Fanfic / Bring Me to Life

Bring Me To Life is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel Fan Fic written by Jean-the Guardian.

The fic is an Alternate Universe Fic set during Buffy season 7 and Angel season 4, spiraling off from canon when the ghost of Darla successfully gets through to Connor and convinces him to save the Jasmine-possessed Cordelia's intended Virgin Sacrifice. This kicks off a series of events which leads to the Scooby Gang coming to Los Angeles and joining forces with Angel Investigations, where the two groups discover that Jasmine is allied with none other than the First Evil...

The fic can be found here and here.

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Bring Me To Life contains examples of the following tropes:

• 11th-Hour Superpower: When Willow witnesses Oz about to be killed by a group of Bringers, despite her magic having been apparently drained by Amy she manifests a large burst of power that throws off all of his attackers while leaving Oz himself relatively unharmed.
• Accidental Misnaming: In chapter 18, Buffy, being Buffy, misidentifies the Orb of Makai as the "Orb of MacGyver." Hearing this, Lindsey wonders to himself exactly how Buffy scored a 1430 on her SATs.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In canon, Wesley's opinion of the Watcher's Council by the time they were destroyed was indifferent at best. Here, it's established that his father was one of the casualties, meaning he feels much more loss than before and the battle with the First becomes that much more personal.
• Adaptation Expansion: The fic reveals Angel and Drogyn's first meeting; they fought together in the Lwow uprising in World War II.
• Adaptation Origin Connection:
  • In the Season 9 comics, Pearl and Nash were simply half-demons who were minions of Twilight/Angel. Here, they're old enemies of Angel and Spike, who fought them in Las Vegas in the 1950s.
  • In this fic, it's revealed that the First Evil was actually spawned from Jasmine.
• Adaptation Species Change: In the original show, Skip made Cordelia a half-demon. Here, it's revealed he actually made her half-higher being.
• Admiring the Abomination: In chapter 20, Angel reflects that Dark Willow's flaying Warren alive is an act that Angelus would have truly admired.
• Affectionate Nickname: Angel playfully calls Dawn "squirt" in chapters 21 and 22.
• All Just a Dream: In chapter 31, Buffy and Angel seem to succumb to their desires and make love, ending with Angel biting Buffy and drinking from her. He looks into Buffy's eyes, sees she's now a vampire... and wakes up in horror at that. At the same time, Buffy wakes up, having had the same nightmare.
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: In chapter 34, The First, possessing Jasmine, leads the Beast and a small army of Bringers in assaulting the Hyperion.
• Alternate Universe Fic: The fic is set during the events of Buffy Season 7/Angel Season 4, but takes a different path from canon when Darla successfully persuades Connor to save the girl "Cordelia" wants to sacrifice.
• Am I Just a Toy to You?: In chapter 44, when Angel opts to push Buffy away out of fear of Angelus coming back, Buffy accuses him of treating their relationship like a game.
  Buffy: How many times has it been, Angel? How many times have you walked out on me now? Because at this point, it's becoming a game now. You-you-you keep dangling this carrot in front of me, you go all Dawson Leary on me every time I'm even close to finding someone new, yet the moment we have a shot at making this work, you pull away. Every. Damn. Time. And you get to go back to your perfect life in L.A., and I'm the one stuck picking up the pieces and trying to move on with this hole in my heart because I'm "so strong."
• An Arm and a Leg: After Angel retrieves Hope's Dagger, one of his first actions with it is to cut off Nash's right hand.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Dawn tells Connor that she loves him when he calls her after running away from the house, but Connor's so tormented by his own guilt that he can't accept that he's worthy of her love.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When Kennedy tries to threaten Oz to stay away from Willow, she has no response when Oz points out that Kennedy should have nothing to worry about if her relationship with Willow is strong enough.
• Armor-Piercing Response: In chapter 32, Buffy asks Angel why he's willing to give Faith a chance to redeem herself, but refuses to extend Spike the same courtesy. Angel responds that part of it is because unlike Spike, Faith didn't try to rape Buffy, which Buffy can barely muster a response to.
• Artistic License – Physics: In Chapter 26, Andrew says that M-Theory is basically The Multiverse, when in fact that's the Many Worlds Interpretation. M-Theory is a proposed model about how the Four Fundamental Forces interact with String Theory.
• Ascended Extra: Kate Lockley, who essentially disappeared from the Buffyverse after Angel Season 2, makes a surprise reappearance during this fic, as the leader of Golden's gang from "Sacrifice." Oz, Lindsey, and Whistler himself also play a crucial role in events.
• At Least I Admit It: Discussed in chapter 24; Buffy actually considers Jasmine worse than Glory, since while Glory was evil and insane, she never tried to make excuses for her actions or pretended to be anything else, while Jasmine adamantly insists she did what she had to do and was trying to save the world.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: In chapter 8, Spike is able to tell from a few minutes of observation that Connor is Angel and Darla's son.
• Back from the Dead:
  • The Beastmaster restores Darla's ghost to mortal life in order to use her as a hostage against Connor.
  • The First resurrects the Beast to serve as part of its Legion of Doom.
• Bargain with Heaven: While still at the Higher Realms, Cordelia makes a deal with the Powers to wipe her memory to prevent Jasmine from manifesting on Earth. At least until Team Angel attempts to use magic to reverse the amnesia.
• Batman Gambit: Amy throws down a challenge for Willow, counting on her and backup to come face her. When they do, she and her own allies keep them busy, while the First and the Beast attack the now undermanned heroes back at the Hyperion.
• Been There, Shaped History: In chapter 32, Angel is revealed to have personally met Frank Sinatra, having saved him from a vampire attack.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Whistler may be laid-back and cool-headed, but he proves he's not to be trifled with in chapter 38 when he saves Willow from Warren and Amy, going into Tranquil Fury, summoning a blue Battle Aura, and gaining Power Echoes. The two wisely decide to retreat.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Faith, Spike and Dawn arrive at the Bad Guy Bar just in time to save Connor.
  • Later, after Caleb captures and tortures Buffy, she is rescued by Gunn and Fred.
• Big "NO!":
  • Angel lets out one when the First breaks Buffy's back in chapter 37.
  • Lindsey, when Caleb grabs Kate in a Neck Lift in Chapter 54.
• Black-and-White Insanity: Naturally the First takes great pleasure in manipulating Connor's tendency towards this, playing up the idea that Dawn and Angel in particular are flawed and therefore "evil" because of their mistakes rather than giving Connor the chance to recognise that there is a difference between them making mistakes and them being bad.
• Black-and-White Morality: Robin Wood initially goes by this, instantly trying to stake Angel upon discovering he used to be Angelus and telling Buffy point-blank that all previous Slayers would be spitting on her for protecting Angel and Spike, souls or not. However, he comes around somewhat in chapter 40, when he finds entire chat rooms online devoted to Angel's heroic exploits.
• Break His Heart to Save Him: After overhearing Buffy talking to Cordelia over a nightmare she had about Angel becoming Angelus in chapter 41, Angel resolves to do this to prevent Angelus from surfacing again, even if it does break both his and Buffy's hearts. It comes to pass in chapter 44; Buffy is unsurprisingly hurt, ranting that she's done playing this game with him and if Angel is unwilling to fight for their relationship like she was, then he can "go to Hell." Angel, though equally heartbroken, resolves to live with that if it means Buffy lives.
• Break Them by Talking:
  • Jasmine/"Cordelia" to Connor, in an attempt to make him to commit the Human Sacrifice necessary for Jasmine to be "born". Thanks to Darla it fails.
  • The First does this to Dawn in chapter 43, revealing Buffy's epiphany that she'd be willing to let Dawn die in order to save the world.
• Brought Down to Normal: In chapter 38, Warren and Amy drain Willow of her magic using one of the former's inventions. Willow is left insecure and questioning her place in the team until Lorne gives her a You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech in chapter 44.
• Bullying a Dragon: In chapter 16, Xander briefly mouths off to Spike, who promptly stands up and reminds him of one crucial fact; Buffy had the Initiative remove the chip in his brain, which means Spike no longer has to just sit back and take Xander's insults anymore.
• Call-Back: Several to events in canon set before the fic:
  • Willow says at one point that she owes Buffy for not becoming a Robo-Bride, explicitly referencing Moloch the Corruptor from "I Robot, You Jane".
  • Buffy mentions that it's hard for her to trust Darla, even knowing she's a human, because she attempted to kill her mother in "Darla".
  • When Dawn pretends to be Buffy in an attempt to get some vampires off her back, the vamps refer to several previous events, including defeating the Order of Taraka, killing the Mayor, defeating Glory, defeating Dracula, killing the Master and smashing his bones, and sending Angelus to hell.
  • Angel mentions in one episode of his show that he knew Elvis Presley and The Rat Pack personally. This fic establishes that not only that, but he rescued Frank Sinatra from a vampire attack.
  • Chapter 28 also expands on Spike's flashbacks in "Fool for Love," when Angelus let slip about the Slayer to Spike, which sparked his interest in them. The chapter reveals that Angelus had begun to see Spike as The Load due to his constant antics and violent tendencies constantly drawing attention, and deliberately let it slip about the Slayer, knowing that Spike's Blood Knight tendencies would lead him to a confrontation with them; of course, Angelus had anticipated that Spike would lose and get staked, not that he would win and kill the Chinese Slayer during the Boxer Rebellion.
  • In the Angel episode "Supersymmetry," it's revealed that Angel is Famed In-Story, and entire forums are devoted to him in online chat rooms. In chapter 40, Robin comes across said chat rooms while looking up information on Angel.
  • In chapter 24, Jasmine briefly alludes to the flashback portions of the episode "Why We Fight," mentioning "a certain incident in a submarine sixty years ago" while insisting to Buffy that Angel and Angelus aren't so different, and Angel has killed humans while ensouled.
• Cannot Keep a Secret: Willow confides in Kennedy Angel's Dark and Troubled Past as well as Buffy's relationship with him, telling her to keep it a secret. Kennedy does the exact opposite and spills the beans to the Potentials and Robin.
• Car Meets House: Due to Willow's usage of a teleportation spell to escape from the First's minions, the Scoobies' Winnebago and transport buses end up crashing right through the front door of the Hyperion.
• Cerebus Retcon:
  • A subtle one, in that Giles' claim that the world started as a hell, is inaccurate as the world started as paradise until Jasmine, in a fit of anger, accidentally created the First Evil.
  • Chapter 29 uses an exchange from "Destiny." Angel boasts that Buffy never loved Spike and never will because Spike isn't Angel and never will be, to which Spike retorts, "I suppose she was thinking about you... all those times I was puttin' it to her!" Unlike in canon, Buffy is there when Spike says as such, and confesses that she was in fact thinking of Angel during her and Spike's Destructive Romance in Season 6.
• The Chessmaster: In chapter 12, Skip reveals that the being possessing Cordelia has been manipulating both the Scooby Gang and Angel Investigations for years to bring its plans to fruition. Specific incidents mentioned are, Lorne leaving Pylea and Fred going there in his place, Cordelia inheriting the visions from Doyle, Wesley sleeping with Lilah, "the enemy," Angel failing the Trials to save Darla's life, the death of Gunn's younger sister Alonna, as well as that of Nikki Wood, Willow re-ensouling Angelus for the first time, Giles being assigned as Buffy's Watcher, Anya losing her amulet and becoming mortal, Faith waking up from her coma, Spike getting his soul back, and Xander dating Cordelia in high school, as well as his lying to Buffy to ensure that she'd kill Angelus.
• Commonality Connection: Lorne, Xander, and Andrew end up briefly bonding over their shared appreciation for jazz singers.
• Conservation of Ninjutsu: Subverted. When Connor goes to the North Hollywood Billiards after he thinks Dawn rejected him, he's inevitably overwhelmed by sheer numbers and would have died if help hadn't arrived just in time.
• Conspiracy Theorist: In chapter 28, Kennedy goes off on a massive rant against Buffy after finding out about Angel's Dark and Troubled Past, which Buffy had withheld from the others, going so far as to accuse her of deliberately sending Annabelle and Chloe to their deaths and being in league with the First; naturally, Buffy blows her stack and punches Kennedy in the face before outright telling Kennedy that she's young, stupid, and not to make assumptions on what she thinks she knows, because that line of thinking will get her beaten up or killed.
• Cosmic Plaything: Cordelia. Her entire life was manipulated so that she carried a mystical pregnancy so a fallen Power that was being manipulated a God of Evil could be born. She's also the only Cordelia still alive in The Multiverse, as all other versions were either turned into vampires, murdered, driven insane or carried the mystical pregnancy to term.
• Creation Myth: On Chapter 25, Jasmine tells the origins of the universe. How the Powers marveled at Creation and then they created Earth as a paradise, but eventually Jasmine became bored and started to experiment. The other Powers' objects however anger her causing Jasmine to lash out, killing one of the Powers, and inevitably creating the First Evil. This leads to downwards spiral in which demons rise up and take over, only to be defeated by humanity eons later.
• Crisis Crossover: The Scooby Gang and Angel Investigations join forces to combat Jasmine and the First Evil.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Caleb's past includes his mother dying of an overdose when he was young, drowning the pet turtle of his father's new family in his teens, and the mysterious disappearance of a young girl after she went out on a date with him in a manner that meant everyone knew he'd killed her but had no way to prove it.
• Darkest Hour: As of the end of chapter 38, the First breaks Buffy's back, the Beast beats Angel within an inch of his life, more than 60 Potentials are killed by the Bringers, the Hyperion has been destroyed, and they steal the Keystone. Meanwhile, Willow has her magic disrupted by Warren and Amy, and Drusilla, Pearl, and Nash are implied to have done something to Faith and Spike.
• Deadly Disc: In chapter 21, Angel turns a sewer lid into one to behead several vampires; the narration remarks that the move would make Captain America proud.
• Deadpan Snarker: Many characters. The First provides a particularly nasty example in chapter 37 as part of a Shut Up, Kirk!:
  Giles: You're truly mad. But whatever you're planning to do, you have to know that we'll find a way to stop you.
  The First: Really? Well, gee, guess you better call Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the mighty Angel! Oh... wait. There they are. Bleeding like stuck pigs and bruised like bad peaches. Sooo scary.
• Death by Adaptation: While Roger Wyndam-Pryce, Wesley's father, outlived Wesley himself in the actual Buffyverse, it's established in chapter 3 that he was among the casualties of the First's bombing of the Watchers' Council.
• Decomposite Character: The Beastmaster and Jasmine are two separate entities coexisting within Cordelia — the former is actively controlling her body, while the latter gestates inside her.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Spike begins to show such traits, especially after learning of the Shanshu Prophecy. He acknowledges that Buffy won't live forever, and is wondering what purpose he could have once she's gone. In chapter 28, he even confides in Lorne that all his unlife, he's never really had any plan, and now that he's caught in a Love Triangle between Buffy and Faith, he has no idea what to do.
  Spike: I'm just so damn sick of feeling like this, mate. I'd just like to know... where I belong. What I'm supposed to do. Who I am.
• Deus Exit Machina:
  • In chapter 20, Angel runs out to track down a runaway Connor, while Willow casts a spell to send Buffy and Darla into Cordelia's mind. With this, as well as the fact that Faith and Spike had earlier left with Dawn to help her find Connor, this leaves the Scoobies and Angel's crew undermanned when Skip breaks free of his restraints in chapter 23.
  • In chapter 34, Amy issues a challenge to Willow by attacking a picnic area to lure her out; Willow goes to challenge her, taking Faith, Spike, and Oz along for backup. At the same time, the First and the Beast, backed up by an army of Bringers, attack the Hyperion; as it turns out, Amy's challenge was a setup engineered to lure Willow away to keep her from interfering.
• Didn't See That Coming: Buffy says this nearly word by word when Jasmine says she created the First Evil.
• Didn't Think This Through: In chapter 12, when confronted by Cage and his vampire pack, Dawn claims to be Buffy herself, hoping that Buffy's reputation as the Slayer will be enough to scare them off. While many members of Cage's pack are understandably freaked out, Cage himself decides to try and kill "Buffy" for the Villain Cred, something Dawn failed to consider would happen.
• Divide and Conquer: In chapter 34, the First pulls this, having Amy throw down a challenge for Willow, who, with Spike, Faith, Kennedy, and Oz for backup, goes to confront her. As it turns out, it was a set-up, allowing the First and the Beast to attack the Hyperion and take the Keystone without Willow there to interfere.
• Dramatic Irony: When Dawn pretends to be Buffy in chapter 12, the vamps she's talking to reference several of her past exploits. Among the several accurate ones, they claim she defeated Dracula twice (at that point, it was only once), that she forced Spike into his Heel–Face Turn through magic and force (he did so willingly), and that she turned Angelus good and made her stake Darla (he was cursed by gypsies and killed her of his own accord).
• The Dreaded:
  • Buffy herself. In chapter 12, Dawn claims to be Buffy to try to scare off a group of vampires, and most of them are practically shitting themselves, having heard all about Buffy's exploits and the people she's killed, and fully intend to run off.
  • Angel is no slouch either. In chapter 15, his presence is enough to make several vamps go Oh, Crap!.
• Drives Like Crazy: Angel, according to Buffy.
  Buffy: You know, on the list of things that attracted me to you... your driving skills? Not one of them.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Dawn gets this quite a bit; despite helping capture the possessed Cordelia and assisting Angel in getting to the Zealots' world to get Jasmine's true name, she fails to get much gratitude from Buffy, who simply grounds her for going against orders and risking her own life.
• Enemy Civil War: In chapter 14, Lindsey reveals that the Senior Partners waged war against the First Evil for a thousand years, after the First refused to make a deal with Wolfram & Hart. The war ended in a stalemate around the time of the birth of Jesus, where they drew up a non-aggression treaty.
• Enemy Mine: Lindsey teaming up with Angel Investigations to help stop the apocalypse. Later averted when Lilah approaches the Scoobies and A.I., offering an alliance against the First; Buffy and Angel refuse, neither of them trusting Wolfram & Hart for a second.
• Enemy Within: Chapter 51 focuses on Angelus being this for Angel, taunting Angel with a vision of what he'd do to all of Angel's friends and loved ones if he managed to get out.
• Erotic Dream: Xander has one involving Cordelia in Chapter 44.
• Expansion Pack Past:
  • Due to the Cosmic Retcon involving Dawn, she has nothing but fond memories of Cordelia, who, in the new reality, made time for her and comforted her during the time Buffy ran away to Los Angeles after killing Angel.
  • Chapter 11 reveals that after Buffy's second death, the Angel Investigations team attended her wake.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Ethan Rayne may be a worshipper of Chaos, but in chapter 22, even he finds Caleb creepy and unsettling.
  • In chapter 24, Jasmine is utterly indignant when Buffy compares her to Glory.
  • Wolfram & Hart briefly used Caleb as an assassin, but cut ties with him after he brutally murdered the daughter of his last target as he drew too much attention to them.
• Everyone Has Standards: Facing serial killer Walter Kindel, Lindsey notes that he can confirm that no lawyer would touch Kindel's case as he clearly committed all his crimes (he acknowledges that Wolfram & Hart might have taken Kindel's case, but not only is the firm currently out of business but Kindel couldn't have afforded them anyway).
• Evil Versus Evil: Wolfram & Hart are just as opposed to the First as the Scoobies and Angel's crew are. That being said, when the newly undead Lilah appears in the Hyperion hoping for an Enemy Mine, Buffy and Angel refuse to do it.
• Expecting Someone Taller: Lilah towards Buffy.
• Exact Words: In chapter 27, Kennedy gathers all of the Potentials when she and Robin decide to expose Angel and Angelus. Robin points out that they had agreed to keep the other girls out of it for now, to which Kennedy retorts that he agreed to do so; she didn't.
• Famed In-Story: Buffy has become so legendary among the demon underworld that they actually know her full name; when Dawn pretends to be her and namedrops her, the vamps all-but piss themselves in terror.
• Flipping the Table: In chapter 28, Angel flips his desk in a rage after imagining Spike's Attempted Rape of Buffy.
• Freudian Excuse: In chapter 37, Amy goes off on a Motive Rant towards Willow to this effect:
  Amy: I spent my whole life letting my bitch of a mother run my life, and most of high school being everyone's punching bag, and now that I have the power, I'm going to make damn sure that nobody is going to step on me ever again!
• Friendship Denial:
  • On two separate occasions, Pearl and Nash refer to Angel and Spike as friends. Both respond that they're not friends and never will be.
  • In chapter 27, Wesley also makes it clear that he still holds a grudge against the rest of Angel Investigations for abandoning him due to the situation with Holtz and Connor. He states that he's only there to help stop the First and prevent Armageddon, he's not their friend or comrade in arms, and he's not Angel's flunky anymore; once this is over, he plans to go his own way.
• "Get Out of Jail Free" Card: Willow confesses to Buffy and Xander that she hacked into the police computers in both Sunnydale and Los Angeles, deleted their files on Faith, and also destroyed her file at the prison she was stationed at, with Angel giving her the names of others who would help clean up the paper trail. When Buffy and Xander call her out on this, Willow insists they need Faith's help against the First, which is more important than her paying her debt to society.
• God Is Flawed: Buffy and Whistler discuss this in chapter 18: as Whistler explains, the Powers That Be are all-powerful, but not all-perfect.
• Green-Eyed Monster: In chapter 41, Cordelia and Buffy have a heart-to-heart, and Cordy admits she was always jealous of Buffy back in high school.
• Groin Attack:
  • Darla knees Lindsey in the crotch after he forces a kiss on her.
  • During their fight in chapter 29, Angel kicks Spike in the nuts.
• Guns Are Worthless: Played with. During the fight at the Hyperion, Wes' guns proved to be as inefficient as arrows, swords and axes due to the demons' invulnerable organic skin. However, once Wes spots a chink in his armor caused by Angel when the vampire captured Skip, his gun was absolutely lethal.
• Heaven: The Higher Realms.
• Hero of Another Story: Chapter 56 is a flashback looking at how Cassandra Rayne, Whistler and Drogyn tried to kill the Avatar of the First Evil almost a thousand years ago, accompanied by the current Slayer, a mission that ended with the death of the Slayer and Cassandra.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Cordelia willingly sacrificed her memories to prevent Jasmine from being born.
• Hoist Hero over Head: Buffy is the victim of this in chapter 37; in a very Bane-style move, the First hoists her over its head and then slams her down on its knee, breaking Buffy's back.
• Holier Than Thou: Spike accuses Angel as such in chapter 29, going on about how Angel thinks he's better than him in every way, soul or not. Faith ends up accusing Buffy of being much the same toward her.
• Holy Is Not Safe: The Higher Realms are not safe at all for lower beings, demon and human alike, because the cosmic energies there serve as a failsafe against demonic incursion.
• Home Base: The Scoobies and Angel's crew initially use the Hyperion Hotel as such. After chapter 37, when Jasmine/the First destroys the Hyperion, the two teams return to Sunnydale and spread out to split resources, water and food, housing different groups of Potentials at Buffy's house, as well as Giles, Anya, and Xander's apartments. In chapter 40, Wesley takes the time to snark that they don't have nearly as much operating space in the Summers household as they did in the Hyperion.
• Hope Crusher: The First aims to be this with an attack on the Hyperion in chapter 32.
  The First: I want the Slayer to be at her best. I want Angel at his peak, and I want Faith, Spike, and Willow to be all in on the game. Let them bring their best. Let the heroes make their stand in all their glory, guns blazing, swords shining, hearts full of hope and determination. I want them to stand a chance, I want then to fight, to believe, to hope... and then, I'll be there. And I'll look right into the Slayer's pretty green eyes and show her and that damned Angel what it feels like... when hope dies.
• Humans Are Special: According to Whistler, free will is what sets humans apart from demons. Demons kill and maim because either they're told to or because of instincts, while humans choose or refuse to do it.
• Hypothetical Casting: Word of God states that the wizard Markus Fray should be imagined as being portrayed by Charles Dance.
• I Am a Monster: Connor basically regresses to this mentality after he overhears a conversation between Darla and Buffy at a bad moment and is subsequently provoked by the First to think he can never be anything more than a killer, just like Angelus and Holtz, even as Dawn tries to appeal to him that he can be more.
• I Did What I Had to Do: In chapter 12, when Buffy discovers that Xander lied to her the night she sent Angelus to Hell, he states this trope word for word. Buffy is understandably pissed off, but Angel actually agrees with Xander, pointing out that if Buffy had known that Willow was still trying to re-ensoul Angel, she would have held back, allowing Angelus to kill her and destroy the planet.
• I Know Your True Name: Discussed at length when the Scoobies and A.I. find out that the power of the Powers That Be, Jasmine included, lies in their true names.
  Willow: Their names? That's a little weird. Their Kryptonite just a simple "Hi, my name is BLANK?"
  Giles: It's not so weird if you think about it. In Kabbalistic theology, God's true name - not Yahweh, or Jehovah, but the TRUE name of the Creator - contains too much power for all but the most experienced adept to handle.
  Wesley: Because they believe naming God would somehow take away His significance. That's it, then. Reveal the name...
  Angel: ...and the Power becomes powerless.
• Immortal Immaturity: Angel and Spike both have this to varying degrees, constantly bickering with one another; in fact, when Buffy breaks up one of their fights, Angel's first response is "He started it!" Kate even compares them to "a couple of kids fighting over the last swing set" in chapter 40, and Angel himself gets in on the act in response to Spike's jealousy that only Angel, the Champion of the Powers That Be, can wield Hope's Dagger:
  Angel: We really going to keep doing this, Spike? Or do you need a time out, a blankie, and your Sippie Cup?
• Improbable Aiming Skills: While trying to pretend to be Buffy, Dawn twirls a stake in hands but the stake fly off her hand and into the heart of a vampire, dusting it. It's what convinces Cage to kill her for Villain Cred.
• Interrupted Intimacy: In chapter 20, Angel and Buffy give in to their desires and begin making out, but are stopped from going any further when Fred knocks on the door to inform them that the spell is ready, and that Connor ran out and Faith, Spike, and Dawn went to find him. Considering Angel's curse and the "perfect happiness" clause, it's probably for the best.
• Invulnerable Knuckles: Subverted. During a fight with the First-possessing-Jasmine, Buffy punches them in the face with all her might. Not only do they No-Sell it, but Buffy's fist shatters on impact.
• It's All My Fault:
  • How Conner feels about the whole looming apocalypse, given his key role in the First's plan.
    • He gets a more personal version of this after Caleb kills Matthew for trying to protect Dawn, although Dawn also blames herself for it.
  • Cordelia also experiences a great deal of guilt following her possession, fearing her mistakes aided The First in its plans and caused pain to the ones she cares about.
• It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: "Cordelia's" explanation for turning Darla into a human.
• Jerkass Gods: In chapter 24, Buffy outright declares that all gods and higher powers are "a bunch of selfish dirt-bags who don't care about anyone but themselves," using Glory and Jasmine as examples.
• Jerkass Realization: After Xander defends Cordelia from Anya's accusations that she's responsible for everything the 'Beastmaster' did in her body, Xander suddenly realises that this must be what Buffy felt like when defending Angel for Angelus's crimes, as the only difference between Angelus and what happened to Cordelia is that Angel's soul wasn't present when Angelus was active but he still had no control of what his body was doing.
• Journey to the Center of the Mind: In chapters 20-23, Willow casts a spell to transport Buffy and Darla into Cordelia's mind, allowing them to liberate her from the Beastmaster/Jasmine without killing her.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Kennedy to Buffy in chapter 28. Despite having already gotten punched out by Buffy and telekinetically slammed by Willow for her bitchiness, after seeing Buffy get fired by Robin before he storms out, Kennedy just has to get one last dig in by snidely asking Buffy how it feels to be unemployed "just like that." In response, Willow orders Kennedy to just shut up already, and when Kennedy snaps, "Or else what?", Angel threatens to personally throw her out of the Hyperion and leave her to the mercy of the First's Bringers if she doesn't.
• Klingon Promotion: According to chapter 21's narration, the Master was sired by Aurelius, the vampire who founded the titular order. The Master took over the order by betraying Aurelius and leaving him to die at the hands of a 12th century Slayer.
• Language Drift: In chapter 27, Angel, triggered by a spell cast by Lilah, draws all over the Hyperion's lobby, revealing a massive diagram of dimensions and constellations centered around the Earth, along with glyphs written in a language Giles and Wesley can't recognize. Whistler explains that said language is called the Language of the Eternals, the original language used by the Powers themselves from which Enochian and all other languages evolved; while it's lost to record books and the minds of man, as the messenger for the Powers, he has it hardwired into his brain.
• Last of His Kind: Giles and Wesley are all that remains of the Watchers' Council after the First blew them up.
• Legion of Doom: In response to the Scooby Gang and Angel Investigations teaming up, the First assembles one of these, consisting of Ethan Rayne, Drusilla, Amy Madison, Warren Mears, Pearl, Nash, and the Beast.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Cordelia's reaction when it comes out that she kissed the Beast while possessed.
• Let's You and Him Fight: When the Scooby Gang meets up with Angel Investigations, Buffy's knee-jerk reaction to seeing the resurrected Darla is to try and stake her. Connor understandably takes this badly, and the two end up in a brief but intense fight before the others break it up.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Wolfram & Hart may be Evil, Inc., but they're still the lesser evil compared to the First, an Omnicidal Maniac who plans to destroy not only the Earth, but the entire multiverse.
• Locked Out of the Loop:
  • Wesley, and the rest of Angel Investigations, are unaware of the destruction of the Watchers Council until Darla tells them in chapter 3.
  • Similarly, Buffy keeps Robin in the dark about Angel's past and nature. Willow confides to Kennedy about it... and Kennedy immediately spills the beans to Robin.
• The Lost Lenore: Not only was Whistler involved with Cassandra Rayne before her "death", but Drogyn was also in love with the Slayer of the time, Catherine, and even into the present he considers her the only woman he will ever love.
• Love Hurts: Spike is awakened to this in chapter 29 when Buffy confesses that while she cares about him, she'll only ever love Angel. It hurts him so bad that he nearly bails out completely. Buffy herself is not happy that she had to break Spike's heart over it. Buffy herself suffers this in chapter 44 when Angel insists that they still can't be together; Buffy rants that's she's sick of The Masochism Tango between them and they're officially done.
• MacGuffin:
  • The Keystone, a crystal which the First needs in order to complete its plan to destroy reality.
  • Hope's Dagger, the only weapon capable of killing the First.
• Magick: Used liberally.
• Mama Bear: Darla is pissed that the Beastmaster used Connor for the First's plans. For this reason, she insists on accompanying Buffy into the Journey to the Center of the Mind to save Cordelia.
• Mistaken for an Imposter: In chapter 26, when Buffy meets the newly undead Lilah, she automatically assumes it's the First doing another Dead Person Impersonation. Lilah promptly shoots that theory down when she pushes a vase off of a shelf, something the non-corporeal First wouldn't be able to do.
• Mistaken for Romance: At one point, Andrew's attempt to distract Buffy while he's helping Dawn leads Buffy to believe he has a crush on her and she actually turns him down.
• Momma's Boy: Connor becomes as such to Darla. When Buffy sees her and her knee-jerk reaction is to throw a stake at her, Connor catches the stake before drawing a knife and attacking her in a rage.
• Morality Chain: Buffy reflects in chapter 27 that she's wanted to punch Kennedy out from the minute she arrived in Sunnydale, and it's only because of Willow that she's restrained herself from doing so. After Kennedy goes off on a Conspiracy Theorist rant, going off about how Buffy may very well be in league with the First and has been plotting to feed the Potentials to Angel to get in good with it, Buffy cuts the chain and decks her. Of course, Willow is just as pissed that Kennedy betrayed her trust.
• More than Mind Control: In chapter 29, Spike rants about how Angelus was his Sensei for Scoundrels, and that Drusilla may have sired him, but Angel was the one who really made him a monster. Angel retorts that the demon within vampires only amplifies what's already there; he only opened the door and let the real Spike out of his cage.
  Spike: You taught me, you molded me, you made me what I am, O Great Savior. And then you cast me off like some bastard child that you refused to take responsibility for! Trying to wash your hands of me because you couldn't have me soiling that shiny suit of armor everyone thinks you wear. But you know the truth, and it eats at you like a cancer deep down in that precious soul of yours- Drusilla may have sired me, but you... you made me a monster.
  Angel: I didn't make you into anything, Spike. The demon just amplifies what's already there; you and I know that, better than anyone. The rage, the anger, the violence... it was all there, just waiting to spring out like a jack-in-the-box. All I did as Angelus was give a little direction to a loose cannon, teach a few tricks to a mad dog. It wasn't even that hard. Admit it, Spike; you liked being the animal you'd become after Dru turned you. All I had to do was open up the door... and let the real you out.
• The Multiverse: Lilah explains the existence of one which the First intends to collapse.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • Angel has this reaction when Whistler informs him that his attempts to reverse Cordelia's amnesia was what triggered her possession.
  • Buffy has this reaction in chapter 29, after being forced to break Spike's heart and make it clear she'll only love Angel and not him.
  Buffy: [thinking] Oh, God. Oh, Spike... I only hope you can forgive me someday, but you deserved the truth. You needed to hear it, no matter how much it hurt you... and me.
  • Lindsey has one when Caleb reveals that he killed their father by sabotaging his tractor.
  • Xander directly quotes this when he realises that he slept with Anya while he was drunk when he's been trying to rekindle his relationship with Cordelia.
• Never My Fault: Kennedy is completely incapable of acknowledging that she is the reason her relationship with Willow is falling apart, blaming Buffy or Oz rather than realise that her own mistakes are the problem.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • The Beastmaster resurrecting Darla not only enables her to turn Connor against it, but also puts her in position to inform the Angel Investigations crew about its alliance with the First, leading to them teaming up with the Scooby Gang to stop their plans.
  • Later, Caleb and Pearl attempt to torture Faith by revealing that they have cast a spell that psychically links her to Spike, hoping that she will talk now that she knows the pain inflicted on her is also being felt by Spike, but the link allows Spike to assure Faith that he can take whatever they dish out and the heroes can use the link to find her in any case.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: The First, after possessing Jasmine. Buffy shatters her hand against its face, and Angel breaks his sword against its neck.
• No Bisexuals: Averted. In chapter 44, Willow confides in Lorne that she retains feelings for Oz, but she's gay now, so nothing can really come of it. Lorne points out that love isn't all about "what's below the waist."
• Noodle Incident:
  • The First and the Senior Partners waged a devastating war several centuries ago that only "ended" when the two sides drew up a treaty around the time of the birth of Christ, with their resources being too evenly matched to definitively defeat each other until the First "cheated" by recruiting help from the higher dimensions.
  • On a smaller scale, Drogyn and Whistler have fought the First in the past, in a battle that saw the death of the women both men loved.
  • Back in 1970, Alasdair Coames was part of a team that killed most of Pearl and Nash's family, including their children and their mother.
• Non Sequitur, *Thud*: Andrew gets accidentally hit during Buffy and Dawn's fight, and while lying in a daze mutters "Why yes, Captain Picard... I'll fire all phasers..."
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Buffy and Angel both call Jasmine out as one of these in chapter 24, pointing out all the chaos she's caused under the excuse of trying to save the world; Buffy even tells her point-blank that she was trying to rule the world, not save it, and didn't care who she killed or who's lives she ruined along the way.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • "Cordelia's" reaction when the First informs her that Buffy and the Scooby Gang are in Los Angeles and have teamed up with the Angel Investigations team.
  • Buffy and Darla's reaction in chapter 23, when they find themselves face-to-face with the Master.
  • Angel's reaction when the bone knife fails to kill a resurrected Beast.
  • Caleb's reaction when he realizes that Angel is going after Hope's Dagger.
• Oh, My Gods!: Willow often declares "Goddess," at different points. When she comes across Faith and Spike alive and well after a disastrous fight with the First's minions in chapter 39, she says "Thank Hecate!" in relief.
• Omnicidal Maniac: The First's ultimate plan is to destroy the entire multiverse, then create a new reality in its own image.
• Only the Chosen May Wield: After Angel passes the Trials to wield Hope's Dagger, not only is he able to wield it despite being a vampire because of his pure soul, but anyone else who tries to pick up the sword will receive a violent shock at worst.
• Only the Pure of Heart: Whistler explains that the Higher Planes are realms of pure tranquility, peace, and goodness, and the cosmic energies there are fatal to any lower beings, human and demon alike. Only purely benevolent beings devoid of darkness and malice can survive there; hence, Cordelia was made half-higher power rather than part-demon to allow her to ascend there after the events of "Tomorrow."
• Out-of-Context Eavesdropping: The most charitable description of how Connor overhears Darla and Buffy reveal that Darla tried to have her pregnancy aborted once she realised what was happening to her, Connor running off before Darla can assure him that she's no longer the vampire who wanted him gone but the soul that truly loves him.
• Patchwork Fic: In addition to being a crossover between Buffy and Angel, the fic also adds in some things from the non-canon game Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds, such as Ethan Rayne having prayed to the First to break him out of his imprisonment in Nevada, and Hope's Dagger.
• Pit Trap: In chapter 21, Angel and Spike nearly fall into one lined with wooden stakes.
• Pitiful Worms: The First outright calls the Scoobies and Angel's crew bugs in chapter 38:
  Fred: Why are you doing this? You'd really destroy everything? What good would that do?
  The First: Aside from not having to hear your annoying little voice anymore? I don't expect you to see the big picture. I mean, bugs rarely can from their point of view.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Jasmine, when giving her Breaking Speech to Connor at the beginning.
• Popcultural Osmosis Failure: In chapter 14, Buffy remarks that Angel Drives Like Crazy, leading to this:
  Angel: Sorry, but when it comes to an apocalypse, I can't actually afford to be doing my Miss Daisy imitation, can I?
  Buffy: Who's Miss Daisy?
  Angel: [under his breath] Okay. Now I really feel old.
• Power Incontinence: Willow suffers from this after Warren hits her with a magic-disrupting ray gun thing.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Why Wolfram & Hart ultimately severed ties with Caleb. He was a good assassin, but kept killing people they didn't want dead, such as the daughter of one of their assigned targets, and drawing too much attention.
• Precision F-Strike: While several characters swear, they do occasionally dip into language that was never permitted on either TV show:
  • In chapter 29, Spike snaps and calls Angel a "fucking bloody tosser."
  • In chapter 44, when Angel resolves to Break His Heart to Save Him, Buffy, infuriated and hurt at his attempted excuses, snaps at him to "cut the shit."
• Psycho for Hire: Caleb worked as an assassin for Wolfram & Hart, but kept going overboard during assignments and drawing too much attention. The final straw was when he brutally murdered the daughter of his last target For the Evulz, after which Wolfram & Hart severed all ties with him.
• Punch a Wall: In chapter 20, Angel puts his fist through the wall when Buffy reveals Spike's rape attempt on her.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
  • Angel's response when Faith agrees with Gunn's assessment that Spike is a "good guy vampire" like Angel.
  Angel: He's...NOTHING...like...me!
  • Buffy gets one in chapter 16, when she makes it clear to Xander that they're getting Cordelia back:
  Buffy: I don't know, Xander. But we're sure as hell gonna try. I lost Merrick, we lost Mom, and Jenny, and Kendra and Tara... I'll be damned if we lose another one. We will not. Lose. Cordy.
  • Angel pulls an impressive one as well in chapter 21, after arriving to save Connor, Dawn, Faith, and Spike from vampires.
  Angel: Keep. Away. From my. Kid.
• Prayer Is a Last Resort: In chapter 38, Willow, cornered by Warren and Amy and being drained of her magic by Warren's Ray Gun, frantically prays to the Powers That Be to send her aid. Her prayer is answered; Whistler shows up just in time and drives Amy and Warren off.
• Pre-emptive Declaration: In chapter 29, Spike knocks Angel down, and starts monologuing about how Angel thinks he's better than him, stating that Angel's done plenty of horrible deeds as well. Angel takes advantage of Spike's speechifying to attack.
  Spike: How do you think you look now, hero?
  Angel: A lot better than you'll feel after this! [kicks Spike in the crotch]
• Rage Breaking Point: Angel spends several chapters holding in his temper after Buffy confesses to him about Spike's Attempted Rape, which gets even worse when he realizes Robin is the son of Nikki Wood, the second Slayer he killed. When he runs into Spike in the library, the dam breaks...
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Buffy and Angel give one to Jasmine in chapter 24:
    Buffy: Thousands of people are dead because of what you've done, Jasmine.
    Jasmine: And how many more will die now because of you and your friends? I could've stopped it. All of it. War, disease, poverty... every last wretched drop of suffering. Children would have grown up healthy and strong, with families full of love and harmony. Peace spreading around the world like a wondrous, precious sea wave. How many precious, beautiful lives would've been saved in only a handful of years? Yes, I murdered thousands... to save billions.
    Angel: What about all the lives that you destroyed along the way to getting what you wanted? Are you saying their lives were less precious than the people you claimed you wanted to save? Who the hell gave you the right to decide who lives and dies?
    Jasmine: I did! I'm not human, vampire- so don't try to treat me as one! I did what I did because someone had to! I was trying to save this world!
    Buffy: No. You were trying to rule it. And you weren't going to let anything stop you. You think we don't get it? It didn't matter to you whose lives you wrecked, or who you killed. There's nothing selfless about that... it's just ruthless. And sick. And evil. You so-called gods and higher powers are all the same; you're a bunch of selfish dirt-bags who don't care about anything but yourselves!
    Jasmine: I am nothing like Glorificus!
    Buffy: No. You're worse. Glory was an insane maniac and an evil bitch, but you know what? At least she never pretended to be anything else. She was a hellgod, it woulda been crazy of us to expect her to act any other way. But you, Jasmine? A higher power? One of the Powers that freakin' Be? For you to fall so far and act so low, to betray everything you're supposed to stand for... that's what makes you a monster!
  • Buffy gets one from Robin, who's anything but pleased that she lied to him about Angel:
    Robin: "The mission is what matters." Nice speech, but you withheld information that I had a right to know-that we all had a right to know-before you dragged us here to this damned hotel. You lied to us. To me. You used your own agenda as an excuse to pull the wool over my eyes. And you want to protect your vampire lovers so much, that you're actually willing to murder me now? You're a disgrace to every Slayer that's come before you, and the two who came after you. All of your predecessors would spit on you, Buffy, if they were here right now. Including and especially my mother.
  • Amy later gives one to Willow in chapter 37, in response to Willow declaring her insane:
    Amy: No! No, no, no, you want to know what's insane? Insane is letting other people tell you your place in the world when you could be running it. I spent my whole life letting my bitch of a mother run my life, and most of high school being everyone's punching bag, and now that I have the power, I'm going to make damn sure that nobody is going to step on me ever again! Warren was right. I have been watching you. I saw that fight you had with your friends in the Magic Box last year. You took the Slayer, the baddest chick in the underworld, and you beat her ass. You wiped the floor with her. It wasn't even close. And then you nearly blew up the planet? For a second, I thought you were finally going to step up to the big time. To stop denying your real power, the real you.
    Willow: That's not who I am. That's not the real-
    Amy: Yes it is! You have all this power, more than you deserve. And now that you have it, you-you don't even want it. You're running from it. Hiding! Holding back, playing by other people's rules, letting others tell you what you should be. People like you and I, we aren't meant to be controlled, Willow. People like us, we're above everyone else! Rules don't apply to us, we should be making the rules.
    Willow: You're wrong. We're not above the law, Amy. We-we can't just go around killing people whenever we want!
    Amy: Oh? And how'd that work out for you. You tried it Buffy's way. You went to college like a good girl, did the Dudley Do-Right shtick, played by their rules, and what happened? You knew Warren was dangerous. You had the power to get rid of him when he was going after Buffy, hell, maybe part of you knew you should have gotten rid of him. But you didn't. All that power at your fingertips, and you did nothing. You just stood by, and your best friend ended up with a bullet in her chest. And what happened to Tara? The woman you loved died bleeding in your arms, drowning in her own blood. You could have saved her if you had acted sooner, but instead, your insistence on playing by these rules... cost Tara her life. Hell, you might as well have pulled the damn trigger yoursel-
    Willow: SHUT UP!
    Amy: [chuckles]: Same old Willow. Trying to pretend that you can be a normal girl, but you're not. You haven't changed. All this power, and you're still just the sidekick to the Slayer. Still hiding behind Buffy's skirt, just like in high school.
• Related in the Adaptation: After a series of strong hints, it's eventually spelled out that Caleb is Lindsey's brother (specifically his older paternal half-brother), with the two having had such a serious falling-out years ago that Lindsey thanks God his family were rid of Caleb even before he learns that Caleb is serving the First.
• Rejected Apology: After a rather brutal spat between them in chapter 28, Buffy tries to apologize to Faith. Faith refuses to accept it, because Buffy herself confesses that part of her didn't even want to do so, and because Angel talked her into doing it.
• Room Full of Crazy: In chapter 27, when Lilah triggers information Jasmine planted in Angel's mind earlier, Angel immediately takes a black marker and draws all over the Hyperion's lobby, revealing a massive diagram of dimensions and constellations centered around the Earth, along with glyphs written in the ancient Language of the Eternals.
• Rule of Symbolism: Caleb decides to "prove" his superiority to Buffy by beating her into unconsciousness in Sunnydale High and then strapping her to a cross, as though to affirm that she can't do anything to stop him. Fortunately, Gunn and Fred are able to rescue Buffy and agree to keep the circumstances under which they found her secret so that she can maintain her reputation as a protector to the others.
• Saying Too Much: The entity controlling Cordelia had already inspired doubt in Connor when it threatened Darla and tried to make him kill an innocent girl, but it further slips up when she warns Darla about the possibility of getting a new throat hole like Lilah did, basically admitting that she killed Lilah rather than Angelus (although in "Cordelia's" defence, she was whispering that line to Darla and just forgot to take Connor’s enhanced hearing into account).
• Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: In chapter 37, Amy declares that people like herself and Willow are above other people due to their powers.
  Amy: People like you and I, we aren't meant to be controlled, Willow. People like us, we're above everyone else! Rules don't apply to us, we should be making the rules.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • In chapter 26, Robin, furious that Buffy lied to him about Angel, storms out of the Hyperion and returns to Sunnydale after giving Buffy a What the Hell, Hero? speech.
  • In chapter 29, Spike comes close to doing this after Buffy confesses she'll only ever love Angel and not him. It takes three different speeches from Faith, Buffy, and Darla to convince him not to leave.
• Ship Sinking: Chapter 28 puts a permanent end to Buffy/Spike; Buffy confesses that she was actually thinking of Angel every time she and Spike had sex in Season 6, and while she does care about Spike, she'll only ever love Angel.
• Ship Tease:
  • Connor and Dawn show an increasing interest in each other.
  • Wesley and Darla somehow develop an attraction to each other after her resurrection.
  • Spike and Faith have quite a bit of semi-flirtatious banter between them.
• Shout-Out: To Once Upon a Time in chapter 44. Willow suffers from Power Incontinence and tries to regain control over her magic by trying and failing to lightning up a white wax candle for half an hour. Like Regina Mills, Willow eventually gets frustrated enough to throw the candle to the ground.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: In chapter 23, Buffy gets off an epic one to Jasmine:
  Jasmine: You think you've won? You have no idea what you've lost! What you've cost everyone! You have no earthly idea why I even tried to do what I did! What I was trying to save you from!
  Buffy: Yeah, and you know what? I don't care! [punches Jasmine in the face] News flash, but the end doesn't justify the means! You killed and you maimed and you hurt people I care about along the way to getting what you want! Angel, Cordy, and Wesley might have their own thing in L.A. now, but they were part of my gang first. Part of my world. So, hurting them was your biggest mistake 'cause once a Scooby, always a Scooby. You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us... and when you mess with Buffy Summers, you get your ass kicked. Hard.
  • She gets a simpler one earlier in chapter 17, when the possessed Cordelia is mocking the Spike/Buffy/Angel Love Triangle. After getting sick of listening to it, Buffy responds by cold clocking her in the face, knocking her out in a single punch.
• Shut Up, Kirk!:
  • In chapter 37, when Willow calls her insane for being onboard with the First's plans, Amy responds with a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, chewing Willow out for being scared of her own power and continuing to be Buffy's sidekick.
  • In chapter 38, when Giles declares they will find a way to stop it, the First responds sarcastically, having already put Buffy and Angel out of commission.
• Small Name, Big Ego: When Angel, Kate and Lindsey confront serial killer Walter Kindel, Angel informs Kindel that he's nothing special and there are several people with his motivation out there, to the extent that Angel informs Kindel that if they'd met while Angelus was in control Kindel wouldn't even have been worth eating, but just had his neck broken and been left lying on the ground.
• Smug Super: The First, upon taking over Jasmine's body. Of course, since it effortlessly spanks both Buffy and Angel without even trying, it has good reason to be smug.
• Speak Ill of the Dead: In chapter 12, Spike tactlessly recalls the late Doyle as "that little poncy-looking Mick with the bad hair and crappy dress sense." Angel is not pleased and angrily warns Spike never to talk about Doyle that way in his presence again.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Flashbacks in Chapter 56 reveal that Cassandra Rayne was in love with Whistler almost a thousand years ago (despite having a human husband and three children), but both knew that this could never be.
• Strong Family Resemblance: In chapter 8, Angel remarks that every time he sees Dawn, he sees more of her mother in her. In that same chapter, Spike can tell from a few minutes of observation that Connor is Angel and Darla's son.
• "Take That!" Kiss: In chapter 37, the First plants one on Buffy to rub its power in her face.
• Taking the Bullet: Angel takes a curse intended for Alasdair that renders him unconscious; Cassandra's spirit notes that it would have instantly killed Alasdair and Angel may have only survived the blast because of Hope's Dagger, and even then he will need external aid to be cured of said curse.
• Tautological Templar: The Scoobies and Angel's crew discuss this trope at length in regards to Jasmine in chapter 18:
  Whistler: This disgruntled Power thinks it's doing the right thing. That it's saving the world from itself. In its mind, it's not fighting the good guys... it is the good guy.
  Buffy: Yeah, right. Such a good guy that it hijacks the body of one of our friends, rains down fire on LA, blocks out the sun to turn this city into an all-you-can-eat demon buffet, and lets Angelus out of his cage to terrorize people!
  Lindsey: All means to an end, apparently. Everything comes at a price. And world peace? Now that's an omelet that's gonna need more than a few eggs broken.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Several between the Scoobies and Angel's crew, but especially between Angel and Spike. Skip lampshades it in chapter 16:
  Skip: Who're you guys fooling? You're trying to fight pure, ultimate evil- when you spend more time fighting each other?
• Thicker Than Water: In chapter 29, despite having Spike at his mercy at the end of their fight, Angel just can't bring himself to stake him for this reason; as much as they hate each other, they're of the same vampire bloodline. Spike, however, has no such qualms, and jumps Angel, only being stopped from staking him by Buffy and Faith running in to stop the fight.
• Throw 'Em to the Wolves: Invoked: in chapter 28, everyone is so furious at Kennedy that Angel explicitly threatens to throw her out of the Hyperion and leave her to the mercy of the First's Bringers if she doesn't shut up.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: In chapter 8, when Buffy sees Darla, her knee-jerk reaction is to toss a stake at her. It would have worked had Connor not caught it in mid-air.
• Tom the Dark Lord: In chapter 9, Buffy lampshades how silly Skip's name is for a villain:
  Buffy: Out of all the cool villain names out there, one of them drew the short straw and got Skip?
• Too Kinky to Torture: Bassically applies; when Caleb and Pearl try to torture Faith and Spike (physically torturing Faith and using a psychic link between her and Spike to inflict more pain on him), both make it clear to the villains that they can take whatever they dish out.
• Took a Level in Badass: Cordelia, to Buffy's surprise.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Kennedy, who actually kicks a fallen Potential in the stomach, horrifying all the other Potentials. She gets even worse later; after Willow confides in her about Angel's shady past, Kennedy spills the beans to Robin, and after rallying him to try to dust him, she goes off on a rant towards Buffy, right in front of the Scoobies, Angel's crew, and all of the Potentials, going so far as to accuse Buffy of deliberately sending Annabelle and Chloe to their deaths and being in league with the First. Of course, karma catches up to her after this; Buffy gives her a well-deserved punch in the face, Willow telekinetically slams her into the ground for betraying her trust, and Angel outright threatens to throw Kennedy out of the Hyperion and leave her to the mercy of the First's Bringers if she doesn't shut up.
• Tranquil Fury:
  • In chapter 28, Willow ends up descending into this after discovering Kennedy betrayed her trust and outed Angel's past to Robin, very calmly telling her to shut up after she snarks to Buffy about Robin firing her.
  • Angel himself descends into it at the sight of Spike in the library after Robin's departure and researching the death of Nikki Wood, on top of recalling that Buffy revealed Spike's rape attempt. Spike himself is able to tell right away that while Angel looks calm at first glance, it's only skin-deep, and he's well and truly furious under the surface. The one sentence he drops before attacking Spike is also noted to be calm, but tinged with "cruel malice":
  Angel: I'll tell you who you are. You're a dead man.
• Traumatic Superpower Awakening: In chapter 20, while Angel, Connor, and Kate are fighting the demon messenger and losing, Dawn lets out a Big "NO!" and unleashes a wave of green energy that hits the demon and gravely injures it, allowing Angel to finish it off.
• Unwitting Pawn: As it turns out, Jasmine has been one to the First all along; her body was gestated in Cordelia's womb specifically so the First could possess it and take physical form.
• Van Helsing Hate Crimes:
  • Robin fits this at first. The instant he finds out about Angel's past as Angelus, he declares that soul or not, Buffy is a disgrace as a Slayer and tries to stake him the first chance he gets. Of course, after that, he softens his views, especially after reading of Angel's heroic exploits on chat rooms.
  • Kennedy is much the same. Her first impulse when she sees Oz in werewolf form is to attack him, though to be fair, that was before she finds out he's in full control over it and is a Voluntary Shapeshifter. Also, when Willow confides in her about Angel's past and makes her swear to keep it a secret, Kennedy immediately blabs to Robin about it and conspires with him to stake Angel, calling Buffy out in front of the Scoobies, Angel's crew, and the Potentials for being willing to associate with him at all; when Buffy points out Angel has a soul, Kennedy retorts, "And that's supposed to make us trust him?"
• Villain Cred: Wolfram & Hart's reputation is well-known by Giles and Anya; Anya reflects in the narration that D'Hoffryn was one of their clients.
• Villain Respect: Lindsey's opinion of Oz is indifferent until Whistler mentions Willow's name; at that point, Oz gets a determined look on his face and joins the journey, no questions asked. At that point, he gains some respect for the wolf, seeing as they're both joining in for the sake of the women they love.
• Voluntary Shapeshifter: Oz reveals to Lindsey and Whistler that he is now in full control of the werewolf inside him, meaning he can change back and forth at will regardless of the moon.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • This is Buffy's response to finding out that Angel had his team remove his soul and bring Angelus back in order to find out info on the Beast.
  • Several occur in chapter 28:
    • First, there's Kennedy's Conspiracy Theorist rant against Buffy as mentioned above, which earns her a punch in the face.
    • Kennedy gets one right back when Willow, royally pissed off, telekinetically lifts her off of the ground and slams her against the floor, pointing out that she told Kennedy about Buffy's history with Angel and Angel's past in complete confidence.
    Willow: I trusted you with one of my secrets, and this is what you did with it?!
    • Robin also gives one to Buffy near the end of the chapter for lying to them about Angel, as well as threatening everyone with death should they harm either Angel or Spike. Disgusted, he explicitly tells her that she's a disgrace to the Slayer line and goes home to Sunnydale to continue his job, but not before telling Buffy that she's fired and that he never wants to see her face again. Of course, several chapters later, Buffy approaches him and convinces him to return to the fold.
  • Spike is beyond pissed at Buffy when the failed attack on the vineyard leaves Faith captured by the villains.
• When the Planets Align: The First's ultimate plan relies on an event known as the Awakening, which is when every dimension in the entire multiverse is perfectly aligned, which only happens every half billion years.
• Worth It: How Lindsey feels about kissing Darla, even though it led to him getting kicked in the groin.
• Would Hurt a Child: Caleb not only kills some of the Potentials during the fight at the Vineyard, but also kills Matthew, the youngest of the street kids Kate was protecting, when he tries to fight Caleb to protect Dawn.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
  • Lorne gives Willow such a speech in Chapter 44, when she's questioning her worth to the team in light of being stripped of her powers.
  • Even after all the good Angel has done, it takes Lindsey and the spirit of Cassandra Rayne- one of his most persistent enemies and a notorious champion of Good- to force him to recognise that he's good enough for Buffy; Cassandra in particular points out that if he was the monster he thinks he is Angel wouldn't even be able to stand in her presence.
• You're Insane!:
  • Willow calls out Amy as being this when the latter reveals that she's fully aware of what the First is planning and is still onboard with the idea.
  • Giles calls the First itself this when it's gloating.

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