See Part One for disclaimer and details. Hello, and welcome to the final chapter of the story! It's been fun writing this fanfic, but now we have to move on. But before we do, a big thank-you must go to our beta readers Ironbear and Greywizard – without whom the story wouldn't have been half as good as it was. In addition, we would like to thank everyone who sent in reviews and feedback for this story! In reverse order of appearance:

ElDani, the DragonBard, Bobboky, WinterRain36, bigfan22, Wonderbee31, capet, Quathis, mobulis, red-jacobson, Rake1810, Guest, highlander348, TheNStorm, Marcus S. Lazarus, Twilight Warrior 627, poe1911, Alkeni, KingOfCretins, lordamnesia, kindleflame5, alebrewer, Dagda06117032, Darksnider05, Chunk127, David Fishwick, syed, studyofchaos, uo-chou, Erica and anyone else we've missed!

Okay, here is the finale/epilogue for your reading pleasure. We hope you'll like it! And please don't be shy about telling us what you think, good or bad…

Part Fifteen: Coda

Cordelia's office, Angel Investigations

June 22nd, 2004

Cordelia stared at Xander in disbelief. "You've got to be shitting me, right?"

"Nope, no shit," Harris shrugged. He had just told Cordelia everything, and wasn't surprised by her instinctive response to his story. His adventures over the past week or so did sound pretty unbelievable, after all, given that they had never happened for anyone else. "It all took place that way, believe it or not."

The Seer stood up from behind her desk, and came closer to stare Xander directly in his eyes. "Do you honestly expect me to believe a whopper like that, dweeb? What, do I look that stupid to you?"

"I figure there's no way I can answer that question without getting my ass kicked, Cor, so I better plead the Fifth for my own safety."

"Grrrf! Auughh," Cordelia growled. "All right, just for the sake of argument – if this isn't a totally lame and tasteless joke, and it all happened the way you said it did? Why tell me?"

Xander shrugged. "Because unlike everyone else, I thought you deserved to know. Well, okay, Riley's wife and son also deserve to know, but not the entire story I've told you. And because I'm gonna be staying here and fixing up your building, at least for a while, and I didn't want to start off by keeping secrets from you. Because the last time that happened? You eventually ended up with that rebar through your stomach."

Cordelia almost choked for a moment, forcing down the bad memories from high school. "You're really not kidding, are you?"

"Nope, as a matter of fact, he's not."

Both Xander and Cordelia whirled around to see Whistler standing near the door to the office. The balance demon waved hello and said, "Hi there. Been a while, huh?"

"What do you want?" Harris and Chase said at the same time, before looking at each other in surprise.

"Needed to talk to you kids, orders from the Powers. And by the way, Harris? Job well done with that Ethan Rayne guy," Whistler said, before looking around the office. He glanced at Cordelia, "You got a mini-fridge around here somewhere, doll? 'Cause I could do with a brewski."

"You could do with learning some manners, and knocking on the door if you want to come into my office. Next time, I'll treat you as an unwelcome trespasser," Cordy threatened him.

"So what did you want to talk to us about?" Xander asked, noting how the Messenger took a couple of steps back after hearing his ex-girlfriend's threat.

Whistler shrugged. "Pretty sure you already know this, pal; but the Powers were actually moved by your arguments while you were in the Higher Realms, and they also didn't want the Vision Girl to die because of what one of their own did. That's part of why they told me to tell you that you'll be needed around here-"

"Forget it. They may have helped me save Cordelia's life, but I'm not gonna put myself under the control of those people like Angel did," Xander cut him off at once.

"Nah, kid, this isn't about that. 'Cause you may be a lot of things, but you're not a Champion, capital C. Not like your wife here," Whistler gestured towards to Cordelia.

"She's not my wife," Xander said automatically, at the exact same time the Seer said, "I'm not his wife!"

"Whatever. Would-have-been wife, anyway," the Messenger brushed that aside. He said to Cordelia, "As for you, kiddo; you have been the talk of the Higher Realms lately. You remember back when your soul ditched its body, and that Skip character took you to the astral plane?"

"You mean when he demonized me on my birthday? Sure. What of it?" Cordelia asked uncomfortably, feeling Xander's right hand clasp her left and briefly smiling at him for it.

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you actually believed that 'half demon' crap he sold you on?" Whistler looked astonished. "Seriously. You honestly think that the Higher Beings would let anyone like that Up There? Nothing demonic is allowed to get as high as you did, that heavenly dimension which Skippy ascended you to. Everything he told you, it was all smoke and mirrors to cover up the fact that you got infused with some of Jasmine's essence!"

"Huh?" Cordelia's eyes went wide at hearing that.

"Yup. Higher being powers, no fooling. Like healing, that soul colonic thing, and that demon-killing white light show you've done three or four times over the years. Last time was when you fried that army which was out to kill Rat Boy and his buddies, right?" the Messenger asked.

"Right. So...I'm not part-demon? I never was?" Cordelia asked, looking amazed.

"Nope. I mean, transformation into a demon, yeah; but DNA incompatibilities don't allow you to just be 'part' demon," Whistler shrugged. "And half-breeds like your friend Doyle don't count."

"Unbelievable. So I'm actually part-human and part...higher being?" Cordelia asked slowly.

"Yeah. Well, sorta. It's complicated," the Messenger shrugged helplessly.

"Question. Why did the Powers ever let things get that far? Letting the visions slowly kill Cordy, I mean, until she had no choice other than let that Skip guy do what he did. The PTBs refused to answer when I asked them that, so I was wondering if you knew," Xander said, seeing Cordelia struggling to reconcile what their unexpected visitor had just told her.

Whistler had dodged that question from Wesley way back when, but for some reason, he didn't do so again now. He told Xander, "Freedom of choice, kid. That's their highest law, remember? At any time after she got cursed with the visions, your girl could have visited the Conduit or the Oracles or whatever channels she could access, and ask for them to be removed. Since she didn't? The Powers came to the conclusion that she wanted to keep them. Which, correct me if I'm wrong, is pretty much the actual truth?"

"Sort of," Cordelia mumbled, recalling some of her choices back then with a slight grimace.

"Anyway, getting back on topic. The higher being powers Skip gave you? He set it up so that you couldn't directly control them, as part of Jasmine's master plan. Well, not really anyway, even if you have used them to kick major demon ass on occasion. But here's the thing; the Powers are offering you the opportunity to get them completely under your control, in return for becoming their Champion in this realm. Or they can totally remove them, make you Josephine Normal again. It's totally up to you."

"What?!" Cordelia gasped.

"What's the catch?" Xander demanded straightaway.

"No catch, apart from being a Champion full-time; which is pretty much what the cutie was doing with her life, anyway," Whistler shrugged.

"What do you think?" Cordy asked her former boyfriend, ignoring the 'cutie' wisecrack. "I mean, you've met the Powers, but I haven't – can they be trusted?"

"I guess," Xander shrugged, thinking it over. "I mean, they may be empowered assholes, but they're not lying empowered assholes. Not that I could tell, anyway."

"You do realize that they're listening to us right now up there in the Higher Realms, don't you? Kid, you're not doing yourself any favors calling them that," Whistler said cautioningly, shaking his head.

"Freedom of choice, right? Then I choose to call 'em as I see 'em, and describe the Powers for what they are," Xander shrugged, before looking upwards. "And if you people have a problem with that, suck on it!"

"All right, fine. I'll do it," Cordelia abruptly made her decision, causing both males to look at her in surprise. "Gimme full control of my powers, and I'll be their Champion. Just as long as the PTBs don't try to screw me over somehow, they won't have anything to worry about."

"You sure about this?" Xander asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah. Like he said – it's pretty much what I was gonna do with my life, anyway," Cordelia shrugged. "Besides, I'm sure I don't want to go back to being the powerless old Cordelia Chase I was in high school. That's not who I am, not anymore."

"Okay, then, brace yourself," Whistler said, closing his eyes.

The next moment, the brunette glowed white, blindingly bright. Cordelia floated up off the ground roughly fifteen inches, until the white light vanished and she slowed returned to the ground.

"Whoa, that was a rush," she said dazedly, as Whistler vanished without her noticing.

"Hey, you okay?" Xander asked in concern, before realizing the Messenger had gone.

"I'm fine," Cordelia suddenly giggled like a schoolgirl, feeling totally stoked. She could now control her ability to heal and float, had some enhanced strength (albeit not Slayer level), plus she could now use her white light powers at will to kill evil demons. The young woman wasn't certain how she knew all that, exactly, but she was nonetheless sure of her newfound knowledge.

"What the hell, doofus, I'm better than fine!"

A higher dimension, somewhere Up There

The same time

It looked like an ocean beach, but it wasn't. Such things existed strictly in the lower dimensions, after all. Still, that was what it looked to human eyes, had any been present to see it – so for convenience, it will be so described.

Whistler stood alone on the sandy seashore, waiting – when a chaos monster, a primordial goddess of the ocean, rose up from out of the waves. Looking up at the towering being before him, the Messenger said, "We can't possibly have a meaningful conversation this way. So, you wanna choose a different form? Human, preferably, but I'm not too fussy either way."

The sixty-foot serpent vanished, and the man known to Xander and the Scoobies as Shaman Bond appeared on the beach. "Will this do, squire?"

Whistler groaned. "That accent is gonna drive me nuts. Ya got anything else?"

Shaman shrugged, and transformed into the girl named Kikuyu – she who had taught Xander her native language, during his time in Africa. "How about this?"

"Uh, what? Sorry, my Swahili sucks, so keep on going. If you can, of course."

Kikuyu transformed into Melissa, Xander's old nurse. "Last choice."

The balance demon shrugged. "Okay, good enough. And you know that my bosses aren't pleased with you for violating the Accords and manifesting in the human plane over the past year or so, right?"

'Melissa' laughed. "I was present long before your Accords, little demon. Long before your Powers as well, and the cosmic fires which gave birth to them. I am Tiamat, Goddess of the Primal Chaos. Your so-called rules mean nothing to me. So remember your place, before I grow annoyed with you."

Whistler gulped, but forced himself to keep going. "Sure, no problem. But before we get down to business, I gotta ask. Why the intervention? And why Harris?"

"Why not? And as for the second part, I was attracted by the Chaos energy within him. Besides, the Spirit Guides warned me that my worshipper – whose soul tasted utterly delicious, by the way – would unleash forces he could not control, in attempting to go back in time and renege on his offering. Chaos on that scale did not please me, or your Powers."

"I guess. So, releasing the Seer's full powers to her direct control. What do you get out of it, convincing the Powers to make that offer?" Whistler asked politely.

Melissa – no, Tiamat – shrugged. "Since all the new Slayers have weighed in on the side of good, evil has started to make new inroads to Earth to restore the balance again. I consider it advantageous putting a new player on the board, to maintain that balance."

The Messenger frowned. "Sounds good in theory. But I'm pretty sure the Powers won't stand for you controlling their Champion and her people. Especially Harris."

"Who said anything about controlling them? They will do what they will, because that is their nature," the chaos goddess smiled. "And I thought you would have known better, after what happened with your own protégé..."

Whistler immediately looked chagrined at the mention of Angel, as 'Melissa' vanished and Tiamat resumed her true, monstrous form out in the ocean waters – before she slowly sank beneath the waves, and vanished from sight.

LAX International Airport, Los Angeles

Later that day

Faith and Gunn watched the Boeing 747 containing Willow, Buffy and Giles take off, heading for London by way of New York.

"Been an intense couple of days, huh?" the ex-lawyer smiled at his girlfriend.

"Tell me about it," Faith groaned. "After lunch, I thought B and Queen C were gonna frickin' kill each other!"

"Well, at least Harris and Dawn managed to get 'em to neutral corners and then set up that whole peace summit deal. I have to admit, those two were impressive," Charles smirked, putting his arm around his girlfriend and guiding her away from the departure lounge window.

"Impressive, huh? And I don't impress you?" the Slayer asked, with a hint of danger in her tone.

{ Uh-oh! } Charles knew he had to distract Faith with something fast. "You sure do. And hey, I'd like to impress you. So how about we hop a flight to Vegas, right here, right now?"

"What?" Faith jerked back to look at her boyfriend in surprise. "You serious?"

"Yeah. I mean, why not? Rondell can look after things for me on my end, just gotta give him a quick call to tell him the situation. You can do the same for Wes, not like he's short of Slayers anymore. Far as I know, there's nothing major happening right now for us to worry about – so why not?"

{ Yeah, why not, } Faith thought to herself, blissfully ignorant of having been trapped in that time loop for the past week or so. Something that, while not exactly apocalyptic, had still been nothing to dismiss lightly. { I could do with a couple days' vacation, so why the hell not... }

"Okay. So, what, no luggage and shit? Just get on a plane, and head east to Nevada?" Faith asked, starting to grin.

"Yeah. We can buy whatever we need in Vegas," Gunn said confidently. "You with me?"

"Yeah," Faith said, deciding to live in the moment and pulling out her cell phone, the same way Gunn did. "Gimme thirty seconds, and I'm all yours."

Angel Investigations, Los Angeles

June 30th, 2004

{ Unbelievable, } Dawn Summers thought to herself that evening, mentally grumbling as she climbed into the hot tub along with three Slayers. { And here I thought tonight would just be a calm, quiet night, watching the premiere of Spiderman 2 at the local AMC theatre. Geez, can't you go anywhere in L.A. nowadays without bumping into the undead? }

{ Well, at least everything has more or less settled down after that Ethan Rayne guy tried to kidnap me the other week, } Dawn mentally sighed, as the jets of water soothed her semi-naked body. { And I guess it's good that Buffy and I have more or less mended fences, after she broke up with the Immortal and Xander quit being such an ass about the guys she chooses to date. Never thought that Willow would stay in New York during their layover to go see Kennedy, though! She musta had some sorta epiphany, after that private talk Xander had with her. And as for Giles? Ugghh! He really needs to get laid, I just hope he can find someone over there in England who's interested... }

"I think Toby McGuire is kinda cute," one of the Chosen said, feeling the post-slaying rush that made her kind of hungry and horny.

"Yeah, but he's no Brad Pitt," another teenage Slayer pointed out.

"Still, kinda makes you think – you know, it just sucks how there aren't enough cute eligible guys around here," the third Slayer complained, her libido making her feel sexually frustrated.

"What about Andrew?" the first Slayer said.

The third Slayer rolled her eyes at her. "I said cute, remember? He doesn't count. And I'm not crazy enough to ever make a play for Gunn – Faith would claw my eyes out! Plus Angel and Spike have left town – one to the East Coast, and the other back to England. Mr. Wyndam-Pryce is off-limits, that whole fraternization thing. Sheesh, just about the only available guy is Xander Harris..."

"He is cute, isn't he? Golly gee, have you seen that body while he's working on the crappily-built areas of the hotel?" the second Slayer giggled.

"Don't even think it," Dawn immediately warned her and the rest of them off. "From what I've seen, Cordelia's already planted a flag in his ass...and she doesn't like competition!"

Penthouse suite, Angel Investigations

Half an hour later

{ Uggh! Augggh! Oh, God... } Cordelia thought to herself vaguely, unable to think clearly as she was flat on her back – and Xander's tool was pistoning in and out of her nether regions like a well-oiled machine. At long last.

{ Oh, God. Don't, don't stop. Guh...don't you dare stop, Harris, not until I c-c-come – or I'll f-f-freaking kill you! }

The evening had started out fairly normally, curiously enough. Talking about old times, and about each other's lives after high school had ended. The subject of their original destinies had remained taboo, as it had ever since that unpleasant conversation the day after Xander had woken up – until the Seer-slash-Champion had thought 'to hell with it' and asked him if they could talk about that particular subject.

"Okay," Xander had said, unexpectedly. "And before you ask why, I figure you're never gonna be happy 'til we do discuss it – so may as well get this over with, once and for all. What did you want to discuss, exactly?"

"Well, for starters, why are you being such an asshole about this?" Cordelia had demanded angrily.

"You wouldn't understand, Cor. Nobody can, really, apart from Spike."

"HUH? What does he have that I don't, in order to understand how you feel about it?"

Xander had paused before saying, "He braced me about it before he left town, I'm pretty sure Dawn managed to talk him into it. That guy never could refuse her anything, when she did the quivering lip and hurt puppy eyes act. And when Spike asked, I just said one word: 'Drusilla'."

Cordelia had stared at him in confusion before saying, "Drusilla?"

"Yeah. Think about it, Cor. He was with her first, and they were together for a long time. He loved that crazy bitca, no matter how much of a high-maintenance chick she was. But then he loses her, after doing something his girl can't forgive him for – betraying her in the worst way imaginable. So then he moves on to another woman. Transfers his love to her – someone his ex had never liked or tolerated."

"So?"

"So, I asked Spike how he felt knowing that him falling for Buffy had been arranged as part of someone else's master plan. How was he supposed to feel knowing that the Powers had altered his original destiny, which was to reconcile with Drusilla and stay at her side – 'til dust did 'em part?"

Cordelia had frowned before asking, "Huh. So what did Spike say, after you told him that?"

Xander had shrugged. "Nothing. He just turned around and left. I mean, what was there for him to say, after he suddenly understood exactly how I felt about my situation?"

Cordelia had gasped after seeing the parallels between the two men. After all, just substitute 'Cordelia, Xander and Anya' for 'Drusilla, Spike and Buffy', and 'Jasmine' for 'the Powers', and the series of events he'd described was more or less exactly the same...

"Oh dear God," she had said, gulping. "Is that why you don't want to talk about the life we should have had together? All the manipulation? Damn it, Xander-"

"No, it's not that." Harris had put a finger to her lips. "Cordelia? I don't want to talk about it because the past is the past. And sure, we would have had a wonderful life together; kids, grandkids, and everything else. But like I said that day, we're not that Xander Harris and Cordelia Chase. Our future hasn't been written yet. And as far as I'm concerned, I want to create a future with you – and no other."

Well, naturally enough, that had led to kissing. And the kissing had led to groping, and the groping had quickly led to the bedroom, and the flying clothes had led to them currently being locked in mid-ungh –

All without her putting on either the Pylean princess costume, or that Princess Leia golden bikini outfit she had bought in order to seduce him – if all else failed.

Cordelia's body started glowing with white light, as she scratched bloody claw marks down her lover's back even as he climaxed and exploded inside her. "Rarrrrgghhh! Oh, G-g-guh-God, Xander!"

Her body glowed even brighter, the white light streaming out the window into the darkness of the night. It actually took a while for Xander and Cordelia to notice, as they were both totally caught in the grip of the little death of orgasm.

Whistler watched the light show from the street below and muttered to himself, "Man, I do not want to still be down here, when they find out her powers make her extra-fertile..."

THE END