Based on characters and situations created by Joss Whedon. Author’s Note: Tut has appeared previously in my Highlander stories. His wife, Sita is the central character in the Last Vampire series by Christopher Pike. Travis and Damion, mentioned herein, appear in stories that I just realized I haven’t posted yet, but don’t worry, I’ll get to it :P

~~~~~

The alley was absolute devastation. Demon bodies and debris from the quake that had destroyed the Wolfram & Hart offices littered the ground. Dried blood, not so dried blood, and who knew what kind of fluids stained concrete.

“My God,” Buffy said softly. “How the hell did you survive this?”

Tut shrugged, only recently recovered from his death. “Well they only ran me through. A few times. Guess they never thought to cut off my head.”

“Yeah and having a 5000 year old Yakoff Vampire for a wife didn’t hurt either did it.” Xander said.

“That’s Yakshini.” Tut corrected him. “And yeah, I guess it did help at that.” Tut surveyed the area. “How the hell are they gonna cover this up?”

“I was just wondering that myself.” Buffy said.

Soon, the group reached the mouth of the alley. They all hesitated. “You go ahead Buffy.” Willow said softly. “We’ll wait here.”

Buffy gave Willow a grateful glance and headed into the site of the worst of the battle. Willow, Xander and Tut waited out on the street.

“So Tut,” Xander said, forcing a conversational tone. “I hear L.A.’s been quite the rockin’ town these past few years.”

“You mean my career or my hobbies?”

“Oooh,” Willow giggled. “How IS your career?”

“It’s going well. There’s no shortage of work for a stunt double who’s willing to take the kind of risks I am. As for my hobbies, well let’s see, Sita and I stopped two tour busses full of Vampires trying to get into L.A. when the sun went out, this is after we both got our asses handed to us by this big rock thingee. Sita didn’t take that well. Or the whole having our minds controlled by an ancient Goddess. Oh, remind me to tell Buffy that Travis and Damion said hi. They had to get back to Cleveland.”

“Just popped in to battle an army of baddies huh?” Xander asked.

0.0

Giles crouched beside the body, one hand on the man’s head, the other clutching the bridge of his nose. He’d known many emotions in his time as Watcher. But guilt hit him the hardest. Every time.

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly to Wesley’s still form. “I’m so sorry, for everything. I should have trusted you. I should have been there to help.” He swallowed hard, and sank into a full sitting position. “I never thought much of you. I thought you were, green, pompous. Everything I hated about myself when I first started out.” He smiled slightly, laughing at himself. “But you proved yourself, ten times over. I’m proud of you Wesley. I promise to set you as an example for future Watchers to aspire to. I only hope that one day you’ll come to forgive me, for what I’ve done. For what I failed to do.”

0.o

Connor sat, huddled against the wall. His knees hugged tight to his body, his head hidden between them. He didn’t know whether he was about to cry, or vomit, or both. He couldn’t stop thinking about all the grief he’d caused his father. The pain. And now he could never make it up to him.

“Uhm, excuse me,” a soft voice said from not far away. He raised his head in surprise. He’d been sure he was alone in the hotel. He was hiding behind the front desk counter, where he’d been ever since he saw his father’s body in the alley. He wiped his face, determined not to cry. Not if there was someone else here. He had to be strong. He had to make his father proud. Maybe if he was really quiet they’d go away.

No such luck. As soon as he saw the face peering over the counter, he recognized it. But he was careful to show no sign. She didn’t remember him after all.

“A-are you Connor?” Fred asked tentatively. “A-Angel wanted me to find you.”

“What?”

Before she answered, Fred clambered over the counter-top to sit beside him on the floor. Her eyes were red and wet with recently shed tears. “I, Angel told me to find you, if-if he didn’t make it out of the fight.” She held out her hand. “I’m Winifred Burkle. You can call me Fred.”

Connor struggled with himself. The coldness with which she’d dealt with him after he’d dumped his father in the ocean was still fresh in his mind. Of course he’d deserved it but...

“Connor Reilly.” He offered, shaking her hand briefly before letting his own fall back to his knee. He stared strait ahead, not really looking at her.

Connor Reilly. He still thought of himself as that. Not Connor Angel, even though he knew that Angel was his real father. It hadn’t been easy, realizing he was adopted. Having the Demon responsible for his messed up life available to take it out on helped.

“Here.” She said, handing him an envelope. “He wanted you to have this.” Illyria looked at the young human beside her through Fred’s eyes. He was so fragile, yet strong. Like his father. She wondered what his mother had been like, Fred had not spent much time with her.

Still without looking at her, Connor opened the envelop and unfolded the paper within.

Dear Connor,
If you’re reading this, it means that I did not survive the battle. I wish I could have said all this to you in person, but I guess this will have to do. I can never stop regretting, the time that was stolen from us. Every second you were gone after Holtz took you felt like a stake in the heart. But to see you the way you turned out, with the new life and everything, you reached a potential I don’t think you could have done growing up with me. I’ve never been good with words so I cannot begin to express how proud I am to see what you have made of your new life. I’m sure where ever Cordelia is now she’d be proud as well.
I know that whatever you choose to do with your life from now on, you’ll continue to make us proud. At the end of the day, you were, and are, the most important thing in the world to me and I hope that I’ve helped make the world a better place for you to live in.
Take care of your adopted family. Be overprotective of your sister and irritate her to no end by trying to scare off her boyfriends. Tease your parents by how uncool they are. Try to steer clear of older women.
But above all, know that I love you. And will always be watching over you.
Love,
Angel
P.S. I hid a lot of money in the basement of the hotel. Don’t spend it all at once.

Connor finished reading the letter, and realized that despite his determination, tears were streaming down his face. Fred reached for him, and he did not resist when she pulled him to her in a fierce embrace.

“How did you know him?” Fred asked.

“He was my father.”

“He WHAT?”

:O

He was smiling. His eyes were closed, and there was a serene, beatific smile on his face. Buffy couldn’t help but smile herself, even as she tasted the tears that leaked into her mouth. She cupped his sun drenched face in her hands and kissed his cold lips.

“Still your girl.” She whispered. “Always.”

:(

The funeral had been small. Ten people at the most were there. Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Faith, Dawn, and several people Buffy did not know. She could only assume that they were people Angel had helped. There was so much she didn’t know about Angel’s time in Los Angeles. And now she supposed she never would.

Slowly, the group dwindled, as one by one they trickled away. There was a wake being held, Giles had thought it would be appropriate, considering Angel’s Irish heritage. Wesley had posthumously been restored to the Watcher’s council, and a photo of him held a place of honor on a wall Giles had set aside for those who had given their lives to save the world.

Soon, only one lone figure stood before Angel’s head stone.

“Here Lies Angel.” Xander read. “He Saved the World. Again.” He grinned ruefully and shook his head. “Note to self come up with something more original for my headstone.” He swallowed hard. “I never liked you.” He said. “And I’m sorry about that. Because it wasn’t your fault.” He looked down at his feet. “Sure you were Buffy’s cuddle toy, and that drove me nuts. But wasn’t even the main thing. I mean, I never wanted any of Buffy’s other boyfriends dead or anything. I don’t like Vampires. And I don’t think I ever will. You saved the world. You saved Buffy, and I think you saved me a couple times too. You’re one of the good guys Angel. And I never gave you enough credit for that. But I just wanted, you know, to know. Why, I mean. I just thought I owed you that. And Thank you of course.” He stood for a moment, silent. “Anya, Cordy, or God or whoever might be listening, take care of Deadboy okay? He deserves a break.”

He turned away, then stopped. “Oh, almost forgot.” He took a piece of colored chalk from his pocket and wrote LIAM above the inscription on the tombstone. “Research boy comes through with the info.” He said quietly.

The End