Brave New World

 New Years Eve 1999

"…now to all you folks listening out there, only 5 minutes to go before 2000! If you’re on the roads hurry home to bring in the new millenium with the ones you love! Now here’s the last song of 1999!"

Angel barely listened to the DJ as he sped along the highway toward Sunnydale, the very town he left only 7 short months ago. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out that he couldn’t live without Buffy Summers, all his reasons for leaving paled in comparison to the constant ache in his heart. He wanted to start off the New Year right, with the woman that he loved by his side. Everything else would work itself out.

He picked up speed as he passed the Welcome to Sunnydale sign.

*****

"Only one more minute to go Buffy! Aren’t you excited?" Willow Rosenburg shifted excitedly from foot to foot. "I just know that this is going to be the best year yet! I can feel it."

Buffy focused on her best friend, she felt something too but excitement wasn’t it. She had asked Giles repeatedly this past month if something big was going on, but he had assured her that everything was fine. No portents of danger, no cryptic prophecies. Then why wouldn’t this foreboding feeling leave her? She shrugged off her misgivings and vowed to enjoy her mom’s party that was in full swing.

"I don’t know Will, I hope this will be a good year but judging by past events…" Buffy shrugged.

"What’s the matter Buff? You afraid of the Y2K bug?" Xander Harris appeared behind his best friends and slung an arm around each one.

"What’s with you and bugs?" Buffy playfully punched him in the ribs.

"So, you going to kiss Riley at midnight?" Both Willow and Xander smiled over at Buffy. She had just recently started dating Riley; this was their second date. They were both happy for her and more than a little relieved that she had finally joined the land of the living.

"Maybe…." Buffy blushed and quickly changed the subject. Then she looked over at Xander.

"Please don’t have a major grope fest with Anya in my mother’s living room. She thinks my friends are so sweet and innocent."

"I would never do that! You have a better chance of our innocent Willow sneaking into your old room with Oz." Xander raised and eyebrow and looked at his best friend who was rapidly turning red.

"Will! You didn’t!" Buffy laughed but was partly shocked. Who would have ever guessed?

"Of course I didn’t…we were just talking…I swear." Willow’s guilty look gave her away.

"Come on everybody it’s almost time!" Joyce called everyone into the living room. She turned up Dick Clark.

Giles went to stand by Joyce. Xander casually put his arm around Anya’s waist; Willow sat on Oz’s lap. Buffy went to stand shyly by Riley’s side. Even Spike leaned against a wall by Emily, Jenny Calendar’s ½ demon cousin. Slowly but surely the two were developing feelings for each other.

"…5…4…3…2…1! Happy New Year Everyone! Happy New Millenium!" Dick Clark’s voice rang out from Times Square in New York City.

Just then a huge explosion rocked New York; the last image anyone saw was the Ball flying into the building Dick Clark was broadcasting from.

Simultaneously a loud explosion sounded through Sunnydale. The sky filled with black swirling clouds and lightning bolts randomly rained down on the earth. The noise was deafening. The earth began to shake and split open.

"Giles! What’s going on!" Buffy ran over to her Watcher completely terrified.

"I don’t know. Whatever it is, it’s happening in New York also. We must get to the Hellmouth." Giles kept his arms securely around Joyce.

The rest of the gang came toward Buffy. The house began to creak and groan as plaster rained down on their heads.

"We all have to get out of here before the house collapses. I’m going to grab my slayer bag and then we have to get to the High School!" Buffy looked at the terrified faces around her and hoped there was something she could do.

Getting to the High School was almost impossible. The roads were splitting open, fire was shooting through the earth and buildings were toppling. People were running and screaming everywhere! Buffy and the gang noticed vampires feeding on the confused humans but couldn’t stop to help.

They finally reached the High School and stood stunned. The Hellmouth had erupted and the giant serpent creature they had fought twice before had made it’s way free. But it was only the first, creature like they’ve never seen before were pouring from the abyss.

The earth began to shake again and fire began shooting from inter-dimensional cracks along the ground. Lightning bolts continued to rain down on the helpless planet.

Anya was the first to totally panic and began to run down the street.

"Anya…no!" Xander took off after her.

Buffy went to grab at his sleeve but he shook her off. She watched helplessly as Xander finally reached Anya and wrapped his arms around her, a jet of fire erupted from the earth directly below them and they disappeared into the fiery cavern below.

"NO!!! Xander!" Willow started toward where Xander had last stood but was restrained by Oz.

"There’s nothing you can do now! I won’t lose you!" She began sobbing hysterically into his shoulder.

"Giles…quick…what can we do? What’s going on?" Buffy was minutes from falling apart, but she knew if she lost it she would lose more friends.

"I don’t know." Giles looked vacantly toward the Hellmouth. His nightmare was being played out before his very eyes.

Buffy froze. There was nothing they could do, they were going to die. Evil would finally win. Hell would walk the Earth. But what had gone wrong? She lifted her eyes helplessly to the heavens.

Why was this happening?

Another immense quake shook the ground and Joyce fell to the ground striking her head against a rock. Willow and Oz still stood together in a rain of rocks and fire, no longer looking for an escape just spending the last moments of their lives together.

Buffy noticed Spike and Emily fighting off a gigantic gorilla looking beast, the beast waved its immense paw toward Emily effectively decapitating her.

Another fission opened by Spike and he and the Beast tumbled into it.

Buffy huddled by her mother and Giles; there was nothing more they could do. They had lost.

She was glad her mom was unconscious. She looked up at Giles.

"Thank you for everything. I love you." She reached out and touched the Watcher’s cheek.

"Buffy…there was never another one like you. You are my daughter." Giles hoped that Buffy understood he was saying goodbye.

Buffy understood. They would die here. All of humanity would die this night. If she had known that it would have ended this soon, she would never have let Angel walk away.

Angel.

It was fitting that her last thoughts would be of the man she would love even beyond this life. She hoped that his death would be easy. He had already suffered so much. She closed her eyes and concentrated, hoping that he would feel her love for him.

The last thing Buffy Summers saw was a black funnel of rock and fire hurtling it’s way toward her, destroying everything in its path. A blinding white light enveloped her and she knew no more.

*****

Angel crawled out of what use to be his car. He had been driving when the explosions hit. He looked around in amazement and growing fear. It looked like the fires of hell where reaching their arms up through the earth and destroying everything in their path.

He looked up at the sky to see the black, churning masses striking the earth with their blazing rods. Never in his wildest nightmares had he imagined this. But he knew what this was, he had been there before.

Hell on Earth.

He had to get to Buffy. He dragged himself from his vehicle and tried to make his way forward, dodging falling debris and fire. He noticed the shadows moving toward him, no not shadows, these were definitely not shadows.

Hellhounds. Dozens of them. All moving toward him. He could hear their excited snarling as they spotted him. He knew they would rip him to shreds. He looked behind him into the vast abyss that had opened at his feet and knew he had no choice.

Angel dived into the ground. The fall was endless. Angel struck his head on a jutting rock and never knew when he hit bottom. He never felt the tons of dirt and rock that fell atop him as the earth shifted once more completely sealing the crack in the earth that Angel had dived into.

Angel’s last thought was of the first time he had kissed Buffy.

*****

Year 2200

200 years after the Hell Quakes.

The earth grumbled and the remaining life forms quickly scattered to find shelter. Each hoping it was not

Armageddon all over again. The last of the Hell Quakes had ended over 150 years ago, but the trauma was still fresh. Another loud grumble shook the area that had once been California then there was quiet. Not a Hell Quake after all, just a typical after shock.

The quake had loosened the ground in what had once been called Sunnydale. All that was left of Sunnydale were a few skeletons of what was once known as cars, and the ruins of ancient buildings. The town was now a tangle of rock, metal and sulphurous gases that floated through the air. Vegetation struggled to survive but only a few patches of green dotted the landscape. It looked like a war zone.

A faint scratching noise filled the night air; the stretch of loosened dirt began to crumble as a pale hand broke through the surface. An arm followed.

Angel broke to the surface of the earth in an explosion of dirt and rock. Finally he was free, after digging and clawing his way through the packed earth, he was free! He didn’t know how long he had been trapped in his premature grave but he had been struggling to free himself for what had seemed like centuries.

When his body no longer could handle the lack of blood, it had gone into a hibernation of some sort. A vampire’s defense system for being buried for long periods of time. He had woken up when the last quake had hit and had started his struggle to free himself.

Angel pulled himself from the earth and looked around. He was stunned at what he was seeing. When the explosion hit, he had been on the outskirts of town. But this couldn’t possibly be Sunnydale! Boulders and metal lay everywhere, ruins of rusted cars and buildings lay scattered. The buildings he could identify were strangely shaped and made of some sort of black/grayish material. They were squat and had little or no windows.

There was debris and garbage everywhere. A whirling sound caught his attention and he ducked behind a boulder. He looked up and was amazed to see some type of vehicle hovering over the town, shining a light into the wreckage. He picked up voices. Human voices.

"I thought I saw something move down there." Office Wilder anxiously scanned the area.

"Probably those damn half-breeds, no matter how many times we fire sweep this area they always seem to come back." Officer Donnelly surveyed the area once more.

"I heard a new group of vampires were spotted in the area. Everytime we think we got the last one, another group pops up."

"We’ll never be rid of them, besides we got bigger trouble than vampires."

Angel heard their vehicle take off and kept his eyes on it until it disappeared.

Half-breed? What were half-breeds? At least he knew that vampires survived the quakes and apparently some humans. He needed to find out what had happened to Buffy. But first he had to feed. The hunger he had supressed for so long was roaring through his veins.

But where to find blood? He had a feeling that he wouldn’t find a butcher shop or a hospital.

Humans…a voice whispered in his head. There are still humans out there. Go. Feed.

Angel shook his head angrily. He wouldn’t do it, he’d stake himself first.

He began walking and noticed a dark shaped slithering around him then hiding behind buildings. Everytime he turned his head to look, there would be nothing there. But he knew there was.

"Believe me, you don’t want to mess with me right now. If I have to come looking for you, it’s going to be trouble." Angel vamped out and scanned the area again.

A dark shape cautiously stepped out of an alley. It was covered completely in black rags. Angel could barely make out the reflection of eyes looking out of its hood.

"Ok, big guy. Just don’t bite OK? I just wanted to get a look at you, we haven’t seen anything like you in about 150 years." The thing stayed out of Angel’s reach. It wasn’t stupid.

"150 years? What are you talking about? Isn’t this Sunnydale?" Angel was getting a very panicky feeling.

"Sunnydale?" The thing lifted its arm and scratched its head. "Oh, yah, I think this was once called Sunnydale, before the Hell Quakes. It’s called the Wastelands now."

"Hell Quakes? Wastelands?"

"Not too smart are you?" The thing chuckled at Angel’s confusion.

Angel grabbed the thing by its neck and lifted it so it was eye level with him. The thing had barely reached Angel’s waist.

"I’m really not in a good mood. What the hell are you and what happened to Sunnydale." Angel shook his victim and was stunned when the hood fell from its head. Angel let it go.

The thing was completely bald and had pointed scaly ears like a demon. Its eyes were human but he had scales and ridges that followed the curve of its eyebrows. It had a human mouth, but its neck was covered in scaly type flesh.

"What are you?"

"I’m Troam. A cross between a troll and a human. And you I’m taking a leap here are a vampire." Troam was amazed at how tall this vampire was, there hadn’t been any humans or vampires that tall in a century.

"Troll and Human? How can that be?" Angel was hungry, confused and very scared.

"What rock have you been hiding under buddy?" Troam didn’t understand what the vampire’s problem was.

"What year is it?" Angel had a very uneasy feeling.

"It’s the year 2200." Troam watched in shock at the vampire fell to his knees.

"NO! NO!…Buffy…oh god Buffy…" Angel buried his face in his hands totally overwhelmed. He had spent 200 years underground!

"Huh…Buddy…you might want to lower your voice, it’s really not safe around here. Look, you seem upset maybe you should come to my hut. At least there we’d be protected."

Angel looked at the ugly creature, misery stamped across his features.

"Blood…I need to feed. I’ve been underground for 200 years."

Troam was taken back, that’s why this guy didn’t know what was going on. He wondered who this Buffy was, whoever she was she had been dead a long time. He guessed that’s why this vampire looked like he was going to cry. Wait a minute.

Vampire…cry?

"Why are you acting like this? The vamps I’ve seen have all been bite first ask questions later." Troam took a wary step back; he did have some human blood in him.

"I won’t hurt you. Is there anything I could eat? Animals? Something?" Angel hoped that there was something in this new world that he could feed on.

"Yah, actually there’s a couple of wild dog-boars not too far from here. If you can catch one…" Troam left his sentence unfinished. He watched as the vampire rose to his full height.

"Let’s go."

*****

"So these Hell Quakes were a result of the Hellmouth breaking open? And the entire world was engulfed in fire and destruction." Angel was trying to take everything in, but to him it had only been New Years Eve 1999 one short day ago.

"Yep. Though some humans survived and eventually managed to get the Hellmouth under control. But it’s pretty shaky. Demons poured forth and completely took over. Day became perpetual night. No more sunshine, the black clouds never go away. Humans eventually started fighting back and they have been fighting ever since." Troam paused and looked at his guest.

"Demons then started breeding with their humans slaves creating yours truly. I can’t tell you how much this half-breed stuff sucks. Humans don’t want us and neither do the demons." Troam shrugged his bony shoulders.

"I know the feeling." Angel liked Troam, he could sense that there was no evil in him.

"Humans are building cities above ground now, kind of suspended in the air, like their hover crafts. Us, half-breeds aren’t welcomed up there though, so we have to stay on the ground and try to keep out of the evil-type demons way. Humans don’t come down here much, only when they hear about a plot to make the Hellmouth go boom again. So what’s your story?" Troam was very curious about his guest.

"My name is Angel. I’m a vampire but I have my soul." Angel noticed Troam’s eyes widen when he said his name.

"What? Does my name mean something?"

"Well, there’s this old folk tale that one of the witch’s that got the Hellmouth under control knew a vampire with a soul. She died about 150 years ago now, but she had left some diaries behind. The council has them now."

Angel’s head snapped up at the mention of the council.

"So there is a Slayer? Who is she?"

"Slayer? No there’s no slayer now. The last recorded Slayer died during the Quakes, her name was…let’s see…Bunny or something…"

"Buffy. Her name was Buffy Anne Summers." Angel didn’t bother to disguise the pain in his voice.

"Yah, that’s its Buffy…oh wait…didn’t you call out for a Buffy?" Angel’s pain finally registered.

"Oh, gee, sorry. You knew her." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes. I was on my way to see her when…the quakes hit. I was going back to her. Dammit! I should have never left her in the first place! Oh God, Buffy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know!"

Troam knew he was witnessing a private moment, obviously there was much more than friendship involved. A vampire and a Vampire Slayer, who would have ever guessed?

"This witch, the one who helped stop the Hellmouth from more destruction, was her name Willow?" Angel had a hunch that Willow had been responsible.

"How did you know?"

"She was an old friend. Where can I find her diaries? And why wasn’t another Slayer called?"

"Her diaries supposedly have a bunch of spells in them, the Council has them. They’re trying to cast binding spells over all these new dome cities they want to build. Kind of like demon repellant. As for the Slayer, nobody knows why. Well, maybe the Council does, but they don’t exactly share with us half breeds." Troam shrugged helplessly.

"Where can I find this Council." Angel needed to read Willow’s diaries for any mention of Buffy’s fate and he wanted to know why another slayer hadn’t been called. If humanity ever needed a Slayer it was now.

"Slow down there buddy. If you even try to get close to any of these cities or the council, they’ll kill you. Soul or no soul. Humans are majorly demonophobic now. They kill anything that isn’t pure. They don’t care whether you’re evil or not. Besides to get to the council you have to cross Death Row, nobody ever gets to the other side."

"What’s Death Row." Angel knew he wasn’t going to like the answer.

"That’s the Demon Enyar’s turf. It’s rumored that he was the one that managed to break the Hellmouth open from the inside. He’s very powerful and no one has ever looked at his true face and lived." Troam shuddered.

"Enyar? Never heard of him. And if he’s so powerful why wasn’t the takeover complete? Why are there still humans left and they’re starting to rebuild? Something doesn’t sound right. How do I get to the Council?"

"I’m starting to like you Angel, I don’t want to send you to your death. Even if you get past Enyar, the Council won’t hear you out; they’ll kill you. They’ll see you coming from a mile away. Hate to break the news to you buddy, but you don’t exactly blend. Because of the lack of sunlight and the advance intellect of the human race, people don’t exactly look like you anymore. There short, have no hair and their heads are getting bigger with every passing decade, their eyes are starting to bug too." Troam wrinkled his nose in distaste, he might not be a fashion model but people were no big treat either.

"Your look went out like eighty years ago. The only things that look like you are the Ancient Ones. We always know when we see your type that it’s an Old One."

"Do vampires still feed off and change humans?" Angel pushed his concerns regarding his looks away; he didn’t really know what he looked like anyway.

"Yep, course they feed off of half-breeds too. They’ve been changing any humans they can catch, so you never know sometimes. Unless they look like you."

Angel stood up. It was time for him to begin.

"Thanks for everything Troam and for the warning. But this is something I’ve got to do. I need to see those books and find out where the Slayer is." Angel started out of the little hovel.

"Why? Why can’t you just let it go? It was over 200 years ago. This is our world now, it may suck but this is it. You can’t bring back yesterday."

Angel paused and then turned.

"I’m not doing this for me, if this was for me I would stake myself right now. I’m doing it for her. Because I know that this is what she would have done. She would have tried to fight; she would have tried to help. The human race needs help and whether they want mine or not they’re going to get it. She told me once that you have to keep on going, get through the pain and fight to see the next day. I’ve already let her down too many times. Not this time." Angel turned back around and started walking into the night.

Troam didn’t have to ask who "she" was. She must’ve been something! He’s going to get himself killed, he thought, he doesn’t know the area, he doesn’t know how much things have changed. Oh well, what the heck! He didn’t have anything going on anyway.

"Hey Angel! Wait up, I’m coming with you!" Troam hurried out after him.

*****

Year 2500

Buffy Summers strode down the long metallic corridor and ignored the stares she always received. It seemed no matter how many times she visited the Mother City people were always amazed at her looks. But not in a good way. Buffy sighed, she definitely wasn’t winning any beauty contests. Sure she could’ve blended in if she really wanted too, she was short enough. The problem was she really didn’t want too. She had gotten use to the way these new humans looked but she had no desire to copy their look. Maybe in another hundred years, she thought to herself.

The humans of today way way short, like Jonathan from High School, but only shorter. Their skin was a grayish color from lack of sunlight and their heads were, in Buffy’s opinion, abnormally big. She knew it was because of their increased brainpower but EWWWW!

And the worst thing was the hair, or lack of. The women wore a single ponytail but the rest of the head was completely smooth. The men didn’t have any hair at all. Buffy touched her own blonde hair, her friend Gana, was always nagging her to shave it, Buffy would rather die.

Buffy paused and looked out the Observatory window, down at the desolate wreckage that had once been Washington, DC. She could make out the ruins of the White House in the distance, only the front columns were left standing. Her world, correction, her old world.

She thought back to that fatefully New Years Eve where everything she had known was destroyed. The last she remembered was a blinding light, the next thing she knew she was waking up in some sort of clear plastic cylinder. She had opened her eyes and found herself staring at what she knew now to be humans, back then she thought aliens had abducted her.

The Council in this time had been fighting a Demon named Enyar for almost the entire 500 years after the Hell Quakes, they had received information that he was amassing power once more and planned to re-open the Hellmouth, this time for good. Only the power of the Slayer could stop him, she alone could defeat this demon.

The council then ran into some problems, all the Slayers to be called after Buffy were either too weak or had their blood had been mutated because of the inter-species breeding after the Hell Quakes. One of the prophecies foretold in the Wicca Willow’s diaries was that strongest slayer ever to live would be re-called and she would save humanity.

The council had looked up the most powerful slayer to date and had come up with Buffy Summers. Using old magic and new scientific advancements they teleported Buffy out of the year 1999, just in time to save her from certain death, and into the year 2498.

Buffy awoke confused, scared and wondering where the hell her clothes were. Everything had been explained to her, and she had been left alone. She cried for a very long time that day. She cried for the deaths of her friends and family for the world, as she knew it. But mostly she cried for Angel. She had thought on that last day of 1999 that both of them would die and finally they would be together. But no. Fate yet again had other plans.

It had taken Buffy a year to settle into her new life. She trained then took her hovercraft into the surrounding areas to hunt demons. Most of her time though was spent looking for leads to defeat Enyar. She had some friends, Ganar, the council leader’s daughter and Lazas the Council leader himself. They had made her transition as smooth as possible.

They’re were times in that first year that she was enraged at what they had done. But over time she realized that this was part of her duty, the human race needed her she couldn’t let them down. She would have died that day in Sunnydale and the world would have been left without an efficient Slayer. She couldn’t let that happen. She smiled sadly to herself, Giles would have been very proud of her.

She was amazed at all the changes the world had undergone. The scientific advancements were incredible. Science had mixed with magic to create hover cities protected by binding laws. No demon could enter the cities without being killed.

One thing Buffy did like was the clothes, she had on her favorite one piece silver jumper. The jumper automatically regulated itself to the wearers body heat, so you were never too cold or too warm. Her jumper had special compartments where she hid her stakes. She could either pull them from the outfit by hand or launch them by pressing a release button on her cuff. Another button activated a spray mechanism, which she kept loaded with holy water. Buffy loved all of her gadgets, they were very cool.

"Earth to Buffy, come in Buffy." Buffy turned to see Gana walking up the corridor.

"Hey you. What’s the sitch?"

"What? Sometimes I have no idea what you’re talking about. But I like you anyway. Come on we’re all waiting." Gana looped her arm through Buffy’s and pulled her toward the conference room.

Buffy was Gana’s hero. Even before they had teleported Buffy to this time, she had read the Wicca’s diary over and over; her favorite stories had been those of Buffy and her boyfriend Angel. She had cried at the last entry regarding Buffy and Angel, Willow had written that he had left. He had turned and disappeared into the night.

Gana wondered if Buffy ever thought of Angel anymore. Lord knows she didn’t like any of the guys in this time. Buffy looks were odd but that didn’t seem to deter male interest, if anything they thought she was exotic with her full head of long blonde hair, small heart shaped face and small eyes. She looked like the pictures in the history texts when they had photos of humans during the 20^th century.

But Gana knew Buffy had no interest in any type of romantic relationship. She was here to fight, and that was her only goal. Gana felt sorry for Buffy, she wished she could have more of a life and be less of a weapon but such was her fate.

The conference doors automatically opened and the two girls stepped inside. The council members were already seated. Lazas was at the head of the table.

"There’s my girls." He smiled fondly at both of them. They smiled back.

"So let me guess, big, bad evil comes this way." Buffy grinned over at Lazas.

"Yes, it seems like Enyar has been feuding again with the Demons of the Wastelands. One of those demons has managed to infiltrate his fortress on Death Row and has stolen the Eye of Shelbor. This is a very grave development, we have no idea how much power the eye holds, we are still trying to translate the text regarding it. It seems Enyar wants the Eye back and has sent out rogue bands of demons to find and kill the Ancient One." Lazas paused at Buffy’s confused look.

"Ancient One?" Buffy hadn’t heard that term before.

"It’s only a term we use to refer to the vampires of your day. They look like 20^th century man, so hence the term. It seems one is responsible for the theft, which brings us to our next concern. Why did he take it? Does he know something regarding the Eye that we don’t? We need you to go out to the Wastelands and get the Eye from this vampire. I don’t really care if Enyar and the half-breeds destroy each other, but we need that relic." Lazas watched Buffy carefully, he knew she knew what the Wastelands used to be.

"Sunnydale. You want me to go back to Sunnydale." Buffy was disturbed but knew she would go, maybe this Eye could give them an edge on finding a way to completely eliminate the threat of the Hellmouth. Besides, it must be powerful to have Enyar wiggin over its loss.

"Is that a problem?"

"Nope, no problem. But I think maybe it’s time you guys started taking it easy on the half-breeds. They didn’t exactly have a choice, you know. Besides, the few that I have run into haven’t been evil, not all of them are." Buffy felt very sorry for the poor creatures trapped in between humanity and demons.

Lazas sighed they had had this argument many times in the past. Buffy Summers had a very soft heart.

"Buffy take some of the Diaries that deal with the Eye, maybe you can understand some of Willow’s writings since you knew her." He pushed the books toward Buffy.

Buffy felt her throat tighten. Everytime she looked at the books and saw Willow’s neat handwriting she wanted to cry. She wanted her Willow back; she wanted all of her friend’s back. She was amazed when they had told her that a witch name Willow was mostly responsible for sealing up the Hellmouth. Her last vision of Willow had been her wrapped in Oz’s arms. She had thought they both had died that day. Oz had. Willow hadn’t.

Surprisingly, Spike had survived also. They had come across each other and had made it to safety while the world went straight to hell. Once the worst of it was over, they had located several groups of survivors. Surviving groups of witches and warlocks had started to arrive in Sunnydale to try to bind the Hellmouth. Willow organized the groups and by combining they’re powers had effectively sealed off the Hellmouth. But the damage had already been done.

Demons were everywhere and were trying to kill off any surviving humans. She and Spike had organized the survivors as best as they could, training them to fight, training them in magic and encouraging them to reproduce. The human race had to go on no matter what.

Buffy was shocked when she had read Willow’s entries; the sweet innocent Willow was gone. A survivalist had taken her place. She was further shocked to read that she and Spike had become lovers, Willow had truly cared about the vampire. But she knew she had a duty to the human race. She loved Spike, but she slept with humans to impregnate herself. She was successful, she had 4 children by the time she died. She had had a 5^th but the little boy was killed. By Spike.

Blood was scarce during that time and he fed whenever he came across a stray animal or a recently dead human. When things were really lean, Willow had allowed him to feed off of her. She had left her 2^nd son with Spike while she went to yet again try to get pregnant. Spike had not fed in over a week and that combined with the rage he felt watching the women he loved being touched by other men had unleashed the demon inside of him. He had drained the baby. He waited for Willow to come home overwhelmed with regret and self-hatred. She had walked in and he had handed the dead infant to her. She knew immediately what had happened, she put her son down in his crib and took her stake from her pocket. Spike made no attempt to defend himself as she staked him.

Buffy cried for her friend. Life had not been kind to Willow Rosenburg. She had sacrificed everything so humanity would live on, and because of her it had. Buffy thought that Xander, Giles, Oz, Anya, Cordelia and Angel were the lucky ones, they had died that first night. Her and Willow were left to see everything they had loved and cherished destroyed.

Willow’s diary entries ranged from spells to prophecies and to Buffy’s heartbreak beautifully written stories of the gang’s times together. She outlined in detail her and Angel’s tragic love affair. She had captured the innocence of that first year, the deep abiding love of the second, the heartbreak of his change and finally the devastation and loneliness of his departure. She had also written about Xander’s antics, Cordelia’s reign of hautiness and Giles’s Britishness. The stories were sometimes sad and sometime’s funny. No matter how many times she read them, she never got bored. The diaries were her last link to her old life.

"So I get back this eye thingie from Fang Boy and I give him the 3^rd degree. Cake." Buffy picked up the books from the table.

The Council just stared up at Buffy. They had no idea what she had just said.

"Buffy you are to retrieve the Eye of Shelbor from this vampire and question him for any information he might have, then of course you must kill him." Lazas nodded emphatically in her direction.

"I just said that." Buffy shrugged and left the conference room.

*****

The Wastelands

"Come on Zenie just one more pint! Angel made a grab for the Barmaid as she walked by but missed, his momentum sent him crashing into his table.

"That’s enough for you Angel! I’m cutting you off! And stop wrecking the furniture." Zenie crossed her arms in annoyance. She was 150 years old, too old to be putting up with this bullshit.

Angel came to her place at least once a week and either got roaring drunk or ended up in a brawl. Every time he came in there was always chaos. She felt sorry for the guy so she didn’t ban him. She knew he was an Ancient One with his height and looks, but he never killed anybody just roughed them up alittle. In one of his drunken monologues he had confessed that he had been cursed with his soul.

Zenie was a cross between a Dyphla and a human. A Dyphla was more of an evil genie than a demon, but they were still capable of major evil. She had the Dyphla’s olive green skin color, long tail and webbed fingers and toes but for the most part she looked human. She also had a very human heart and soul. She had owned Hellfire’s for about 50 years, Angel was a regular customer. He sometimes disappeared for long stretches of time but eventually he also showed up again looking to get wrecked.

Zenie wished that one of these times he’d be looking to get laid, but he never made a move on her or any of the other females. Women were fascinated with him. He was so tall and had a full head of hair, his features were so even and sculpted. He might look very different from everyone else, but he was beautiful in a world where beauty no longer existed.

"Come on sweetheart! Just one more!" Angel stumbled toward Zenie determined to get another drink.

He hadn’t drunk enough yet to pass out and when he didn’t pass out he was constantly tormented by nightmares. Nightmares of Buffy begging him not to leave her, nightmares of the gruesome deaths she and her friends must have suffered, nightmares of his one friend in this time, Troam, being killed 300 years ago by the then Council members.

It had been his fault. Troam had tried to warn him about the Council’s prejudices towards anything not of pure blood. But he hadn’t listened; he had been determined to make them listen. He had wanted to help humanity, he had wanted to get to the bottom of the Hellmouth’s reawakening 200 years before, instead he had led his friend to his death.

He had made it all the way to the newly created Mother City, when the Council had attacked. He had fought his way free but Troam hadn’t been so lucky. They had killed him. Yet another death he was responsible for.

Angel had stopped trying to reach the Council then; he didn’t need or want their help. He was going to confront Enyar on his own. His battle thus far had lasted 300 years. Finally, he got a break when he had found out about and stole the Eye of Shelbor. He wasn’t sure exactly what power it possessed but he knew Enyar was desperate to get it back. He also knew Enyar was sending his minions out to kill him.

Angel hoped Enyar came for the Eye himself, he wanted to finally confront his nemesis.

"No, out with you." Zenie nodded to her bouncers, two brawny half Wendigo’s. They grabbed Angel by the arms and tossed him out the front doors.

*****

Buffy guided her hovercraft toward the Red Light section of town. She wasn’t surprised that the Ancient One was last seen heading toward the seedier establishments. She looked around in amazement as she drove, instead of the Bronze and the movie theatre there were cheap looking store fronts with flashing neon signs some said "Ultra Violet Rays" 5 minutes for 10 shirlings. Others were advertising sex shows or other X-rated type activities. One even boasted to have the largest collection of 20^th Century movies showing "Naked 20^th Century Men & Women Screwing!"

Buffy just shook her head in disgust. No matter how bad things were, people or non-people were always willing to give away money for sex. Nothing really changes.

Loud music disrupted her thoughts and she turned to see two half-breeds toss a large man out the front doors of a bar. This must be him, Buffy thought, nobody is that big any more. She landed her craft and jumped out.

Angel cursed softly and tried to stand up, he only made it to his knees.

"Just see if I ever waste my money here again!" He shouted towards the now closed doors.

He then started laughing to himself, way to go Angel old man, 750 years old and still getting tossed out of bars! He then broke into glorious song:

"I hate to interrupt your budding singing career, but you have something I want." Buffy had come up behind the vampire and had drawn her silver plated stake. The vampire had dark hair and was obviously drunk.

Angel had stopped when he heard the female voice. Something was familiar about it, but he was too drunk to figure it out. He climbed up to his feet, swayed a little then turned to face that voice.

A small female stood in front of him, she was encased entirely in silver, she had a silver cap pulled over her features so he couldn’t see her face. But her body was incredible. For the first time in 500 years Angel was seriously turned on. In his alcoholic daze he never saw the stake in her hand or the shock on her face.

"Honey, you can have anything you want. You don’t even have to ask nicely." Angel lurched toward her determine to kiss her.

"Angel? Is it really you?" Buffy slowly lowered her arm; her mind couldn’t make sense out of what her eyes were telling her. Angel. Her Angel.

He wasn’t changed that much. He was still tall and incredibly good-looking, his hair was a little longer in the back but he still wore it spiky on top. He had on a black jumper that was zipped up to his neck. Buffy thought he never looked better. And he was disgustingly, 100% drunk. She watched him stumble over to her.

"No baby you’re the Angel." He dove toward Buffy but she sidestepped his advance and he ended up crashing back down to the ground.

She rolled her eyes and look down at him in disgust. Not only didn’t he recognize her, he had just made a pass at a total stranger! Is this what he had been doing for the past 500 years! She was going to kill him, but first she was going to sober him up so he knew exactly why he was being killed! Buffy was furious and kicked him in the ribs. At his cry of pain, she immediately felt contrite.

"Come on Loverboy, let’s get you cleaned up and sobered up." She lifted him up and started guiding him toward her hovercraft.

"You taking me home with you?" Angel flung his arms around the petite blonde. God he loved petite blondes!

"Yep, just don’t try anything funny." Buffy was trying not to react to his nearness. He thought he was with a stanger, not her. She tried to keep that thought firmly in her head.

"I can’t." Angel stopped dead in his tracks and looked so lost for a minute that Buffy felt her anger slipping away.

"Why not?" She reached out and gently took his hand.

Angel tried to focus his fuzzy vision on the girl in front of him, but it was impossible.

"Because your not her." Angel looked down at the hand holding his, something was nagging at the back of his mind but he couldn’t make sense of it.

"Oh Angel, come on. It’ll be all right. I promise." Buffy felt her heart melt. She knew he was talking about her.

He had survived. Somehow he had made it through the Hell Quakes and had survived. She wanted to shout out her happiness but needed to get them someplace safe first. She helped him into her hovercraft and took toward the above city alcove that Council had given her temporary use of.

Buffy had trouble getting Angel through the cities security system; they finally let them in when she threatened to quit the Council yet again. She had her own alcove completely separated from the rest of the city, so she didn’t fear any unwelcome company.

Buffy had to support Angel the whole way, she finally managed to get him into her apartment. The doors to her bedroom slid open and she dropped him onto the bed.

"First you sleep this off, then we’ll talk." Angel had already closed his eyes.

Buffy tugged off his boots and stood to look at him. Her breath caught, he was really here. She felt a surge of tenderness and protectiveness course through her. She wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him, though it looked like he had taken care of himself just fine these past 500 years. She was anxious to hear his story.

She took off her cap and her hair spilled free, she then knelt on the bed and just stared at him.

Angel opened his eyes and stared at the vision above him. Buffy. His Buffy. But no, it couldn’t be Buffy was dead, a dream then, this must be a dream. Angel liked this dream, it was clearer than any he had in a long time. He lifted his hand to her cheek and smiled when she turned her face into it.

"Buffy. My Buffy. I missed you so much."

"You don’t have to miss me anymore, honey. I’m right here." Buffy leaned down and tentatively kissed his cool lips.

"Baby." Angel pulled her head down and crushed his lips with hers, he drew her tongue into his mouth and began to suck on it. She moaned a little and began to knead his shoulders.

"Best one yet.." Angel murmured when she came up for air.

"Best what yet?"

"Dream. Best one yet." Angel placed his hand on the zipper to her jumpsuit and began to pull down.

"Dream? This isn’t a …" Buffy trailed off, she bit her lip and watched him unzip her suit. He thought this was a dream, would it be so bad if they both could pretend that this was just that, a dream. Didn’t they deserve some time away from the harshness of reality?

She watched his face as her breasts came into view. He looked awed for a moment then his eyes narrowed in lust. When he couldn’t pull the zipper down any further, he trailed his hand up, gliding past her stomach until he reached her right breast. He cupped her and dragged his thumb across her nipple.

Buffy gasped. She hadn’t felt these emotions since that rainy night in his apartment. But it was different. That night had been tempered by love and fear, now she felt lust and need. But the love was still there, it would always be there.

Angel propped himself up onto his elbow and moved his face toward her chest. He didn’t immediately take her into his mouth. He darted his tongue around her nipple, stopping to tenderly bite the tip. Only when he heard her cry out his name did he take her into his mouth. He began to nurse at her breast.

He moved onto his knees, never breaking contact with her. His left hand began to massage her neglected breast. He finally tore his mouth away from her flesh to devour her mouth.

Buffy felt her whole world spinning, all she ever wanted was in her arms and she couldn’t decide what she wanted to do to him first. Then a dark thought intruded on her paradise. The happiness clause. Was it still valid? Could he still lose his soul? Buffy didn’t know but didn’t want to take the chance.

She grew angry. They had come so far, had overcome impossible obstacles, yet the same problems haunted their relationship. When would it end? When would they finally get a chance at happiness?

She gently stroked the back of Angel’s head, breaking off their kiss. He immediately began kissing and sucking her neck, his hands moved to cup her breasts. Buffy knew in this condition he would be hard to stop. She didn’t want to try to reason with him, but she didn’t want to deny him either. She hoped that the clause only pertained to the complete physical act, if she was wrong. No, she had to be right.

She pushed him backward until he lay back down on the bed, then she teasingly began to lower his zipper like he did hers. She moved her mouth across his and slid her tongue inside, all the while unzipping him. When she was through with the zipper, she began to tug on the suit attempting to pull it off of his torso.

Angel smiled a happy, drunken grin and eagerly helped her. Buffy couldn’t help but giggle at his boyish enthusiasm. When she had finally stripped him, she settled back down on her knees in between his legs. His perfection made her want to cry. This beautiful man belonged to her body and soul but she wasn’t allowed to give him happiness.

"Take your suit off sweetheart, I want to feel you tight, wet heat around me." Angel ran his hand down her tight abs and dipped into her wetness.

Buffy’s senses reeled. Oh no, she thought, that way led to damnation. She quickly pulled his hand away.

"Don’t worry, honey, I’ll take care of you." Buffy lowered her mouth to his chest and rained kissed down his sculpted chest and abs. She felt his hand tangle in her hair. She knew he wouldn’t force her head down, but she could tell he was excited.

Buffy reached his enormous cock and kissed the tip, she slid her lips up and down his shaft eliciting a groan from Angel. She moved back up to the head and took him into her mouth. She wasn’t really sure how to go about this but judging from the groans and growls she wasn’t doing too bad.

She moved as far down as she could go without choking herself and sucked. Hard. She moved back up and paused to playfully lick the tip before engulfing him again. As she bobbed her head up and down she stroked his balls with her free hand.

Buffy felt Angel begin to thrust his hips and his hand tightened on her hair.

"Oh God Buffy, don’t stop, don’t stop…"

Buffy raised her eyes and was startled to see his demonic visage. Surprisingly it didn’t bother her at all. This was a part of him and she loved everything about him. He began to growl louder and Buffy could tell he was almost there. She relaxed her throat as much as she could and moved a little further down on him.

Angel felt his orgasm burst through his system. He raised his wrist to his mouth and bit down. The blood made him come harder. He tore his fangs away from his wrist and his face returned to normal. He looked up at the beautiful blonde above him and smiled.

"Best one yet.." He closed his eyes and passed out.

Buffy frowned. Geez, not even a thank you. But then she grew serious. What if this was enough to make him lose his soul? Her frown deepened. No, it couldn’t, he didn’t even realize it was real.

Still she watched over him the entire night. He never moved a muscle. Finally she gave up her vigil and went to catch a few hours of rest on the couch. No need to tempt fate or herself.

*****

Angel cracked one eye open at the sound of running water. He winced when a very off-key melody abused his hung over senses. He managed to open his eyes and looked around.

Where the hell was he?

He tried to think back to last night but that hurt his head too much. Then the singing started up again and he realized it was a feminine voice. He groaned out loud and squeezed his eyes shut. Then he gingerly lifted the covers and looked underneath, already knowing what he would find. Yep, he was naked and by the slight stickiness of his member he did more than get drunk last night.

He quickly scanned the room looking for his clothes. He knew it was wrong of him to just run off but he had no desire to see just what he slept with last night. Then he took a better look around. He wasn’t on the ground. He put on his suit and went to stand by the panoramic windows. He looked down at the wrecked world below, the world he now lived in. He was in one of the floating cities.

He must have slept with a human. A part of him was happy that he didn’t sleep with a half-breed of some kind but then he remembered what humans looked like nowadays and frowned. He needed to get out of here fast. He wasn’t very proud of what he had done but it wasn’t the first time. It didn’t happen often, the last time he slept with anyone had been roughly 200 years ago. But sometimes when he went on his drinking binges he woke up in some very disturbing situations. He was glad he didn’t remember much from last night.

Then an image flashed through his mind. Long, blonde hair. A giggle. A warm, wet mouth. He shook his head in disgust, he had been thinking about Buffy while he was….he couldn’t even bring himself to finish off his thoughts. He tugged on his boots and headed toward the doors.

"Going somewhere? Talk about slam, bam thank you ‘mam." Buffy giggled at Angel’s shell-shocked face. She had all night to get used to him being here, now it was his turn.

"Buffy." Angel’s voice cracked. He froze, he was afraid if he moved she would disappear.

Buffy stopped laughing; the pain and loneliness reflected in his eyes and the agony in his voice told her without words how desperately he had missed her. She always knew that she was the stronger one, that Angel in many ways needed her more than she him. She moved forward and gently cupped his face.

"It’s me. I’m here. I’m never going away again." She laid her head on his chest.

"Buffy." This time Angel didn’t attempt to stop his tears from flowing. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. He didn’t know how this could be and he didn’t care. All that mattered was that she was here.

*****

"The Council ordered me here to find the Eye of Shelbor and WALA!" Buffy sat cross-legged on the bed, watching Angel’s reaction to her story.

Angel frowned he didn’t particularly care for the Council and it seemed that Buffy was now working for them again. On the other hand, he was extremely grateful that they had saved her that fateful day.

He stopped pacing and moved to sit behind her, he slid his arms around her waist and smiled when she leaned back against his chest.

"The council is after the Eye too. Seems to me this is one popular piece of rock."

"You are the one who stole it aren’t you?" Buffy looked up into his face.

"Yep, and was ol’ Enyar pissed." Angel grinned.

"So spill, what kind of power does it hold?" Buffy wanted this cleared up so they could move into the more interesting subject of them.

Angel sighed.

"I wish I knew. I got a tip from an informant that the Eye had some sort of power over the Hellmouth and Enyar had it. Unfortunately, that’s all I know."

"Well, I’m waiting for Lazas to contact me with any prophecies that he comes up with regarding the Eye. In the meanwhile, I have Willow’s books." Buffy got off the bed and went to retrieve the books.

She came back to the bedroom and dropped the 3 volumes on the bed by Angel.

"Research party anyone?"

"Why haven’t you asked me where the Eye was?" Angel frowned up at her.

Buffy was momentarily taken aback by his quick change of subject. Then she smiled.

"Because I trust you. Because I know that if you have it then it’s in the safest place possible. Because I know that you’ll give it to me when the time is right." She sat back down on the bed and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"I love you, Buffy. I missed you so much." Never in all of his years on earth had anyone loved and trusted him as much as Buffy did. He felt humbled by the complete faith she had in him.

"Good because I love you too." She handed a volume to Angel.

"About my leaving…I was on my way back…" Angel stopped when Buffy placed her hand over his mouth.

"It doesn’t matter now. Whatever happened back then is over. We’re together now that’s all that matters."

Angel removed her and bent her backward on the bed.

"I seem to remember a very vivid dream." He place tiny kissed along her collarbone as he spoke. "I think it’s time I returned the favor."

Angel carefully opened Buffy’s robe; he caught his non-existent breath when her perfect body came into view. Full breasts, a tiny waist, sleek defined thighs. He mentally thanked whatever God chose to listen to him for this second chance with Buffy.

He trailed his kisses lower, smiling as he heard her gasp when he reached her breasts. But he didn’t stop there long. He began to lick down her strong stomach stopping to playfully dip his tongue into her belly button.

Angel moved to kneel at the side of the bed maneuvering Buffy’s legs over his shoulders.

"Angel…" Buffy started to protest. She was embarrassed that he was seeing her this way. It had been so long.

"Don’t. I love you. Every part of you is beautiful to me." He bent his dark head and began licking up the inside of her thighs.

He paused when he reached her center. He heard her cry out his name and finally touched his tongue to the warm, wet slit that was waiting for him. He licked her up and down, stopping to sometimes plunge his tongue into her hole, coming close but never reaching the spot that ached for him the most.

Buffy was twisting her hips trying to guide him to her clit; she was about to grab his head when he finally touched it.

Angel could tell that Buffy was close to cumming and took pity on her. He encircled her clit with his tongue and began to suck. He was rewarded with Buffy’s gasp of pleasure. He plunged two fingers into her all the while never stopping his licking, sucking and biting.

Angel felt Buffy tense then give a strangle cry of release seconds before her body spasmed. He stayed where he was tenderly licking her as she rode out her orgasm.

"Angel, come here." Buffy wanted nothing more than to hold him forever.

Angel lowered her legs and moved to lie on top of her. Before he covered her, Buffy stopped to pull down the jumper to his zipper, she wanted to feel his skin against hers.

Angel slid one arm under her head and lowered his lips to hers. They were so involved in their passionate kiss they didn’t sense the intruders until they burst into the room.

"Move away from her vampire! Now!"

Angel lifted his head and tensed. An older human male was standing just inside the room with a metallic crossbow in his hands; a silver stake was loaded and aimed at him. He knew if he raised himself off of Buffy that stake would find it’s way into his heart.

Buffy turned her head at the familiar voice and closed her eyes in embarrassment. Lazas stood legs braced apart aiming a crossbow at Angel. Ganar was right behind him.

"Lazas it’s OK. Lower the weapon, he wasn’t hurting me." Buffy was gratefully they hadn’t busted in a few minutes earlier.

"Buffy. What is the meaning of this." Lazas didn’t lower his weapon. "I received a call last night that you demanded a demon be let into the city. My only thought was that he must have coerced you in some way."

Lazas didn’t like what he was seeing. Apparently, this was the Ancient One Buffy was sent to find. He had known that Buffy missed her old life, but would she have relations with this vampire just because he looked like the men of her time? He hoped not.

"I don’t think I like your tone of voice or what you’re implying." Angel growled threateningly at Lazas.

"I really don’t care what you like vampire." Lazas stared at the vampire, growing a little afraid at the suppressed violence he saw in that gaze. If he would only get up off of Buffy, so he could take a shot.

"Angel, honey it’s OK. Lazas is the Council leader. He’s only looking out for me, he doesn’t know who you are." Buffy raised her hand and tenderly stroked Angel’s cheek. They momentarily forgot the other occupants of the room as they gazed at one another.

"Angel!" Ganar gasped and move into the room, her fear of the Ancient One gone. This was Angel! Oh my God!

"Angel? As in the Angel that existed in your time? He wasn’t killed?" Lazas lowered the weapon, he had noticed the look that passed between the two. He had looked at his now dead wife that way countless times.

"Yep, the one and only. He kinda laid low for a couple of hundred years." Buffy smiled at Ganar sensing her friend’s excitement.

"Well, if you and your friend can clothe yourselves properly perhaps we can discuss the translation to Willow’s prophecy." Lazas now was feeling embarrassed. But then he thought of Angel’s curse.

"What are you two doing! Is his curse void?"

"Um..we…nothing really…we were just researching….and" Buffy stumbled, she had no idea how to explain their newfound way to get around the curse.

"The curse is still in effect. We haven’t done anything to jeopardize my soul. That’s all you need to know." Angel wasn’t about to start making up excuses for his and Buffy’s behavior. What they did was their business. He was 750 years old, he didn’t need to answer to anyone, well maybe Buffy, but definitely not his guy.

Lazas belatedly remembered his innocent daughter was also in the room. Ganar was standing staring wide-eyed at Buffy and Angel in the bed.

"Ganar come on. We will wait for you two in the living quarters." He grabbed his daughter’s arm and ushered her out of the bedroom.

Once Angel and Buffy had dressed, they joined Ganar and Lazas in the other room.

"So what’s going on Lazas? What does the prophecy mean?" Buffy waited for Angel to seat himself, then plopped down on his lap.

Lazas looked warily at Angel. All of his life he was taught to hate and fear demons of any kind. Could he trust this vampire? Yes, he had read about Angel in Willow’s diaries, but a person could change in 500 years.

"He’s OK. He’s more than OK. Anything you have to say to me, you can say to him." Buffy noticed the doubt on Lazas face when he looked at Angel. "I quit the council once because they wouldn’t help him. Don’t make me chose Lazas, because the Council will lose every time."

Lazas looked at his Slayer. She was bright, courageous and in her own way beautiful, and she was very much in love. He didn’t know Angel but he knew Buffy and trusted her.

"I won’t pretend to understand your attachment to him Buffy. But I trust your judgement." He settled on the couch and began to brief them on his findings.

"I’m afraid we didn’t discover much, only a riddle of some sort. It seems Willow was having dreams about the Hellmouth re-opening. A riddle kept repeating during her dreams, she never was able to make sense of it but she wrote in down in hopes that someone would solve it." Lazas reached into his pocket and pulled out piece of paper.

"It reads: ‘His true face will be revealed by man’s reflection. The blood that had once proved true and the sightless eye will be the final defense of man.’ Lazas looked around the room at the three confused expressions.

"Is anyone else completely confused?" Buffy had no idea what the riddle meant. It was times like these that she wished she had Giles by her side.

"Does Willow mention anything else in any of her other books?" Angel too was in the dark, he hoped Willow had further expanded on her dreams in her other writings.

"No. The only other mentions of the Eye of Shelbor was her frustration at not being able to solve the riddle." Lazas nodded approvingly at Angel. He had a very sound line of reasoning.

Ganar quiet up to now spoke up.

"The eye she mentions can be the Eye of Shelbor. I think that’s a pretty easy deduction." She looked at her father.

Lazas smiled at his daughter, she was becoming Council material more everyday.

"That’s a fair assumption if we knew what the eye looked like." He looked inquiringly at Angel.

"It’s a piece of rock. Nothing special. It looks like any other rock but it has some sort of energy coming off of it. Nothing harmful, you can touch it with no problem. It’s just something that you can sense."

"So it’s safe to assume that the ‘sightless eye’ is the Eye of Shelbor. What about the true face thing? Angel have you ever seen Enyar?" Buffy looked at her lover.

"No. I’ve had run ins with his minions for centuries but never got close enough to see Enyar. Even when I finally broke in to his stronghold, he didn’t come out to confront me directly. I heard a booming voice ordering his soldiers to find me and kill me, but that’s it. I tried to find where the voice was coming from but I had to get out of there quick while I still could." Angel had always been confused as to why the demon never confronted him himself. If he was powerful enough to open the Hellmouth, he should have been able to defeat Angel easily.

"Reminds me of the Wizard of Oz." Everyone but Angel looked confused.

"In the story, the Wizard convinces everyone that he’s this omnipotent God but in reality he’s just an ordinary man who knew a couple of parlor tricks." An idea was starting to form in Buffy’s mind.

"So maybe Enyar isn’t as powerful as he says." Angel was also starting to form a theory.

"Umm…more of that Demon Hype." They smiled at the shared memory.

"Buffy, get me a piece of paper and something to write with." Angel was definitely on to something.

Buffy brought back the items for Angel and they watched as the spelt the demons name E N Y A R in big bold letters.

"I’ve been dealing with the consequences of ‘man’s reflection’ for about 720 years." Angel handed the paper to Buffy. Her eyes lit up in understanding.

"Angel! You’re brilliant." She kissed his forehead and took the sheet of paper over to the mirror on the wall.

"Man’s reflection." She held up the paper to the mirror.

R A Y N E.

"Ethan Rayne!" Buffy crumbled up the paper and threw it. "I’m so going to kick his ass. I’m going to track his ass down, cut him into small pieces and stir fry him!"

Buffy punched the wall. They were made of a metallic material so she only dented it. Lazas and Ganar jumped at her display of violence, still not understanding the significance of the name.

Angel stood up and walked over to Buffy he slid his arms around her waist. She turned in his embrace and held onto him. Angel could feel her starting to cry.

"It’s all his fault. He opened the Hellmouth; he took away everything I loved. My mom, Giles, my friends…" She sobbed and buried her face in his chest.

"Don’t cry. We’ll catch him and when we do we’ll make him pay." Angel stroked her hair, at a loss on how to comfort her.

"Exactly who or what is Ethan Rayne." Lazas didn’t want to break up their moment but time was of the essence.

Buffy straightened and faced Ganar and Lazas.

"Ethan Rayne was a once class mate of my Watcher, Rupert Giles. He dappled in black magic and thought he was some kind of sorcerer. He caused some minor problems for Giles and I back in Sunnydale, but he never pulled anything like this off before. He was just as I said a human with a few parlor tricks."

"So he’s not even a demon. The Hellmouth was not opened from the inside but from the outside. He must have masked his dealings in a spell back in Sunnydale, that was probably why Mr. Giles never saw him coming." Lazas was deeply in thought.

"I think he went one further." Angel had always been suspicious of Enyar’s lack of control over the Hellmouth. "I’ve always wondered why Enyar didn’t wipe out the remaining humans. If he was so powerful why didn’t he just break open the binding spell Willow cast. I think the Eye of Shelbor must have come from the Hellmouth itself. Ethan must have known of it’s existence and removed it on that day, causing the Hellmouth to open. But now that it’s sealed once more he has no way of re-opening it with the Eye already removed. Unless of course he found some way to reactive the Eye."

"You must be right. No mention had ever been made of this Eye, but suddenly a few months ago it was all our informants were talking about. He must have come up with some way to re-insert the Eye, then remove it again." Buffy gazed at Angel who nodded at her.

Lazas was impressed by how well Angel and Buffy worked together. They kept bouncing ideas and strategies off one another until they came up with a theory or a plan. In an hour they managed to solve a good part of a riddle that had baffled leading experts for centuries.

"So what do we do now?"Ganar looked at Buffy.

"Now we send out an invitation to my old friend Ethan. Once he know his secret identity is up, he’ll probably panic and come racing over here. Once he’s here we find out what he had in store for the Hellmouth and figure out how not to have it happen."

"The prophecy mentioned the Eye being the key. If removing the Eye caused the Hellmouth to open, it stands to reason that putting it back could close it, maybe for good." Angel had not only figured out this part of the riddle, he had a hunch he understood the last part. He would leave that for later.

"You’re right Angel. We need to know exactly what the effects of the Eye are, and that depends on your Ethan Rayne coming to the Wastelands." Lazas looked to Buffy.

"He’ll come. I’m sending him a first class invitation, mailed to one Ethan Rayne, not Enyar, then I’m post marking it from Sunnydale, California. Finally, I’ll sign it, Love, Buffy Summers and Angel." Buffy smiled at her own plan. "If that doesn’t get him moving nothing will."

*****

So he had been found out. Ethan Rayne looked out into the wasteland that had once been Sunnydale. He was king of this New World. His Brave New World, his tribute to chaos. Not even Buffy Summers or that cursed vampire could stop his total annihilation of order. God he hated order! He hated everything his stuffy ex-compatriot Rupert Giles had stood for. They have never given him the respect and adulation that was his due, and they had all paid the consequences.

He had stumbled across the Eye of Shelbor by accident. An old Council reference book he had come across had re-counted an old legend of the Hellmouth. The Eye was actually a key of some sort, placed on the entrance to hell to secure the demons within, once the key was removed there was nothing to hold the forces of evil at bay.

Much to Ethan’s chagrin, humans managed to temporarily bind the entrance ruining his total take over. He had always been a second rate sorcerer he did not have the power on his own to re-open the Hellmouth. The only other way besides the eye to open it was the blood of the vampire Angelus. Ethan had assumed he had died in the quakes along with Buffy Summers. He wondered how he could use the vampire’s existence to his advantage.

To his elation his minions, being total convinced he was a supreme demon, bought him new information on how to reactivate the eye. It was as easy as re-inserting the eye then removing it. The only tricky part was finding the notch the eye had once been housed in. He was sure the landscape had changed over the centuries and knew he with his basically cowardly nature would not be brave enough to face the night and the uncertain terrain to re-fit the key. So he would let Buffy and Angel do it for him, he would go to Sunnydale and keep a close eye on them. Once they had re-fitted the Eye he would once again steal it.

And then he’ll deal with Buffy Summers. That girl was like a cockroach, no matter how many times you killed her she kept coming back. Ethan didn’t care how it was possible, he just wanted her dead and gone. For good this time.

*****

"I can’t believe he’s not coming." Buffy frowned as she looked over at Angel. "I was so sure he wouldn’t be able to resist facing us to crow about his big success."

"Maybe he’s more of a wimp than we ever gave him credit for." Angel grabbed Buffy’s hand and they continued walking toward the site where the Sunnydale High School once stood.

Buffy looked behind her to make sure the Council members were keeping up. She noticed that all 12 members were constantly looking around, fearing that the half-breeds they had so discriminated against were lurking in the shadows.

They finally arrived at the school. Marne, a Wicca of some renown, came forward. She closed her eyes, extended her hands. Her hands glowed for a moment then stopped; she opened her eyes and looked at Buffy.

"There." She pointed to a pile of twisted metal and rock. "The lock is there."

Buffy looked at the ruins memories temporarily overwhelming her. She remembered Xander zipping along on his skateboard. Willow waiting for her every morning at the fountain, Cordelia walking the halls as if she owned them and Giles patiently waiting for her in the library. She blinked back tears.

Angel sensed her sudden melancholy and squeezed her hand reassuringly. He too was remembering friends and times lost forever.

"Let the half-breed dig the lock out Buffy. There’s no need for you to tire yourself." Marne waved her hand dismissively in Angel’s direction.

Buffy whirled on her in anger.

"I had just about enough of your attitude." Her gaze swept over the entire council. "This ‘half-breed’ happens to be the man I love. If any one of you disrespects him again, I’ll show you the true power of the Slayer and kick your ass back to the Mother City!"

Angel pulled Buffy away for the Council.

"It doesn’t matter. It’s not really their fault. Humans were severely traumatized over what had happened. They passed their fears onto the following generations. Remember Buffy most humans during your time didn’t even know demons existed, then suddenly they were overtaking the world. You can’t blame them for being scared." Angel smiled at Buffy. Her defense of him had given him tremendous pride and joy but he understood the fears the Council carried within them.

"How come your so smart?" Buffy kissed him softly on the lips.

"Old age." He smiled at her and began pulling her toward the area Marne had pointed out.

The Council members shifted uncomfortably after they had moved away. They were shamed by the vampire’s defense of their calculated cruelty. Privately, they all wondered how many other innocent by standers they had callously disregarded. Ganar was the first to speak up.

"Well, I don’t know about you but I’m going to help them." She marched over to Buffy and Angel determined to help.

Lazar didn’t say a word. Angel had impressed him beyond words. He vowed to start changing some of the policies regarding half-breeds. He silently went to go help Angel and Buffy.

Buffy never stopped her digging or lifted her head, but she knew little by little the Council members were all digging by her side. By Angel’s side. Inwardly she smiled. Maybe humanity really did have a chance.

"I think I found it!" Ganar’s excited voice rang over the group.

Buffy, Angel, Lazas and the remaining council members all gathered around the notch that Ganar had revealed.

"So what do we do now?" Ganar looked at Buffy for answers.

"Well, by what we managed to figure out, all we need to do is re-insert the key. Then Marne will place a binding spell over this area. The new binding spell coupled with Willow’s should make it pretty impenetrable." Buffy looked over at Angel.

Angel removed the eye from his jacket pocket and solemnly handed it over to Buffy. The council members backed up as she took the Eye and moved toward the notch.

She placed the Eye in the notch and watched as the stone practically disappeared into the stone. Unless you were looking for the Eye it would be almost impossible to tell where the Eye rested and the rest of the surrounding stone began.

"So that’s it? Not even fireworks?" Buffy glanced up at Angel, she thought the whole business was anti-climatic.

"Well, I was never one to disappoint a lady. You want fireworks I’ll give you fireworks little girl."

A hooded figure came out of the shadows, his arms extended as he fired a laser beam in Marne’s direction. She was disintegrated in seconds.

Buffy was about to spring into action when she noticed that they were effectively surrounded by demons. By true demons. She quickly took note that these were not half-breeds. She faced Ethan Rayne without fear.

"And here I was thinking that nothing could ever improve your looks. Guess I was wrong, that hood over the face look works for you." She tried not to show him any fear.

"Oh how cute, you’re still the girl with the one-liners. It’s good to die with a sense of humor." Ethan pointed the laser toward Buffy. "And when your dead I’ll remove the Eye once more and chaos will once again reign!" Buffy had heard the ramblings of a mad man before and boy with this guy out there.

"Demons listen to me!" Angel’s voice rang out, Buffy and the Council members all turned in his direction. Buffy was surprised to see his face changed to his demonic visage.

"I too have lived in Hell. I too know the misery of being forced to walk this earth with humans." Angel’s gaze swept over the assorted creatures before him, he needed to appeal to their ingrained hate of man. Angelus was just the demon to do it. He hoped Buffy would understand.

"This world should be ours, but it is not. We have been cast from our realm, we have been forced to hide and cower while man once again tries to rise from the ashes. But what price are you willing to pay?"

Demons shifted as they listened, they had heard of Angelus.

"Are you willing to be led by humans? I too have formed an alliance with humans for my own preservation. But where does it end? Do we make one our king? Do we share our hell, our eternity with the enemy. For that is what you are doing."

Assorted growls and protests rose up from Ethan’s followers. A blue-scaled demon with horns spoke up.

"We do not follow humans as you do Angelus! Hell and this realm belong to us. Join Enyar and you too will reign for eternity." Demons cheered at the speaker’s words.

"Enyar. You have all been deceived. There is no Enyar. Enyar is a human by the name of Ethan Rayne. Not only have you been deceived, you have been deceived by a second rate magician. A human not worth a second mention!" Angel delivered his final blow with a flourish. He really should have been an actor.

Buffy had been frozen during Angel’s entire speech. She had waited for his finale. Gone were all her doubts about his loyalty. Never once had she assumed that Angel was trying to save himself.

"Do not listen to the traitor. He is trying to save his lover’s life!" Ethan warily looked around him at the very unhappy demons.

"Let’s checkout his story just to be safe." The blue horned demon tried to approach Ethan.

Ethan aimed his laser and fired, killing the demon. Chaos erupted. Demon began converging on Ethan and on the group. Buffy thought they were hopelessly outnumbered but then she noticed a wave of movement coming out from the shadows around them.

Half-breeds jumped into the fight. They weren’t big fans of humans, but they too had no desire for hell to be unleashed once more.

Lazar quickly pulled Ganar into an alcove and began zapping anything that came too close to her. The other council members were likewise occupied saving themselves. To their astonishment half-breeds were forming a circle around them, defending them from the masses of oncoming demons. Seeing that the half-breeds were weaponless, the council members gave up their own lasers to the half-breeds protecting them.

Buffy lost track of Angel during the fight. She finished off the demon she was fighting and resumed her position guarding the Eye.

"Dear Miss Summers, I believe you have something I want and I have something you want." Ethan appeared in front of her. He had Angel in front of him, a state-of –the art crossbow was pointed at his back.

"Move away from the Eye or you’re boyfriend goes Bye-Bye." Ethan laughed maliciously at the fear on Buffy’s face.

"No. Angel." Buffy knew she couldn’t let him die.

"Buffy, don’t listen to him. I don’t matter, what matters is that you keep him from that rock." Angel watched helplessly as tears coursed down her cheeks. He hated that once again she had to make the hardest choice.

"You matter Angel. More than anything, you matter." Buffy stepped away from the rock she was guarding. She heard Lazas and Ganar gasp of shock, but Buffy had made her choice. She’d rather burn in hell than live without Angel. She was mortally sorry that the rest of mankind would also pay for her choices.

Ethan pushed Angel toward Buffy. He didn’t bother to kill him, they would both be dead soon. He reached the Eye and pulled it from its resting-place. A faint grumble shook the earth and humans, half-breeds and demons alike all froze as once again the gates of hell were opened.

Buffy watched memorized as the familiar swirling void began to expand from the notch that had once held the Eye. She wrapped her arms around Angel, knowing that once again she had failed.

Angel looked at Ethan, the sorcerer was so engrossed on watching the void expand he took his eyes off of Angel. A fatal mistake.

Angel dropped to the ground and kicked his legs out toward Ethan, effectively toppling him. The Eye of Shelbor flew from his hands.

Angel sprung back up to his feet and grabbed Ethan, he sent him flying toward Buffy with a vicious right hand to the sorcerer’s face. Buffy grabbed Ethan and pulled him up by his hair. She hated to have to do this but he was much too dangerous to let live. She extracted a knife from her suit and quickly swiped it over his throat. She let him drop when she was done, never once looking down at the body. It was over he was dead.

Lazas came up behind Buffy.

"Quickly insert the eye before the void gets too big!" Lazas pointed over at Angel who had already retrieved the Eye. He was looking at the void an expression of immense concentration across his face.

"Angel, give me the Eye. I’ll put it back." The ground beneath Buffy began to shake, she knew they had minutes before the Hellmouth once again erupted.

"No. Inserting it will only be like putting a Band-Aid over the Hellmouth. What happens next time some crazy sorcerer wants to take over the world? It has to end, Buffy." Angel turned to face her, finally realizing what he must do. What he had been turned to do.

"What are you talking about? We don’t have time for this give me the Eye." Buffy didn’t like the look on Angel’s face. It reminded her of that fateful night when he had left her. A mixture of determination and incredible sadness.

"I translated the final parts of Willow’s riddle. ‘Blood that had once proved true and the sightless eye will be man’s final defense’, my blood Buffy. My blood & body have the power to close the Hellmouth, so does the Eye, combined it will effectively seal the Hellmouth, the inter-dimensional portal will no longer exist. It will be gone, forever this time." Angel never broke eye contact with Buffy. This was the way it had to be.

He remembered Angelus ritual to awaken Alcatha. Angelus had been right. All he had done, all he had been had led up to this moment. He had strayed but had found his way. Now his greater purpose was finally revealed.

"NO!" Buffy’s eyes filled with tears. "I just found you again. I can’t lose you."

Lazas cut in. "It’s the only way to ensure peace, Buffy." He sympathized with Buffy, even felt remorse for Angel himself, but he had to look to the greater good.

"What kind of peace is bought with the price of an innocent man’s blood!" She turned on Lazas. "He’ll have to suffer eternally while the rest of us live peaceful lives! It’s not fair!"

Angel walked up to Buffy and hugged her to him. He bent and kissed her. He tried to convey in his kiss all the love, passion and eternal devotion she had inspired in him. He would always love Buffy Summers.

"We both know it can be no other way. This is our destiny. Please don’t make this harder on me Buffy, please. I didn’t say goodbye last time, that decision haunted me for centuries. Let me say goodbye this time, let me have peace. Let me go." Angel felt her arms tighten around him then they loosened and she stepped back.

He knew she had accepted his decision, for it was his decision to make.

He held out his hand to her. She placed her knife into it.

"I’ll love you forever Angel. I’ll never forget you, neither will mankind. I’ll make sure of that. Know that…it was an honor to know you, to love you. I’ve never been so proud of anybody as I am of you. Good bye." Buffy stepped away knowing that even if the evil of the Hellmouth was totally banished, her days would be filled with darkness, without him.

"Good bye Buffy. No matter what I’ll always be with you." Angel blinked away the stinging in his eyes. He turned toward the ever increasing void.

He ran the blade over his left palm; he then picked the Eye up and transferred it into his left palm. A blue light began to grow around the Eye when it made contact with Angel’s blood.

He walked toward the notch. He vowed not to turn and look at Buffy again. She didn’t need to see the fear he was sure was stamped across his features. Hell. He would be sending himself willing to hell.

He began to extend his left arm out.

Buffy knew she wouldn’t let Angel burn in hell for eternity. She couldn’t. After all of his battles, his countless good deeds, his selfless defense of mankind, he deserved peace. He finally deserved to rest in peace. She would give him that peace.

She picked up Ethan’s crossbow and aimed it at Angel’s back. Lazas and Ganar looked on in sorrow, there was nothing they could do.

Angel inserted the Eye, he felt the pull on his soul the minute the stones connected. The void began to shrink and the horrible sucking sensation began to pull at Angel. He closed his eyes and prayed. Just when he thought he was lost, a sharp pain in his back caused his eyes to fly open. He felt his body losing structure and knew what had happened. Buffy. Buffy had once again saved him.

Angel smiled and silently thanked his love as his body turned to dust. The void completely closed up and the eye was completely absorbed into the rock. No one ever again would be able to find it, much less remove it.

Buffy lowered the crossbow staring fixedly at the spot where Angel had last stood. She hoped he understood why she had done it. Silent tears coursed down her cheeks, he was gone this time for good.

Ganar wrapped an arm around her friend but Buffy didn’t move into her embrace. Her pain was so deep she was incapable of any visible expression of grief.

A loud grumble tore through the skies above them and everyone looked up in fear. The demons thinking that perhaps the Hellmouth was indeed opened began to move in for the kill. A strong wind whipped up and everyone looked up as lighting cracked and thunder roared. Fear had paralyzed the humans and half-breeds alike.

"My God look at that!" Buffy looked up to where Lazas was pointing. The black clouds that shrouded the world in eternal darkness had begun to dissipate. They parted and everyone gasped as the sliver of blue was revealed.

Demons noticing now the strange occurrence froze in their tracks.

The black clouds continued to roll away more and more patches of blue came into sight. A blinding yellow light was starting to break through the remaining clouds. Finally the remaining clouds were burned off and a glorious ball of yellow was revealed.

The Sun. The humans below had only read about the sun, they had never seen it. They were awed; everyone brought their hands up to shield their eyes but they never stopped staring at the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.

Horrible inhuman shrieking began all around her and Buffy watched in amazement as the sun’s rays incinerated all the true demons. She watched in sadness as even some of the half-breeds were destroyed. Some creatures were never meant to see the light of day. Most of the half-breeds remained and looked around at the world that had just been revealed to them. They winced in horror.

The humans did also, not only were the half-breeds totally revealed but the world they had never bother cleaning up was laid out in front of them. The destruction was horrendous. Lazas vowed to immediately start a clean up committee. He was not spending the next 70 years looking out at this mess.

Just them a loud cheer sounded. They had won! They have brought back the daylight. Good had triumphed. Humans and half-breeds alike rejoiced in celebration.

But stood removed from it all. She watched her friends celebrate their victory. Buffy couldn’t feel any of their elation; the price for the victory had been too steep for her personally. She would always be grateful that they had won, but would never celebrate that victory. She looked at Lazas determined to have a serious talk with him. One of the things that had bothered Angel was the human’s treatment of the half-breeds. She would make sure that Lazas started to turn those prejudices around, she would do this in memory of Angel. Then she looked at the wreckage around her. She would make it her goal to see Sunnydale restored. She knew her causes would never fill the void Angel’s death left behind, but they would give her a reason for getting up every morning.

Buffy began to walk away from the area. Down the street that had once been Main St., heading for Rubello Drive. She was determined to look toward the future but for today she would live in the past. She arrived at where her home was once and sat down on a rock. She placed her head on her knees and began to cry.

All around her she heard the distance sounds of celebration.

*****

Buffy Summers lived for 10 more years after that fateful day when Angel had given his life for mankind. She had been killed in battle like she was destined. The demon that had finally killed her hadn’t been especially fast or strong rather Buffy was growing restless in her life and tired. She was tired of facing the darkness alone.

Not all demons had been destroyed that day. Some were underground at the time and had been spared the sun’s rays. There were no new demons but Buffy was still kept busy with the demons that hadn’t died that day.

She had been incinerated by a laser gun. The demon hadn’t been quick enough to even touch her but he had been smart enough to use man’s weapon against man itself.

Ganar had been present and she quickly dispatched Buffy’s killer. She had gathered Buffy’s ashes and scattered them over the area where Angel had died. She knew Buffy would have liked that.

Buffy had made a tremendous impact on the New World. Human and half-breed relations were much improved thanks to her efforts. Humans came down from their sky cities and began to build on the ground once again. Buffy had the pleasure of seeing trees and grass growing again before she died.

Ganar would start her own diaries chronicling the adventures of Buffy Summers and Angel. Future generations would credit both of them with saving the world. Their love would truly be immortal; it would live in the hearts of mankind forever.

Buffy awoke feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. Not again she thought to herself as she viewed her surroundings. Everything was white, she couldn’t make out anything but endless white. She started to panic.

//Where am I? Last thing I remember was ol’ ugly zapping me. I must be dead!//

Buffy looked around cautiously. Where was everyone? Was this her destiny then, to be totally alone in this endless white?

"About time you got here, we’ve been waiting forever!" Willow stepped in to Buffy’s line of vision

Buffy blinked. It couldn’t be, Willow was dead. But then she remembered so was she. Willow looked like she had during sophomore year, her hair was long and innocence and happiness shone in her eyes.

"Will!" Buffy ran toward her friend and hugged her. Willow enthusiastically returned the hug.

"I missed you so much Buffy! I waited for the day to finally see you again." Willow stepped back and grabbed her hand.

"Will, I have so much to tell you. I missed you so much and I…" Willow cut her off.

"Come on…there all waiting and impatiently. Patience is suppose to be a virtue but we never did get that part down." Willow grinned sheepishly.

"Who’s waiting?" Buffy hoped and prayed it was Angel. Please let it be Angel.

The midst parted and a clearing came into view. Buffy couldn’t believe what she was seeing, a picnic. People where milling about casually talking, eating and stretching out on blankets. It was a beautiful day with bright sunshine and Buffy heard the unmistakable sound of birds chirping. Was this her heaven then? She didn’t know but it looked pretty good to her.

"Hi, honey, welcome home." Buffy turned to the familiar voice.

"Mom!"

Joyce hugged her daughter and kissed her on the head. She smiled but there were tears in her eyes. She had waited so long to see her little girl again.

"Don’t I get a hug?" Hank Summers appeared from behind Joyce.

Buffy whooped her happiness and jumped on her father. He caught her around the waist and spun her in circles, just like he used to do when she was a little girl.

"Daddy! I missed you." Buffy rained kisses all over Hank’s face. She grabbed her mom and hugged both of them at the same time.

"Run along sweetheart, the others are waiting." Buffy noticed that Joyce and Hank stood with their arms wrapped around each other. They looked extremely happy, together. What was going on? Then she knew, the information just popped into her head. It was just like Faith had once said, there was a lot of knew stuff rattling around up there.

She followed Willow to a clearing. Willow pointed to a blanket not too far from them. Buffy stared at the occupants her eyes filling with tears. Cordelia was stretched out on the blanket her head pillowed on Xander’s lap, he occasionally fed grapes to her. Buffy wondered whose heaven that was, Cordelia’s or Xander’s.

Giles and Jenny were sitting together. Giles was reading while Jenny attentively listened. He would pause every so often and look loving into her eyes. She returned the gesture.

Buffy noticed that Willow had moved away from her and went to stand by Oz, who was strumming his guitar. When she approached he put down the guitar and took her into his arms.

Buffy approached Cordelia and Xander first.

"It’s about time! Leave it to you to be late. You always have to be the center of attention!" Cordelia sprang up, the smile on her face took the sting from her words. She embraced Buffy enthusiastically.

"Buff!" Xander hugged Buffy so tightly her lifted her off the ground. "Now we can officially party. Gang’s all here!"

Buffy hugged and kissed her friends. She pulled back from Xander and Cordelia and glanced around again.

"I hate to bring this up but where’s Anya?" She directed her question at Xander.

Sadness entered Xander’s eyes but was quickly replace by acceptance. Cordelia reached out and grabbed his hand.

"She still had some traveling to do. She’ll eventually be here, I don’t doubt that. But she needs to be where she is for now." Xander smiled gently at Buffy.

Buffy understood everything at once. Anya needed to make up for the evil she had done as a demon. She wasn’t in hell she had done too much good once she became human. She was travelling the Ghostroads.

"Faith? Spike?" Buffy turned to look at Willow.

"Same deal. They have miles to go yet." Buffy nodded in understanding she knew that one day they would be here, it wasn’t their time yet.

Buffy turned and walked toward her watcher. The man who had been more of a father to her than her own father.

"Giles." She gently touched his shoulder. He seemed to notice her then.

"Buffy! My god, it’s about time." In a totally out of character display of emotion Giles embraced Buffy and kissed her on the cheek.

"I missed you so much. There were so many times I needed you." Buffy returned his hug.

"And I was there, everytime. You are an incredible girl Buffy. You did well." Pride gleamed in Gile’s eyes.

Buffy turned to greet Jenny. Jenny looked unsure of her reception.

"Jenny…hi." Buffy saw the wary look in Jenny Calender’s eyes, whatever had transpired between them on earth was over as far as Buffy was concerned.

"Buffy…hi. I hope the transition was easy for you. You did some incredible things down there." Jenny smiled gently at the girl she so much admired.

"Thank you." They cautiously hugged. Time would make things easier between them, Buffy figured she now had all the time in the world.

Buffy stepped away from Jenny and Giles and began to look around her. Panic began to rise when she didn’t see the one person she longed for. Was he too still travelling the Ghostroads? She then grew angry, it wasn’t fair! He had already paid his debt to society. This should be their forever.

Willow approached Buffy sensing her distress.

"He’s waiting over there. He’s been waiting a long time now. He sometimes comes here, but mostly he stays there. We go over there a lot, you’ll like it." She gently pushed Buffy forward. Buffy noticed she went to go stand by Oz but other people had joined them. They looked remarkably like Willow. She also noticed Oz was now cradling a baby in his arms. She immediately understood that this was Willow’s family.

Buffy walked forward. The landscape shifted and changed and she was no longer at the picnic area. The scenery changed to rolling green hills and crystal blue lakes. Buffy made out a castle turret in the background. She heard voices and turned toward a group of people who also looked like they were camping outdoors. As the voices became clearer she noticed they had a very heavy brogue.

Then she saw him. He was standing by an older woman that had his incredible dark eyes. The woman looked fondly at him and reached up to ruffle his hair. An older man playfully slapped him on the back. They were all dressed in what Buffy thought were costumes, but then realized they were dressed according to their time.

Angel was wearing all white. She had seen him like this once before when she had dreamed of him on the beach with her. She wondered if this is where his soul had gone when Angelus had re-emerged. She hoped so. She knew in her heart that these people were his family.

He seemed to sense her then. His head snapped up and he looked directly at her. Time stood still. He dropped his arms from his mother’s shoulders and took a step toward her. Angel’s family noticed he was no longer paying any attention to them and turned to see what had captured his attention. A small blonde girl dressed in a pink dress stood there gazing at Angel. She also took a step forward.

Angel’s brothers began poking each other in the ribs laughing at their older brother’s besotted look. Their parents swatted them on the heads. Effectively shushing them.

Angel looked at the vision before him praying that she was real. Buffy. His Buffy. Before he knew it he had started to jog over to her.

Buffy noticed the happiness and love in his eyes and started running full speed ahead. He didn’t hate her. He understood her actions that day. Her happiness overflowed.

They reached each other and Angel swung her up in his arms. They kissed and savored the complete elation of being together again. They knew this time it was forever that nothing would ever tear them apart. They had earned an eternity together.

Angel lowered Buffy and took a moment to just look at her. He didn’t ask any questions, he had taken it upon himself to watch over her during the past ten years. He knew of all her struggles and her triumphs. The world would forever be changed because of Buffy Summers.

"You understand what I did? I couldn’t stand the thought of you being in …" Angel silenced her words by placing a finger over her lips.

"I knew that day what had happened. I never got the chance to thank you. You saved me. You saved me from hell and gave me this instead. My family." He nodded over at the people watching them. They waved over at Buffy she shyly waved back.

"Will they like me?" She cautiously looked at Angel’s parents who were smiling at her.

"They still like me, so you’re a shoe in." He smiled gently and looked over her shoulder. "We have an audience.

Buffy turned to see that the gang plus her parents were all watching the reunion. Willow had tears on her face, she happily waved to Buffy and Angel. They waved back.

"Is there anywhere we can go to talk? I mean are we always going to be surrounded by everyone? Not that that’s a bad thing. I mean…is privacy allowed…what’s the rules up here?" Buffy looked genuinely confused, then she opened her eyes in horror.

"I’m having bad thoughts. Should I want to be alone with you? Is that sort of thing frowned upon? Can other people just walk right in!" Buffy thought that heaven was this pristine place where no mortal urges were allowed. She was already failing Spiritness 101, because she definitely still had mortal urges.

Angel laughed and hugged her.

"Yes, we can be alone and no nobody will just appear. It’s ok to have those feelings, you’re not penalized for loving somebody here. But we have to make our own place." At Buffy’s confused expression he quickly explained. "The picnic site with all of your friends and family that’s your place. This little piece of Ireland with my family is mine. We can visit either one as much as we like, but we should make our own place where only you and I belong."

"How do we do that?" Buffy liked the sound of having Angel to herself.

"Kiss me and while your kissing me think of every dream you ever hoped for us."

Buffy reached up and kissed him, they started out slow but soon their passion raged out of control. When she opened her eyes she was in a bedroom. The bedroom was decorated in a country style but had huge Victorian French doors that opened to a balcony. It was a mixture of homey Americana and European elegance.

"Is this yours or mine?" Buffy loved the room.

"It’s both of ours. My dreams mixed with yours. Come on." Angel grabbed her hand and led her out into the balcony.

It was a beautiful day; the sun was high in the blue sky. Buffy looked out into the back yard and noticed the white picket fence that encircled the house. A dog barked up at them and wagged it’s tail enthusiastically. It then trotted over to its doghouse.

Buffy frowned at the gothic monstrosity that doubled for a doghouse, she then giggled at the words SPIKE painted over the entryway.

"I take it that’s your doing." She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"A guy has to have some fun." Angel swept one arm around her shoulders and the other under her legs. "Speaking of fun."

He stepped back into the bedroom and dropped Buffy onto the king size bed. He then dove on her.

"Angel!" Buffy screeched and started laughing. "Is this allowed?"

"Of course! If it wasn’t this would be hell!" Angel laughed, really laughed at her worried expression.

"Shush, not so loud! What if somebody hears you?" She looked around.

"It’s just us now honey, and what we make of our time here. Nothing will ever stand between us again. No curse, no demons, no mortality. Forever this time." Angel bent down to kiss his Slayer.

Buffy felt truly, completely happy for the first time in her life. She was finally where she wanted to be, with who she wanted to be with. Forever this time.