TITLE: Stronger Than Fate

AUTHOR: Susanne

DISTRIBUTION: Anyone want it take it, let me know if you don’t mind. I have no idea where any of this goes.

DISCLAIMER: Alas they do not belong to me, only in my dreams, and what lovely dreams they are. They all belong to Joss and such people that get paid the big buck.

RATING: PG

SPOILERS: After IWRY in Angel Season 1

PAIRING: Buffy/Angel

SUMMARY: The oracles plead Angel’s case to the Judge.

FEEDBACK: Yes please. I know where Ripper lives and I’m not afraid to use him and send him after you!!!

DEDICATION: To Suja who inspired me to write this.

AUTHORS NOTES: Suja wrote a fic called Stupid Warrior and challenged anyone to re write it as it didn’t come out how she planned. I took that challenge and came up with this. If you want to read Sujia’s fic it was sent to GorgeousBtVSMenFic@egropus.com you can read it there, or mail me directly as I still have it. Hope you enjoy this. Let me know what you think.

STRONGER THAN FATE

by Susanne

"How do you plead?"

"Please give me a chance to explain."

"Just your answer."

Silence followed, then a voice from the back of the semi-crowded room spoke up for the first time. "Let her explain."

"Silence oracle. You are just as guilty as she."

"Then charge me as well. Is that not the rules?"

"She pleaded for your case, explained that it was her choice alone. You should be thankful."

"But is it not the *law*?"

The judge looked at the male oracle who had advanced to his other female half. They were two; they worked by each other’s side as partners. The judge knew he was right, the law stated that all involved were to be punished. He looked at the male with narrowed eyes. "Very well, you are correct. I will let her speak." The two oracles exchanged looks and began their tale.

"He was a unique case. What he did shows that this time they will be united."

"He was mortal, they could have been united." The Judge replied.

"Yes but he could not protect her. He was weak, he no longer was a warrior."

"His warrior status is not the issue. He is there only for the soul. If he loses his soul there is no guarantee that he will get it back again, or that the fragment will be intact."

"He showed that he was stronger that we gave him credit for. He managed to push the soul’s driving force to the side, the force that called for a connection to the other. By doing that he showed that he would not be foolish with his own soul."

"Let me see." The Judge demanded. A portal appeared and images blurred until they finally stopped with the face of Angel with Buffy in LA. "Go further back. Let me see from the beginning." The images blurred again. They stopped once again with Angel, a mortal Angel in his home in Ireland. The scenes of Angel’s life began to play out.

***

Angel was alone. Surrounded by people he was alone. He lacked something, something within that he could not name. He desperately sought hat something turning to alcohol and women in the hope that it was there. He lacked true love. His soul was incomplete. He longed to be whole.

The years progressed and still her was incomplete. Surrendering to his hopeless cause he forgot that he was looking to be complete and began to turn to violence and drink more. The fragment of that perfect soul was ignored and pushed deeper down. He gave into the pleasures of the flesh without there being any connection. He turned to hating and loathing instead of loving and caring. With these feelings he found death; death in the arms of a beautiful woman, who gave him eternal life and removed that fragment of the perfect soul. No longer did he feel incomplete, he was whole. The soul was once again lost to the ether and the world silently cried out in pain at the loss.

The loss was too much for a beautiful young girl named Elizabeth. She died from the loss moments later, a loss that could not be explained or understood. She died for a love she had never had and could never have. Her fragment of soul journeyed to the ether in search of its other.

The scene shifted quickly through Angelus’ life, - or death as a vampire and stopped with a blinding light and his scream of pain as he soul was returned to him. The fragment still intact as it was buried so deep it was unable to leave when the soul first left his body. Still he ignored it. He could no longer love or care for the guilt over his past was too intense. He wandered for a hundred years or so.

The images blurred and fixed on Hemery High and the image of Buffy as she walked out of school surrounded by her friends. The moment laid his eyes on her; the broken and now shattered fragment of his soul broke free from its prison as it recognised its other half in the soul of the young girl. The soul from Elizabeth who had been searching al those years to be complete had finally ended up in Buffy. The pull from this soul was too great for Angel, he was transfixed. He felt love for the first time in an age, he cared what happened to her, he embraced this part of him and began to change.

The images quickly flew over Buffy and Angel’s meeting and courtship and stopped on that fateful night. The night the two souls touched. The moment they did the ether smiled, sighing with relief that they had finally been joined. The world was complete. This feeling of completeness was ripped away from them minutes later as the tow souls were no longer joined. Angel’s soul was returned to the ether and was alone. He had lost his soul, while the other half still remained in the living host. The world groaned in agony as it was once again ripped apart as it had been all those years ago.

The soul left in Buffy slowly began to dim. The images on the screen showed the changes, the loss in Buffy as she now felt the incompleteness that had plagued Angel during his mortal life. The only thing stopping her from dying was the fact that, even if it was only briefly she had been complete, the memory kept her alive.

The images changed to Buffy and Angelus fighting in the mansion, the mouth of Hell was slowly opening behind them. The oracles were shown Angelus defeated and then his soul suddenly being returned to him. They saw Buffy’s soul cry out at being complete again; it could feel the other in the body of the man on the floor. They reached out and touched.

The oracles watched as Buffy drove the sword through Angel’s chest sending him to hell, his soul intact. She had ignored the call of completeness for her duty as a slayer and protector. The images stopped and the female oracle turned to the Judge.

"We were not punished for this. We had the chance to interfere here. The girl could have been killed and the souls would have been united. Dying together they would never have been separated. This act shows that she could ignore the call of the soul for what was right just as he did when he asked to be a warrior again. We know the call of the souls is strong as it brought him back from hell and to her again. It sought its completeness."

The images began to move again showing fragments of Buffy and Angel’s time together after his return. They saw the call of the souls and how they pushed it away knowing that they could never be together, they could never be complete. It them played the scene of graduation day at Sunnydale high. The day the two beings pushed the call so far down to give them the strength they needed to leave. They could not resist each other forever if they remained together. The pull lessened with distance but it could still feel the presence of the other.

"Yes it is unfortunate about the clause in his restoration of the soul." The Judge said looking at the frozen image on the screen. The pain in Buffy’s eyes at the sight of Angel leaving, knowing that it was only with him she could truly be complete, only with him that she could be whole. But there was also a knowing that whether he was near or far she would never receive that completeness ever again because of the insecurities of Angel’s soul. "However, once again I come back to the reason of this hearing. He was mortal by some twist of fate. They were together, we all saw it happen, felt the light surround the world, the universe and all dimensions. Why did you take that away from him, from us?"

"Because he asked me."

The Judge just stared at her then repeated her own words. "Because he asked you to! That is not a very valid reason oracle."

"He was no longer a warrior, he could no longer guarantee the slayers safety and the safety of her soul."

"But they were together, they were *safe*."

"Their lives were in danger." The female spoke.

"No. The Mohara demon had been killed. There was no danger."

"It was killed only at the cost of nearly taking his life. There would have been other times when the slayer could not protect him."

"They would have been together always!" The Judge promptly replied.

"No. You are mistaken. You do not know this warrior. His soul forces him to seek redemption for his time as a vampire. He is to fight the demons to protect the innocent. He could not do this effectively without the strength of his own demon."

"Then he would no longer fight. He no longer needed redemption."

"Redemption was ingrained into every fibre of him. He would cease being him if he stopped helping people. He would cease to be able to help us. No longer worthy of the cause."

"The ‘cause’ was not his primary goal. His goal was the joining of the souls."

"Yes, but no one foresaw that he would become a mighty warrior for us, or that the slayer would get the other half of the soul. Fighting, being warriors is *their* primary goal. It is because of this that they will survive, and it is because of this that we turned the clocks back. The day was not erased however."

The Judge looked at her in surprise. "How was the day not erased?"

"I…"

"*We*." The male oracle joined in. "We turned back the clock so that the day would appear not to have happened to all accept the warrior Angel. He carries the memories. He carries the knowledge of what was lost. He agreed to this, to save the slayers life, to help our cause."

I see how noble it was for him, he gave up everything he ever wanted since he met the other soul." The Judge said softly, looking at the happy image of him and Buffy snuggled together in his big bed.

"Yes and he asked to give it up in order to keep that soul alive, to keep them together."

"But they are not together." The Judge said looking at the two oracles.

"Perhaps no in body, but in spirit and in their hearts they are. The longer they live the stronger the pull is. The stronger it gets the stronger the joining will be when they finally can be joined."

"And how will that be? Now that he has his soul the clause forbids it."

The female smiled. "Yes it does, but because of his bravery we anchored his soul here, so when he is killed his soul will return here and it is here that the two souls will be joined and protected. The two warriors accept that they can not be together, it aids their fight, they fight for the other. They know that eventually they will be joined. They hold on for that day. Angel’s sacrifice has allowed for this to happen there is no question about it. This time they will be joined. It will be forever and the whole of eternity shall rejoice.

The Judge looked at the two oracles standing before him. He looked back to the portal that had changed to the present day. The pain in their eyes as they lived apart, but he also saw deeper, deep into their souls and saw the knowledge that this time, the joining would not fail. He looked back to the oracle. "You broke the rules, but I see now why you did it, and I see now that the joining will be much more spectacular than any of us could have ever imagined."

"Will we be punished?" The male asked.

"Your punishment will be to look over those two always."

"That was our job already."

"Now it is permanent. Plus the praise you shall eventually receive when they are joined shall all be yours." He smiled at them and stood and left. The punishment was passed. The two oracles looked at each other then the portal of the two warriors; they were both now smiling even though they were apart. Their lives were progressing. The oracles knew they had done the right thing.

THE END