Angel can barely move. He stares at the man before him. He feels his knees shake, despite desperately trying to stop them. He barely gets the words out, stammering.

“Meeting you like this. You have no idea—”

His father, as usual, doesn’t let him finish. “Oh, I think I do. You’re out of money again, aren’t you?”

Angel is too surprised to respond. His father isn’t surprised by his silence, expecting it. And he carries on, his tone one of mistrust, loathing and disgust.

“Don’t try to deny it, Liam! You always try to act the faithful son when you need something. Well, no more. I’m on to your games. And what are you wearing? You’re a disgrace to your family. That’s what you are.”

Angel tries to speak. “I’m sorry. It’s just…”

Then he looks up at his father. And quietly, so his father can just about hear him, he mutters to himself. “Somehow you always did bring out the worst in me—”

His father pulls a face of rage. “Oh, no. That I will not accept. Whatever is bad in you did not come from me. I brought you up proper. Your Hell-bound ways are your doing. Mark my words, trouble will find you when you go searching for it.”

Angel realises that he’s wasting his time with his father. Disappointed, not knowing what difference he was expecting, he turns his back to the older man and sighs. “Fine! You win, Father. I’m off.”

“Liam? Don’t go!”

The cry doesn’t come from his father, or even his mother. It’s coming from an angel.

Angel turns and sees a young girl with dark brown hair, styled neatly back with a ribbon. Her arms are extended and her face is beaming, smiling at him as if he’s the most important person in her world.

“Kathy,” Angel whispers as his little sister calls his name again. Their father admonishes her, trying to keep her away from her brother.

“But I want to talk to Liam!”

She ignores her father and walks towards Angel, who bends down to greet her. He pulls her into a hug.

“You don’t know how much I’ve missed you!”

“Silly,” Kathy says, chuckling. “You just saw me this morning.”

“Well, it seems like much longer.”

She looks up at him, straight into his eyes, as if she can feel his pain. “Mother says that when you don’t get enough sleep, the day seems longer. I hope you haven’t been having trouble sleeping.”

He sighs as she gets up and returns to her father, who’s watching the entire exchange with caution. “Oh, Kathy,” Angel sighs, seeing the innocence. Remembering the good times. And the dark night to come. Her last night.

Her father believes enough time has been wasted. He puts his arm around Kathy, eyes Angel with suspicion, and starts to guide her back to the family home. “Come, child. He’s not in a mood to be spoken to.”

Once Kathy is safely out of earshot, his father turns to him, his face back to being full of fury and disappointment. “I’ll not have you corrupting her, Liam. She’s a good child. The Lord knows I deserve to have one turn out as I intended.”

And then he walks back to the house, ushers Kathy further in, and leaves Angel alone with his thoughts. He remembers his childhood, time with his father. Good times with a man he doesn’t know.

He’s not sure how long he stands there, just staring at the house. He’s only aware that there’s someone with him when Winifred Burkle speaks.

“Come back, Angel. Come back from the past.” She wraps her arms around him as she smiles.

“It’s all so raw still, Fred. So easy to see what could have been.” Fred hasn’t seen him this down since Buffy died.

“I know. But for every fix here, there’s a corresponding break in the future.”

Angel looks at her, his eyes pleading with her. “Maybe that’s okay. Maybe none of this was meant to happen like it did.”

She shakes her head and tightens her grip on his arm. “Thinking like that can drive you crazy. We all have regrets. All we can do is learn from them and try to do better next time.”

Angel doesn’t look at her. “That’s true for most people. Not us.”

She turns to him now, making sure they’re face-to-face. “Angel, I understand. I mean, I’ve never been in a situation where I had the opportunity to save my whole family from being slaughtered, but I couldn’t because saving them would doom the future… Oh Hell. I’m just making this worse, aren’t I?” She stops, waiting, unsure what he’ll say next.

“You’re certainly putting things in perspective.”

Fred’s voice gets slightly louder. “Look, I know you can’t help thinking about saving your family. But what about your current family? What about your son, Connor? If Liam doesn’t meet up with Darla, Connor will never be born!”

“Would that really be so bad?”

Fred stares at him. She cannot believe his words. As he continues, she just stares, her mouth falling open in shock as he continues to justify himself.

“There’s been so much pain in his life. Imagine if I never existed as anything other than useless Liam. So much pain would be avoided, for so many…”

She shouts at him now, losing her temper, panicking slightly. “Without you so much more suffering would have happened! I mean, you’ve saved the world more than once! And that’s just the big stuff! What about people like me who you’ve helped? I’d still be stuck in that Hell dimension if you hadn’t come along!”

He doesn’t react any differently. His tone is calm and thoughtful. “You would have found your way home. You’re one of the smartest, most resourceful people I know. You don’t need me.”

“You’re wrong. I do need you. We all do.” Fred realises that she can’t convince him. She just hasn’t got enough. She starts to cry.

Angel instantly changes, wrapping his arms around her and then pulling her close. “Aw, none of that. Come on, you must be exhausted.”

Fred smiles at him and sighs. “Time travel does mess with your sleep schedule, I guess. I don’t even know how long it’s been since we’ve had any.”

Angel tells her that their tempers are frayed. They need rest. He soon has her walking to the other side of his family’s home. He leads her to a barn.

“As I remember it’s kind of warmish… if you don’t mind burrowing under some really itchy hay.”

Fred smiles, but looks around. “You’re sure we’re safe to sleep here? It’s just from what you’ve said about your former self, I can’t see you spending much time in a barn.”

“You might be surprised,” Angel smiles, not wanting to reveal Liam’s many delightful nights in the presence of various serving girls.

After settling in a nice spot, it’s not long before the sun is down and the night is dim. Fred sleeps soundly. Angel checks she’s sleeping, calling her name gently. When he gets no response, he’s gone.

He runs from the barn, straight towards the house. He taps on one of the windows, disturbing the occupant within, who reaches the window and opens it. She delightfully shouts his name and Angel shushes her!

“Not so loud!”

She doesn’t care. She’s very excitable. “But what are you doing out there, you naughty thing?”

“I just wanted to talk to you. In case I don’t see you again, for a while.”

“Why, you saw me at dinner and will see me at breakfast! Is this about the row you had with Father?”

“In a way.” She can see the seriousness on his face.

“Come now. Don’t look so glum! Here, take this…” She reaches around her neck and pulls her necklace off. It has a cross on it. “Put it on. That way you’ll think of me and we won’t be apart ever.”

Angel gently tells her that he can’t take her cross, although doesn’t tell her he can’t touch it.

“Then take this. It’s not so big.” Now she slips a gold ring off her finger. “But you put it on your watch chain and remember that way. Now that you have this, you won’t forget me. Ever.”

Angel smiles. That’s not possible. “You can count on that. Now close this window before you catch your death on the night air!”

She smiles, and he touches her cheek. He pecks her on the cheek and she closes the window. His mind seemingly made up, he runs through the village, looking for his target.

He spots his past self, leaving the bar, unknowingly on a date with destiny. A few minutes and Darla will appear. Angel doesn’t take his eyes off his younger self. Unfortunately, stealth goes out the window, and Liam turns, nervously talking to no one.

“Do you follow, lass? Am I that irresistible?”

No one answers. Angel stays still, watching from the trees.

“Only the wind,” Liam says to himself. But then, he hears something again. Convinced he’s being followed, he turns and shouts into the night.

“I say, who’s there? Show yourself!”

And then he hears a noise like a wild animal growling. Angel swoops from his position, fangs bared, eyes yellow. He snarls towards his past self.

He’s tackled out of the way by Illyria, who punches him to the ground and straddles him. She looks into his eyes, her voice taking a tone of… annoyance?

Seeing the commotion, Liam flees. Angel watches after him, unable to budge the Old One, watching Liam enter the alleyway. On the other side, he’ll meet his fate.

“Fred may have been sleeping when you left. But I wasn’t.“

She doesn’t let him up. She pins him to the ground, holding the vampire’s arm around his back. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I disagree.“

“Just let me explain. There isn’t much time.”

“I understand very well. Better perhaps than Fred. Or do you think it gives me pleasure to knock you from the road and pin you in the mud?“

He looks up at her. He agrees to calm down. She stands watching him as he rises, awaiting a strike.

“You have come to your senses? Because I do not wish to fight you.“

She walks towards him and stares into his eyes. She is not asking him to stop. She is commanding him to.

“Then we are agreed? This was a bad idea.“

Angel’s face is full of anger. “Depends on which part you’re talking about…”

Then he bolts past her, knocking her aside, quicker than she expected. She races after him, trying to catch up to him. When she does, she instantly grabs his arm to throw him down.

“So you do want to fight?” he asks Illyria, struggling to free himself.

“No.“

“Well you’re going to have to if you want to keep me from saving my family.”

“No.“

She waves her arm and a portal begins to open. Angel looks at her and then the portal in shock. “What are you doing?” He’s pushed towards the threshold. He yells at the Old One. “No! Not now! You can’t!”

“You are wrong. I can. What I can’t do is take us very far just yet.“

The portal stops and Angel and Illyria find themselves standing in the same spot. He’s instantly relieved.

“We didn’t travel! It’s not too late!”

“It is late enough,” Illyria tells him, but he doesn’t hear her. He’s already at the front gate of his family home.

“But you said going backward and forward over the same track is dangerous. That hasn’t changed.”

She nods. “It has not, but sometimes consequences overburden risk.“

He races through the garden and reaches the front door. It’s open. He knows what he’s about to see — his own work, his evil deeds at the start of his reputation. He opens the door, but the smell hits. The bodies are still warm. Kathy is strewn to one side. Angel closes his eyes, whispers to himself and walks out. “Too late…”

He goes outside and leans against the wall. “I’ve already done it.”

Illyria looks at him and tries to comfort him. “Not you. Angelus. It was he who slew your family.“

“Not this time. This time it’s your fault!” the vampire growls at her.

“There was no other way. I could not let you destroy yourself.“

Commotion from outside gets their attention. The locals are stirring.

“They have discovered the other places visited by Darla and Angelus this night. We must go or be thought responsible.“

Angel doesn’t look at her. He’s staring at the handiwork inside the house. “Let them. I don’t care anymore.”

Illyria approaches him from behind, placing her hand on his shoulder. “But you will care if I have to kill them to save you.“

A few minutes later, they’re back in the barn, the commotion dying down and then rising again as the town begins to panic. “They have gone. We may rest now.“

Angel raises his voice, now that they can’t be heard. “How could you? Why? We made your past better!”

She looks away from him. “Yes. But that was before we knew that we shouldn’t.“

“Just because of what Fred said?”

She turns to him. “There is no ‘just’ about it. Fred is very wise. I have come to understand that. It is time for you to accept it.“

He looks down at the floor, sadness in his voice. He sounds emotional. “But to see them again, with these eyes…”

She comes closer and surprises him by touching him gently. “I know. We should never have come to this time. Once we are home, I will not be so careless, but for now you need comfort.“

To Angel’s surprise, she slips her hands around his waist and pulls him into a hug.

She pulls away and looks at him, touching his face gently. “You still do not understand the damage that ending yourself here would have done?“

Angel shrugs. “Would things have really been so different? Think of all the damage I wouldn’t have done.”

“And then think of the world, and of people like Fred… and me. I am better because of you, Angel. The past… it is past.“

She continues to talk and he notices the shine of her eyes again, that smile that is sort of beautiful.

“I have learned this,” the Old One states. “The things that have happened make us who we are now. Seeing it again doesn’t make that any less the case. Nor does changing it. Unless you go and do something so irreparably stupid that you get us all killed.“

He sighs. “I just wish none of this had happened.”

“In that, we are as one,” she says, placing her hands on both his shoulders. A sign of solidarity.

He coughs. He looks at her, his hand on her waist. “Sometimes, you almost seem…”

“Human?” She blurts it out rather bluntly.

“No, never that.”

“Does that disappoint you?” she asks, her voice lower, almost a whisper.

“Not even a little.”

She finds his lips with hers.

“Is this a good idea?” Angel asks her as the kiss becomes deeper, more passionate.

“Perhaps history can judge. I cannot,” she says, and then there are no more words as Angel lowers Illyria to the hay.