Chapter Twenty-Three

Double Identity

“See you tomorrow Ben.”

“Bye Maureen.” Ben waved goodbye to the pretty brunette nurse and smiled.  She had been trying to get him to ask her out ever since he started interning here at the hospital.  She was nice but, unfortunately for him, there was no room in his abnormal life for a girlfriend.

Walking through the door of the locker rooms, he smiled again thinking of the beautiful blonde, Buffy.  It was a strange name but he liked it.  He always thought himself a good judge of character and he could tell right away that she definitely had a lot of it but there was also a hint of danger and wildness in her, a little bit of the devil. To his surprise, it turned him on and made her attraction even more appealing.

When he thought about the scene that he had walked in on he shook his head, she was strong.  How the hell did she do that?  Doctor Kriegel was not a small man, he was about six feet one and 210 pounds and Buffy was certainly a petite woman so it was very intriguing.  No, he corrected himself, she was intriguing.

Yes he would love to look her up again and possibly start seeing her.  He scowled as he walked over to the bench and sat down.  What was he thinking?  He couldn’t see anyone.  His life was a living hell and no one knew.  No one knew about his secret and he prayed to God that no one ever would.

There wasn’t ever a time that he could remember when She wasn’t around.  Always popping up when he was doing something important, always talking to him in the back of his mind, telling him of all the horrible cruel things that she wanted to do to the people that he loved.

He had gotten so tired of listening to her that he completely shut everyone out of his life.  No friends, no family, and definitely no girlfriend.

Things had been quiet for a while, peaceful and he deluded himself in to believing that she maybe she was gone, somehow, someway.  But then about three months ago he woke up in a monastery far from home and he had no recollection of how he got there.  But there was no mistaking what had happened.

He closed his eyes and a shudder went through him as the images of those poor bloodied monks swam through his head.  It was the worst thing he had ever seen.  Bodies littered the place, a leg here, a torso there, blood dripping down the walls that were painted with beautiful pictures of the Lord saving people.  It was horrific and ironic at the same time. 

He had jumped on the first plane home and tried with all his might to forget about what he saw and try not to wonder why.  Then the first night back he heard her, reminding him sweetly of the damage that she did to the monks.  She wouldn’t tell him why, only that he needed to help her and that if he didn’t the same thing would happen to those that he loved.

He just laughed at her and told her there was no one he loved; she had taken them all away. But Glory was too smooth for that and she just laughed right back at him, and said you’re still here.

He knew that in the end it would come down to him or her and he was afraid that it would be her. He loved his life; he loved helping people he didn’t want to die.

Getting up he started to unbutton his scrubs when he felt the tingle in his head and heard her loud and clear.

“Ben…Benny…Benny…Benny, it’s my turn to play.”

He shook his head. “No go away!”

She laughed, “You know I won’t go away sweetie. I see you made a new friend, she’s very cute.”

He tried to shut her out, tried to get the image of Buffy out of his mind and not give her any ammo to attack him with. But she was too strong, she had been growing stronger and he couldn’t hold her back anymore.

He placed his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. “She’s nobody! Leave her alone!”

Glory laughed cruelly at him, “You have no idea who she is do you?  Well let me let you in on a little secret Benny, she’s the means to my end, she will lead me to the key.”

“The what? What the hell are you talking about?  You’re crazy!”

“Hardly my dear brother, see it’s you who are crazy.  You think you can stop me.  You think you can protect her.  Well you can’t, I’m stronger then you Ben and I have a lot to do, so you need to go away… NOW!”

The tingling became stronger, sweat started dripping down his forehead, he leaned against a locker and brutally banged his head against the cold metal, over and over, desperately trying to pound her out, but all he heard was the sound of her cruel laughter and then there was nothing.

Glory lifted her head and touched her forehead. “Idiot that could leave a mark.”  Her hands ran down her face checking to make sure there were none and then down her body.  “Uggh, really don’t these stupid doctors have any sense of fashion? I mean they make enough money!” she said, disgusted that she was forced to where these rags.

She turned around and looked at her surroundings and smirked.  Poor Ben still thought he could help the helpless, save the dying an all that crap.  He was just too stubborn to realize that her time had come and soon there would be no reasons for doctors, soon everyone would be dead, including him.

***

Glory walked into the apartment throwing the doors open wide. “Dreggi, my ugly little duckling, I need a bath.” She pouted when she realized that he wasn’t coming.

So she screamed. “DREG GODDAMN IT I’M HERE!”

Dreg came running around the corner a smile on his face. “Ah my most beautiful Glorificus you have returned. I’ve prepared your bath mistress.”

She smiled serenely at him as she followed him into the bathroom. “Oh thank god for you Dreg no one understands me like you do.”

He smiled as he watched her remove the clothes she was wearing and step into the tub that was overflowing with bubbles.  “Did you speak with Ben my most holiest of creatures?”

She pouted, “Ben, he’s such a loser, why do I have to put up with him.”

“Because Mistress, without him there is no you.”

She scowled at him “Must you always remind me of that.”

He smiled sheepishly at her. “My most humble apologies mistress. So will he help us?”

She snorted, “Please poor Benny is still living in his own little world.”

He nodded at her.

“I have good news my magnificent one?”

“You found my key?” she said excitedly.

“Um…no mistress but I did find someone who could be very helpful in acquiring your key.”

Her red brow perked up, “Really?”

***

Angel was on his twentieth pass through the living room of the mansion, as Spike alternated between watching him and watching Passions.

“Jesus Peaches will you sit the bloody hell down! There’s nothing to be done now and you’re driving me nuts!”

Angel’s only answer was a growl as he continued to pace out his thoughts and aggravation.  Spike shook his head at him and turned back to Passions.

They were both uneasy and frustrated that they couldn’t get to the hospital sooner.  Spike was worried about Joyce and Dawn, and Angel was worried about everything, but mostly he was worried about Buffy.  Since he was trapped here in the mansion until sunset, he had no idea what was going on and there was no word from Cordy yet.

Wes came out of the library with a determined look on his face.  He really needed to talk to Angel, but from the looks of it, it wasn’t going to be easy.  Nevertheless, he cleared his throat and went forward.

“Angel may I have a word with you?”

When the vampire didn’t respond and kept pacing. Spike called out to him, “Ow Angelus, the watcher wants you.”

Wesley looked at him clearly disgruntled. “Spike you know I am no longer a watcher, will you please stop calling me that.”

“Once a watcher always a watcher mate.” Spike grumbled never taking his eyes off the TV.

Angel stopped pacing and faced Wes. “What’s up Wes?”

“Can we talk privately?”

Angel saw the apprehension on his friends face and nodded his agreement, then nodded toward the library. “Spike let me know when Cordy gets back.”

Angel opened the door to the library then stepped aside, letting Wes walk into the room. He closed the door and walked over to the credenza. “Whiskey?”

“Yes please.”

Angel poured them drinks than walked over to the desk he handed Wesley his glass then sat down in the chair behind the desk.  Wesley quickly gulped down his and sat down.

“That bad?” Angel hesitantly asked.

“Well I guess that all depends on how you look at it.”

“That’s always my favorite answer.” Angel dryly answered as he swirled his drink his hand.

“I have to consult with Giles but my feeling is that this apocalypse may be the one.”

Angel pinned Wesley with his dark gaze not meaning too but still making Wes uneasy and squirm in his seat.

“The one?” Angel asked.

Wes nodded at him, “Yes the one that is referred to in the Shanshu prophecy.”

Angel stared back at him blankly; he didn’t put much faith in that prophecy anymore and his bored facial expression clearly said that.  But Wes ignored it and continued.

“See the prophecy says…ah…” He looked down consulting the papers he held in his hand.  “...the vampire with a soul, once he fulfills his destiny, will Shanshu.  Become human. It's his reward."

He looked up to see a very bored looking Angel gazing back at him. “We know this already Wes.”

“Yes but I um I found an additional footnote in the scrolls, something that I had missed before…and um...” Wesley was very nervous about revealing this latest bit of information but he had no choice. “…um it says ‘his destiny entwines with that of the light, the light mingles with the darkness, the energy shall unravel all that’s become. Time will cease...the energy will dissipate, the light shall cease to exist, and he shall be left to begin anew.”

He looked up to see Angel watching him with the same expression and continued with the passage.  “A new day will begin, what once was dead shall be again…the light shall overcome and He will once again be.”

A few moments ticked by and all that was heard was the ticking of the clock on the wall. Angel continued to stare at Wesley but now his expression was intense. “I guess it’s safe to assume that Buffy is the light?” Angel asked.

“I think so, yes.”

Angel lifted his glass and drank it down swiftly. “And I’m going to take another stab here and suggest that Dawn is the energy?”

Wesley nodded. “Yes I would agree with you.”

Angel stood up and walked over to the credenzas pouring another drink. He swallowed it quickly then turned around to face Wes. “What have you found out about Glory from Giles?”

“The Goddess Glorificus, very interesting entity and story actually…”

“Wes…just the details please.”

“Oh…yes, of course, sorry…well after losing a war in her home hell dimension she was thrown out and forced to live in this dimension.   She has been seeking a way to return home ever since.  Not much is known on her accept that she will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She brutally murdered those poor innocent monks in her search for the key.”

“Dawn.”

“Yes Dawn.”

Angel poured another drink. “Okay so…Buffy is the light.  The light mingles with the dark?”

“Well it makes sense I mean it’s clear that Buffy has…changed.” He bureaucratically said after getting nervous by the hard glint in Angel’s eyes.

“She hasn’t changed Wes she’s just a little lost.”  He sat down on the couch troubled with the prophecy and his own inner thoughts about Buffy’s current state of mind.

Wesley stood up and approached his friend. “Angel I mean no offense but you have got to get your head out of our ass.”

Angel looked up at him a smirk on his face at his friend’s show of bravado. “Oh is that what that smell is?”

Wesley blushed, “You know what I mean.  Look I hate to say it Angel but she has changed, she is not the pure light that you once knew.  Even Giles knows that she is further in the darkness now then she ever was, maybe even more than Faith ever had been.”

Angel’s eyes were hard slits of ice as he stared at Wes. “She never murdered anyone Wes.”

“She tried to kill Faith.”

“That was different.”

“She tried to kill Dawn.”

“That was different too.”

“She tried to kill Riley. And don’t tell me that was different too you witnessed it yourself. My god Angel how blinded by love can you be!  Don’t you see that Buffy has become as much of the darkness as you have yourself!”

“What the hell does that mean?” he snarled at him.

Wes was mad that Angel was walking around with blinders on and he wasn’t afraid to tell him. “I’m talking about you becoming one with your demon. I’m talking about you hunting for the kill and not the cause.  You sleeping and leading on a woman that you care nothing about!  You have changed my friend, if I didn’t know any better I would say you were Angelus!”

And at the moment he was, his face shifted to that of the demon, his eyes glowed red and he stared back angrily at him.

“See you prove my point!  Your eyes Angel, your eyes are not even the glowing yellow of a vampire but a color straight out of the demons’ heart.  Just what the hell has happened to you!”

“I told you what Whistler said Wes it’s all part of the soul binding package. This is me, there’s no going back!”

Wesley felt all his steam leave him and he sat down rubbing his eyes. He was tired and he was fearful for his friend.  He had a really, really bad feeling about this prophecy and he had feeling that Angel was not going to be happy with the final results, which lead to his next fear, that the demon would take over and the soul would not be able to control the demon.

Angel calmed down too, his face shifted back to normal and he sat down, sighing deeply. “Look Wes, I know that I’m a different person than what I once was, but there is nothing I can do, I am what I am…now, I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Angelus and I have come to terms with what’s happened we work together now. Believe me nobody except me knows and understands how strange that is but I’m dealing with it and you need to deal with that too.  We have to concentrate on Dawn and Glory not me and not Buffy, she’ll be fine.”

“Angel, I understand that.  I do but what happens if we lose this war.”

“That’s not going to happen Wes, we won’t allow it.” He firmly stated speaking for himself as well as his demon.

“Yes but what if we do, let’s play devils advocate here and let’s say that we do lose this war and Glory does rip open the gates to hell. What if Dawn is killed? What if Buffy is killed?”

Angel was suddenly before him, quicker then Wesley good blink. He pulled him up and out of his chair by his lapels. “Nobody will be dying on my watch…Watcher, especially my mate.”

Wes knew he was looking into the eyes of the demon and he took this opportunity to talk to him. “Angelus, you know and I know that we can not always know for sure what will happen when it comes to prophecies.  This one is very intricate and very old, even after deciphering it I still don’t know if it’s correct.”

Angelus released him and turned away, “then you’re not doing your job. Tell me, why does the soul keep you around if you can’t even decipher a simple prophecy?”

“Because it is not that simple! If it were that simple then I would say to you, that Glory shall succeed, Dawn will destroy the world by opening the portal, Buffy will die and YOU will be left alone!”

Angelus threw his hands down on the desk his face a mask of furious anger. “THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE WATCHER!  I suggest that you look a little harder and learn to read that fucking prophecy right!  I’m going to be honest with you Wes, I could care less if Dawn or the whole fucking world died, but my mate dying is NOT ACCEPTABLE…EVER!”

Wes smirked at him, “I knew it!  I know that you could not be trusted with this task!  You are nothing but evil and you are corrupting a good decent man!”

Angelus barked at him, “HA! Good and decent my ass Wes.  Let me tell you a little something that you don’t know about your precious goody two shoes…his soul is as dark as my heart, what do you think he did at Wolfram and Hart or to Darla and Dru for that matter, do you think he took them out to lunch?  Made them sandwiches and then happily and gently set them on their way? No…he butchered them one by one then drank their blood enjoying it has it slipped down his throat. He gleefully watched as the flames of fire burned his sire and daughter to death!  Those are the hard and callous actions of a good decent man as you so eloquently put it!”

Wes had nothing to say to that, because those things were true, and whether or not he wanted to admit it the demon was right.  They had become so much a part of each other that there was no line anymore.  It all came down to an invisible button.  One that when pressed changed whom was in control.  He didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but it scared him.

“Tell me Angelus, what happens if all those things should happen, you can’t tell me that you would continue the fight to save the world?”

Angelus stood back and looked at him thoughtfully. “Watcher if Buffy dies there is no more world, so what does it matter what I do?”

He had a point, without the slayer to fight the demons would over run them, and they would all die anyway.  “Yes…I…ah, see your point.”

“Look we can’t argue amongst ourselves we have to figure out what were going to do.” Angel said once again sitting down the personification of calmness.

Wesley could tell the second the demon receded and the soul returned, it was in the tone of his voice, and the slight slump of the shoulders, he wasn’t sure if he was ever going to get use to it.

“I’m sorry Angel.”

“No don’t be, I understand your concerns Wes, because I have them myself. But we have to concentrate on this prophecy and stopping Glory, and hope that our concerns are never put to the test.”

“Yes of course you’re right. Angel you know if Glory were to ever find out about Dawn…”

“She won’t.”

Just then Cordy came running in throwing the doors open “Angel…it’s Buffy…”

He stood up abruptly all of his attention now on the brunette and what she had found out. “What happened…is she alright?”

“Well besides the fact that her mother is in surgery right now removing a brain tumor…”

Wesley stood up as Angel cursed under his breath. “Good Lord a brain tumor?”

“Yup but that’s not the problem. The problem is that Buffy knows and she left the hospital really pissed off and upset.”

Angel’s vampire senses kicked in telling him the sun was setting.  He put his drink down and headed out to the living room. “Why did she leave the hospital if Joyce is in surgery?” He asked as he caught his leather jacket that Spike threw at him.

Cordelia ran after him. “No she didn’t leave because of that…God doesn’t anyone listen to me!”

Angel turned exasperated eyes to her. “What are you trying to say Cordy?”

She rolled her eyes the same way she does whenever she’s annoyed. “She found out.”

He looked confused. “Found out what?”

“That Joyce told you to leave Sunnydale…” seeing that he had no idea what she was talking about she went on, “…the prom…she came here…you two talked…”

Angel cursed and irritably put on his jacket heading to the door. “Damn it.”

Spike was already in front of him. “I got the Desoto ready to go.”

***

Outside the window of the library hidden under the shade of the overhang, a figure crouched grinning madly from ear to ear, his golden eyes gleaming in the now fading rays of the sun.

“Dawn.”

Chapter Twenty-Four