Title: Afterlife
Part title: Afterlife

Author: GMB loves Angel

Spoilers: Iwry (as always), the last four eps of Angel season 2, the bachelor party, Hero, the gift... that's kinda it...

Rating: PG-13

Timeline: A few months after the gift...

Authors notes: This fic series will go between two worlds. Here's my version of what happened after the gift... I admitt it I'm completely hung up in Pylea... Iwry happened a season after than it did in the show...

Notes 2: Here we go three months back to right after the gift...

It was dark and scary. She couldn't understand what was going on. Her head was spinning. She remembered pain, but then it suddenly disappeared. Someone had screamed and shouted. The screams rang inside her head, but it had started to fade. She was dizzy and had some kind of amnesia. The screams had died out now. Now it was like she was waiting or something. She tried to open her eyes. This had to be a dream, but it wasn't…

After a while a little glimpse of light appeared. It grew to a blurry picture or something. Blue, light blue, a little green, some brown and two orange or red dots. It became less blurry and finally it was sharp again. The first thing she noticed was that she was looking up at two suns. That couldn't be right. It was comfortable lying in the warm grass, but at some point, she had to get up.

She felt a little kick as she sat up and looked at the whole scenery. She sighed of relief. At least how she had gotten here hadn't hurt her baby. She stroke her stomach gently as she searched for people of some kind… Then she saw someone coming towards her. It was something familiar with this person, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

- Buffy, what are you doing here?

- Huh? How did you…

- Know your name? We know each other, you're just a little confused. That's normal in the beginning, but you'll remember soon enough. I'm Doyle.

- Doyle? But aren't you…

- Yeah, I am, or more was. It's difficult to explain it fast. I better get you to my place. You can stay there until we get you your own.

- But I don't have any money…

- The kind of money you're familiar with doesn't exist here. Anyway… we need to get going. If the mangis clan sees us, they won't be happy. We're on their land.

- Who're the mangis clan?

- It's a long story, I'll tell you when we get home.

Buffy let Doyle help her up and he showed her the way through the forest. They finally got to a cottage and a little further she could spot some kind of village. And at the top of a hill she could spot a palace. Doyle held the door open and she walked in. He pulled out a chair and she sat down. Then he opened a cabinet and took out some oranges, found a very weird object, which he used to press the juice of the oranges into two wooden cups. He then gave her one of them and sat down himself.

- So, where am I?

- As in village, land or dimension?

- As in all three.

- Well, you're in my cottage outside Mirabell village in the land and dimension of Pylea.

- How did I get to an other dimension?

- Well, there are two ways of getting here. One is through a portal and the other is dying.

- Wait a minute… dying?

- Well, not everyone that dies come here, more those who dies as true heroes.

- In which meaning?

- Ok, this is my theory. The powers that be has a meaning with everything. A true hero gives his or her life to let someone else live. In my case there was a thing that would kill everything with human blood within a certain radius. Angel was supposed to sacrifice himself. He was willing to do that, but I knew what a loss it would be to the world and many others. He had a case to fight for for many years. I only had this power, that I knew could be transferred to someone else. I wouldn't be able to fight the way he did. And I cared for him and Cordy to live on. So I managed to jump, knowing I would die, but also stopping this thing killing everyone that I cared for. So technically this would make me a hero, but I was never the hero Angel is. I did one great thing, he does and keeps doing many great things. It took me a week before I remembered this all, so I doubt you can tell me your story yet.

- I can't remember anything, just some pain, screams and such.

- That's pretty normal. When I got here, all I wanted was a big glass of whisky to get rid of the pain, but they don't have that here. Believe me, I tried. Anyway, I don't think you would want to be drinking for at least a couple of months…

Buffy looked down, stroking her belly.

- You're right.

- I better tell you about the other way of getting here. And that's through a portal. They only appear when someone reads from certain books and the books never leave the dimension they're in. There's one back home and some here.

- That means you could get back?

- Not entirely. You see. Nobody knows where they'll open. They open at these hot spots. You need to find out where they'll open and then get hold of the book. As far as I know, they'll up in the castle.

- And that's not a good thing?

- Well, to get to the castle, you'll have to get through the village, where several clans live. They have a thing against humans. Not long ago, humans were sold as slaves, but the last princess freed all the humans making them and the demons equal.

- What was the princess? Human or demon?

- It was Cordy.

- Huh? Cordelia a princess? Here? But you said only those who dies as heroes gets here…

- I didn't say that. I said you either get here by dying as heroes or through a portal. Cordy came with option two.

- But I thought you said humans were slaves here.

- They were and Cordy as almost everyone else got caught and sold as a slave, but then she got a vision. Here it's a legend about a girl with the sight, who's supposed to rule them all. They tested her and concluded that she had the sight and then crowned her.

- But Cordelia doesn't have that power…

- I did. That was my power and before I died I passed it on to her. Cordy stayed here as princess for a few days. Not long after Angel came, they fought a battle to free the humans from the priests and then they went home.

- Without taking you with them?

- I never contacted them. I stayed away, but if I got the feeling that they wouldn't make it, I would have gone to them. They did everything well, so I didn't have to. I saw them, but they never saw me.

- Why? If I had seen Angel…

- You would have gone right to him? This world doesn't change anything for you. In fact, this is a worse place. You should have seen what it did to him. First he looked completely human, but then he changed totally. He completely became Angelus and may I say so, that's an ugly bastard. I think it frightened him also, but his demon side became very strong. It was amazing that he managed to change back to his human one. Back home he has a balance. In my case I thought that I can't reveal what happens when you die, then they might not come here at all, because knowing will make any unselfish act into a selfish one. If you had believed that dying for someone else would take you to heaven, you wouldn't have had such a pure act and you could have ended up in hell…

- But don't you want to go back?

- Sometimes yes … This place is great. It's beautiful, but there are struggles, racism here. My friends aren't here. And I miss whisky…

Buffy laughed, but she was also sad. She missed everyone back home and started to wonder if they had managed to get to a portal, would they be allowed through?

- Do you think we can go back?

- Maybe, I don't know, but first we would have to get to the books. To do that we have to talk to the Grusalugg.

- Who's that?

- That's who followed Cordy on the throne…

- Oh, no. I have to talk to a demon?

- Grusalugg's not a demon. It means the brave and undefeated. He's human. Cordy put him in charge of changing this world. The clans aren't happy about the change and still tries to hold humans as slaves. Grusalugg has his hands full. And I think you shouldn't try to take that trip yet. It can be dangerous. That's why I stay here and live of the forest instead. If I go into town, I change into my demon mask. Then they accept me and sells me what I need. How long until…

- I'm six months along, so I still have three left to go.

- Then we'll go to town after that. Grusalugg has a big heart and I think he fell in love with Cordy, so mentioning her will make him smile.

- That doesn't bother you?

- It's hard letting her go, but what other choice do I have? I can't expect her to stay single for the rest of her life and as long as I don't reveal myself or get back home, I have to let her make her own decisions. I can't and won't control her. Love's not about that and I know you know that. Angel had a hard time letting you go, but it was his choice, so he has to live with it. I know that he regrets giving up that day.

- What day?

- It's a day that you don't remember. Angel was human, but it threatened you and your life, so he gave it up.

- How did it threaten me?

- There was a talk about the end of days, which would be a fight to the death. He didn't get to know when it would happen, but he figured you would stand a better chance if he got his powers back and even if that meant giving up his human life, he did that. He remembers, but made sure you wouldn't so that you could move on.

Buffy started thinking.

- Do you know what happened that day? Did he tell you?

Doyle just smiled and got up.

- Well, what do you think, he said, patting her belly before leaving the room.

Buffy turned around, got up and walked after him.

- How did you know that I…

- Didn't know who was the father? Well, I may have lost my visions, but common sense I still have and brains, even if Cordy sometimes thought I didn't. That happened six months ago… right before I died. You were down in his apartment for hours after what I heard and I don't think protection was on your minds…

Buffy just blushed trying hard to remember that.

- Do you remember that day?

- No, just Angel does. He told me because I had told him about the oracles that day and I never mentioned them for him before he confronted me about it.

- I wish I could remember it.

- I'm sorry. You should have talked to Angel. I can see it in your eyes that you deep down knew that it was his.

- I guess I did. I think the whole gang knew. Nobody asked me though. If they had accepted that whole crap about me not wanting to talk about it, they would have asked. But they knew.

- Funny how friends react. I for example thought that when Cordy found out about me being a half demon, that I was never gonna see her again. She was angry with me for not telling, but also told me that she didn't care. She was more wondering when I was gonna ask her out. And that was the girl who had been mocking me for months.

- If you could have one perfect day, just like what Angel and I had, what would you do?

- I would have given her that date I promised her… And that day would not end with me dying…

- Good to leave that in, because that kinda ruin the whole 'perfect day' concept.

- Exactly…

The room filled with laughter…

- Doyle, she asked, when the laughter stopped.

- Yeah?

- There's this thing I'm wondering.

- Is this about the portal? I don't know how to work'em to make them open where you are…

- No, it's not about the portal. When Angel came here you said he split in two?

- Yeah, completely human and completely demon. They still shared the same body, though.

- What effect did this world have on you?

- Nothing.

- How can that be?

- I was already split when I came here. My demon isn't really bad, just ugly.

- Doyle. I've seen your demon face. Thrust me, I've seen far more ugly demons than that… You don't have lime all over you, you have all your 'insides' inside, you just get spikes. I'd put you among the top ten good looking, demonwise.

- At least I don't look like a big lobster, like that guy Harry was gonna marry.

- Nice rhyme. Who's Harry?

- Harry was my wife. We split up after I found my demon self. Not because I was a demon, but because I couldn't deal with it. She loved my demon, I thought she pitied me. She came to see me not that long before I died to give me the divorce papers. She was gonna remarry. The guy was a demon. He looked like a overgrown lobster…

Buffy laughed. She pictured the whole thing. Doyle just looked at her, but as soon as she moved her hands like a lobsters claws, he laughed too.

- So, what h-happened, she asked, still laughing.

- There was this whole thing where he wanted to eat my brain, so she dumped him.

- Good, because eating your brain isn't really a turn-on…

- Luckily enough.

- Who would you have chosen?

- What do you mean?

- If it stood between Harry and Cordelia?

- I think it's Cordy. Harry and I got to be so different, so when she left that other guy, I knew that there was no point in trying again. But it's hard to choose…