Chapter Two: Sing Us A New One
"Find out everything you can..."
Their voices drifted in and out of her mind. She caught the general gist of the conversation, though. Something about a hotel. Hotels were pretty. And big. And pretty...
"Faithy, Faithy, Faith! I gotcha!"
Faith Summers giggled as her best friend grabbed from behind and tickled her mercilessly. Celia stood off to the side, smiling politely. Though she looked happy, Faith could tell that her sister was annoyed at being left out. Never liking her twin to be mad, Faith flipped David over her shoulder and onto the grass. The girls were only six, but they had impressive strength and speed for their age. Their mother had taught them from a young age that it was best not to show other people their "specialness", and she encouraged them not to use their abilities if at all possible.
"That's m'girl."
Faith looked up and grinned. She'd known William for as long as she could remember; he was one of her mom's best friends and her father. Well, not exactly. Their mother had had to explain it all when Celia found an old picture of a dark-haired man. Faith didn't understand most of it. The important thing was that though William wasn't technically her father, he sure felt like it. He was pretty cool, for a grown-up. Though their mother had objected to them fighting, William had secretly taught them a few moves, just in case.
"Mommy said we weren't supposed to do stuff like that," Celia said, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, well, David already knows all 'bout us, dontcha David?" Faith had known David since she was born; though he was two years older than she and her sister, their families had known each other for years.
"'Course I do," the eight-year-old replied. David always loved going against Celia. She was always bugging him. He figured she was mad since he was such good friends with her twin, but he could be her friend, too, if she wanted him to. But no. Instead, she had to always try and ruin their fun. David often felt bad for Faith; he constantly made her choose between him and Celia, even though he didn't mean to. But Faith was pretty good about it. She chose him half the time and Celia the other half. Faith was pretty cool for a girl.
"Well, still," Celia insisted. David always made her mad. Faith was her sister, her twin. He had no right to just come in and always try to take Faith away. Sure, Faith could have friends, but Celia didn't like being ignored, either. Whenever Celia brought this up with Faith, her twin would argue that she never ignored Celia, and that Celia had loads more friends than she did, so why was she complaining for? Well, Celia may have had loads of friends, but she only had one best friend, and it just wasn't right for David to try and take her away.
"Ah, stop bein' so stuck-up, Cee-Cee," Venus Rosenberg spoke up. The feisty seven-year-old looked every bit like her mother, with her flaming red hair pulled back in a long ponytail. She enjoyed being with both twins; Faith was the perfect person to go to when she wanted to kick a ball around, or wanted to spend some quiet time with someone. Celia was great for playing dolls and dress-up and making lots of noise.
"Here we go again," Faith muttered. She never knew who she wanted to win when David and Celia got into an argument. Celia was her sister, but David was her best friend. It made her guilty when she thought of David as her best friend; surely her twin was supposed to fill that role? But even with the bond of twinness between them, Faith always felt more comfortable telling certain things to David. He understood better. Celia usually understood, but seldom ever empathized. Faith looked to William for help.
"Alright pipsqueaks, break it up," he ordered. A hundred plus years and he never thought he would have made it to where he was. William the Bloody ...baby-sitter for the Slayer's kids. But it was more than that. He had a family. Granted, the girls weren't his and he and Buffy weren't married or even dating or anything like that, but he still lived with the Summers girls and still loved Buffy very much.
"She started it," David retorted.
"Actually, no one started it," Faith replied diplomatically. "It just sort of happened."
"Yeah, well."
"Anyways," Faith continued hoping to get a rise out of him, "it's so annoying when you guys fight. I think you bug her 'cause you like her," she added in a singsong voice. Venus laughed loudly and high-fived Faith.
"Yo-ou li-ike Ce-li-a, yo-ou li-ike Ce-li-a, yo-ou li-ike Ce-li-a," the little redhead chanted over and over again.
"No way!"
Faith giggled, and even Celia grinned, because it was always great when Faith bugged David for a change.
"Yes you do-oo!" She giggled some more, and even her quick reflexes couldn't help her defend herself against another one of David's tickle attacks. Laughing and gasping, the two of them tumbled down the hill, faster and faster, grass all around them...
"I don't know why I let you talk me into this stuff."
"'Cause you love me." David Harris grinned.
"If I throw up, it's your fault," Faith warned. She grabbed onto David's hand and he pulled her up, and another wave of dizziness overcame her. "What was the point of that, anyway?"
"We haven't rolled down that hill in ages. One more before I officially become too old to do that kind of thing without looking like an idiot."
"You're already too old to do that kind of thing without looking like an idiot. As a matter of fact, so am I. One more day won't make a difference."
"'One more day', Faith?" David asked with mock hurt. "I can't believe you forgot that-"
"Tomorrow's the big one-eight? How could I? You've mentioned it only every minute for the last two weeks."
"Right. Like you didn't do the same thing when you turned sixteen. 'David, it's my birthday in a week. David, my birthday's in three days, David. I'm turning sixteen tomorrow, David!'"
"I don't sound like that!"
"You'd be surprised." Faith stuck out her tongue. "How very mature."
"Maturity's overrated." The pair walked silently for a few more minutes, the darkened paths long memorized.
"So," David began slowly, searching for something to talk about. "Hell, I got nothing."
"When was the last time we actually had nothing to talk about?"
"Years."
"So...think Celia knows?"
"What? That I snuck out? Of course. I told her."
"Oh." His voice was flat. "I didn't think you would."
"Why?" Faith asked, surprised.
"You told me yourself how badly she's fucking up your life lately."
"She's going through a stage."
"Well, you already know what I think about the subject."
Faith's normally passive voice took on hard edge. "The subject doesn't concern you, so your opinion doesn't matter."
"Faith, put aside your one-way sisterly feelings for a minute and look at this objectively. All the things she's done...she set you up with that vampire nest-"
"I made it out though, didn't I?"
"After Buffy and William arrived and saved you."
"I'm a Summers. I'm not some stupid damsel in distress, okay? And that thing with the nest...you don't know..."
"No, I don't. But I'm pretty sure I'm right. Something's wrong with her. Who would set up their own sister to get killed?"
"David, can you please drop it? I don't want to hear this."
"Maybe not. But I think you need to hear it."
"Well, I've heard it. So can you shut up now?"
"Fine, fine." He enveloped her in a hug. "Just promise me you'll be careful, okay? It never hurts to be-"
"Paranoid much?" She smiled. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, please."
"I'll try not to."
"Even if this is an orgy of death, people, there's still such a thing as table manners."
A trio of vampires were feeding off a couple in their twenties. At the sound of her voice, they dropped their meal and focused their attention on her. "Think you can take me?"
The vampires snarled menacingly. Faith grinned, her stake at her side. "Slayer," one growled.
"Not quite," she corrected. "But close enough." Her cocky grin infuriated them. "Come and get it."
The vampires rushed her and barely a minute into the fight, she noticed something was very wrong. For one thing, the characteristics she'd inherited from her Slayer mother were non-existent. She had the strength and speed of a regular sixteen-year-old girl and the endurance of a teddy bear.
"Definitely not the Slayer," the vampire taunted, throwing her into a cluster of trees with ease.
Pain wracked her body and every muscle felt like it was on fire. She was dimly aware of something wet and sticky running down the side of her head, but ignored it. Gritting her teeth, she rose to her feet, in search of her stake.
"You got a death wish or something?" A pair of strong arms helped her to her feet. She couldn't see her apparent ally, but prayed to God he knew how to fight.
"Or something," she replied shortly, not wanting to get into anything with her mystery man.
"You're bleeding."
"News from the file marked 'duh'."
"You always this bitchy?"
"It might be the blood loss. ...And you can let go any time you want."
His left arm remained around her waist, the only thing keeping her up, a fact he was well of aware of. But instead of voicing this fact, he chuckled.
"Maybe I don't want to let go," he replied, his voice low.
"Vampire," she remarked calmly, ignoring his comment.
"Vampire?"
"Duck."
"The vampire's a duck?"
Shaking her head, she pushed him out of the way, and managed to stake the vampire that was trying to sneak up on them, though acquiring a broken arm in the process.
"You're really slow on the uptake, you know that?" Though before she could revel in her victory, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach.
"How ironic. The Slayer staked with her own stake."
"It would be more ironic if she was actually the Slayer, dumbass." Mystery Man staked the remaining vampire and caught her as she fell.
"I can't believe it, David."
"You know, I didn't catch that the last couple hundred times you said it, but I think it's starting to sink in."
"Very funny." He could see the silhouette of her tongue sticking out at him.
"Very mature."
"Maturity's overrated."
"Anyway, how are you ready before me? I thought women were supposed to take ages to get ready, especially for something like this."
"Please. Slip on a dress, some jewellery and shoes. How long does that take? And what are you doing? You look like you're having a seizure or something." She could see his fidgetting silhouette through the folding wall he'd set up so that both of them could change.
"Do you know how hard it is to tie this thing?"
"Let me. I did William's before I came. It's actually pretty simple." Her emerald dress made swooshing noises as it glided across the carpeted floor.
"Fine, if you think you can do any be-" David broke off in mid-sentence. At least a dozen words and phrases flitted through his mind, but every one of them died on his lips. She leaned on the metal frame of the wall, the bottom of her off-the-shoulder dress brushing the floor. Her waist-length hair was down and framed her face in soft waves and her lips were tinged with pale pink. Dangling silver cross earrings hung from her earlobes, an ancient-looking silver cross accentuated her chest and the silver heart ring she'd had since she turned sixteen was off the chain and on her index finger. Doing the only thing that seemed appropriate, he wolf whistled.
"You're blushing," he grinned.
"Just let me tie the damn thing," she muttered, rolling her eyes, embarassed. David stood ramrod straight, trying to ignore the slight tickling of her fingers brushing his neck. "Ta da," she smiled.
"Very nice," he agreed, slipping on the black jacket for his tuxedo. He studied her for a moment, then frowned. Upon closer inspection, Faith looked worn out and bedraggled, her eyes betraying her glamourous appearance. "You look tired."
"I am," she agreed, sitting down delicately, so as not to wrinkle the satin of her dress. "This whole thing with Celia...ugh, you have no idea. And no 'I told you so's'."
"Of course not. ...Think she's going to show up?"
"It would be her style. ... But if she does, we'll know. Aunt Dawn set up some mystical barriers and things."
"Dad also has a group of Slayers patrolling the perimeter. Any signs of Celia or anything demon-y and we should know."
"Mmm-hmm."
"Don't worry," he assured her. "Nothing will go wrong."
"Don't say that. You'll jinx the wedding."
Now it was David's turn to roll his eyes at his friend's immaturity.
"Dudes, it's showtime." Venus Rosenberg stood in the doorway, her dress identical to Faith's except that the redhead's had spaghetti straps instead. The seven-year-old had grown up, in more ways than one. Her fiery hair had been naturally toned down a few shades, so that it was now a deep auburn. But her spirit was still the same, and as a Slayer, she delighted in training with Faith and David and revelled in the bloodlust of the fight. "Buffy needs her bridesmaids."
Faith nodded and stood up and slipped on the strappy green heels that she'd left in the corner. As she did so, the skirt of her dress rose a few inches.
"Whoa, what the hell is all that?" Venus exclaimed, referring to the stakes and bottles of holy water strapped around her friend's calves and the small tranq gun strapped onto her thigh. "You look like you're going to war."
"I'm just being prepared," Faith replied defensively.
"You take 'prepared' to a whole new level."
"Just-just stay there-"
"Where else am I going to go?"
"Hey, I'm doing you a favour here."
"Yeah, well, no one asked you to." Faith didn't know why being around this guy made her act like a brat. But for now, that didn't matter. All she wanted right now was for the pain to stop.
"Fine, whatever. Be a brat."
"Sure, insult the dying girl 'cause she can't kick your ass."
"Just-just shut up. Save your strength."
"What for? So I can make a big deal out of closing my eyes? Whoa, so cool."
"I'm serious. Stop arguing with me and just do as I say."
Faith sighed and her eyes widened as she began to cough up blood.
"Why are you still here?" She asked in between cough spasms. "Get help!"
"I won't leave you here to die alone."
"Oh, so I'm gonna die now, is that it? You this charming to all the girls?"
"Only the pretty, dying ones."
"And do you, Buffy Anne Summers, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"
Faith stood beside Venus. Dawn stood beside Buffy as her maid of honour, and it was clear that everyone was elated, though Faith could tell that her mother wished that Willow had lived to see the day. As powerful as the Goddess of Slayers was, she had been killed in a particularly bloody battle some five years ago.
The ceremony was nearly over, and Celia hadn't been sensed. They were wrong. It wasn't going to happen.
"I do," Buffy replied, smiling.
Faith thought her mother looked beautiful in her flowing white gown. With her blonde hair cascading down her back, she looked just like an angel. Venus high-fived her behind their backs, just like they used to do as children and Dawn let out a small squeak of excitement. Faith caught David's eye and grinned.
He smiled back and waved slightly, then grimaced as he felt a loud poke in his side. "What?" Not taking his eyes off the ceremony, he addressed Venus's older brother, Michael. Michael was a year younger than him, but a good six inches taller.
"It's happening again," he muttered. "I see...I see Faith."
"What about her?" Daivd asked, slightly panicked. Michael had only had two visions before, but they had both come true, each time horrible, unpreventable occurences, Willow's death being one.
"A guy. Tall. Short, dark hair. Sticks up in front. Broody. ...Um, a really big building...a hotel, I think. Uh...another guy. Almost as tall. He's got the bad-boy look...oh. And a bed. Okay, Faith and the guy in the bed," he added in response to David's blank stare.
"Dude, I really don't want insight into my best friend's sex life."
"Fine. Whatever." Michael's face was set in a scowl. "Don't listen to me." Whoever the guy was, he was going to be bad news.
"Just shut up."
"With the power vested in me by God and the state of California, I now pronounce you two husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
Cheers and yells went off like a bomb as Buffy and Spike kissed. Faith screamed herself hoarse, laughing as the couple made their way dow the aisle.
"I feel like I'm floating," she laughed, linking arms with David and Venus. "I can't believe it. This day was the best. Oh my God!" She laughed again, delighted. "They're married! They're married!"
A bright flash of light. Faith appeared. Her face was contorted in anger and she looked considerably worse for the wear.
"Here," she snapped, flinging a pearl necklace at Cordelia. "Now tell me what I need to know."
"Such a lovely temperment," Cordelia remarked dryly.
"How do I stop her?" Faith asked through gritted teeth. She wiped away a trickle of blood. "She killed him, the both of them, on their...I have to stop her."
"You won't be able to," Doyle replied gently.
"I don't care! I don't care about your stupid prophecies and I don't believe in fate. I make my destiny. So tell me how to stop her and don't give me anymore of that fortune-telling crap."
"Your fate doesn't lie in the future," Cordelia replied.
"Come again?"
"It lies in the past."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Katherine," Doyle began quietly, his Irish accent still prominent, "do you know why your sister is the way she is?"
"'Cause she's gone Looney Tunes?"
"She discovered a prophecy-"
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Faith yelled, disgusted. "Not another one of those damn things!"
"The prophecy," Cordelia continued loudly, "was about the birth of a child to a Slayer and vampire."
"So? How does that concern either Celia or me?"
"The prophecy foretold that the child born would have the power to either plung the world into darkness and bring forth the apocalypse or save all of humanity. But when the Slayer gave birth, it was twins, not one child."
"The prophecy involved one Slayer by the name of Buffy Summers-"
"Skip to the important part of this story," Faith snapped. "I've already figured this part out."
"I suppose the whole thing is my fault," Cordelia sighed. "It was Angel's last battle. He was my...friend. I knew -I thought- that I was doing the right thing." She took a deep breath. "Just moments before he...I gave him one last night with his love. I figured, the curse-"
"What curse?"
"If Angel ever lost his soul, he would revert to Angelus," Doyle explained.
"Angelus...I think...I've read about him. In one of Mr. Giles' books. ...Evil son of a bitch."
"Yeah, well, I figured that the curse wouldn't matter if I pulled Angel out of this reality just before he died. Because even though he'd turned back into Angelus, he would die the instant he returned to this reality. ...So he got his moment of happiness..."
"But his transformation of Angelus changed the outcome of the battle," Doyle continued, as Cordelia couldn't. "He was on the side of the Senior Partners-"
"The who?"
"The evil in charge of Wolfram and Hart."
"The law firm?"
"Uh huh.
"Okay. ...So he went on the side of the evil lawyers -which, by the way, is so redundant. What then?"
"The Senior Partners won the battle. Angelus spent the next nine months hunting down Buffy and her friends. He hadn't known she was pregnant, but the night he found her, she was ready to give birth. Faith Harris, another Slayer and one of Buffy's closest friends, held Angelus at bay. She died that night."
"So that's how...how David's mother died?"
"Fortunately, her death wasn't in vain. She held him off long enough for Willow and Spike to arrive."
"Spike?"
"I believe you knew him as William."
"Oh."
"Willow attempted to restore his soul once more, but he attacked Buffy and Spike was forced to stake him."
Faith blinked, stunned. "I still don't get-"
"Celia and yourself," Doyle said, "you both have the inherent traits of your parents. The strength, the speed, the uncanny healing prowess."
"You're not telling me anything new, here."
"Think about it," Cordelia urged. "With the gene pool you've got, why is it that with even the most rigorous of training programs, you're just barely a match for the average vampire? I mean, you've got both vampire and Slayer blood running through your veins. You've gotta be stronger than that."
Faith thought a moment, then shook her head, smiling grimly. "Because there was only supposed to be one of us. But there are two," she replied slowly, choosing her words carefully. "So everything got split into two. ...And she's gone psycho -well, more psycho; in retrospect, she was always a little off- because she's discovered what she was supposed to have, but had to share with me. So she wants it back."
"Pretty much, yeah."
"But what about that big destiny foretold in the prophecy?"
"You mean the destiny you don't believe in foretold in the prophecy you don't care about?" Cordelia asked lightly. "It's null and void. At least for you and your sister. Unless one of you dies or another Slayer and vampire have a kid together, which is pretty unlikely."
"Oh." Faith paled. "Oh, that's nice. So she wants to kill me so she can -what was it? 'Plunge the world into darkness'?" Cordelia and Doyle were silent, allowing Faith to absorb this information. "And...if I want to save the world?...I have to kill her? I have to kill my sister?" Faith asked, her voice small.
"I'm sorry, kid."
"But- she's my sister. I can't do it. Even if she weren't...I can't kill someone!"
"Then she'll kill you."
"I'm seventeen! ...I shouldn't have to deal with this stuff! ...Ugh, this isn't fair! You can't give me an ultimatum like this!"
"Your parents dealt with this kind of thing every day of their lives. The end of the world, sacrifice for the greater good-"
"Listen to me! I'm not like Buffy Summers and I'm not like Angel, either! I'm not a Champion of the Powers, I'm not a hero, and I'm not some saviour of the world. I mean, you talk like I'm the second coming, and I'm not!"
"All these things you're so sure you're not. How 'bout telling us what you are, then?"
"I'm me. I'm unspecial, regular, ordinary me."
Doyle smirked. "Think that way if you want to. But there's no denying you were meant for greater things."
"Why don't you get someone else to be your stupid flunky? My mother and stepfather are dead, Venus is probably being tortured as we speak, my best friend is in hiding, and everyone else is dead. I'm all alone, and it's up to me to stop my sister. If you won't help me, then stop wasting my time." In another brilliant flash of light, she disappeared.
"Nyagh," she moaned, feeling something wet and soft on her forehead.
"She's awake! ...Is she awake?"
"Cordelia, calm down, please. You're making me anxious." Wesley rose from his chair and began to draw the curtains close.
"I'm sorry, but she's been unconscious for weeks now-"
"Two days, Cordelia-"
"And Angel's even more broody than usual, if that's even possible."
"Speaking of Angel, would you go and inform him that our guest seems to be waking?"
"Aye aye, Cap'n," she replied, giving him a salute as she left the darkened room. Wesley removed the damp cloth from Faith's forehead and examined the scratches on her face.
"What's up?" Gunn asked, entering the room a few minutes later with Angel and Cordelia in tow. Angel came and stood across from Wesley, tapping his fingers on the wooden headboard.
"Her cuts seem to be healing quite nicely, if a little more prematurely than I expected," the ex-Watcher reported. "As for bones, her arm is definitely broken and I suspect her ribs may be, as well. Her stake wound is progressing fairly well; the stake didn't go too far in and I suspect the worst she suffered due to it was the blood loss."
"And why isn't she at a hospital again?" Gunn asked.
"Her blood, it's Slayer blood," Angel spoke up. Okay, it has the scent of a Slayer I know...same difference.
"And?" Gunn prompted.
"And," Wesley continued, "for a Slayer to be called, the current one has to die. If she is indeed a Slayer, that means either Faith or...that means one of the two existing Slayers is currently no longer."
"Which is important because Wolfram and Hart would love to have a Slayer working for them again. This girl, we don't know what she knows or remembers. Wolfram and Hart would love to take advantage of an opportunity like this," Angel concluded.
"About this Slayer thing...is it something that's genetic?"
"Not as far as I know," Wesley admitted. "If it were, I expect that Dawn would have been chosen instead of this girl."
"Who's-?"
"Buffy's little sister," Cordelia answered, remembering the times the little girl used to spend hanging around the Sunnydale High library with Scooby Gang.
"Okay, so it's not a genetic thing. ...So why'd you think she was Buffy?" Gunn asked Angel.
"Huh?" The vampire had the distinct look of someone who was cornered and had been caught off guard by it.
"When we found her, you thought it was Buffy. You smelled the blood and you thought it was Buffy. Why?"
"You never told me that," Wesley said somewhat accusingly.
"Uh...All Slayers smell alike?" Angel offered.
"Try again."
"Guys?"
"Why didn't you tell me that?"
"I felt it wasn't important."
"Guys?"
"Angel, of course it's important!"
"But I just told you, I didn't feel it was-"
"I'm the boss; the fact remains that you should have told me whether you felt it was important or not and let me make the call."
"So you're pulling rank on me now, is that it?"
"Angel, man, don't start this."
"Guys!" Cordelia yelled, exasperated.
"What?" The three of them snapped.
"Um, could I have some Advil, please?" The girl asked meekly. She was in a sitting position, half-leaning on Cordelia who was sitting beside her. Her voice was quiet and hoarse and she looked dizzy.
"She's awake," Cordelia replied needlessly.
"We really appreciate you coming."
"No problem. Consider it a personal favour of mine to you guys. Besides, I can afford to leave Caritas for a couple minutes. Jake, my bartender? Very reliable." The Host followed Wesley into the room and eyed the girl in the bed. "You look horrible, honey. No offense."
"None taken," she replied faintly.
"He won't hurt you," Cordelia said hurriedly. "He's a nice demon."
"All he wants is for you to sing a song," Angel added, his voice soothing.
"I read auras, Cupcake. I can see into your future, so to speak. Guide you down the right path in life. Your freinds here called me because you're a little bit of an enigma."
"You're an anagogic demon?" She asked, interested.
"Yes, he is," Wesley answered, surprised.
"Oh, I knew an anagogic demon," she smiled. "My stepfather and sister and I spent summer vacations at his place. He was cool. You know...you remind me of him." She grinned at the private joke.
"You have a sister? Why did this not come up before?"
"I...didn't feel it was important?" Wesley shook his head. Angel was beginning to rub off on her.
"Before we begin this little singalong, you might wanna tell us everything first," Gunn advised.
"Um, okay," she answered shakily. "Uh...well, I already told you, my name's Katherine, but most people call me by my middle name-"
"What's your middle name?"
"But Katherine's just fine," she barrelled on. "I lived in New York City, because my mom was the...principal of a school there."
"What kind of school?" Angel pressed.
"A school for the...gifted. Pretty normal life. You know, as normal as my family gets."
"There anything unusual about your family?"
"And hey, which family doesn't have their share of weirdness? So, anyway, I have a sister, who's my twin. Nothing out of the ordinary there. ...Oh, except for where she killed all my family and friends and wants to kill me, too, because of some age-old prophecy. May I have some water, please? My throat's a bit dry."
Mutely, Angel hand her the glass of water from her night table. She took a few gulps and sighed. "That feels so much better."
"Twin sister's a killer?"
"I forgot 'crazed'."
"Hmm. 'Crazed killer.' ...Why don't we ever get normal cases?" Gunn asked no one in particular.
"What prophecy?" Wesley asked sharply.
"It's fairly standard," Katherine replied. "Cryptic, vague...or not, in this case. So I guess it's one of the more specific obscure prophecies." She took a deep breath before explaining and tried not to look at Angel beside her. She apparently was no longer in her time, and as Angel didn't seem to be evil and was also alive -well, technically undead, but he wasn't dust- and Cordelia wasn't gold and wearing a toga, she figured she was in the past. But if she were to stop her sister, she would need help all the help she could get, and who better to help than a Champion of the Powers?
No time to think about repercussions her choice would have on the future, she launched into an explanation on the prophecy the Oracles had told her about. "This is kind of the second-hand version of it, because I heard it from-"
"A friend of a friend of yours?"
"Actually," she croaked out, turning to Angel but still not looking him in the eye "a friend of yours. Two of them." This time, she tried not to look at Cordelia. "But I got the gist of it. See vampire. See Slayer. See child of vampire and Slayer. Child'll either save the word or damn it. But instead of there being one kid, there were two."
"You and your sister."
"You got it. So now, the prophecy's null and void. So's the great power that comes with it. You know, except if another vampire and Slayer hookup and have a kid, or me or my sister dies. May I have some more of that water, please?" Angel handed her the glass again and she drained it. "I like this water. Very refreshing."
"So that's why your sister wants to kill you. Because she wants to damn the world?" Cordelia asked.
"And don't forget the power, she wants that, too. 'Cause it's always about power. ...But the thing is, I know my sister. She won't kill me unless she has to. She won't risk my killing her."
"And would you?" Angel asked gently. "Kill her?"
Katherine considered the question. "Unlikely," she answered honestly. "I'd like to think I wouldn't, but until the situation actually comes about...I'll cross that bridge when I get there."
"So what brings you to L.A., of all places? Or the better question is, what brings your sister to L.A.? New York's a long way from here."
"You don't know that half of it," she muttered. When she next spoke, it was directed to everyone. "Yeah, that pretty much brings me to the last part of this riveting tale. Celia -my sister- came to change certain events. She wants to manipulate things so that the outcome is only one child will be born to inherit the destiny and power." She bit her lip.
"But how could she know for certain that it would be she and not you who-? Wait," Wesley said. "'Change certain events'? That would mean..."
"Yeah, I guess I probably should have mentioned the part where I'm not going to be born until 2005, huh?" Katherine answered sheepishly.
"Nope, never the normal cases," Gunn muttered.
"Well, Angelcakes, you've definitely got your work cut out for you. So how 'bout Cupcake here sings us a song now?"
"I've got to warn you...I really can't sing," Katherine told The Host, sitting up straighter.
"Aw, hon, everyone says that, but-"
"I mean I really can't sing. Something I got on the paternal side of the gene pool. My mom could sing, though. She had a nice voice. ...So, what do you want me to sing?"
"Whatever you want."
"Okay..." Katherine racked her brain for a song and settled on the simplest one she could come up with. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you-" Her voice warbled on was terribly off-key.
"Okay, enough, enough," The Host said, waving a hand to silence her.
"Wow. You got everything you needed just from two lines of 'Twinkle, Twinkle'?" Angel looked impressed.
"Yeah. Well, that and the little Slayerette here was right. She really can't sing."
"Tried to warn you," Katherine said, picking up her glass to take a sip. She frowned when she realized it was empty.
"Here," Angel said, holding out his hand. She gave him the glass and grinned. She reminded him a lot of Buffy, and also of someone else, though he couldn't quite place who. "So, what'd you get?"
"Well, would it surprise you much if said I saw the end of the world?" Katherine paled.
"The same old song," Angel sighed.
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