Dream of Angels
by Xandria

The Angels of Heaven were rebelling. Led by Lucifer,
Son of the Morning, they rose up against their Father
to take over.

Angels fought for their Father or for Lucifer, there
was no in-between...except for one.

Alexander watched as Michael, Raphael and Gabriel flew
up to take on those who would oppose Father.

He was the only one left on the ground and he stood
there, watching, in an agony of indecision.

He loved Father, dearly, and the thought of going
against him was unthinkable, horrific.

But...William was in Lucifer's host, seduced by a few
words and impetuous, he had joined, to go against
Heaven itself.

And he loved William, dearly. Born at the same moment,
both Angels had been inseparable, till now.

Alexander loved William, he loved Father...and he
couldn't choose, so Watched.

And then the battle was over. He Watched the Fall,
thousands of his brethren, William included, cast down
and down and down.

He cried. They had gone against Father and would never
return.

Turning, he saw Raphael and Gabriel watching him in
turn with a look of sorrow on their faces, flaming
swords in their hands as they advanced on him.

"Why? I did nothing!"

"That is why, Alexander. One word from you, one
action, and William may not have gone down as well. So
we lose two more of our number."

"But you are not going with the Others, Alexander.
Undecided, torn between the two sides, Father has
decided you will go to earth instead. Reborn as a
human, you must decide like all other humans."

"Will I ever be able to return?"

"Bring William back, redeem him, as you should have
stopped him in the first place. Until you do you will
be born again and again. Each life, you will have the
chance to do so. But if you die and he is not saved,
you will die again."

"No!. Don't cast me out, please! I'm sorry, I didn't
know! Don't cast me out! Don't..."

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

With a scream Xander woke up.

/That dream again. What was that about?/

And then he remembered something and looked over at
Willow, Buffy, Giles and Spike, who stared aback at
him, wide eyed, even the vampire.

"Xander, what was that?" Giles said, picking up his
glasses and polishing them.

"A bad dream I guess. Sorry G-man, but it's been a
long week at work and all, let alone the Research
party at the end..."

"I mean, what language was that?"

"Yeah, it was really weird. You were asleep and then
you started making these noises. And you were crying."
Willow said with a frown.

"And we couldn't wake you, and you got more and more
upset." Buffy scowled, she didn't like it when her
friends hurt.

"I was speaking another language? You sure it wasn't
nonsense?" Xander yawned. He didn't want to talk about
this. He wanted to go home and get some sleep. Spike
was staring at him.

/Why was Spike staring at him?/

"Positive. It sounded like one of the older tongues."

"The oldest, Watcher." Spike said, not taking his eyes
off of Xander.

"And how would you know, Spike?!" Buffy sneered,
bringing her stake up like she did every time he said
a word.

~Why make him come if he wasn't allowed to say
anything?~

"All demons know what Angels speak, Slayer." He
replied, serious for once.

~Bugger her, he couldn't be bothered with her
anymore.~

"What?"

"From the Fall, Buff." Xander said. "When they were
cast down for fighting Father."

/How did I know that?/

"Xander, how do you know that?"

/Oh look, an echo./

"I don't ? I don't even remember the dream much, I
never do, I just get upset and I wake up crying."

/I don't want to talk about this anymore. I can't talk
about this anymore./

"Xander, this could be very important, do you have any
idea what it could be about? And you've had it before,
you say? How many times?"

"No, I don't and all my life. C'mon G-man, we have to
get on with looking up this Demon, remember? Before he
eats another bus?"

"This may be more important than that, Xander."

"I can tell you what it's about, Watcher." Spike spoke
up.

"No!"

"Xander, it...'

"My dream, it's private! No!" Angry now, Xander got up
and stormed out of the Magic Box.

"I'll see if I can speak to him." Willow said after a
stunned silence in which everyone had just stared at
the door Xander had slammed on his way out

"That was...unexpected."

"No it isn't. He's not supposed to know."

"What?!"

"Spike, tell us what's going on or..."

"I'll tell the Watcher, but none of you lot."

~Especially not you.~

"You can't just tell us..."

"Buffy, out. You need to patrol anyway."

"But Giles..."

"Now."

Muttering angrily to herself, Buffy gathered her
slaying supplies and left, giving both the Watcher and
the vampire filthy looks as she did so.

Taking a deep breath he didn't need, the vampire
spoke.

"One Angel didn't fight...he Watched. He was torn,
with love for both sides, and couldn't decide. He was
cast down as well, but not to Hell, to earth, he would
be born again and again, living life as a human, to
decide as a human."

"The Angel who wouldn't, couldn't fight. I remember
the story."

"He has to do this without knowing he will be
rewarded, Watcher."

"What?"

"That Angel who couldn't decide. He has to make a
choice now...but if he dies and doesn't he will die
and be reborn until he does...but he has to choose
without knowing the consequences."

"Why not?"

"Then there would be no redemption for him or for the
other Angel. He has to show he has changed from that
first time, when the agony of not knowing caused him
to make the wrong decision by not choosing. Or do you
want him to go to Hell?"

"Why do you care if he does or doesn't?

"Watcher, the name of the Angel who couldn't choose
was Alexander. The name of the former Angel he must
choose to redeem now is William." Giles stared at
Spike, stunned.

"W...william?"

"Close your mouth, Watcher, the kind of bugs that live
on the Hellmouth you don't want to swallow." Without
another word, Spike, also known as William the Bloody,
left. Giles stared out into space for a few minutes.

"Oh dear."

End