplace and cut her hand open. He lifted Ben's head and put Ashleigh's hand to his lips.
"Drink it."
Ben looked at Angel and hesitated for a moment. He used the last of his strength and grabbed Ashleigh's had and eagerly drank the warm blood flowing from his girlfriend's hand. In a matter of minutes, Ashleigh passed out, however, it wasn't from blood loss. Ben fell limp in Angel's arms, he was dead. Angel was about to lift Ben up to put him in a safer room until he was turned when suddenly Ben's eyes opened to form a brilliant yellow color and turned vampire. Angel jumped backwards in surprise and everyone in the room froze, not knowing what to expect. Angel's eyes widened in disbelief. It was impossible for someone to turn that quickly. Ben sat up, and looked around him. He noticed Ashleigh lying on the floor, her hand still bleeding. He rushed over to her side and took off his vest, revealing even more tattoos on his stomach and chest, and wrapped the vest around the wound. Angel growled, he did not like the fact that one of his daughters was dating a guy covered in tattoos. Ben picked her up and walked over to the empty leather couch, holding her close to him as tears began to welt up in his eyes.
"She's not dead, she's just tired. The first time a vampire turns another one, it takes a great deal of energy from them. She may be both human and vampire but the vampire over rode her system." Angel said quietly as he helped Buffy over to the single leather chair he had right beside the leather couch.
"How long will she be like this?" Josh asked
"Hard to say, really," Giles responded, "what I don't understand is how Angel is able to reproduce."
"I guess its because he’s the chosen demon," Buffy replied, she paused for a moment then turned to Giles, "what does that mean exactly?"
"Not sure."
"How did he turn so quickly?" Angel questioned
"Not sure," Giles answered again, "everything has been thrown into a chaotic turmoil. Vampires don't die the same way as they have for centuries, they're turning a hell of a lot quicker and able to reproduce, well Angel at least as far as we know. None of this makes any sense, are you sure your parents never told you anything?"
"Yea, they did actually," Josh said catching everyone's attention, "have fun at school. We have to start high school here on Monday. Well everyone accept for Ben."
"Even if I wasn't dead I wouldn't be attending high school, or college for that matter. I have a degree in Kinesiology remember?"
Angel's fatherly instincts kicked in, "How old ARE you?"
"Twenty-five. He's the oldest, everyone else is seventeen, well besides me, I'm sixteen." Joyce answered
"Twenty-five!?! She's only seventeen!" Angel snarled
"Knock is off, Angel," Dawn said walking into the main room of the mansion, "you were how old when you started dating my sister?"
"She's got a good point, dad." Joyce stated
"Dad?!" Dawn exclaimed
"You missed A LOT." Buffy said
"Apparently," Dawn replied, "Anyway, I was supposed to tell you that there’s been two vampire related deaths already tonight."
"Three." Ben said sadly
"Alright, patrolling we go. Angel, before you give me that 'your hurt' look, I'm fine. I'm the slayer, it’s my duty. Bedside’s, I haven't had much of a chance to hunt since Willow brought me back." Buffy said as Josh threw her a bag full of silver stakes and arrows for her cross bow, "how should we break up?"
"Ben, stay with Ashleigh. Stay with her until she wakes up," Angel said, grabbing a cross bow from the table, "Buffy, Dawn, you come with me, Giles, go with the teenagers, Joyce, you're in charge of them."
"What do I do when Ashleigh wakes up?"
"Let her decide," Buffy replied before Angel could say anything, "Take good care of my daughter."
Ben nodded, "I will."
Buffy lead her group out of the mansion, closely followed by Angel who looked somewhat confused. Beside Buffy walked her other daughter Joyce who handed her a small dagger. Angel walked over to Joyce then back over to Buffy, he was extremely confused by all of this. Nothing was making sense since Buffy was brought back from the dead from Willow. Angel bent over beside Buffy's ear as the two groups separated ways at the end of the path.
"How'd you know?" Angel asked with a half-smile on his face
"It's obvious, Angel."
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