AN: Okay, this is in fact a crossover fiction between Angel/Buffy/Bones. This is probably the only time I will ever write a crossover fiction, and I can't guarantee how often this story will be updated because it's going to be something of an epic. I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think.

2004

Seer, your time on the earthly plain is not yet complete. You still have a role to play in the coming days. For now, we send you to the City of Leaders as you await the signs that your time of action has come. That sign will come in the form of a face familiar to you. These events cannot be changed, and as Champions face their past, you must prepare. Be ready Seer for there is much chaos to come. Discover your powers, for they have been granted to you as a gift for our cause. Remember these words, they are your only warning. Go now and prepare. The end of days nears.

2009

Cordelia stalked through the darkened alleyway, steam rising from ground vents obscuring her view. She had a stake tucked under her belt, and a crossbow in her hand loaded and ready to use at a moment's notice. Her vision brought her here to this alley, and for a moment, she feared that she'd come too late. Squinting in the darkness, she made out the form of a young woman weaving down the darkened path between the buildings. The young woman giggled as she ran into a wall and regained her unsteady feet as she continued on her way. Well, Cordelia thought. It looks like I'm here on time after all.

The seer melted into the shadows as a mouse scuttled through the dank alleyway, fleeing an imagined attacker. Her body was coiled with energy just waiting to be released as she heard footsteps sound at the far end of the darkened space. The drunken young woman stopped and turned around, trying to see who or what was behind her.

"Hello? Who's there?" Silence greeted her and for a moment even the street beyond seemed devoid of traffic. "Come on, this isn't funny at all. Who's there?"

"Well, what have we here? A tasty little tidbit that's all alone." A man stepped into the single strip of light shining down onto the damp ground, his face an evil caricature as shadows played across the hollows of his cheeks, his smile an evil grin. The young woman screamed as his hand closed in around her throat. She struggled against him, the effort feeble against his strength.

"Let me go!"

"I don't think so. It's late and I haven't eaten yet." His face contorted, deep brow ridges appearing, and his already pointed teeth lengthening into fangs. He was inches from her throat when the sound of an arrow snapping against a metal trigger sounded.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Cordelia said as she stepped from the shadows. Her crossbow held at the ready before her, she looked the vampire up and down. "What, you were expecting someone else?"

"You don't know what you're dealing with here girly. You leave now and this little bit's the only thing that doesn't make it out of here alive." The young woman glanced back and began wailing at the sight of the transformed face. Cordelia sighed and shook her head as she took a step forward.

"See, those terms just aren't acceptable to me. I think you need to learn a thing or two about negotiation, right after a lesson in fashion sense because that shirt is so two years ago." She aimed the crossbow at the vampire, her amused air changing to dead serious. "Let her go, now."

"Not until I've had my snack."

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." She fired the arrow aimed at the vampire, catching his shoulder as it ripped through skin and bone. In a rage, the vampire let go of his prey and sprung toward the seer. She ducked below him and dropped the crossbow to the ground. The young woman took off at a run, heading for the main street beyond the confines of the alleyway. Good, Cordelia thought, the girl's safe. Now to deal with the vampire.

"You cost me my meal," the demon snarled. The seer watched him, keeping up her guard as the vampire moved in closer. Behind her she could hear the drip of water hitting the damp ground, and the sounds of mice scurrying for a safe hiding place.

"Have you ever considered pig's blood? I hear it can do wonders for the skin, and by the looks of yours, I'd say someone forgot to moisturize this evening." The vampire lunged at her again, this time catching her around the waist. She struggled to get loose as he drug her to the ground. Cordelia kicked up at him and rolled away as his hand slipped.

"What are you the freaking skin care police? You think I could care about that? I've got eternal life. You on the other hand are about to have yours cut short." He was on her again, fangs at the ready as she struggled under him. Just as he was about to bite, the vampire paused. There, on the side of the seer's neck was a scar, the bite mark of one of his kind. He leaned in closer, holding onto her tightly as he ran his tongue over the wound, relishing the feel of her pulse just below the skin. "And just who do you belong to? You taste of someone powerful."

"Get off her now and put your hands where I can see them." Cordelia froze, her heart pounding in her chest. Oh god, what was Angel doing here, and why didn't she sense him sooner? The vampire looked up at the figure in the alleyway entrance and laughed.

"You think a gun is going to stop me? The only thing that will do is piss me off." A gun? Why on earth would Angel have a gun, unless it wasn't him. She twisted her head enough to see the man standing there, his gun aimed at the vampire holding her captive. The man looked like Angel, sounded like him, but his countenance was different and he didn't have the haunted look that lay just behind his eyes. Using the momentary lapse of concentration on the part of the vampire, the seer freed one of her hands and reached up behind her back.

"Promises, promises," Cordelia said as she rammed a stake through his chest. For a split second, the creature of the night looked stunned before bursting into a cloud of ash. "Ugh, vamp dust." As she stood, the seer brushed off her clothing. That was one less pesky bloodsucker to deal with in the city. She picked up her crossbow and slung it over her shoulder, turning to face the man who looked so much like Angel.

"You want to tell me what the hell just happened?" Cordelia touched the old wound on her neck, one which she kept hidden most of the time. It was the only physical reminder she had of her past other than the scar on her abdomen from a fall back in Sunnydale.

"I staked him." The man laughed, but never pulled his aim away from her. Great, she thought, the last thing she needed was to explain to a trigger happy angel look alike that vampires were real and running rampant in Washington DC.

"So he was what, a vampire?" Well, maybe it would be easier than she thought.

"Well duh. You stake them, cut off their heads or subject them to sunlight. In this case I thought a stake to the heart was appropriate."

"I'd suggest you drop the light attitude right now. I see you kill someone with my own eyes…"

"Killing someone would require there being a body, or the remains of one. Killing a vampire's a little different."

"I don't know what you did to that guy to have him disintegrate like that, but quit with the ghost stories. You're coming with me until I can get this whole thing sorted out." The man reached behind his back with one hand and extracted a pair of handcuffs. Just great, Cordelia thought, he would be a cop.

"Look, as much as I would love to go along with you really, I can't stay. Places to go, people to see… I'm sure you understand."

"You're under arrest for murder. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law…" The man advanced toward her, handcuffs ready. Cordelia sighed as she straightened out her clothing. There was no way she was going to be arrested for dusting a vampire. She took a breath and held her hands out in front of her slim frame.

"I hate to do this, but I can't go anywhere with you, I'm sorry." With that, she closed her eyes and sent out a jet of pure sunlight in the man's direction. Thank you demon powers, she thought as he shielded his eyes from the glare. Moving quickly, she slipped past him and out onto the streets of DC. Not that she was one to be superstitious, but Cordelia knew one thing. If an Angel look-alike appeared in her life, it could only mean one thing. The end of days had arrived.

XxXxX

"Baby, you're home late," Vince Suarez, a graduate student at Georgetown University said to Cordelia as she walked into the house. He looked her up and down as she dropped the crossbow onto the floor and set the stake down on a small table by the front door. "Busy night?"

"Just one attack tonight. Ugh, listen to me, I sound like a slayer." Cordelia collapsed down on her living room couch and closed her eyes. She replayed the event in her head, and reached up to rub her old scar. She'd received the scar years earlier when she was possessed by the goddess Jasmine, but it didn't take away the significance of the act. She freed Angelus from his cage, and in exchange for his cooperation in killing The Beast, she'd given herself over to the soulless demon. His claim on her was tenuous at best, but it was still there and proving useful with every vampire encounter she'd had since.

"Damn those slayers, there's never one around when you need them." Vince sat down next to his girlfriend and rubbed her tense shoulders, hoping to relax out some of the tension residing there.

"I thought I saw Angel tonight," Cordelia said, her expression troubled. Words and memories sifted through her mind as she tried to put together a puzzle. The sign will come to you in the form of a face familiar to you. The Powers that Be gave her that message when she'd left Angel five years earlier in one of the most difficult decisions of her existence. Her stomach had tightened and she felt almost nauseous as she'd arrived in Washington DC only moments later. The kiss they'd shared was the only true moment between them that wasn't clouded by something mystical. In that moment, she'd expressed the emotions she felt for him, her love and her sorrow and regret at leaving him. It was all in the past now, though he would always be with her in an unreachable spot in her soul. As much as Angelus had claimed her, she had claimed him body, demon and soul.

"Didn't you leave him behind in Los Angeles?"

"Not by choice." She opened her eyes in time to catch the pout appearing on her boyfriend's face. "Look Vince, I loved him, but it was never meant to be. We're on different paths. Besides, I'm with you so it doesn't matter, does it?" She leaned in offering him a kiss and smiled as he calmed down.

"That's right, I've got you babe," Vincent grinned. Cordelia groaned and pulled her tired body up off of the couch.

"Don't do it Vince."

"They say our love don't pay the rent…"

"I'm serious, don't sing it."

"Before it's earned our money's all been spent…" Cordelia grabbed a pillow from the couch and thwacked her boyfriend across the face. He started laughing and grabbed a pillow of his own. "I guess that's so, we don't have a pot, but at least I'm sure of all the things we got, babe."

"I got you babe, I got…oh vision." Cordelia dropped her pillow and closed her eyes, concentrating on the stream of images passing through her mind. There were two locations, one that was green as emeralds on the edge of sapphire blue water, while the other had double-decker busses passing along the left side of the street. Bright flashes of light emanated from the locations as it zoomed down to a street corner and an alleyway. Suddenly as the bright lights faded, a woman was taken by faceless warriors, but put up a struggle. Cordelia concentrated on the woman but only caught glimpses of auburn hair and defiant blue eyes flashing. A stream of symbols seemed to pass through space, none of which the seer recognized while an army of demons marched across a large arid field, ready for battle. She opened her eyes, and looked over at her boyfriend.

"What is it, another damsel in distress?" Vincent set down his pillow and looked at Cordelia. It was never a good sign when she seemed this troubled.

"Yeah, but this is something I can't handle on my own." She rubbed down the goosebumps rising on her arms.

"And what can't you handle, the apocalypse?"

"Exactly."