No Power On Earth
By Amber Andersen

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the BtVS characters. They belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and Fox. If I did own them, I’d treat them much better than Joss Whedon But, oh well. I’m just having fun. So don’t sue me.
Notes: Takes place after "Hero", but not "Something Blue" "Hero" happened; "Something Blue" didn't. The reason why "Something Blue" didn't happen is because I don't like how Buffy was like "What I need is a nice, stable guy- Riley!" I HATE that quote! Got it?


December 2, 1999

I jerked out of sleep, panting heavily. This was the fourth dream I'd had in the past week. They all centered on end-of-the-world type stuff and the Millenium. But this last dream was what scared me the most. In it, Angel died. I wasn't with Angel anymore, but I still loved him. I thought I always would.

"Have. . . to. . . call. . . Giles." I muttered sleepily, reaching for the phone.

I let the phone ring about thirty times before throwing it down in disgust. "God, Giles." I muttered, frustrated. "You couldn't be a light sleeper? It's only-" I looked at my clock, "3AM. You, the ex-Watcher, should be researching a millenium evil right now. I have to tell somebody." My gaze shifted to the sleeping Willow. I was about to call out to her, but decided against it. No need to disturb Sleeping Beauty.

I sat up in bed and drummed my fingers on the lamp table impatiently. Who could I call? These dreams were getting stronger. I mentally ran through all the people who I knew, and came up with only one person that was would even be remotely awake at this hour.

Angel.

I was, I had to admit, extremely reluctant to call him. I had just gotten back from LA a few days ago, feeling very disoriented. I had had the strangest feeling that I'd done more than just brush Angel off, then go back to my dad. Something about that scenario felt wrong somehow. So I guess I had to call him, if not for his safety but also for my sanity.

I dialed the number with trembling fingers. What if he was asleep? What if he didn't want to talk to me? What if he thought I was crazy for imagining a day that had never happened? What if- I was cut off in my whatifs by the phone picking.

"Angel Investigations." A voice answered wearily. "It'd better be important for ya to call at 3 o'clock in the morning." I recognized the voice immediately. Cordelia.

"Cordy." I said urgently. "I have to talk to Angel. Now." My tone was very commanding, but she had to argue anyway.

"Buffy?" she asked incredulously. "Why are you calling so late? It's-"

"I'm aware of what time it is. Put Angel on please."

"Okay, okay."

There was a scuffle on the other end as Cordy called for Angel.

"Hello?" he said at last.

"Angel." I said, without preamble. "What happened to me 2 days ago?"

"Buffy? What are you talking about? You came to LA, bitched at me for a few minutes, then left. That's all."

"No, it's not." I said. "I know you're lying to me. I've been having these flashes of memory- I don't know what's happening to me. I was hoping you could fill me in."

He sighed heavily, resigned, then said, "You came to LA, we fought a demon, it turned me human, we got to be normal, then you forgot it all."

"Why?"

"The demon, it had regenerative powers. Some of its blood mixed with my own, making me mortal. I had to turn back to vamp, though, to save your life. If I hadn't, you would have been killed by the demon that could multiply itself. The Powers That Be said that I would only be able to save you if the normal day we had was erased. I was supposed to be the only person who remembered what we'd shared."

"Gee, guess they don't know how to cast magic, cuz I'm remembering. And I was right before, I can't move on, knowing what happened." I said softly, nostalgic with my fragmented memories of a few nights before. From what I could recall, we'd had so much fun together, just being a normal couple in love. . . I gasped slightly, remembering how I'd moaned hysterically, "Not enough time! Not enough time!" I shook my head. I couldn't get all mushy now. I was on business. "I've been having these weird dreams, Angel." I murmured quietly, suddenly remembering that Willow was asleep in the other room.

He caught onto my tone of voice, and quickly asked, "Buffy, what's happened? You sound upset."

I sobbed quietly. So much for not being mushy. "In all of my dreams you-" My voice broke, and I cried for a second, before continuing to speak, "You die in my arms." I moaned.

He must have been surprised, for he paused a moment before answering. "Buffy, it probably doesn't mean anything. You could just be-"

"Angel." I interrupted, no longer crying. "I know the difference between regular dream and prophecy dream. This is prophecy dream. Also, I have a selfish reason for wanting you here."

"Which is?" he asked slyly.

I vividly remembered our passionate making out on the table which led to our making love for the first time since my 17th birthday. With one, small insignificant difference. Angel had been alive. I blushed furiously in the dark.

"I-I want you inside me again." I blurted out.

He must have gasped, but I didn't hear it. "Buffy, you know that I can't-"

"We'll find a way. Willow can reread the curse, she could cast another, there's got to be some way-" I said quickly.

He laughed. "Alright, I'll come. If only to see you when it's not a stalking, lurking thing. I'll have to leave now if I want to get there before the sun rises. I'll be there when you wake up in the morning."

"But the sun?" I asked anxiously. "Won't you burst into flames?"

"I'll think of something. I did when you had telepathy, didn't I?"

"Yeah." I agreed, with a touch of nostalgia. "I love you." I said tenderly. It seemed important that he should know that.

"I love you too." he sincerely. "I've never stopped. See you in a bit."

"Bye." I whispered, but he'd already hung up.

I lay back down to sleep, my body still aching for Angel's, even in my dreams.

* * *

I was eating ice cream in bed with Angel. It was pure heaven, because it seemed so normal. We kissed, a wonderful sugary, chocolate chip fudge ice cream flavored kiss. Somehow I knew even then that it couldn't last.

A few hours later. I woke up in bed to find Angel gone. Again. I managed to get out of Cordelia that he'd gone to go fight that demon thing by himself. As a mortal. I'd raced to where he was, and kicked the crap out of the demon. Angel had hoarsely shouted to me to smash the gem on its head. I had, and the demon disappeared. I'd ran to Angel, cradling him in my arms. "It's okay." I'd whispered. "You're all right. You're all right."

Flash to another scene. I was waiting for Angel to get back from wherever he was. He came, and told me some really bad news. The day we'd had was going to be erased in a minute so he could kill the demon properly before it ever duplicated itself.

"A minute!" I'd moaned hoarsely. "That's not enough time! How am I supposed to move on feeling this way?"

"You won't have to." he'd answered. "I'm the only one who will remember what's happened."

"No!" I'd cried. "This did happen! I know it did!" I embraced him, and touched his heart with my hand. "I felt your heart beat." I sobbed.

I looked back at the clock. Only a few seconds left.

I embraced him tightly, crying into his chest. "I'll never forget." I moaned. "I'll never forget." I said this over and over, as if saying it would make it happen.

"Please." he sobbed. "Please." Again and again he cried the word, begging me to forget it all.

And I did.

But only for a few days.

* * *

I awoke to the sound of a loud banging on the door. "Just a minute!" I yelled, my voice still hoarse with sleep.

I hurriedly got out of bed, put all the curtains down, blocking any sunlight. I glanced at the clock, curious to see what time it was. 7 o'clock.

I went to the door, and opened it.

Angel stood there. I could only stare at him in complete surprise. Sure, we'd talked 4 hours ago, but that seemed unreal. And I'd just seen him 3 days ago, but again, that seemed unreal. In a way it was. To everyone but me and Angel, that day had never happened.

He grinned at me. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

I blinked, brought out of my trance. "Yeah. Of course. Come in."

He walked inside, still grinning. "You should have seen how hard it was for me to find this place again. I had to wonder around for half an hour before I remembered where you lived."

"Oh." I said, for lack of anything better. "That's too bad." I said lamely. "Uh, do you want to sit down?" I asked, gesturing to the bed.

He shrugged. "Okay." He sat on the bed as I went to go wake Willow up.

"Willow." I said. "Wake up."

She stirred and yawned. "Buffy?" she asked sleepily. "It's Saturday. You should still be asleep. We don't have any classes till this afternoon." Her expression changed when she saw Angel. "Oh. Hi, Angel."

"Hi, Willow." he said awkwardly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sitting up.

"Buffy called me a few hours ago telling me to get down here right away. I don't really know why." He looked up at me, still standing by Willow's bed. "What's going on, Buffy?"

I sat down on my bed next to him, suddenly very nervous. I looked into his eyes for courage. "I remember." I said softly. "I dreamed of it after we stopped talking."

His eyes immediately softened, and he looked very relieved. "I'm so glad." he replied earnestly. "I hated the thought of seeing you again with no memory of what actually happened."

"We were very rough, weren't we?" I teased, smiling, happy to hear that I wasn't crazy after all.
He smiled slightly. "The first time we were." he admitted. "We hadn't done it in almost 2 years, and add the fact that we hadn't seen each other in 5 months, and you have some very rough, passionate lovemaking." he reminded me.

"Yeah." I said dreamily.

We leaned in to kiss, but were interrupted by Willow asking confusedly, "Did I miss something? What are you guys talking about?"

"Uh, long story." I said to Willow. "We sorta got back together in LA, but I forgot about it."

"You forgot about getting back together with your boyfriend?" she asked skeptically. "And you forgot about having sex with your boyfriend?"

"Yeah." I replied, looking back to Angel.

He came to my rescue and said, "So, Buffy, what about your dreams?"

"Oh, my dreams!" I cried, remembering. "The whole gang is fighting this big demon octopus thing. It's very strong. It grabbed me in one of its arms and was about to eat me, but you, Angel cut me free with a sword. But something happened and you collapsed into my arms. You were burning up for an instant, then you lost consciousness. I rocked you back and forth, pleading with you to wake up. But you didn't. You lay still, and I felt you die in my arms." I finished hoarsely, starting to cry.
He scooted closer to hug me, stroking my hair. "It's gonna be okay." he whispered. "It won't happen like that."

"Promise?" I asked, my voice muffled in his jacket.

He kissed my forehead gently. "I promise."

I raised my head to look at him, suddenly very aware that his hand rested on my thigh. The longing in his eyes was unmistakable, even as he was trying to keep it hidden. But he begged for permission. He didn't want to push me.

"Yes." I whispered, so that only he could hear. "I accept."

He kissed me. I thought that it wouldn't be fierce, considering that we'd been with each other all day just a few days ago. But, then again, that had never happened. Oh, god, I was confusing myself all over again. Better not to think about it. *Just concentrate on the kiss, Buffy.*

I made him part his lips and let my tongue enter his mouth. Caressing his tongue with my own, I explored his mouth with my tongue, letting the sensual sensations of pleasure fill me. I was almost out of breath, but I let the kiss last as long as I could stand it.

We parted finally, looking deep into each other's eyes.

"Wow." he said softly. "You certainly haven't forgotten how to kiss."

"Neither have you." I responded.

Willow cleared her throat gingerly. "Guys, I know you haven't seen each other in awhile, but shouldn't we be calling Giles to him know about your dreams?"

I glared at her, tempted to break her neck for interrupting us. I sighed heavily, knowing she was right. "Yeah, Will, you're right. An we gotta get dressed." I turned back to Angel regretfully. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not." he said, shrugging. "In fact, I'll call Giles for you. So, scat cat." he said playfully. He hadn't sounded this happy since our day together in LA.

I detached myself from his arms, giving him a light kiss before I scampered off to go get dressed.
Angel turned his back, being the gentleman that he was, and dialed Giles' number. I heard his voice behind me as I rummaged through the closet with Willow for clothes.

"Yeah, Giles? This is Angel. Listen, Buffy's been having some strange dreams. . ."

His voice faded into the background as Willow's overrode it.

"Buffy?" she hissed as she closed the door so we wouldn't be overheard. Yeah, right. I thought sarcastically. Angel's listening to every word we say.

I tuned back into whatever Willow was saying. "Why did you call Angel at 3AM?" she asked. "Did you guys have sex in LA?"

"Several times." I muttered as I turned on the closet light.

Her eyes grew as big as saucers. "Really?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, but it was sort of a dream." I said as I changed into jeans and a T-shirt. Willow did the same.

"How can having sex be a dream?" she said when we were done dressing. "I know something happened up there; you guys are acting like you were before you found out about the curse."

I shrugged. "So?"

"So?!" she nearly shouted. "You don't remember about a little thing called happiness clause where Angel turns evil if you guys do the nasty?! How could you have forgotten?"

"I didn't." I said as I jiggled the doorknob impatiently. "But there were different circumstances in LA."

"Like what?"

"Well," I grunted as the doorknob finally gave. But I accidentally broke the doorknob in my haste to get it open.

Angel turned in the middle of his conversation to Giles to give me an inquiring glance. I mouthed "It was jammed." to him, then turned back to Willow.

"He was alive then." I said to Willow.

"How?"

"It's a long story."

"Giles, I gotta go." Angel said into the mouthpiece. "Yeah, thanks for looking that prophecy up for me. Bye." He hung up the phone, and turned to Willow and I.

"We fought a demon together, it's blood mixed with my own, I got turned mortal, and had a very nice day with Buffy. But it turned out that the demon could make copies of itself. So I went to the Powers That Be and asked them how to defeat the demons. They said that I couldn't defeat them, and the Slayer would die. I gave up my humanity to save your life, Buffy. That's it." he said matter-of-factly to Willow. Then, to me: "I think I should write that down, don't you? So that when the gang gets here we don't have to say the same thing all over again."

I shrugged. "Sure. Sounds good to me."

He got a piece of paper and pen, and wrote down everything that he had just said. When he finished, I asked Willow, "Do you get it now?"

She smiled weakly. "I think so."

"Good. Oh, I was wondering if when you get time could you reread the curse?"

"Sure."

"So, Angel what did you find out?"

"Hmm? Oh, Giles looked in some book, and yes, there's a millenium prophecy."

"What is it?"

"Very disturbing, I'm afraid. The Hellmouth will open and all the creatures of Hell will emerge. In some way, I'm not sure how, they are most powerful on January 1st, 2000. On that day, a climatic battle will commence."

"But what does it say about you?" I asked anxiously. "Are you going to be okay?"

"It said that only one Warrior will fall on January 1st, and the Slayer will have to choose whether to let him die, and the world will be saved, or she can force him to live, and the world will be the same as always."

"The Warrior's you, isn't it?" I said hoarsely, not wanting to believe it.

"I'm assuming yes. It's what the Powers That Be called me in LA."

"You won't die. I won't let you." I broke in, determined.

He got up off the bed, and came to me. "Buffy, if I die, the world would be saved."

"I don't give a damn about the world!" I shouted. "I will not let you die."

"So you'd let the earth be sucked into Hell just because you can't live without me?"

"Yes!"

"Buffy, you know that's not logical. If you just-"

"Listen to me!" I broke in. "What's the point of you sacrificing your life just so the world doesn't go to Hell?"

"But you could be-"

"I don't care!" I shouted angrily, leaving no room for argument. "I don't care." I repeated softly.

"No vamps, or monsters for 100 years would be worthless without you in my life, Angel. Especially now that I remember what really happened in LA."

He stepped closer to me, taking my hand. "Buffy, you know that I love you more than life itself.

But what about everyone else in the world? They wouldn't appreciate being sucked into Hell. They-"

He broke off, suddenly aware that I was staring at his hand on my own in much the same way I had when he'd been human. I looked into his eyes, and was surprised at the amount of lust there.

I jumped into his arms, kissing him fiercely. He hastily dumped me on the bed. We passionately started to make out. Through the haze of the kisses, I was aware of a loud banging on the door.

Willow opened the door, and I heard an Irish voice shout, "Hey, Angel man you left us in the car! What's up with that?"
And another voice said indignantly, "Oh god, don't even bother, Doyle! When they're making out, they pretty much ignore everything else around them."

I stopped kissing Angel, and opened my eyes. Doyle, Cordy, and Willow stood watching us with bemused expressions on their faces.

"Uh, hi." I said, turning Angel around so he could see who'd arrived.

Recognition dawned on his features, but he shrugged nonchalantly. "Hi, guys." he said casually.

"Hi, guys?" I echoed faintly. I stared at him. "You know they were here?"

"I brought them with me from LA. I figured Doyle could give you some more input on how to kill this millenium evil."

"Oh." I said. I smiled up at him sardonically. "Thanks for not telling me."

"I'm sorry, Buffy." he said, instantly apologetic. "But I came here, and you. . . well, you kinda distracted me." he said, grinning.

"Okay, I forgive you. Besides, if I didn't get mad at you for leaving me, I won't get mad at you now."

A shadow passed over his face as he realized what I'd just said. "Buffy, I am sorry for that."

"It's fine." I said hastily, averting his gaze.

He took my hand, and made me look into his eyes. "It's not fine." he stated firmly. "What I did to you was selfish and stupid. And it's been killing me to not be with you."

"Then why don't you-" I began.

"I hate to interrupt this little lovefest." Cordy interrupted flippantly. "But don't we have to-"

She in turn was interrupted by Giles, Xander, and Anya arriving.

"We have to save the world." Giles interjected. Giles stared at me comfortably sitting in Angel's lap.

"Has the curse been lifted?" Giles asked, perplexed.

We shook our heads in unison.

"Then why-"

Without a word I handed him the note Angel had written, then went back to making out with my vampire lover.

Giles read the note quickly and said, "Well, that's bloody great, but that doesn't change the fact that he's a vampire now."

I shrugged nonchalantly, still losing myself in Angel's lips.

"Damnitt, Buffy! Would you please stop sucking face and pay attention?!" Giles exploded.

"Whoa, G-man, calm down." Xander said.

I detached myself from Angel's face, and looked at Giles at calmly. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?!" he repeated hotly. "The whole world is doomed unless Angel dies, and you have the nerve to ask me what's wrong?!"

I whipped my head around to stare at Angel, my face ashen. "You didn't tell me that." I said, my tone full of hurt and confusion. "You said things would stay the same if you lived."

"I- I didn't want to frighten you." he said lamely.

"Frighten me?" I repeated sarcastically. I laughed bitterly, leaping out of his arms, assuming fighting stance automatically. "Bastard!" I screamed. "You dying in the first place is enough to make me scared!"

Willow moved to intervene, but I shoved her away.

"And now that you mention it, I am mad at you for leaving me!" I continued, oblivious to everything but Angel. "I'm mad at you for everyday you've spent without me in it! I'm mad at you for breaking up with me in the sewers! I'm pissed at you for being so goddamned noble all the time! I'm furious that you have to always be a hero, and use the excuse that you didn't want me to be hurt again! I really hate how you feel that you need to protect me all the time! First you broke up with me here, then in LA you sacrificed humanity because you doubted my fighting abilities."

"Now wait a minute!" Angel broke in. "The Powers That Be told me you'd die if I wasn't turned back."

"Shut up!" I yelled, tears of anger and frustration coursing down my cheeks. "Screw the Powers! For once you are going to listen to every fucking word I say with no interruptions!

"You don't have to be noble all the time! You can trust in my power to do stuff! I could have killed those demons, I know I could! But, no you had to be noble and give up humanity to save me! Well, newsflash Angel! I can take care of myself. But you seem to not realize that!" Seething, I advanced on him menacingly, my voice dropping to a low growl. "But I think I'm done arguing with you. You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this!" So saying, I swiftly kicked and punched Angel off the bed. He leaped up, growling, vamp face on.

Ignoring him, I sat on Willow's bed, Indian-style. Still glaring daggers at Angel, I said to Giles through gritted teeth, "Now Giles tell me the correct version of the prophecy."

He hastily cleared his throat and began reading from a book,

"A Warrior must fall for the world to be safe.
If not, the world will be doomed,
For all the creatures of Hell will come forth
No one can stop them,
If Warrior lives."

Giles paused for a long time, as if afraid to say what was next. The tension was thick as a knife.

I couldn't take it anymore, and screamed sharply, "Continue!"

Everyone in the room jumped.

Giles said reluctantly, "This part I specifically told Angel not to tell you. So don't blame him. But there is another way. If the- the- oh bloody hell!" He snapped the book shut with a startling thud. "There's no easy way for me to say this, but either you or Angel must die on the first day of the new year. If not, the world will be sucked into Hell. Again."

I stared at him, horror and shock registering on my face. I was stunned into silence.

Finally I laughed bitterly. "Well, if I'm gonna die again in less than a month, I might as well enjoy myself." I turned to give Willow a pointed stare. She nodded, and went to the computer in the corner of the room.

"What's she doing?" Xander asked.

"Looking up the soul restoration curse to see if there's a happiness clause." Giles supplied, removing his glasses to clean them, a thing he did only when nervous or agitated.

"Huh?" Xander stared at me staring at Angel. "Oh." he said, understanding. "Oh." he repeated softly. He turned to Cordy and said,

"So Cordy, how are things in LA? Aren't you gonna introduce me to your friend?"

"This is Doyle." she said, gesturing to him. "He's half-demon. I told him he shouldn't have come, considering he almost died two days ago, but he persisted."

"How did he almost die?" Xander asked.

"He jumped off a platform to unplug a thingie that was going to kill everything with human bird. Thankfully, the box didn't detonate while Doyle was unplugging it, or our Doyle here would have been as dead as a doornail." She spoke lightly enough, but I detected an underlying tone of pain and worry, and she clutched Doyle's hand tightly.

"Cordelia, are you guys going out?" I asked bluntly.

She looked at me, and at first I thought she gonna be angry, but her eyes showed she was grateful. "I know, isn't it awful? I always fall for losers. But he's not a total loser like some people I know." She looked at Xander, raising one eyebrow matter-of-factly.

"Thanks, Cordy, you always know how to make a person feel needed." he shot back.

"Aha! I've found it!" A triumphant crow came from Willow.

"What does it say?" I asked urgently.

"The curse I cast didn't have a happiness clause. Ms. Calendar removed it."

"Oh, my god!" I shrieked jubilantly. "You're kidding, right? Are you sure there's no clause? Absolutely, positively 100% sure?"

"No, yes, and yes." she answered, a smile in her voice.

I leaped off Willow's bed onto Angel, covering him with kisses. "I'm guessing you forgive me now?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes." I breathed through kisses. I pulled away to say, "But if you ever lie to me again, I'll drive a stake through your heart."

"I won't lie to you ever again."

Giles cleared his throat and said hastily, "I guess we should be going now. We'll try to see if there's any loophole in the prophecy. Come over to my house as soon as you're-" he groped for a word, "able."

"We'll have to get there after the sun sets." I said unnecessarily.

"Yes. Quite." he said awkwardly. "See you then."

As they filed out, I heard Xander mutter loudly, "Not relishing the mental image of them cooped up in that dorm all alone all day."
I smiled at Angel. "So, now that we're all alone, what do you want to-"

He cut me off with a passionate kiss. We took our clothes off, and no more words were spoken between us for a long, long time.

* * *

December 31, 1999

I awoke to the darkness of Giles' bedroom in Angel's arms. We'd agreed to move into his house temporarily until after the new year. Everyone else bunked in the living room and in any spare rooms Giles had. We wanted to be together as much as possible since we might die January 1. I'd pleaded, and begged him to let Angel and I have his bedroom, and he'd finally agreed.

Angel kissed my forehead tenderly, then drifted back to slumber. I sighed in contentment, safe in my lover's arms. I hoped with all my heart that this wasn't another dream. In all my dreams Angel had been asleep with me, and I was finally happy. But I'd always woken up, alone.

I must have made some small sound for Angel's grip tightened instinctively, and he said softly, with concern, "What's wrong, Buffy? You cried out."

"I-I had a nightmare." I finally managed to gasp. It was close enough to the truth.

"What about, honey?"

"I was remembering dreaming about you in my arms, but it was always a dream. I always woke up alone. It was horrible." I sobbed quietly.

"Shh." he whispered. "It wasn't real. I'm here now." His hand moved down to stroke my cheek gently.

"Stay with me." I pleaded, sighing happily at his touch.

He looked at me, and even in the dark I knew his gaze was overflowing with love.

"Forever, that's the whole point." he said, and I knew he was grinning in the dark "I'll never leave, not even if you-"

He was interrupted by Giles banging on the door urgently.

"Buffy! Angel!" he shouted. "Are you awake? I have something very important to tell you!"

"Giles, couldn't it wait an hour?" I called back. "It's midnight."

"Are you bloody mad? The damned world is going to be sucked into Hell in a few hours and you, the damned Slayer, want to catch up on your sleep? Just let me in, and believe me when I say this is something you'll want to hear."

I sighed, and muttered, "Come on in."

He opened the door, and turned the light on, making me yelp angrily at the light.

He discreetly averted his gaze upon noticing our nakedness, and said, "We've found it."

"Found what?" I demanded, still cranky at being jerked out of peace with my lover.

"T-the loophole, we've found the loophole in the prophecy!"

"What is it?"

"It involves a-"

"Guys! It's time to go! Da Hellmouth is due to open in an hour! We gotta go to the library and prepare!" Doyle's Irish brogue reverbarated throughout the house.

I cast a pointed stare at Giles, clearly telling him to go away so we could get dressed. He took the hint, and left quickly, but not before he looked at me regretfully. I wondered what was wrong, but he left before I could ask. I shrugged it off as worry over the upcoming battle, and dressed hastily, in the excitement forgetting all about the loophole Giles had tried to tell me about.

I was soon going to regret not asking him to tell me what loophole he'd found. Regret it with every fiber of my being.

The Battle
January 1, 2000

I stood nervously with the others, sword in hand. The Hellmouth was due to open any second. We were in the rebuilt library, where the main entrance to Hell was. We'd trained long and hard over the past few months, making sure everyone was in top condition. Doyle and Cordelia clasped hands tightly. She held a crossbow in her free hand. I'd drilled her mercilessly in the past 2 months, forcing her to learn to use it efficiently. Doyle was unarmed, relying on his demon half for the battle. It was good to see they'd finally decided to be a couple. This might be their last day together. I glanced at Angel, who stood straight and tall, a true Warrior, his vamp face in place. He also held a sword. We were at the front, the best fighters. We wanted clear shots at the octopus that came out. Giles was letting Ripper come out, handfighting.

A loud rumbling sounded. It was time.

It came out of the stacks, towering 20 feet at least. It demolished the roof in an instant.

"Look out!" I shouted.

Whether they heeded my warning or not, I'll never know. I was too busy fighting for my life. I slashed and jabbed with the sword, ignoring everyone around me. A tentacle lashed out and wrapped around my throat. I was flung up and down in the air, unable to escape. My sword was torn to pieces.

Angel noticed my plight and rushed to save me. "Buffy!" he shouted. He leaped into the air, and with one clean cut, he slashed the tentacle that grasped me into ribbons.

I fell to the floor from ten feet up.

I flipped over and stared up at the ceiling, wheezing. My vision was starting to blur. Angel came to me quickly, and eased me to my feet.

"Are you alright?" he breathed into my ear.

"I'll be fine." I gasped painfully. "My arm's a little screwed up, but I'll be okay. Help the others."

He kissed me quickly, then ran back into the fight, brandishing the sword. I spotted Doyle futilely trying to pummel the octopus' head.
"Doyle!" I shouted hoarsely. "You have to cut its throat, remember?"

He nodded, but gestured for something to cut with.

I ran to where he was, and began climbing up the octopus' back. "Get the sword from Angel." I hissed in his ear.

The octopus was very slippery, and I almost fell off it several times. I finally reached the neck, and shouted to Angel, "Sword!"

He threw it to me. I caught it with my bad arm, wincing as I did so. "Out of the way!" I managed to yell before I quickly cut the throat of the octopus.

It collapsed onto the floor, dead.

A vortex opened in the midst of the rubble. I jumped off the dead octopus and ran to Angel, who was staring at the vortex in fascination.

"Just think." he said, when I came up to him. "That's what I got sucked into. I've never seen it clearly."

"Angel, I can't do it." I moaned, the tears blurring my vision. "I can't kill you again."

He turned suddenly to look at me. I saw that there were tears glistening in his eyes.

"You have to." he said roughly, his voice ragged with pain. "You have to save the world." He did that halfsmile I loved so much. "At least I know what's going on this time."

"But I could go!" I cried desperately. "Only one of us has to die, right? Make me a vampire, than we could still-"

He was already shaking his head. "It wouldn't work, Buffy. You wouldn't have a soul-"

"Willow could cast the soul restoration curse-"

His words overrode my own. "And even if you did have a soul, you wouldn't be able to handle being a vampire who's also a Slayer. I've seen it happen in other Slayers." He chuckled bitterly. "I've done it to other Slayers. My point is, however, that would drive you insane. You'd be a vampire trying to kill yourself because of your basic Slayer instinct. It has to be me, Buffy. You know it does."

"But I've just gotten you back." I moaned despondently. "How can I stand to lose you again?"

"You'll have to. You're strong." he answered. He kneeled and picked up a piece of stray wood with a pointy end. He handed it to me.
"Do it quickly."

The stake tumbled from my fingers with a cry of such despair from me that I knew the gang was wincing.

"I can't do it." I moaned, crying into his shirt. "I can't do it again. I love you too much."

"I love you." He tilted my head up into his own and stroked my hair tenderly. "Nothing can change that, not even death."

We kissed each other hungrily, knowing all too well that this was our last time together. It reminded me so much of the last time I'd killed him that I wanted to leap out of his arms and run away, screaming hysterically. But I didn't.

At least not then anyway.

We pulled away to stare at each other, once again strongly aware of the fact that we had only a few minutes left.

"I. . ." I said, but stopped helplessly. How do you say goodbye so that it lasts forever?

I picked up the stake, and stared at it.

"Clo-" My voice cracked with the force of my tears. I wiped them away, but more came. "Close your eyes." I whispered painfully.
He closed his eyes, waiting for the blow that was sure to come. I closed my own as well, not wanting to see his expression when I struck his heart with my makeshift stake.

I stabbed blindly, but knowing with absolute certainty that I'd hit his heart.

We opened our eyes at the same time.

I pulled the stake out quickly, as if doing that would make the wound go away.

He looked at me, nothing but love coming from his gaze. "Buffy, I'll always-" was all he managed to say before evaporating into dust. And as his ashes fell to the ground, the vortex closed. Silence all around. Angel was dead. It was over.

The still air seemed to sigh: I'll always love you.

I stared at the spot where Angel had been for several minutes, before my control finally broke. I screamed, a long, agonizing wail, that clearly stated my despair and anguish at having killed my one true love. I collapsed amidst the crumbling stones and pieces of wood, weeping uncontrollably.

I rolled into a ball, moaning I know not what.

Willow rushed to comfort me, and I accepted her help with the deepest gratitude, hugging her tightly. I'm surprised I didn't break her bones.

"He's gone, Will." I mumbled, somehow managing to form coherent thoughts in the middle of my grief. "He's gone. This time he can't come back. I k-killed the one person who loved me the most!"

She just held me, murmuring soothing words in my ear.

"I c-can't live without him! W-when he was in LA, at least I knew he was alive! But now he's dead, and I didn't even say goodbye!" I fell into depressed crying.

Giles came to us slowly, saying, "Buffy, I don't know what to say. I hope you can-"

I latched onto him hysterically, finally finding someone to take my emotions out on.

"What, Giles?" I yelled at him, standing up. "You think I can move on? Maybe to good ol' solid Riley Finn! Maybe I can forget Angel here, and move on to the most boring guy on the planet! Good advice, Giles!"

"T-that's not what I was going to say." he said calmly. "I understand why you're upset, but maybe you should calm down-"

"You understand nothing! You have no idea what I really just did, do you?"

Giles shook his head .

"Well, that's good. I have no idea what I just did, either. But what I think I did is kill my boyfriend! And this time it's permanent! This time he's not going to just fall into my lap in a few months! All that's left of him is that!" I screamed hysterically, pointing to the dust.
Giles grabbed me and shook me by the shoulders roughly. "Get a hold of yourself, Buffy!" he shouted.

It took a little while, but I managed to stop my crying.

"Now listen to me very closely. Do not speak until I'm finished talking. Nod if you understand."

I nodded.

"We might be able to bring him back. I've been researching with the others, and we had almost found something, when we had to get ready to fight. I woke you up, remember? I told you we'd found a loophole. You asked me what it was, but we were interrupted by Doyle coming in to say that it was time to fight. In all the excitement, I never got to tell you this, but I must tell you now before you lose any control you're struggling to maintain. Am I correct in assuming that you're barely hanging on?"

I nodded again.

"'If Warrior is to be resurrected, the Slayer and her comrades must give up a little of their lifeforce. When they do this, their lifespans will be shortened by approximately one year. The combined lifespans will bring forth Warrior as a mortal.'"

"Mortal?" I squeaked.

"Y-yes. Can you stand on your own?"

I scoffed at this, which was pretty hard considering Giles still gripped me tightly. "Of course I can. I was standing before, wasn't I?" I asked indignantly.

"You were. But now that you're under control, you might be a little unstable. But let's see."

He released me.

I fell into his arms instantly.

He steadied me carefully, guiding me to the pals.

"We must join hands in a circle." Giles instructed. "We have to chant 'He who fell will be reborn! From his ashes, he will rise anew! With our combined energy, Warrior will be resurrected! As a mortal!' Everyone got that?"

We all nodded, practicing saying it until we all had it memorized.

"Good. We must hurry and chant before Angel's ashes settle. We have to say three times to be certain it works. Form the circle around his remains."

Once we were ready, Giles said, "Everyone ready? On the count of three! One, two three!"

In unison, we chanted, "He who fell will be reborn! From his ashes, he will rise anew! With our combined energy, Warrior will be resurrected! As a mortal!"

A yellow light rushed through us all, sucking away part of our lifeforce. It became a swirling ball of energy and traveled to the center of our circle, where Angel's dust was. It swept the dust around and around, doing magnificent things to it. I couldn't tear my gaze away.

"Again!" Giles shouted over the roar. "2 more times, and we've got him!"

We had to shout as loudly as possible to be heard over the roar the light made.

"He who fell will be reborn! From his ashes, he will rise anew! With our combined energy, Warrior will be resurrected! As a mortal!"

The energy turned inside itself and started to form a human shape.

"Angel." I breathed, unable to keep from speaking.

"No, Buffy!" Giles shouted at me. "Don't do anything but chant!"

"He who fell will be reborn! From his ashes, he will rise anew! With our combined energy, Warrior will be resurrected! As a mortal!"

"Mortal!" we yelled for good measure, and at that last shout, something happened.

Angel appeared.

He somehow managed to stand upright, fully clothed, for an instant. Then his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath that he now needed.

"Angel!" I yelled tearfully. "Oh, God, Angel!"

I broke away from the circle of friends, and ran to him, touching him continuously to assure myself that he was alive.

"You're alright." I moaned. "You're alright. You're alive. You're alive."

He stared at me, squinting. "Buffy?" he asked weakly. "This may be a stupid question, but why am I breathing?"

I couldn't stop smiling. "You're alive." I repeated joyfully.

"What?"

"You're human, Angel."

"Human? But I- how?"

"We brought you back as a mortal." I answered. "Let me help you stand up."

I brought him to his feet, and stood looking at him in amazement.

"I thought I'd lost you." I said hoarsely. "I'm so sorry. I had to do it. I had to-"

"Save the world. I know." he murmured softly into my ear. "I know why you did it this time, remember?"

"But I could have done something different." I sobbed. "I should have-"

He put his forefinger on my lips tenderly and said, "Shh. It doesn't matter now. How many times have I told you this? It wasn't your fault. Either times." He put his hand back down to his side.

My tears dripped onto his clothes, like water falling from a fresh rainstorm. I moaned. "But I-"

He wiped my tears away with one hand. "It wasn't your fault." he repeated softly. "No more tears. Just kiss me."

I tilted my head forward to kiss him gently. We grew more passionate as my body finally accepted what my brain had known all along. Angel was back with me. And he was alive.

As soon as this message transmitted from my brain to the rest of my body, everything in my body was on fire. I wanted all of him, every inch, but I couldn't do it all at the same time. It was very frustrating. Needless to say, I made out with him like there was no tomorrow.

But there was the little problem of my needing to breathe.

I pulled away reluctantly, my breathing labored.

"Are you all right?" Angel asked, also out of breath. It was the first time I'd ever heard him be like that.

"Yeah." I gasped. "I just- wow!" I shook my head in bewilderment.

He grinned. "Being human hasn't made me forget how to kiss." he said smugly.

I could only nod in agreement.

A thought struck me. None of this would have been possible if not for Giles and that mysterious chant.

"Angel, I'll be right back, okay?" I said softly. "I have to take care of something."

I released myself from Angel's grip and launched myself into Giles' arms, hugging him tightly. "Thank you." I said gratefully, starting to cry again. But this time it was tears of joy, not grief. "Thank you for bringing him back."

"Anytime, Buffy." he said, stroking my hair with a fatherly affection. "Anytime."

January 5, 2000

I sat at the table in the sunlight with Angel, Willow, Xander, Anya, Doyle, and Cordelia for the first time ever. Willow looked wistful because she was the only person present without a boyfriend. She must still be missing Oz.

Spike had tried to vomit when he heard that Angel and I were back together for good. But he'd accepted it. Mostly because I said I'd stake him if he didn't shut up his whining.

"Don't worry, Willow." I soothed when I removed my tongue from Angel's throat. "He'll be. . ." I trailed off when I saw who was coming up to our table.

"Buffy?" Willow asked curiously. "What is it?"

Two hands covered her eyes, and Oz said, "Guess who?"

"Oz!" she yelled, elated. She leaped out of the chair and whirled around to kiss him. "I'm so glad you're back!"

"Same here." he answered, scanning the table. "Looks like I missed alot of fun." His gaze rested on Angel sitting in the sunlight.

"What's going on, guys?"

"The usual." I answered. "Saved the world, I killed Angel, but he was brought back human- you know, the usual." I said dryly.

"Interesting." he said calmly. "How exactly did you die, Angel?"

"Buffy staked me so the world wouldn't come to an end."

One eyebrow raised slightly, but that was the only emotion he showed. "Cool." was all he said before Willow sat down in his lap comfortably.

I went back to making out with Angel with a free conscience. I didn't know or care what anyone else was doing. All I knew that the Scooby Gang had prevailed again. Sure, Angel had died, and I'd almost gone insane with grief over his death but that was behind me now. I was finally able to experience true happiness with my beloved and nothing was going to stop me from enjoying my life with my friends.

The End

Yes, I know weak ending, but I didn't see any other way to end it.