Hellmouth Recidivism 6 - #416 Lighthouse
Title: Hellmouth Recidivism 6
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 416 - Lighthouse
Words: 1082
Warnings: None
Rating: Teen
Summary: An older and wiser Future!Canon!Xander has his soul placed in the body of an alternate universe version of himself who was vamped on Valentine's day.
Angel stood in the shadows edging the tree line and stared up at the light shining out of the high windows of the library. He’d been standing there motionless for nearly an hour, lost in thought. He found himself unable to advance and make his presence known or retreat back to the darkness and admit that he wasn’t ready to face the humans within.
“Y’know, that’s the glow of a lighthouse, warning you of the danger of coming any closer unless you want to wreck yourself on the rocks.” Angel couldn’t find the energy within himself to be shocked. He turned to see Whistler standing shoulder to shoulder with him in all of his polyester glory peering up at the windows from under his hat. The shorter demon sighed and continued talking without turning to him or making eye contact. Angel was grateful for it, he felt lower now than he had when Whistler had first pulled him out of the gutter.
“I never thought it would go down like this, back when I brought you to Sunnydale. Thought I was setting you up to be a big hero, not the villain that would force the Slayer into growing up too soon. They don’t tell me anything, just the bits that I’m supposed to pass on. I would have warned you.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Angel's placation was hollow and without much sincerity.
“Wasn’t yours either.”
“I’m not sure I can believe that.”
“Yeah, self forgiveness was never really your shtick was it.” The agent of middle management for Good side eyed him with a sardonic eye.
“I thought I was getting better at it.” Angel admitted with a mild tone. It was a vast understatement on the devastation he felt at having redemption torn away from him again, just when he had started to hope it was within his reach and capability. Apparently he had thought wrong.
“That’s life for you. Rain on your wedding day and flies in your chardonnay.” Whistler rhymed, lips quirked into a tiny smirk.
Angel turned to stare at him in complete bewilderment. “What?”
“Nevermind.” The badly dressed shoulders slumped as he realized that his humor was completely wasted on this particular audience.
“Why are you here, Whistler? I’m reluctant to trust the Powers That Be again and your presence isn't even slightly comforting.”
“I’m not here with more orders from the PTB, Angel. Do you remember when we first met? What I told you I was?”
“A demon.”
“Do you remember what type?”
“You said something about balance. Get to the point.”
“Everyone thinks that since we're demons we want an evil, twisted sort of balance. Something like a balanced eternal war between good and evil to achieve mutually assured destruction and wipe out everything. They think that balancing the scales involves an eye for an eye and perpetual one-upmanship, handing a gun to one side and a bomb to the other. They're wrong. Thing is that those are forms of stagnation. That’s what the agents of chaos and order want, war and eradication respectively.”
“Balance is about avoiding stagnation. Eternal war and eternal peace are polar extremes and balance ensures progression and evolution by encouraging a life somewhere between universal conflict and entropy. Life is a tightrope walk of careful choices over a chasm of consequences, and balance demons believe that only a careful combination of chaos and order, good and evil, war and peace will be able to safely navigate it.”
“I’m listening.”
“Take The Slayer, for example." Angel tensed, but didn't say anything as the demon continued, "She’s an extreme. Always was, always will be. It’s her role in destiny. As long as she’s an agent of good, she’s very, very good, but if a Slayer goes wrong… Well, let’s just hope you never see that happen because there is no balance, no halfway with a Slayer. It's all or nothing, no matter where they throw in their lot.”
“The kid, Xander, he changes things. You’re all changing things. Vampires with souls. Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern. The perfect balance of good and evil within a single body, beholden to the masters of neither. When you were the only souled vampire you were an exception, an aberration that neither side knew what to do with. Now you’re the origin point to a new brand of big players. Without even trying, the three of you are forming a new side.”
“What are you trying to say, Whistler?”
“I’m cutting you loose, Angel. You’re fired.”
“What? I have my soul back now, I can be better.”
“It’s not like that. This can be a good thing. The Powers are at war with the forces of darkness. By trying to claim you as their own the other side struck back. Angelus never would have been released if we had left you alone. By giving you the axe, the PTB are basically declaring you to be hands off. You’re officially neutral from now on. Freewill reigns with no interference from either side.”
Whistler gestured at the light streaming out of the window. “The Slayer and the gang? They’re the light, Angel. You’re never gonna walk in the sun with your Slayer girlfriend and they will never fully understand where you’re coming from.”
He waved his other arm out the opposite way, into the dark night in the vague direction of the nearest cemetery. “..but you don’t belong to the dark anymore either, with that shiny soul of yours.”
He brought both hands back to emphasize where Angel stood, right in front of him and between the two extremes. “So here you stand, neither light nor dark but somewhere in between. When you were the only one, you had to choose a side, because no man or beast can stand alone, but now you’ve got the kid and your childe. The three of you are something new. Balance has finally come to the world."
"What that means for the future is entirely up to you." The demon tipped his hat at Angel. "You're a free agent now. The kid's got the memories of living through anything we might need to warn you about, so you're on your own. We're giving you a fresh slate and a new start, one last chance. Try not to screw it all up quite so thoroughly this go 'round, because none of us are quite sure what the outcome will be this time."
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 416 - Lighthouse
Words: 1082
Warnings: None
Rating: Teen
Summary: An older and wiser Future!Canon!Xander has his soul placed in the body of an alternate universe version of himself who was vamped on Valentine's day.
Angel stood in the shadows edging the tree line and stared up at the light shining out of the high windows of the library. He’d been standing there motionless for nearly an hour, lost in thought. He found himself unable to advance and make his presence known or retreat back to the darkness and admit that he wasn’t ready to face the humans within.
“Y’know, that’s the glow of a lighthouse, warning you of the danger of coming any closer unless you want to wreck yourself on the rocks.” Angel couldn’t find the energy within himself to be shocked. He turned to see Whistler standing shoulder to shoulder with him in all of his polyester glory peering up at the windows from under his hat. The shorter demon sighed and continued talking without turning to him or making eye contact. Angel was grateful for it, he felt lower now than he had when Whistler had first pulled him out of the gutter.
“I never thought it would go down like this, back when I brought you to Sunnydale. Thought I was setting you up to be a big hero, not the villain that would force the Slayer into growing up too soon. They don’t tell me anything, just the bits that I’m supposed to pass on. I would have warned you.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Angel's placation was hollow and without much sincerity.
“Wasn’t yours either.”
“I’m not sure I can believe that.”
“Yeah, self forgiveness was never really your shtick was it.” The agent of middle management for Good side eyed him with a sardonic eye.
“I thought I was getting better at it.” Angel admitted with a mild tone. It was a vast understatement on the devastation he felt at having redemption torn away from him again, just when he had started to hope it was within his reach and capability. Apparently he had thought wrong.
“That’s life for you. Rain on your wedding day and flies in your chardonnay.” Whistler rhymed, lips quirked into a tiny smirk.
Angel turned to stare at him in complete bewilderment. “What?”
“Nevermind.” The badly dressed shoulders slumped as he realized that his humor was completely wasted on this particular audience.
“Why are you here, Whistler? I’m reluctant to trust the Powers That Be again and your presence isn't even slightly comforting.”
“I’m not here with more orders from the PTB, Angel. Do you remember when we first met? What I told you I was?”
“A demon.”
“Do you remember what type?”
“You said something about balance. Get to the point.”
“Everyone thinks that since we're demons we want an evil, twisted sort of balance. Something like a balanced eternal war between good and evil to achieve mutually assured destruction and wipe out everything. They think that balancing the scales involves an eye for an eye and perpetual one-upmanship, handing a gun to one side and a bomb to the other. They're wrong. Thing is that those are forms of stagnation. That’s what the agents of chaos and order want, war and eradication respectively.”
“Balance is about avoiding stagnation. Eternal war and eternal peace are polar extremes and balance ensures progression and evolution by encouraging a life somewhere between universal conflict and entropy. Life is a tightrope walk of careful choices over a chasm of consequences, and balance demons believe that only a careful combination of chaos and order, good and evil, war and peace will be able to safely navigate it.”
“I’m listening.”
“Take The Slayer, for example." Angel tensed, but didn't say anything as the demon continued, "She’s an extreme. Always was, always will be. It’s her role in destiny. As long as she’s an agent of good, she’s very, very good, but if a Slayer goes wrong… Well, let’s just hope you never see that happen because there is no balance, no halfway with a Slayer. It's all or nothing, no matter where they throw in their lot.”
“The kid, Xander, he changes things. You’re all changing things. Vampires with souls. Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern. The perfect balance of good and evil within a single body, beholden to the masters of neither. When you were the only souled vampire you were an exception, an aberration that neither side knew what to do with. Now you’re the origin point to a new brand of big players. Without even trying, the three of you are forming a new side.”
“What are you trying to say, Whistler?”
“I’m cutting you loose, Angel. You’re fired.”
“What? I have my soul back now, I can be better.”
“It’s not like that. This can be a good thing. The Powers are at war with the forces of darkness. By trying to claim you as their own the other side struck back. Angelus never would have been released if we had left you alone. By giving you the axe, the PTB are basically declaring you to be hands off. You’re officially neutral from now on. Freewill reigns with no interference from either side.”
Whistler gestured at the light streaming out of the window. “The Slayer and the gang? They’re the light, Angel. You’re never gonna walk in the sun with your Slayer girlfriend and they will never fully understand where you’re coming from.”
He waved his other arm out the opposite way, into the dark night in the vague direction of the nearest cemetery. “..but you don’t belong to the dark anymore either, with that shiny soul of yours.”
He brought both hands back to emphasize where Angel stood, right in front of him and between the two extremes. “So here you stand, neither light nor dark but somewhere in between. When you were the only one, you had to choose a side, because no man or beast can stand alone, but now you’ve got the kid and your childe. The three of you are something new. Balance has finally come to the world."
"What that means for the future is entirely up to you." The demon tipped his hat at Angel. "You're a free agent now. The kid's got the memories of living through anything we might need to warn you about, so you're on your own. We're giving you a fresh slate and a new start, one last chance. Try not to screw it all up quite so thoroughly this go 'round, because none of us are quite sure what the outcome will be this time."