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I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. Even though I've been living with Angelus and Spike for two years, they still came in late at night after feeding and woke me up, every time. For two dead guys, they were awfully loud.

With a sigh, I crawled out of bed, put on my robe, and went downstairs. "Guys, don't you have. . .I don't know, something to do? Someone to kill, or something?"

Angelus looked up at me, a huge grin on his face. "I saw her. She was beautiful, Jenny, even though she's four years younger than when I met her, she's absolutely breathtaking."

I blinked in surprise, sitting down on the couch. "Angelus, what are you talking about? Four years younger? Who?"

"It's the tree, pet," Spike chuckled.

"The tree is a woman?" I asked with a frown. Somehow, the thought of another woman here made me jealous. I didn't love Angelus or Spike, not in a romantic love way; but I was used to their company. Other than my family, Angelus and Spike were the only friends I had. If they brought someone else home, then I would get lost in the shuffle.

"Her name is Willow," Angelus said. "She is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, long red hair and big green eyes. . ."

"And Xander. . ." Spike growled softly. "Did you *see* him? He still looks good, even though he's so young."

"Right," I frowned. "I'm confused."

Spike sighed. "Ok, here's how it goes, pet. A century ago, Angelus and I were in an alley, stalking our prey, when we came across two humans. But there was something different about these humans. They were. . .tolerable."

"This was before I was to have eaten your sister," Angelus clarified.

"Ok," I said, motioning to Spike to continue.

"Well, their names were Willow and Xander, and they were best friends. Apparently, they were doing a spell that got messed up, and they were sent to our time. They were from the year 2000."

My mouth dropped open. "What did you do?"

"Shagged them," Spike grinned.

Angelus gave me a short nod. "Then we sent them back home. But we promised that we would find them in 1996, when the Slayer first comes to town, and we would sweep them off their feet. And here we are, Sunnydale, 1996, ready to sweep them off their feet."

"You know, it was Willow and Xander that saved your sister's life," Spike said with conviction.

I frowned. "What? That's not possible. Were they there then?"

"No," Angelus said. "Xander said in their timeline, I ate the girl and your people gave me a soul." He shuddered. "The thought of that is truly horrible."

"That's why you didn't kill her," I said with realization. "We always wondered what would make the great Angelus save a life instead of taking one."

"That's the reason, ducks."

"So you are here to what. . .claim these two mortals? Take them as concubines? Sire them? What's going to happen?" I asked.

"They are our mates," Spike replied. "They just don't know it yet." He grinned at me. "Xander was *wonderful* when I saw him last. He was so passionate, so. . .warm. There really is nothing like having a warm body pressing against you. . ."

I smiled softly. "Spike, is there ever a time you aren't thinking about sex?"

"Yea, I sleep sometimes. I feed too. When I feed, I don't think about sex. Unless I'm having sex when I'm feeding. . ." He grinned.

I laughed. I turned to Angelus. "Ok, so what happened?"

"Couple of vampires attacked them. We saved them. They didn't know about vampires, and we didn't show them our faces. I didn't want to scare them."

"Xander was right. He is scared of being with a man. He jerked his hand from mine when he felt the electricity go between us," Spike said.

"Well. I guess we are going to have to figure out what to do. I mean, if you two want them, and you won't hurt them, I'm willing to help." I shrugged. "This could be a good thing, you know. Apparently they had some effect on you, since you tapered off on the killing and maiming and all that after you met them." I frowned. "We just have to find them again."

"Well, we know where one of them lives, we followed them home." Angelus glanced at Spike. "You don't think they are dating, do you? They seemed pretty close. . ."

"They are best friends, Sire," Spike responded.

"Good, I'm glad you are going to find the two mortals."

I spun around in my seat, while Angelus and Spike jumped up, vamping. Angelus growled low and dangerously. "Who the fuck are you?" he hissed.

Spike pulled me up and stepped in front of me, protecting me from. . .I looked around Spike and studied the man in our living room. He had a bored look on his face, a black suit and a hideous multicolored shirt. A fedora of some kind was on top of his head. "Who are you?" I asked. < Where did you get your horrible fashion sense? >

"I'm Whistler," he replied, walking over to the bar. He poured himself some brandy. Angelus and Spike never let their eyes leave our unwelcome guest. "Don't worry about me, guys, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here on behalf of The Powers That Be."

"The Powers That Be?" Angelus growled. "What the hell do we have to do with them?"

I could tell Angelus was really not happy this man was here. I reached out and patted his back gently. "It's ok, Angelus. I think he's ok. He has a calming aura. He isn't going to hurt you."

Angelus turned his head and looked down at me, his eyes blazing. I could see the demon was ready to rip him apart. I stood my ground though. I wasn't scared of Angelus, I knew he'd do anything in his power to make sure that I wasn't harmed. I crossed my arms. "Well? Are you going to trust me, or are we going to have a battle of who can outstare the other all night?"

Angelus closed his eyes and allowed his features to smooth out. He turned back to Whistler. "What do you want?"

Whistler made himself at home in Angelus' favorite chair. We sat down on the couch and watched him. "So anyway," Whistler said, "some hundred years ago, or so, there was this poor little gypsy girl who was captured by a beautiful vampire." He looked pointedly at Angelus. "Her name was Darla."

Whistler took a sip of his brandy and continued, "Angelus was given this gypsy girl for a birthday present, and of course, he enjoyed his dinner. The Calderash clan was outraged. They cursed the great Angelus, made him have a soul. Made him feel guilt for all that he had done over the years. He fled his Sire, who wanted to kill him anyway.

"No one heard from the great Angelus until the year 1996, when he came out of hiding and fell in love with a beautiful Slayer named Buffy. He made it his life's mission to help her on the Hellmouth. The two had a stormy affair, he was a vampire and she was the Slayer. One night, as they sat on his bed, shivering from the rain, the inevitable happened. They made love."

"Wait," I said. "That's not what happened. Angelus gave her back to my family." I was confused. How could this man tell us something that had happened that never did? Plus, he was talking about the future, and that hadn't even happened yet. I crossed my arms. Angelus patted my shoulder and nodded, motioning for me to keep listening. He was taking all of this very well. Much better than I thought he would.

"Shush, child. I'm getting there," Whistler said. He sipped his drink, then continued. "The Calderash, who were very much into their vengeance against Angelus, had a clause attached to the curse."

I frowned. I couldn't imagine my family ever wishing anything bad on Angelus. He was almost an icon in our family, he would arrive if we needed help. Together with Spike, the two vampires would take care of whatever it was that bothered us. They protected us, and I protected them.

"The curse was to be broken and the demon set free if Angel experienced one moment of true happiness."

"Angel?" I asked.

"I think Dru said that was Peaches' name when he was all having the soul," Spike said. He shrugged. "At least, that's what she gathered from talking to Willow."

I smiled slightly. Spike rarely called Angelus Peaches, only in times of extreme closeness or intimacy. The most I heard it was when we were sitting around a fire somewhere as a family. Spike would start calling Angelus Peaches and Angelus would call him William. I loved times like that, when we were a family.

"So what happened?" I asked, truly interested in the story of the other timeline, even though I was still not sure what changed it.

"Angelus tried to bring Sunnydale to its knees. Buffy was a wreck, her worst enemy was wearing the face of the man she loved. Jenny, you came. You tried to restore his soul, after you neglected to tell them that there was a curse to begin with. You were. . .stopped." Whistler looked away and I had a chill run down my spine. I wasn't sure how I was stopped, but I didn't think it was a good thing.

"There was a girl, an up and coming witch, named Willow. She found your spell and cast it on him, giving him his soul. They weren't really friends, only acquaintances, but she did it for Buffy. She knew that Buffy couldn't kill Angelus, and that he needed to be stopped. She was Buffy's best friend." Whistler sat back. "Time passed, Angel was brought out of hell, and he moved to LA. That's where he was when the whole world changed."

I sat back and shivered slightly. "So all of this happens? Or it did?"

"It did, yes. Until the Witch and her best friend Xander stepped back into time."

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