Angel Season 6

Ep. 1: The Future

"I'm going to tell you what happens to each of you over the next few months, okay? It's going to hurt, it might seem like me being cruel, or even outright lying, but I feel that you need to here these to take me seriously. So here we go."

Santana pointed to her first target. "Fred, in just about four days, a mysterious sarcophagus is going to arrive. You are going to be drawn to it, and once you touch it, it is going to kill you. Not all at once, but a long drawn out death, that's excruciatingly painful. You die in Wesley's arms."

Fred's smile had disappeared. She clutched Wes's hand on the table.

Santana then pointed to Gunn, who flinched. "Charles, a few days ago, you had surgery to put the smart back into your brain. The only thing you had to do in return was to get a package through customs. That package is the sarcophagus, which kills Fred."

Gunn covered his mouth, and Wesley's brow furrowed. Santana caught it. "Hey! Before any of you go blaming him or stabbing pointy objects into his gut, or ripping his heart out-" Santana leaned over to whisper to Charles. "All of which happens to you, by the way- just know that he's not the true evil here! No, that title belongs to a man you all might know by the name of Knox."

"Knox?" Fred repeated. "What do you mean?"

Santana sighed. "See, Win, you don't exactly die of natural causes. A... a thing, an older being, basically a god, hollows out your body and uses you as a shell. They liquify your organs, destroy your soul, and walk around wearing your face." She paused. "You're probably going to have to ask Eve for more info on that, she'll know. Also, the guy chasing her isn't dangerous, and he's not trying to kill her. She's lying. Don't worry about him."

Santana was quiet before realizing she hadn't finished answering the question. "Oh. Knox is a worshipper of the god thing that kills Fred, and he orchestrated it because he 'loves you so much'." She rolled her eyes. Fred's mouth was hanging open.

"All of this is just strange enough to be true," Wesley said quickly. "Perhaps we should find Knox and lock him up before any of this happens. How about we get on that at this very moment?"

Lorne nodded in agreement. "I don't see how it could hurt."

"How do the rest of us die?" Angel asked darkly. Santana tsked.

"Do you really want to know?"

"I want to know if you know."

"For all you know, I could be making all of this up, so it should mean nothing to you. You really want to know how you die, which means you believe me. But fair enough, I guess." She tapped her chin. "The thing that takes over Fred's body stakes you. Or wait... no, cuts your head off."

"Sorry," Fred whispered.

"How do I die?" Gunn spoke up.

"Vamped. You're turned into a vampire, and you become soulless and evil."

"Figures," Gunn muttered.

"Do I want to know about mine?" Wesley asked, voice gravelly.

"Stabbed. Killed by that red sorcerer guy."

"Red... sorcerer guy?"

"Oh that's right, I'm sorry, you haven't met him yet."

Wesley sat back. "Strange to think that a man I've never met will be the one to kill me."

"Not really," Santana said conversationally. "And besides, he's some sort of demon, not a man. And that's a wrap on the deaths."

"What about me?" Lorne asked.

Santana was quiet for a moment. "I think yours might be the saddest. You see, right before we're all sent to hell, which Angel causes, he orders you to kill Lindsey. You know, Lindsey McDonald?"

"Lindsey is being punished by the senior partners as we speak," Angel told her. "Shouldn't you have known that?"

"Not if you have anything to say about that, Liam," Santana replied sweetly. "See, you guys break him out, and Gunn takes his place."

"What?" Gunn demanded.

"You actually volunteered. You were still guilty in having a hand in Fred's death."

"Can we please not talk about me like I'm dead already?" Fred pleaded, voice shaky. "It's making me sick."

Santana looked guilty. "I'm sorry. It's just a really big deal. The god that takes over your body, Illyria, plays a big part in all of this. And besides, if Angel decides to ignore me, then you'll be dead in a week anyways."

"No!" Wesley said loudly. "No she will not!"

"I understand you two are dating now," Santana said evenly. "And I'm deeply sorry."

"You will be sorry for nothing!" Wesley hissed, standing up fast. "We're finding Knox now and locating that sarcophagus! Angel!"

Angel was deep in thought. Santana interrupted him. "You're probably going to want to talk to Drogyn. You end up killing him too, so you might as well get that over with."

Angel slammed his hand down on the table. "Enough! Why are we trusting everything she says? We know nothing! There's not even anything in Wesley's books, or here at Wolfram and Hart, that can prove her wrong, because the stuff she's talking about hasn't happened yet! There's no way to verify any of this!"

"I don't care. Even if she's lying, it can't hurt to look into it," Wesley replied.

"Yes it can, because if we do the things she's telling us, we could end off far worse than we are now!"

"Woah, woah, woah," Santana said loudly, raising her hands. "I'm not asking you to do anything except take Knox into custody and avoid any ancient sarcophagi you see lying around. That's it."

"What next? If you're really from the future, then any little change in the present can effect the rest of history!" Angel yelled back.

Lorne put a hand on his shoulder. "Angel, buddy, let's stop hollering at the poor girl, shall we? Geez, I'm starting to wonder if you didn't come back exactly proportional from your puppet playtime, if you know what I'm saying."

Angel jerked away from him. "Wesley, look into Santana. If she's an adult six months in the future, she probably exists right now and has a record."

"In standing right here," Santana interjected.

"Yeah, I've been wanting to ask, how does that work?" Fred asked. "Did you physically travel back, or are you just in your body from six months ago? Which dimension was it? How precisely would that work if-"

Wesley put a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "Fred, maybe save these questions for a better time." He led her out of the conference room, looking back at Angel.

"It's nice to see you not so drunk and grieving!" Santana called after him, waving.

Gunn sighed. "Well, I have other work to do. Let me know if you need anything."

"Yeah, I'd better be going," Spike agreed, standing up with a sigh.

Angel scoffed. "Oh please. What do you have to do?"

"Important things," Spike retorted. "None of your business."

He sauntered out, trench coat trailing.

As soon as the four of them had left, and Lorne had taken a seat, Angel turned to Santana. "They might have not noticed, but I did. Just because you're from the future doesn't automatically mean you would know everything about all of us. So tell me; who are you?"