A/N: Welcome, one and all, to the final chapter of the fic! Wow, it's been a long time getting here. I just wanted to thank everyone involved in this story, especially my beta readers (Greywizard, Ironbear and Alkeni) and all the people who have read and reviewed the fanfic, or sent me feedback of some sort. In reverse order of appearance, they are:

Mike3207, TieDyeJackson, Twilight Warrior 627, DonR, Quathis, Bobboky, bwburke94, red-jacobson, David Fishwick, Chi Vayne, DaBillmann, Snorpenbass, goddragonking, Mad Vampire Poet, trongod, Yanagi-wa, Wonderbee31, Guest, Darlok, Smoken71, Chunk127, Rake1810, NaruHarem4ever, Kakabra, Wes George, jayods, lordamnesia, wingofpain, Ceridwen Kalamack, syed, Darkskeleton, Darksnider05, xavierp, Liantei, fullhans1, Falkun, thephoenixandthedragon4ever, SamDeanLove, and anyone else I may have forgotten!

Okay, enough from me, and I hope you enjoy the final chapter of The Oracle! Fare thee well until next time...

Epilogue: Brave New World

Indeterminate location

May 13th, 1997

The first thing that Xander Harris noticed was that it was dark and cold.

No light. No warmth. None at all.

Darkness, absolute.

The memories started to trickle back – he remembered being in that underground cave with Buffy, Liam and that Mr. Travers guy, after Spike and the Master had been dusted. He remembered Buffy taking that Seed thing and giving it to him. He remembered feeling a momentary rush he'd never experienced before – not quite as good as sex with Cordelia, but pretty darn close – and then... nothing.

At least, not until he found himself in this cold, dark place.

He rubbed his hands together. It felt like – well, the closest thing he could compare it to was his fingers breaking apart like ancient, crumbling paper. { What's going on? Where am I? How did I even get here? }

Questions with no answers, at least not yet. He was all alone, as far as he could tell –

No. Something else was present here – wherever 'here' was – with him. Something large, not to mention powerful.

Not just large – infinite. It encompassed this entire place, whatever it was.

"It certainly took you long enough to understand, and take notice of Me."

He tried to respond, to speak, to demand answers – but he couldn't. He was blind and mute, even if he apparently wasn't deaf. Panic started to rise within him –

"Calm yourself, there is no reason for you to be afraid. And be patient; I need to modify your perception of My domain into something you are capable of relating to."

He didn't get that, as he felt – something – brush along the edges of his awareness. He didn't like how it felt – it wasn't unpleasant, exactly, but it surely felt odd. Whatever this being was, it was changing him somehow –

Light. Only a pinprick at first, but then the light grew brighter. Then everything went white, all around him. White light so bright, it was like looking directly into an arc-light or something. He instinctively tried to cover his eyes; but then the white light vanished, and he could finally see things again, as reality flickered and changed all around him.

There was a brief glimpse of something which looked like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, then his living room at home, then Cordelia's bedroom at the Chase mansion; but then the scenery finally stabilised after the Sunnydale High library appeared. "What-?"

"Xander?"

A weight he hadn't even known was there immediately fell from his shoulders. "Cordy!" he yelled happily, rushing towards her. "You're –" Then his eyes went wide. "You're naked!"

"So are you!" the brunette replied, and to his shock, he noticed that his girlfriend was right – he didn't have a stitch of clothing on him.

"What's going on here?" Cordelia demanded angrily, as he came up to her and embraced her tightly. Ignoring the nudity factor, she made a small moaning sound of pleasure, before adding more calmly, "Seriously, Dork, what happened? The last thing I remember, that asshole Larry slammed my head against the steering wheel of my car, and I –" She paused, frowning. "Well, then I found myself here. So start with the explanations, already!"

"Sorry, sweetheart, but I don't know what to tell you," he replied, still holding her tightly. "My best guess is that this is all an incredibly vivid dream of some sort –"

"No. This is not a dream."

Cordelia yelped at the sound of that disembodied, echoing voice, and clutched him even tighter. "What? Who are you? What is all this?!"

"Oh, boy," Xander said worriedly. Looking up at the ceiling he said, "Uh, could you please tell us what's going on? And could you also give us some clothes? Nakedness is something of an issue, here!"

"You got that right!" Cordelia exclaimed, before she suddenly found herself wearing a flimsy Ionic chiton – and he himself was clad in a Roman toga. "Eww. Whoever you are, haven't you got anything more modern in your wardrobe? Even Laura Ashley would be better than this!"

"Cordy, please, not now," he said hurriedly. Then he returned his attention to their invisible companion. "Uh, thank you. For the clothes, I mean. But – could you please explain what's going on now?"

"I could. But first, two questions. And the first one I have for the both of you is, who are you?"

He blinked, looking around at his girlfriend, who looked similarly surprised. "Uh, I'm Xander Harris."

"And I'm Cordelia Chase," his girlfriend replied, moving away slightly but still maintaining a strong grip on his right hand.

"That is not entirely correct. Technically, you were those people. Which brings Me to My next question." He could somehow hear the capital M's in the invisible being's voice. "What are you?"

"Uh, not quite sure how to answer that, to be honest with you," he frowned, going over the question in his head. As well as the answer to the first one – he used to be Xander Harris? That didn't make any sense –

"Me neither. I mean, what do you want me to say? Sunnydale high school student? Former cheerleader? Girlfriend to the Doofus, here?" Cordelia demanded in confusion. "All of the above?"

"No. It is obvious that you still do not understand."

"Then please, explain it to us?" he asked politely.

"Very well. What you are – what both of you are – is dead."

The same place

A moment later

Blinking rapidly, Cordelia couldn't believe what she'd just heard. "We're what?!"

"You are dead."

"But – that can't be right! I mean, Madam Devora said –" she instinctively started to protest.

"That mortal fortune-teller prophesized what would happen to you and your mate, yes. A century of life together, or less than a decade apart. But those two paths were predicated upon circumstances that ceased to exist, once your mate accepted his new fate as My Voice. Thus, as I said, you are now both dead."

Cordelia still couldn't believe it. { Is she saying – Xander and me finally getting together was despite that prophecy, not because of it? Seriously?! And as for the rest of it... } Looking around the school library, she gestured with her free hand and said scornfully, "So, what's all this supposed to be? Heaven? It sure doesn't look like it to me!"

Her boyfriend squeezed her other hand tightly. "Honey, please. I'm begging you – don't!" Surprised, she turned to face Xander – and she was shocked by the look of naked fear on his face. "It wasn't like this, uh – earlier. Before you showed up here, I mean. There was just – a great big nothingness! I couldn't see, I couldn't talk, I couldn't – wait. First things, first. Who are we talking to?" he asked, looking up at nothing in particular. "Could you please identify yourself?"

"Very well. Your mate has never met Me, but she knows of Me. And you met Me once, in a manner of speaking," their invisible host stated. "I am the Goddess of War, Prophecy and Death."

The air shimmered and sparkled, and suddenly a familiar black woman was standing in front of them. She then said in that echoing, reverberating voice, "Otherwise known to some – especially the mad Seer – as the Dark Lady."

"Madam Devora?" she gasped. "But, uh, I thought you were dead?" A very creepy feeling suddenly shot through her, the same way it did whenever the Sunnydale weirdness reared its ugly head –

"No. That's not Madam Devora, Cor," her boyfriend shook his head. "Trust me, I can tell. This is just a – an image. Something we can focus on and relate to, rather than just looking around at empty air. Am I right?"

"You are," the Dark Lady's avatar nodded. "It would seem I chose wisely, Defender of Mankind, in selecting you as My Speaker in the mortal realm."

"You mean, YOU were the one who cursed my Doofus that way?!" she demanded angrily.

"Cordy!" Xander hissed at her, drawing her closer. "Remember that demon hunter, Sid, and what he said to us? You don't want to piss off bloodthirsty gods in any way, shape or form!"

"Indeed. Continue on like this, and you may come to regret My retrieving your soul from the Pit," the Dark Lady said warningly.

"What?" she said in confusion.

"As I said, you are both dead. Your mate because he channelled the power of the Seed of Wonder through himself, in order to fulfill his destiny – and you because the undead Seer arranged for you to be slain, as an act of petty revenge," the so-called goddess told her. "Having you thrown down into the depths of Tiamat's Maw did not, however, please Me. That is part of why I arranged for your souls to be reunited here in My realm."

"I channelled..." the Dorkhead said uncertainly.

"Yes. Every vampire in your world is now extinct, Defender of Mankind, as you and your friends intended," the Dark Lady replied blandly.

"Yeah, but I was – sacrificed – in order for it to happen," Xander said dazedly. "In a way, we both were?"

"Hang on, rewind! If we really are dead – just for the sake of argument, mind you – then where exactly is this realm of yours? And you said that was only part of the reason why we were – reunited. What's the other part?" she asked, heeding her boyfriend's advice and trying to be as polite as possible.

"My realm is merely one slice of the Ultimate Dream – or as you might know it, the Cosmic All. Do not ask Me to explain it further – you would not be able to grasp the concepts involved. As for your other question, it behooved Me to do so, and it did not involve any significant expenditure of time and effort. Your souls were already linked, after all."

"Linked how?" Xander asked, as she instinctively curled an arm around his waist.

"By blood, sex, and magic," the Dark Lady replied. "Not to mention Saynday's binding."

"What?" Cordelia asked in confusion.

"When I Spoke to your mate's grandmother that day, she learned that she would never see either you or her grandson again; that you would both die soon in order to make your world a better place. From a human perspective, anyway. She then performed a binding ceremony, invoking the Names of her gods and ancestors. Of course, the ceremony was not magically binding until your mate gave you his grandmother's wedding ring, and you accepted it. Nonetheless, the rite worked as she intended, creating a link of that type."

Cordy felt her brain seize up. Xander's grandmother had known what would happen to them? And she'd said nothing, and done nothing, to prevent it? No, no way, she couldn't accept that! She refused to accept that Mrs. Lambert would do something like that to her, let alone her own flesh and blood! That was just – well, totally unthinkable!

"I don't believe it," Xander shook his head, echoing her thoughts. "Grandma wouldn't have done that. No way!"

"What you choose to believe is irrelevant," the Dark Lady shook her – Madam Devora's – head immediately. "What is relevant is what you choose to do next."

"Meaning?" she asked, not sure if she actually wanted to know.

The Dark Lady gestured, and the double doors of the library swung open. But instead of the familiar school corridor she'd been expecting to see, there was nothing but a white void visible. It stretched out endlessly, and she felt a weird magnetic pull towards it –

"Lemme guess. We walk through Door Number One, and we begin our next grand adventure," Xander said tightly, holding her hand and preventing her from moving forward.

"You enter the peace and eternal rest of your concept of Heaven, yes. There is, however, an alternative."

Her eyes growing wide, Cordelia somehow tore her gaze away from the enticing view beyond the library's doors. "An alternative? What?"

"First, I must explain. Your mate already knows part of this, thanks to who and what he is, but you do not," the so-called goddess said, staring directly at her. "The reality you know is only part of the multi-dimensional infinity of your universe."

"What?" She didn't get that at all.

"Wait, are you talking about alternate realities? The stuff Jesse and I used to read about in comic books, and our gaming sessions with Jonathan and the rest of the D 'n D crowd?" Xander asked in surprise.

"Yes. Consider the following as an analogy; there are many radio stations in the reality you used to live in, and the radio waves carrying their signals all share the same physical space. But since they are all on different wavelengths, they remain separate. It is the same with alternate realities; they all occupy the same physical space, but remain separate thanks to existing on different 'wavelengths', so to speak. Do you follow Me so far?"

"Yeah, I guess. But why are you telling me all this?" Cordelia wanted to know.

"So that you can truly understand the choice which you and your mate face. I cannot send you back to your own reality; you are both dead there, and your physical bodies no longer exist. And despite Death being part of My demesne, I cannot alter the balance that much by arbitrarily resurrecting you both; My recent bargain with the Powers That Be precludes it. However, there are other realities; ones which require the presence of a Xander Harris and a Cordelia Chase. Realities which do not necessarily have a Jesse McNally or an Aura White, who will have to take over your roles within the reality you originated from."

Cordelia's eyes went wide. "Say what?"

"I'd like to ask a question," Xander spoke up, before she could demand whether this so-called goddess had totally lost her mind.

"Speak."

"What do you get out of it, if we choose to accept your – alternative?" he asked politely. "No offense, but in my experience, nobody ever does something for nothing. Plus, you've been using me as your mouthpiece for nearly a year, so – what? If we accept your offer, does the whole Oracle thing start up all over again? You did say it was a lifetime gig way back when, if I recall right."

"You are partially correct. You chose to become My Voice by drinking the sacred water of Coventina, even if that was mostly due to disbelief and ignorance on your part. But that was a lifetime commitment. In this second lifetime, if you and your mate choose to accept My offer, you have My promise that I will not interfere in your life – in both your lives – that way. For whatever that promise is worth to you. And whatever powers your soul has absorbed from being My Oracle up until now, they are yours to use as you see fit. And as for what I get out of it..."

"Yes?" Cordelia asked, temporarily putting aside the whole issue of alternate realities and the rest of what she'd just heard.

"You could call it enlightened self-interest," the Dark Lady replied. "There are many upcoming wars, prophecies and deaths which require the presence of a Xander Harris, no matter which reality I concern Myself with. And before you ask, I know that because the Elder Gods and Lesser Gods are not just higher beings carrying out the duties of office; we are our offices. I am War, Prophecy and Death, in a very real sense."

"Gilail," Xander said, before blinking in confusion. "Where did that come from?"

"Irrelevant. And that is not my true Name, although it sufficed for the mad Seer to briefly summon Me into a mortal vessel." The image of Madam Devora briefly morphed into a little girl with blonde hair, before resuming Fortune-teller Lady's features.

"Okay, can I just say one thing? Why me?" she suddenly wanted to know. "What use is plain old Cordelia Chase to someone like you?"

"Despite the lack of any supernatural qualities, you could still potentially play a role that would benefit Me; and as I said, your souls are linked. What affects one affects the other. And a nexus of Chaos such as your mate is much too valuable to waste eventually going mad from sensing your eternal pain, as a consequence of your soul being trapped within the Pit."

"Well, I guess that pretty much explains that," Xander nodded, even if she could tell he was trying to deal – and failing badly – with everything they'd just learned. "I mean, never mind me; but a world without Cordelia Chase in it? It'd end up a total fashion-victim nightmare, if nothing else!"

"Knock it off, Dumbass!" she whacked him slightly with her free hand. Then she calmed down and asked the Big Dummy, "So, what do you think? Heaven, or the other place?"

Xander stared at her, and the loving expression that suddenly appeared on his face almost made her insides melt. "We never did get married and have all those children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren which Madam Devora said might show up in our lives, did we? Call me crazy, but I'd like to experience all that before I start playing a harp on that cloud outside there," he gestured towards the white void. "And sure, Hellmouth all over again, but all our friends and family are there. Plus, do you really want to meet up with Wesley again at this point, and have to listen to him talk about magic and demons and everything else? For the rest of eternity?"

She shuddered. "Well, when you put it that way..."

He kissed her, and suddenly all her doubts were gone. Maybe their souls were linked now, or something... all Cordelia knew was that wherever her boyfriend – lover – future husband – went, she would follow. And wherever she went, he would likewise follow. So letting go of his lips, she told him, "I just realized something deep and meaningful, Dork. After everything that's happened, home for me is wherever you are."

"Heh. Just like home for me is wherever you are, sweetheart," Xander nodded and smiled.

"Shall we go home, then? Or wherever it is exactly we'll end up?" she asked, eyebrows raised.

"It will be a reality where the native versions of Xander Harris and Cordelia Chase are destined to die, and you will show up in their bodies at the last possible moment to take over their lives. Your lives, in a sense. Just in case you were wondering," the Dark Lady interjected.

"Well, gee, that sounds comforting. Not!" Cordy groaned to herself. "What, does that mean I'll end up doing the whole time-share thing in my own body again? 'Cause I had enough of that crap with the whole Hyena thing!"

"No. You will be yourself, in your own body. The same for your mate; no conflicting memories of the past from your alternate selves, or anything like that. It would not serve My interests for either of you to end up schizophrenic, after all," the Dark Lady announced.

"All right, what the hell," she said, after thinking it over one last time. "Let's do it."

"Okay," Xander said. He looked over at the so-called goddess. "Send us –"

Less than a moment after the two of them had vanished from sight, the so-called library vanished from existence as well.

Sunnydale High School library, Alternate universe

May 30th, 1997

Cordelia Chase was terrified, although she was determined not to show it.

Her boyfriend Kevin Benedict had been murdered by vampires yesterday, and she herself almost killed by the monsters earlier tonight. Luckily, she had managed to get away from them in her car, and had picked up Willow and Ms. Calendar along the way before blasting through the main doors of the school to take refuge in the library. "Why are they coming here?"

The school librarian, Giles, more or less ignored her. "I need to secure my office!" He then hurried off to make sure the bad guys couldn't enter through the window there.

{ This sucks! } she thought to herself, still standing near the double doors; which had been barricaded with a couple of bookcases. But then a vampire punched through the glass and grabbed her around the neck. "Somebody, help!" she gurgled, trying to scream.

But just as the vampire was about to strangle her to death – a miracle occurred, and as one soul departed to the afterlife, another took its place within the corporeal vessel. A soul alien to this reality, but much better to prepared to survive the 'night life' of the Hellmouth than its counterpart.

Growling angrily, Cordelia just barely managed to move the hand strangling her upwards enough to sink her teeth into the undead flesh. The vampire immediately screamed and let go of her, withdrawing its arm out of the library. { See how you like it! }

Cordelia took in the chaos and destruction, as well as the sight of a huge, green, multi-headed and tentacled demon bursting through the library floor. Trying not to panic mindlessly, she then saw one tentacle heading for an unsuspecting, familiar-looking redhead – and so she immediately screamed, "WILLOW, BEHIND YOU!"

Stairwell leading to the Sunnydale High roof, Alternate universe

The same time

Xander Harris was pretty sure he was going to die, but as long as Buffy lived, that was okay as far as he was concerned.

Akela's teeth, but tonight had been enough to convince him that Murphy was a malicious bastard out to screw him over every chance he got. First, he'd heard a prophecy that the Master was gonna get loose and destroy the world – and kill Buffy, which was pretty much the same thing in his book. By the time he'd convinced Angel – pathetic cowardly vampire, even if the undead guy had his uses – to guide him down to the Master's lair, it had been too late and Buffy had been bitten and drowned.

Thank God he'd managed to bring her back with CPR. But as soon as he'd done so, she'd hurled herself into Angel's arms and thanked Dead Boy for bringing him down to the Master's lair! Still, as long as she was alive, that was the important thing –

Along with preventing the end of the world tonight, of course.

{ Oh, crap, here they come, } he thought to himself in fear and resignation, as two soulless vampires headed for him and Angel. Giving his temporary partner a quick look, he recalled Buffy's orders – to keep the undead off her back while she dealt with the Master. No matter what.

Angel started to fight one of them, while the other rushed forward and jumped onto his back. Instinctively, he held up his cross to her and she jumped off, snarling. While Dead Boy continued to fight his opponent, he tried to punch El Vampira – but the soulless thing was too quick, and avoided the blow. A quick swipe of her arm, and the cross went flying – and then she tackled him to the ground.

He could smell her foul blood breath, as her fangs headed straight for his jugular –

And then, a miracle occurred, as his soul departed and another seamlessly arrived in its place.

Xander Harris's eyes turned green and started to sparkle and shimmer, before an ear-splitting noise erupted out of his mouth and caused the female vampire to stop and clutch at her ears in agony, just like Angel and his opponent not far away –

Xander rolled out of the way, instinctively reached for a stake, and then he dispatched his undead attacker by stabbing her in the heart. Still screaming, he took out the other soulless vampire present, who – just like Angel – was incapacitated by the mystical weapon at his command. The moment the coast was clear, he stopped screaming and moved to help his ally get up. "Liam, you okay?"

The startled look on his friend's face made Xander think, { Oh, Toto – I don't think we're in Kansas no more! }

Sunnydale High roof, Alternate universe

A short time earlier

The Master was feeling exultant, with freedom being his again; at long last. The inevitable prophecy in the Pergamum Codex had been fulfilled. Namely, the Slayer had come to him, and he had killed her. And the best bit was seeing her face upon being informed that he couldn't have escaped his underground prison without her willing venture into certain doom.

{ Her blood was utterly delicious. Haven't tasted anything like it since the 1700's, } Heinrich thought to himself in blissful satisfaction. { Too bad I didn't spend more time draining her dry, but then I was in such a hurry to come here and see this beautiful sight... }

The Master looked down through the skylight into the library, watching the three-headed Hellmouth demon doing battle with the humans. "Yes. Come forth, my child. Come into my world!"

"I don't think it's yours just yet."

The Master turned around in surprised disbelief. { THE SLAYER?! }

Indeed it was. The somewhat wet and bedraggled girl stood very much alive before him, in her white Prom dress. He couldn't believe it –

"You're dead!" Heinrich finally said, his mouth still stained with the Chosen One's blood.

"I may be dead, but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you," the annoying brat retorted.

"You were destined to die! It was written!" The Master still couldn't quite believe this was happening.

The Slayer shrugged. "What can I say? I flunked the written."

The Master growled and reached his arm out to try his hypnosis on her again, like he'd successfully done in that underground church a few minutes before. "Come here!"

"You have fruit punch mouth," the Chosen One said in a curious tone of voice.

He didn't get that. "What?"

She swung a wide, hard punch straight to his mouth, knocking him down. "Save the hypnosis crap for the tourists!"

As he got up, she did a swinging roundhouse kick that connected squarely with his face. Heinrich angrily swiped back at her and even though the impertinent child jerked backwards, he still managed to slice her across her upper right breast, drawing blood. { That must have weakened her. All right, time to finish this! }

He went to grab her around the neck, but she ducked and punched him in the kidney. Roaring, Heinrich punched her back in the jaw. Staggering back a bit, she tried to punch him again; but he blocked the blow and slammed his fist into the Slayer's face, sending her flying back into the wall behind her. "Where are your jibes now?"

He stalked forward, enjoying the look of fear on her face. "My Hell is finally come upon this Earth, and there's nothing you can do to sto-"

At that moment, a horrible, agonizing noise from the direction of the stairs assaulted his hearing, and he was distracted trying to block it out. That moment was all which the Slayer needed to rush forward and hit him with a jaw-breaking punch. Then she grabbed him by the neck and flipped him over her head, straight down through the skylight. "I can send ya to Hell first, asshole!"

The Master roared with fury all over again as he fell, before he hit the jagged remains of a table down below and got impaled through the heart by a random shard of wood. His leathery undead flesh slowly turned to ashes, until there was nothing but a skeleton left.

As his essence made its way back to the dark hell of its origin, Heinrich's fury continued to grow; unable to handle the fact that the Slayer had actually defeated him in battle!

Sunnydale High School library, Alternate universe

A short while later

Cordelia wasn't quite sure what to think, as she helped Willow and Mr. Giles and Ms. Calendar remove the various barricades that had been set up around here.

For one thing, as soon as that ugly-ass vampire had crashed through the skylight and inadvertently staked itself, the battleground had suddenly gone quiet as that three-headed nightmare withdrew back under the floor. The vampires had quickly split the scene as well; although why they'd decided to attack the high school library in the first place, she still had no idea –

{ This isn't your world, remember? } Cordy reminded herself, trying to shove the bookcase out of the way of the double doors. { Unless that meeting with that so-called goddess was a really weird out-of-body experience or whatever, both me and my boyfriend are now living in a brand new reality. Who knows just how different things are here? Well, hopefully, they're not too different – }

"Ugghhh!" she groaned, finally shoving the bookcase out of the way. And the very next moment, all was suddenly right with the universe –

"Cordy!" her boyfriend yelled, as he came running through the double doors.

"Xander, you're here! Oh, thank God!" She squealed in delight and started kissing the hell out of him. When they finally came up for air, she said breathlessly, "I was kinda worried something might have gone wrong –"

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!?" Willow's horrified voice suddenly distracted her from whatever else she'd been about to say.

Briefly undergoing a flashback from months ago, when Willow had said that exact same thing after she and McNally had found them kissing outside the school gymnasium, Cordelia thought to herself, { Uh-oh. It sounds like all that happened never happened here? Darn, here we go again... }

Cordelia – still holding her boyfriend in her arms – turned around to face the shocked and upset-looking redhead, along with the confused-looking Mr. Giles and Ms. Calendar. Then Buffy and Liam came into the library, and they started looking at her and Xander like they were freak show exhibits as well! { Well, I don't do comforting bullshit, so what the hell – }

"I'm kissing my boyfriend, Willow. The guy I love, and who loves me. I'm guessing that's what is totally weirding you out?" she asked calmly.

"You, you- buh- lo- you, you can't- this isn't –" Nerd Girl started to hyperventilate, before charging forward as if to drag Xander away from her. But the Dweeb abruptly pushed her behind him, as his features became focused and determined.

"I have something to say. And it's probably not something you people are gonna like hearing," he said, causing Willow to come to a screeching halt. "The truth is – I'm Xander Harris, and this is my girlfriend, Cordelia Chase. And we're not the Xander and Cordelia you people are familiar with; we come from another world, a different reality. Plus, the people you knew – we're inhabiting their bodies, but they're – gone."

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?!" Buffy demanded, stepping forward with an angry look on her face.

"It's a long, long story, Buff," he shook his head. "See, it all started roughly a year ago, during Midsummer's Day –"

"Hang on! Liam – you're still a walking corpse here," Cordelia interrupted Xander's speech, staring at the hunk in question. By this point, she could recognize the unnatural pallor of the undead. "You didn't become human again, like the Liam in our world did?"

"The name's Angel. And no." The vampire shook his head briefly. "I was never offered that – opportunity – which my counterpart apparently was."

"What? Angel, don't tell me you actually believe any of this garbage?!" Buffy demanded hotly.

"Of course I do," he nodded once. "It's the only rational explanation, after all."

"WHAT?!" everyone except for herself and Xander demanded.

"Look at them, Buffy. I mean, really look at them. Their body language, if nothing else. Both of them are obviously different people now," Angel told her. "And there are other things; for example, they both know me as 'Liam', and that's a name I haven't used for over two centuries. Plus, Xander hasn't looked at me even once with his usual expression of disgust and jealousy –"

"Jealousy?" Xander interrupted, looking confused. "Why would I be jealous of you?"

"Your counterpart – the Xander Harris of this world – he was hopelessly in love with Buffy," the vampire explained bluntly. "But she didn't return his feelings –"

"Okay, HOLD IT!" Willow abruptly yelled, interrupting the guy. The redhead glared at her boyfriend – and her, to a lesser extent – before saying, "I wanna know, where's the real Xander? 'Cause I'm convinced now that I don't actually know you, mister; and, and if you really are involved with this b-i-t-c-h, then I'm pretty sure I don't want to know you! As far as I'm concerned, you're just – look, all I want from you is to bring my Xander back right now, and then you can return home to the crazy-ridiculous world you came from. So do it – or, or else!"

He tried to hide it, but Cordelia could tell how the Dork was hurt by the fury and vitriol present in his oldest friend's voice. Well, no, not his oldest friend. It definitely was going to take a while for that to sink into his Xander-shaped brain, she was certain; that this Willow Rosenberg wasn't on his side. Their side. Whatever.

Maybe that would change in the future – but for some reason, she rather doubted it. Especially after the hacker heard –

"Sorry, Willow, but that's not possible," she said as gently as she could, as all eyes turned to look at her. "The Xander you knew is gone for good. Ditto the Cordelia you knew. Not that that matters much to you, I'm sure; it's pretty obvious we're not friends here, like we were back in my reality."

"You were friends with – with your Willow?" Buffy openly gaped at her.

"Yeah. Well, sort of. We ended up – tolerating each other, I guess would be the best way to put it. For Xander's sake," she clarified, as her boyfriend put his arm around her again. "But getting back on topic, that so-called Dark Lady – the Goddess of War, Prophecy and Death, if that's what she really was – she told us that the Xander and Cordelia of this world were destined to die tonight. If my boyfriend and I had decided not to accept her offer to insert our souls into this reality after we died in ours, at the very last moment before they would have been killed? Then there'd be nothing but a couple of dead bodies on the floor, right now. I know you don't like it, Willow, but that's the truth – and there's nothing you or anyone else can do to change it. Well, unless you're willing to go head to head against a god who can apparently possess people – which is something that kills them, roughly a day later!"

Looking like she was about to burst into hot, scalding tears, Willow immediately fled the library. Giving her a hard look, Buffy ran after Nerd Girl and likewise vanished from sight.

"Well, um... this, this is most extraordinary," Mr. Giles spoke up, sharing a look with Ms. Calendar. She suddenly had the sneakiest suspicion that those two weren't together in this reality as the Watcher added, "If I may, I, I'd like to talk with you both in detail about this. I, err, I very much doubt we've heard the full story, so far –"

"Mr. Giles? What's the what with you and Ms. Calendar? I mean, has she told you the real reason why she came to Sunnydale, way back when?" Cordelia interrupted.

"What? What are you talking about?" the Tweed Guy asked in confusion, as the Computer Science teacher – former? – suddenly turned white. "And, uh, Mister Giles? Good Lord, you two really aren't from around here; nobody calls me that –"

"He doesn't know. And I'm willing to bet none of them do," Xander interrupted, before turning to Li- Angel. "Has anyone told you about your curse yet? The one those gypsies did to give you your soul back?"

"What? What are you saying?!" Ms. Calendar burst out in alarm, before she noticed everyone staring at her and she almost cringed. "I mean, uh..."

"Angel's soul isn't permanently attached. And in our world, before he became human – well, apparently he was destined to lose it, and kill you next February," Cordelia told her bluntly.

Now white as a sheet, Ms. Calendar immediately ran out of the library, and Mr. Giles chased after her – very much like Buffy had chased after Willow – leaving her and Xander alone with Angel.

"You're serious, aren't you?" the vampire demanded, looking horrified.

"Well, yeah. It's not like that's a joking matter, is it? Although Jesse would probably –" Xander then looked around in alarm. "Oh, man, where's Jesse? And Aura, while we're at it?"

"Who're Jesse and Aura?" Angel asked blankly.

{ Oh, crap! } She shared a look with her boyfriend that communicated volumes. { Okay, don't automatically assume the worst, like they're dead or whatever! Maybe... }

"Jesse and Aura are our friends; at least, they were in our reality..." Xander trailed off, looking uncertain.

"Ah. That might explain why I don't know them; I have no idea what my counterpart got up to in your reality, but here, I've had to keep my distance from everybody apart from Buffy's Watcher. Anyway, if what you've told me is true – that my soul isn't permanently bound – then I need to leave town," the undead guy said, looking more worried than ever. "I don't know if those gypsies cursed me the same way they did your Angel, but the odds are in favor of it; and if that's the case, I'm not safe to be around –"

"Uh, hang on. Before you like disappear off back to Los Angeles, or wherever? Buddy, we need to talk," Xander said firmly. "Like, have Spike and Drusilla showed up here? The way they did in our world?"

"No," Angel immediately shook his head. "I haven't seen either of them in decades, I – damn. Those two might be coming to the Hellmouth? That means I can't leave yet. And you're right, we do need to talk. And – wait, back to Los Angeles? What-?"

"That's where you ended up living in our world, after you became human," her boyfriend said helpfully.

"I left Buffy behind? Why?" Soul Boy asked in confusion.

"Well, when you were a vamp, she wanted to stake you with extreme prejudice; soul or no soul," Cordelia shrugged. "Pretty much hate at first sight, after my boyfriend did the whole Oracle thing and warned her about you earlier that day."

"Huh? Oracle thing?" Angel's jaw dropped.

Xander exhaled loudly. "Like I said a few minutes ago; long, long story. Complicated as hell, too."

The vampire shrugged. "I've got the time, if you want to tell it. As a matter of fact, right now – I've got nothing but time on my hands. If you two want, we can go to my apartment and discuss it?"

"Shall we, Pinky?" Cordelia asked her boyfriend with a mischievous smile.

"Gee, I dunno, Brain," Xander drawled, making her smile. "Besides, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think so, Pinky. But this time, we're having sex in my bed, and you have to put on the condom," she replied with a perfectly straight face.

Both of them slowly grinned, started to snicker, and then burst out laughing. Angel stared at them like they were nuts, before his features shifted into bemused curiosity. "I assume there's a story behind that particular remark?"

"Yeah, you better believe it," Xander replied as he took her in his arms, before briefly twirling her around.

Breaking free with a smile on her face, Cordelia turned to face Angel and gestured impatiently. "Lead the way. My boyfriend and I will be right behind you."

The End