Author Notes: Know it's been awhile but my computer crashed and I lost everything. It took a long time to get my crap back but unfortunately this story was gone so I had to start from scratch. Anyway, this chapter is wholly exposition and it's a lot of information and retconning of some established cannons but the plot of this thing lies in this chapter. If you understand it all, good job! There's a gold star next chapter. Some of you fans of comic books might even know where this is going; if so, you have excellent taste.

Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read

Summary: Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

Crossovers: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, House, Charmed, The L Word, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Bionic Woman (2007), Bones, Friday Night Lights, Nip/Tuck, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Lost, Alias, Batman Begins/The Dark Knight, 90210, True Blood

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

Rating: R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

Season: Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away" in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

Category: Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

Spoilers: Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

"God? As in the almighty?"

The Messenger nodded gravely. "Yes, the being known as Yahweh is intent on destroying his creation."

Xander stood dumbfounded for a few moments before his voice was able to catch up with his mouth. "But why?"

The Messenger cocked a sardonic eyebrow. "Have you seen the state of your planet, recently? War, genocide, rape, racism, sexism, intolerance, greed. Do I need to continue?"

"So that's it?" Xander demanded, starting for the Messenger. "We don't get a second chance?"

"But you have, Xander," the Messenger replied sadly. "You've been given so many second chances as a people. All of them squandered. Yahweh simply can't stand to be heartbroken anymore."

"Well, boohoo!" Xander snapped. "I feel so sorry for the all powerful God! There are millions of people on this planet that don't deserve to die!"

"There are quadrillions of innocents throughout existence, all of whom will perish when Yahweh gets his way." The Messenger reached out to put a comforting hand on Xander's shoulder. "He wishes to start anew. Do away with all the pain in this universe and give life to new beings who are truly innocent of any misdeed or crime committed in the past by their ancestors."

Xander roughly shrugged the Messenger's hand away. "And we die? All of us?"

"I'm afraid so."

Xander backed away, shaking his head as tears formed and the weight of everything the Messenger said came down on him. It couldn't end this way…there had to be a way out. But how could you defeat God?

"There is a child," the Messenger spoke, as if answering Xander's unasked question. "A child who could save us all."

"Who?"

"You know her as Hera."

Xander felt as if an invisible hand had slapped him hard across the face. "Helo and Athena's daughter?"

The Messenger shook his head. "She is not their daughter. She is neither human or Cylon." The Messenger briefly glanced at the TARDIS council as if debating to go any further with the story. Finally, after a few agonizing seconds, he continued, "She cannot stay with Karl and Sharon. They are not her destiny."

Suddenly, Xander found himself recalling a conversation he'd had with Baltar on the alternate Earth the Colonials had discovered. Baltar had recently gotten back together with Caprica Six and he and Xander had gone to Joe's Bar to celebrate; Baltar had drank to much and when Xander brought him home, the scientist had begun talking. He'd told Xander all about the mysterious being that he and Caprica Six saw, beings who looked exactly like Six and Baltar and claimed to be angels guiding them along their path. 'Angels' who'd told Baltar and Caprica Six that Hera was their child and had to protected at all costs; that Hera was the 'shape of things to come.'

"You need to tell us everything," Xander said, the recollection of Baltar's confession weighing heavily on him.

"I would be glad to," the Messenger replied. "But I think it would be pertinent to have Gaius Baltar and Caprica Six here. I'd hate for you to have to repeat this to them later."

"Unfortunately, they aren't here at the moment," the Doctor spoke up, after what had been possibly the longest silence from the Time Lord in his 900-year existence. "They're on a different continent actually and it would very difficult-" The Doctor was cut off by the sudden appearance of Baltar and Caprica Six in the TARDIS, "-for anyone other than you to bring them here," the Time Lord finished lamely.

As a shocked Baltar and Six took in their surroundings the Messenger appeared between them and pressed his hands to their temples. The couple looked dazed momentarily but as soon as the Messenger lowered his hands, and reappeared in his original place, the duo seemed to come out of their trance. "What did you do?" the Doctor demanded, flying to side of Caprica and using his sonic screwdriver to check her vitals.

"Nothing damaging," the Messenger responded, seemingly unfazed by the Doctor's mistrust. "I simply replayed our conversation up to this point for them. Much easier than repeating the whole thing."

"We're fine, Doctor," Baltar said, gently pushing the manic time traveler away. "We know everything you've all discussed."

"And that's it?" The Doctor didn't seem ready to believe the Messenger just yet.

"Yes, that's all," Baltar repeated, a little more firmly. "Now, if we can get to the pressing matter?"

"Hera," Caprica Six spoke, speaking the word on everyone's mind. "What is so important about Hera?"

"Everything," the Messenger answered. "She is not what she seems. As we speak the Powers That Be are already putting their plan into motion."

"Plan?" Genuine worry crossed Caprica's beautiful face. "What plan?"

"At this precise moment, Karl and Sharon Agathon are rushing their daughter to the hospital with an apparent severe case of the flu. Sadly, the child will not survive."

"What?" Caprica nearly launched herself at the Messenger but Baltar and the Doctor restrained her. "Explain," she spat, her anger seething out.

"The child will not truly die," the Messenger continued, unfazed as always. "She will simply appear dead. At some point in the past the fallen angel Lucifer Morningstar will rip a fetus from a woman's womb. This fetus would have eventually become a very dangerous woman who would have posed a threat to the world. Lucifer will kill the child but the leave the impression with the couple that the baby is alive and been given away."

"Why?" Xander asked.

"So that no one will ever suspect the truth," was the Messenger's response. "It will be at this point, in the present, a balance demon named Whistler will abduct the supposed corpse of Hera and bring her back to life. He will then travel back in time with the assistance of Lucifer and place the child with a caring and loving couple."

"This is confusing," Xander interrupted, waving his hand and signaling the Messenger to stop. "What's with the time travel? And why is Lucifer, the devil, helping?"

"Lucifer does not want this universe to end anymore that you," the Messenger said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You think him a truly evil being but he is not; merely a deeply flawed and misunderstood individual. In any case, he is helping."

"But why fake Hera's death? And then send her back in time and kill this other couple's baby?"

"As I said before the child of this couple, the Eastermans, would be very dangerous. And by killing the child before it's born, it spares the world that threat. Not to mention it provides an explanation as to where Hera comes from. The Eastermans will believe Hera to be their unborn child and this will protect Hera from the armies of Heaven who may discover that she lives." The Messenger paused, allowing everyone the chance to process what he was saying. "As for the reasoning behind placing the child in the past…that is more complicated."

"Well, make it uncomplicated," Xander said.

"For Hera to reach her potential, for her to save us, she must first come of age. At three, she would be unable to harness her greatness. But by sending her back in time…"

"You give her the chance to reach the proper age," the Doctor finished.

"Exactly," the Messenger smiled. "She must be at least thirteen to fulfill her destiny."

"Which is what?"

"Defeat Yahweh."

There was a stunned silence in the TARDIS, interrupted only by the soft sounds of the time machine running. Finally, Xander broke the quiet. "What?"

"Hera is not the child of a human and Cylon," the Messenger stated. "She is their child." And he pointed to Baltar and Six.

"You mean, the human and the Cylon?" Xander asked.

"No, Xander. They are what Lucifer wanted them to be appear as." The Messenger glanced at Six and Baltar. "All this time you have wondered why the beings you see appear as each other, but you have gotten it backwards. They do not look as you do, you look as they do. You were created in their image."

Baltar grasped Six's hand as he said, "Whose image?"

"The archangel Michael and the woman he loved. They are what you see."

Baltar almost seemed to collapse, held up only by the strength of Caprica. "Why?" Six asked.

"Michael was the only angel capable of reproducing," the Messenger said. "This frightened Yahweh and when he discovered that Michael had fallen in with a human named Abigail, he had her killed and sent to hell. Michael tried to save her but Yahweh kept him trapped in Heaven. When Lucifer discovered this, he freed Abigail's spirit claiming to be God and that he would save her. Yahweh found out and in the ensuing battle her spirit was ripped out of her timeline and lost. With the hope of being reunited with his love gone, Michael fell back in line with Yahweh.

"It remained that way until Lucifer learned that Abigail's sprit survived. Knowing he could use her to further his own goals, Lucifer intervened in the cosmic plan and made sure the Cylons created Six in the image of the woman his brother loved knowing it would get Michael's attention. When it did, Michael tried to join her but Heaven's forces held him off. Eventually, he was able to create Gaius Baltar in his image with the hope that Baltar would somehow find Six and they would fall in love, thus in some way giving him and Abigail a happy ending."

"Which we did," Caprica said, smiling at a still pale Baltar.

"Yes," the Messenger agreed. "But it led to unforeseen circumstances; namely the destruction of the Colonies. When that happened Michael begged Yahweh to let him intervene. When Yahweh would not, Michael turned to Lucifer for help. Lucifer ensured Baltar's survival but in doing so discovered that Abigail's spirit remained as a separate entity from the Sixes. He allowed her to appear to Baltar on the grounds she help him stay alive and never reveal her true nature to the man. Since she still believed Lucifer to be God she did as he asked. Once Michael discovered that the spirit was still intact he escaped Heaven to be with her.

"Once he rebelled, Michael found himself without many of his powers. In order to be with Abigail they were forced to possess two lovers-Karl Agathon and the Cylon known as Athena. When Athena's pregnancy was uncovered, Michael and Lucifer knew what would happen to the child. She was the daughter of an angel and as such a potential threat to Yahweh. Michael, in his powerless state, began appearing as a guide to Caprica to ensure her survival just as Abigail's sprit continued to do the same for Baltar. Lucifer, who as the First of the Fallen had retained his power, manipulated events by posing as the Cylon God until the day Xander appeared on Galactica. Lucifer knew what your appearance meant Xander and he knew that Hera would be needed now. He continued to keep you all safe until the Doctor found you and everything would become clear."

"So…Lucifer is the Cylon God?" Xander said, his brain overloaded with information. "And Baltar and Caprica Six are…the reincarnation of the archangel Michael and his human lover?"

"Yes."

"And Hera is their daughter?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Xander nodded. This was by far the most amazing and ridiculous thing he'd ever heard but it some weird way he knew it to be true. "So why is being Michael's child so important?"

"Because Michael's power is only surpassed by Yahweh. As his daughter, Hera has the potential to take Michaels' power and use it to destroy Yahweh before he destroys the universe. That is why she must be at the age of thirteen. Any younger and her body would not be able to handle Michael's power."

"But how are we supposed to find her if you took her away and hid her in the past?" Xander asked.

"I know her adopted name and location," the Messenger said.

"Oh." Xander smiled sheepishly. "Can we have them?"

"She is in Los Angeles," the Messenger began, "and her name is Elaine Belloc."