What If? no.3 (From the Buffy and Angel magazine)

[N.D.U.O]

What if Buffy hadn't fallen for Angel?

While Buffy goes through the usual succession of boyfriends (Owen, Billy Fordham, Scott, Riley...) Angel keeps his love a secret, and never experiences his moment of perfect happiness in Buffy's arms. Without the activation of the curse, Angelus never rises, Jenny Calender lives to have a serious romance with Giles, and Angel helps the Scoobies drive Spike and Dru from Sunnydale for good. Since Angel now has no reason to move to Los Angeles, we never meet Doyle, Fred, Gunn, Lilah, Lindsay, Lorne or Connor.

Faith never meets Angel in L.A. so she remains a rogue slayer, working for one Big Bad after another. She's not available to save Angel/Angelus from Evil Cordelia and Connor, but that's not important, because in this reality, Angel never went to L.A. so there is no Evil Cordy or Connor. Instead, Faith attracts the interest of The First, and shows up in Sunnydale not to help Buffy, but to fight her. Since this gives The First an ally who can wield the Scythe, the Slayer and her friends now have a serious problem!

Worst of all, if Angel never goes to Los Angeles, Wesley remains a pompous nincompoop forever...

Do you agree with this? Post your own ideas...

[CourtneyDax]

Wow, there is so much of that explanation that just makes me cringe and unhappy. Especially the part about Wesley being a loser for eternity. I don't think that Angel could keep his secret of how he feels forever. He would eventually tell her right? He'd probably leave because he loves her and he's suffering because she doesn't love him. Emotionally, Buffy would be a lot more stable right? Not having your first boyfriend turn evil and kill lots of people should make everything a lot better. Do you think Riley and Buffy could've lasted without the shadow of Angel?

[whitecandy]

I don't like any of this storyline, it makes me sad It all just seems wrong somehow, but the part about Faith returning to Sunnydale to fight Buffy could be quite interesting.

Courtneydax, I never thought of Buffy and Riley not working out because of Angel, I just saw it as not working because Buffy was so involved in her own world, and Riley needed more from her, and also struggled with the power she had being greater than his.

Obviously Buffy will always love Angel and a piece of her heart may not belong to him, but will forever exist because of him. But isn't that true of nearly all of us, and yet we manage to continue to be with and love another, even if our whole heart will never completely belong to them?

I also hate the idea of Wesley remaining a pompous nincompoop!!!

[The Girl In Question]

In the scenario mentioned, Cordy would also be dead. She would have gone to LA to be an actress, and she would have been killed by that vampire creeper in "City Of."

[CourtneyDax]

@The Girl In Question Or Cordy could've been turned as a vampire and then come back to Sunnydale to wreak havoc with Harmony.

[The Girl In Question]

^^ Lol, I like that turnout better. If that happened, she and hamrony would make a funny pair. Although I think Vamp!Cordy would actually be scary foe o.0

[N.D.U.O]

What saddens me the most is Spike and Dru leaving and never coming back. Ok - I don't care about Dru but Spike!

[rufio]

Cordelia as a vampire would be pretty sweet--she was already an evil bitch. She would have minions and sh!t lol. And the Harmony/Cordelia dynamic would've been different and probably funny.

[sagewoman]

Cory and Harmony together is almost worth it. If Angel and Buffy drove off Spike and Dru - they would have moved to LA and screwed up W&H's plans - just because it seemed like a fun thing to do. W&H would have brought Darla back for another nefarious purpose and she would have headed out to Sunnydale to find Angel and profess her love for him. Dru and Spike would slip back to SunnyDale to join in the mayhem. Dru would turn Darla and Darla and Dru would show Cordy and Harmony what a real "girls's night out" looked like. Spike would get all hot and bothered at the thought of having Darla, Dru, Cordy and Harmony consecutively or concurrently.

Wesley would not be a total ninny as he would be the Rogueh Demon Hunter in LA - where his run-ins with W&H would quickly knock off any of the ninny parts of him. He would meet Gunn - who would help to make Wesley cooler and edgier. This would attract Lilah who would use him as her play thing. Wesley and Gunn would meet Lorne and end up saving Fred. Fred and Wesley would fall in love and get married. Gunn would meet Anne and the two of them would hit it off until Lindsay tried to move in on Anne. Fisticuffs, singing and quick retorts would ensue. Oh, and Faith would be working for W&H and bashing Lyla for being with her former watcher failure and partnering with Lindsey on black op assignements. Faith encourages Lindsey to move in on Anne because - Damn, that Gunn is hot!

Meanwhile back in Sunnydale - Angel is all unrequited love - a perfect fit with the gothic romances he loves. He watches over Buffy and is her guardian Angel - making sure to take a bite out of all the boyfriends who have done her wrong. He doesn't kill them, so technically he believes he isn't being bad.

[Angel Beast]

I think Angel would still be there to help Faith, I think he'd go after her when she got out of the coma and swapped lives with Buffy. I think Angel would be the one the initiative goes after instead of Spike. Dawn would see Angel as a big brother/father figure, he would be there to comfort her when Joyce and Tara die.

Cordy would totally end up a vamp. Wesley would probably get killed off.