Title: Here Is Gone

Authors: Jean-theGuardian and Starway Man

Email: theop at hotkey .net .au

Disclaimer: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar, Kuzui, Fox, WB and UPN (as they then were); we don't own 'em, and we never will. Some of the text is from the various episodes of the show(s), so those parts of the story don't belong to us, either. Anything else you recognize belongs to their owners in question. This work is meant merely for enjoyment, and no profit is being made off of it.

Time frame: Initially set at the end of Angel season 3 "Tomorrow" and BtVS season 6 "Grave".

Feedback: YES, please!

Rating: Overall R, given some of the contents, but mostly PG-13 parts.

Warnings: Some character death and violence will be present; some bad language; and some descriptions of sex and sexual situations, including attempted rape.

Formatting: "speech", thoughts, 'quotes.'

Acknowledgments: Thanks must go to Greywizard, Mr. Mysterious and Nodakskip for beta reading, feedback and suggestions concerning the plot of this story.

Author notes: This fanfic is a rewrite of the original story begun by Jean-theGuardian during 2002. Most of the original text is present, but there are also major re-writes and expansion of concepts as well. We hope you'll enjoy this, the redux version!

Summary: According to the original cosmic design, Dawn and Connor were destined to find each other. But Jasmine, Sahjhan and the forces of darkness had other plans. Can three resurrected heroes and Xander Harris undo the manipulations wrought upon the Miracle Child and the Key? What will become of Buffy and Angel - and where the hell is Spike in all of this?

"Oh yeah, fun was had. Also frolic, merriment, and near-death hijinks."

(Xander Harris, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)

"You can't live in the past. You gotta move on. Let it go. Forget it. Tomorrow's another day."

(Cordelia Chase, ANGEL)

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of by your philosophy."

(Hamlet: Act 1 Scene 5, c. 1601)

HERE IS GONE - A Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel Crossover Event

Part 1 – Worlds Enough And Time

The interdimensional nexus known as the Sacred Place

May, 2002

The young half-Irishman/half-Brachen demon stared directly into the circular purple portal known as the All-Seeing Eye, or the Eye for short. The soul of Alan Francis Doyle stirred uneasily as he watched past, present and future events within the mortal plane merging, swirling, and converging into one long and frightening collage of images.

"C'mon, lad," Doyle whispered earnestly as he watched the young, wiry, brown-haired youth named Connor. "Don't do it. Don't listen to that woman. She killed Holtz, not yer dad! The day'll come you'll never forgive yerself..."

And yet, despite his pleas, Doyle could only watch in horror as Connor sealed up his father, the vampire with a soul named Angel, into a coffin with the aid of the wild-eyed redhead named Justine Cooper - and then they tossed him into the sea like garbage.

Doyle felt sickened as he watched the young man do that to his own father. Someone who, despite his bloodstained past, was actually innocent of the crime Connor had condemned him for. Bloody hell, this is unbelievable! Just how did it come ta this, I ask ya?

Without warning, the image within the Eye morphed to another aspect of the mortal realm. Doyle saw a young woman, a Seer, who was bathed in sparkling golden light and ascending to a Higher Plane (not one he was personally familiar with; there were a zillion or more higher dimensions, after all). She was ascending to become a higher being. Her hair was dyed peroxide-blonde now, yet she was still the same person the half-demon remembered.

Cordelia Chase. His beloved.

"Perhaps 'tis fer de best, Alan," a beautiful Jamaican girl tried futilely to comfort her friend.

"How could this possibly be fer the best, Kendra?" Doyle snapped as he turned to look at the Vampire Slayer. "Angel just got chucked down to the bottom o' the Pacific Ocean, by his own son, no less - Connor's been brainwashed by that sick red-headed lass, and that bloody bastard who stole and raised 'im. Plus Cordy, the only person who could possibly figure out where Angel is, just got sucked up into some Higher Plane, while the Powers conveniently left the two remaining members of Angel's band to wonder where the hell are the REST OF 'EM!"

Doyle abruptly paused, before giving the teenage Caribbean girl a pointed look. "And stop callin' me Alan! It's Doyle. Just Doyle."

"Wh-what about S-s-sunnydale?" asked the soul of a timid young blonde woman, who was a bit further away and off to the left.

Doyle whirled around to stare at the blonde, who was clutching her sides. He felt some sympathy for her. She had just arrived up here recently, and she was obviously having trouble adjusting to the surroundings of her new environment.

Which was, by the way, somewhere in the middle of nowhere - and yet also at the center of everything. This was a place which was very different compared to the normal space-time continuum; for example, a moment here could be the equivalent of a century on Earth, and vice versa. How exactly all three souls had found this place was a mystery, though, even to them.

"Sorry fer ignorin' ya like that, lass," Doyle said apologetically. "Eh, Tara Maclay, isn't it? Friend o' Buffy's?"

Tara nodded nervously. "Um...d-do you think it's p-p-possible to s-see what's been going on in S-s-sunnydale since I was..." Tara's eyes abruptly looked down, not wanting to acknowledge her recent murder.

Kendra nodded. "I t'ink dat can be arranged. Can't it, Ala...er, Doyle?"

Doyle nodded. "Sure." So saying, he turned back to the swirling portal and chanted, "O All-Seeing Eye, witness to the Past, Present, Future and the Never Was, show us the events happening with the Slayer and her kin since Tara's passing."

Lightning flashed from within the Eye, making the portal glow pink for a moment and then back to purple, before the images flashed before the three souls. They saw...

Willow's destructive magical powers erupting from within her, transforming the cute redhead into a raven-haired avatar of darkness and fury after failing to resurrect Tara in their bedroom.

Dark Willow's brutal flaying and murder of Warren Mears, the man responsible for Tara's death.

The battle between the Dark Wicca and her friends.

Giles' return and his battle with Dark Willow, resulting in his defeat.

The raising of the satanic temple of Proserpexa in an attempt by Dark Willow to incinerate the whole planet.

Buffy and Dawn's struggle against those earth demons, the golems Dark Willow had oh-so-casually created so that the Slayer could 'go out fighting.'

Willow finally going back to normal and breaking down in remorseful tears within Xander Harris's arms; the often-ignored and seemingly-irrelevant young man somehow saving the planet from utter destruction without any superpowers, merely by the strength of his love for his oldest friend.

Plus finally, and most surprisingly, the return of Spike's soul at the hands of an African cave demon; said vampire almost immediately going insane afterwards, not only from the guilt of a century's worth of bloodshed and murder, but also from the guilt of almost raping Buffy back in Sunnydale.

Tara's eyes were overflowing with tears by this point. She wondered, in pure shock, how all of this could have had happened. And the knowledge that her death at Warren's hands had been the catalyst for all of these terrible, horrible events to happen (well, apart from what had happened with Spike) made Ms. Maclay feel more than a little guilty right now.

The Slayer stared at the Eye in disbelief. "Is all dis what was s'posed ta happen, all along?"

Doyle shook his head, turning to look at Kendra. "Nope. That Granok demon, Sahjhan, he's screwed everything up from messin' around with history. And ta think, the Powers allowed it to happen! Bloody hell, right now - I can't believe I worked fer those people! It wasn't supposed to be like -"

But at that moment, without warning, the whole realm began to shake and rumble.

"What's happening, Alan?" Kendra asked the Seer, looking around in concern.

"I'm thinkin' we're not alone anymore, Kendra," Doyle stated nervously, as he and the others struggled to regain their footing.

"Who has dared to enter this Sacred Place?" an otherworldly voice demanded angrily from the skies above.

Doyle stepped to the center of the platform holding them up. Summoning every ounce of courage he had, the man shouted back, "It is I, Alan Francis Doyle - a Messenger for the Powers That Be. Kendra the Vampire Slayer and Tara the Wiccan stand here with me."

"You and your companions have no authority to be here, Messenger!" the voice declared loudly, echoing like a massive bass drum. "You all belong in other worlds, the heavens reserved for the fallen servants of the Light. Do you not understand? Your entry into the Sacred Place is punishable by spending the rest of your eternities in the darkest of hells, and the forfeiture of all your mortal reincarnations!"

"Wh-who i-i-is that?" the nervous and frightened Tara asked Kendra.

"Dat is Chronos, a Greek god," Kendra replied evenly in her Jamaican patois. "Me Watcher once told me dat accordin' ta legend, de Powers Dat Be assigned him ta guard de Sacred Place; dey spared him de fate of oblivion after de fall of de Greek pantheon. Unlike de rest of his counterparts, when dose gods attempted ta seize control from de Powers."

"Wh-why is this place so important that they'd assign a g-god to g-guard it?" Tara asked stammeringly.

"De legend also says dat de Sacred Place possesses de ability to affect time itself, somehow," the Chosen One explained. "Dat is a power too dangerous ta leave unguarded."

"We mean no harm, 'n we didn't come 'ere of our own free will; we just sorta...found ourselves here. But that's not what's important right now - look, what's happened with regard to my old buddy Angel, he needs help after what his kid just did to him! Not to mention the blondie Slayer, who almost got killed by her best friend," Doyle pleaded with the guardian god. "Please! You gotta speak to the Powers. Their chosen warriors are in danger; Angel needs ta be rescued, and the Summers chick needs time to get over recent events -"

"Enough! All that is not my concern. What concerns me is that your very presence here violates the Sacred Place, even as we speak!" Chronos said, his disembodied booming voice cutting Doyle's pleas off like a hot knife slicing through butter. "Lower beings like yourselves were never meant to set foot here!"

"Fer God's sake, listen!" Doyle cried out, angrily pointing towards the Eye. "All this was never meant ta happen! From what I've seen it was that timeshifter demon, Sahjhan - it was his meddling that's indirectly responsible fer me and Kendra and Tara showing up here, as well as endangering the Earth and countless other dimensions in the process! You must know that! This has to be fixed -"

"Are you deaf?! I already told you - all that is no concern of mine, half-breed!" Chronos rebuffed Doyle's pleas furiously. "What is now, shall be, and what has not come to pass - was never meant to be! Take your grievance directly to the Powers, if you and yours must. But leave the Sacred Place immediately!"

"Gee, that's a great idea, that is," Doyle shot back sarcastically. "Complain directly to the Powers, why didn't I think of that? Oh yeah, because no lower beings can exist in their reality!"

There was a flash of light, and Tara immediately gasped at the tall, fearsome, non-human creature that subsequently appeared.

The figure was tall, as said - at least eight feet tall, maybe even taller. It looked mostly serpentine in nature - but more importantly, it had three heads, only one of which was human. The other two looked like the heads of a bull and a lion, as odd as that may have been. Plus, one of the heads - the human one - had one eye missing...

"Enough! All of you, leave this realm now!" Chronos roared, sounding completely fed up as the three mouths gave his words a distorted, oddly echoing sound. "If you defy me any longer, I shall invoke torment upon your eternal souls the likes of which none of you could bear! Your very essences shall be devoured by the darkness of the worst of hells, and there you shall perish a thousand upon a thousand times over for all time...!"

While the speechifying was going on, Tara shook herself out of her paralysis and noticed a small green glow emanating from beneath the swirling purple portal of the Eye. "What's that?" the witch asked her female companion.

Kendra turned from the heated argument between Doyle and Chronos to answer Tara's question. "Dat? Dat is de Time dat Never Was. It's all de events of history dat woulda happened if de timeline were altered in some way - t'rough certain events takin' place differently, or not takin' place at all."

"Y-you mean...the road not taken, wha-what could have been?" Tara asked, with increasing interest.

"Yes," Kendra nodded. "I haven't looked at it meself. Mebbe I've been afraid of what de future woulda held fer me, what t'ings I could be experiencin' right now...if it weren't for dat undead bitch with de sharp fingernails..."

Tara stepped closer to the Eye, leaving Kendra to trail off in confusion - before shifting her attention back to the argument between Doyle and Chronos. With a streak of fear racing through her, the Maclay woman nonetheless reached for the swirling underbelly of green cloud and mist. The mist that was supposed to hold the details of all that never was...or could have been...

"You, the Wiccan!" Chronos abruptly bellowed, turning his attention away from Doyle. "Do not touch the Time of the Never Was! Your soul is unworthy of it!"

"Tara, he's right; don't touch that!" Doyle warned her.

"But why -"

Too late. Tara's hand strayed too far into the mist. A green light shot out from it, sending the startled young woman stumbling back to fall flat on her rear end. Kendra and Doyle let out frightened yelps for Tara's safety, as they each rushed forward to help the Wiccan to her feet.

"FOUL BLASPHEMER!" Chronos roared at Tara, a note of fury and almost-hidden fear in his voice. "YOU DARE TO BREACH THE EYE? THAT WHICH WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE TOUCHED? YOU -"

"Ah, put a sock in it, will ya?" Doyle snapped, fed up with the loud booming voice assailing his ears.

"Alan, look!" Kendra demanded, her eyes wide.

Doyle turned his gaze to her trembling hands, for the Slayer now held a fragment of the Time of the Never Was. Kendra held a piece of a present and future that could have been, but now never would be. And as if the fragment could sense the Chosen One's innermost desires, she and her two companions were shown an alternate reality, a could-have-been history of the world.

Many images of people, loved ones and strangers alike, became visible within the green light. Destinies altered, lives saved, battles fought.

But in particular, one image caught all their eyes.

A young, dark-haired girl. The human incarnation of the ancient green energy known only as the Key. Living, loving, fighting side-by-side with a wiry but handsome boy a year or two older than her. The same boy Kendra and Doyle had previously seen hatefully seal his father into a metal coffin, and consign to a watery grave.

Separate, the boy and the girl were formidable. But together, they were powerful beyond the sum of their combined abilities. Unstoppable, even.

Their strength, their courage, their love would affect and change the entire world around them...

"Doyle, this is..." Tara began, but the words caught in her throat. What she had seen was so...so beautiful, and yet so tragic at the same time - as the blonde witch realized that it would never be.

Suddenly, Doyle got a glint in his wily old Irish eyes. He abruptly stepped away from the women and closer to the Guardian of the Sacred Place. Well, here goes nothin'...

"We all saw it - 'n you know that, don't ya?" Doyle taunted Chronos. "Some guardian you are! Can't even keep a bunch o' lower beings from tappin' yer precious Eye, then, huh?"

"IMPUDENT TRESPASSER!" Chronos roared loud enough that the entire realm once again began to tremble. "YOU DARE TO MOCK ME WITHIN THE SACRED PLACE?"

"Ooh, now I'm supposed to be scared o' big ol' creepy Chronos, eh?" Doyle continued mocking the Greek deity. "Can't beat the Powers, can't guard the Eye...not good fer much, are ya? And once the Powers hear what's happened, the odds are you'll be replaced as Guardian - ya know that, right? So, ever consider gettin' a job as a sanitation worker? I mean the job literally stinks, and the hours are a wee bit long, but I hear the fringe benefits are worth it -"

"Alan, what de hell are ya t'inkin?" Kendra whispered fiercely, cutting off the Seer's mocking mid-speech.

"I SHALL FLAY THE SOUL OFF OF YOU, BRACHEN - AND MAKE YOU BEG ME FOR THE BOON OF OBLIVION BEFORE I DEVOUR YOU WHOLE, YOU ARROGANT FOOL!" Chronos yelled as the sky began to flash warningly.

"All talk 'n no action, that's the thing with all o' you godly types," Doyle snickered, while deep inside his heart, he whispered a prayer to anyone who was listening that he actually knew what he was doing. "You're beginning to be a real bore, Chronie old pal. Ever consider doing one of those sleeping tapes to help insomniacs? Fer sure, you'd make a killing off of the royalties -"

KA-BOOM!

Without warning, a blueish-white lightning bolt came down from the sky at the Greek god's command and headed straight for Doyle.

"ALAN!" Kendra cried out in horror, certain that he was going to be erased from existence.

But Doyle's demon reflexes (blessed be his father's gonads for that) reacted quick enough to get him out of harm's way. Barely. The lightning bolt pierced the Eye, however, and instantly, a purple tear opened up within the portal itself.

Fierce winds immediately swept through the Sacred Place. "What happened?!" Tara yelled over the howling gale, somehow forgetting to stammer.

"Got him to open a door for us," Doyle responded, taking her hand. "C'mon, lass! We've got no time to lose!"

"Alan, what are you intendin' ta do?" Kendra demanded.

"Just trust me, Kendra. I'll tell ya when we get there!" Doyle said hurriedly, looking over at Chronos in concern - even though the Greek god seemed oddly disoriented and distracted by the roaring winds buffeting him. "Please, trust me..."

He extended his free hand (the one not holding Tara's) to the Jamaican Slayer. Reluctantly, Kendra grabbed it.

And then, the trio levitated upwards and flew towards the cracked purple portal.

"STOP! STOOOOP!" Chronos roared in impotent anger, and, yes, even outright fear now as he finally noticed what the enemy trio were doing. "DO NOT ENTER THE EYE!"

But the three heroes had already taken flight. Desperate, Chronos launched himself at them, managing to grab Kendra by the shoulder. He looked ready to tear her apart...

When Doyle did something unbelievably noble and foolhardy, and physically attacked Chronos by punching him in one of his three faces.

"ARGGGGHHHHHH!" Chronos roared, letting his grip on Kendra slacken just a trifle. But that was enough for the dark-skinned Chosen One to land a Slayer-strength blow on one of the Greek god's bestial heads, which then caused Chronos to fly backwards and lose his grip on her completely.

Doyle subsequently speared his way through the air, aiming himself for the torn portal in the Eye, one hand holding Tara and the other Kendra. It was uncertain if they would be fast enough to get there in time, though.

Chronos, attempting to seal the portal, quickly sent another lightning bolt flying towards the Eye...

Just as the three human souls disappeared into it, and vanished from view.

"NOOOOOO!" Chronos bellowed in a voice that echoed with a frightening reverberation, throughout the Sacred Place. But it was too late - already, the Guardian could feel the timeline changing, morphing into...something else.

Chronos knew he had failed. And now, he had a lot of explaining to do to the Powers That Be.

Who weren't very pleasant to their minion-slash-former enemy, when displeased...

Los Angeles, California - a deserted alley

Roughly a day earlier

The purple portal ripped open the very fabric of reality, and the three heroes tumbled out onto the cold, painfully hard concrete. Corporeal beings once more, somehow. Alive and kicking, along with everything which went with that.

Gasping, each of them sat up, gathering their thoughts and their bodies together.

"Oooh, me achin' head," mumbled Kendra.

"Yeah, ouch," Tara winced, rubbing her arm tenderly. "I-I thought things didn't hurt anymore when you're dead?"

"I'm pretty sure we're not dead, lass," Doyle said cautiously. "At least, not fer the moment."

Tara blinked in surprise. "Wh-wh-what? We-we're n-n-not d-d-dead?"

Kendra got to her feet. "Alright, Alan, ya better start explainin' right now. I trusted you t'rough dis insane plan of yours - so where de hell are we?"

Doyle didn't reply straightaway. He took a few steps before stepping out of the alleyway where they'd landed. He peered around and saw...

Whooshing cars roaring up and down the street, honking furiously at each other to get out of the way. Men walking in business suits, talking on cell phones. Women sporting ensembles for high-powered female brokers, talking with clients on the streets. Teens blasting out music from the stereo systems within their flashy vehicles.

This looks like home, alright - just smell all that beautiful smog! Doyle looked up in the sky. Judging by the sun's position in the sky, it had to be roughly noon. He spotted a man reading a newspaper down the street near the alleyway, and a few seconds later, Doyle abruptly yanked the paper from his hands.

"Hey! Gimme that back, asshole! That newspaper's mine, you jerk-!" the man said angrily.

But off the dark look from Kendra, the insurance salesman thought twice about it before he turned away and walked off. He was outnumbered and didn't fancy getting mugged over a damn newspaper, even if two of the three 'muggers' were women.

"Wh-where are we?" Tara asked, clutching her sides protectively.

Doyle unleashed a wide grin as he saw the date. And more importantly, the title of the newspaper. "Tara, lass, I think the name pretty much speaks fer itself."

Both of the women's eyes widened as they saw what was written at the top of the paper...

The Los Angeles Times.

"Ladies," Doyle smiled mischievously. "Welcome to the City of Angels."

All Kendra and Tara could do was blink.

In stunned silence.

Sunnydale, California - upstairs balcony, outside the residence of Xander Harris

Earlier that day

The vengeance demon known as Anya Jenkins - well, technically her name was Anyanka again now, but whatever - teleported in, manifesting at what had once been the residence she had shared with her ex-fiancé, Alexander Lavelle Harris.

It was barely the crack of dawn, and to be honest, Anya wasn't really sure why she was here. She and Xander had been over and done with for roughly three months now, since the debacle of their failed wedding; when her betrothed had left her at the altar for what he'd thought were the right reasons. Plus any chance of reconciliation, remote as it may have been, had vanished when Xander had witnessed her having sex with Spike within the Magic Box - not long after she and the chipped vampire had tried to drown their sorrows with alcohol, the other night.

So, why am I here? Anya asked herself with a frown. For that matter, why haven't I moved back to my old quarters in Arash'maharr yet? Sure, I kinda like it here on Earth these days, especially what I've built for myself at the Magic Box - still, that demon dimension is where I belong now...

But then Anya's thoughts were distracted, as she caught sight of her ex through the balcony door windows.

Xander was wearing the blue sharkskin pyjamas she'd bought him, something which captured Anya's attention as soon as she noticed them - as well as all the empty beer bottles strewn around the apartment. The woman then noticed the bruises visible on Xander's face - which was the result of an 'altercation' with the nerd known as Warren Mears last night.

A very one-sided fight which had taken place within a bar, whilst Warren had been in possession of the mystical artefacts known as the Orbs of Nezzla'kahn. Harris had definitely gotten his ass kicked before Buffy had eventually smashed the Orbs.

Good! I'm glad Xander's hurting, Anya thought to herself vindictively, as she saw him walk around the apartment rubbing his head and attempting to clean up the mess a little. He deserves it for abandoning me on my wedding day!

The vengeance demon subsequently vanished, having come to the conclusion that she had been wasting her time coming here; there were lots of scorned women in Sunnydale, not to mention throughout the world, who were in need of her services.

The original verse by William Congreve was 'Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.' Over the centuries, it had grown too bulky for common use and nowadays, a truncated misquote had become the popular norm.

And if there was ever a case where 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' applied, it was with this woman whom Xander Harris had wronged at the worst time imaginable.

TBC…