Disclaimer: I don't own Angel or any of the characters. If I did, I wouldn't be posting here!
The sounds of battle, mixed with the pounding of the rain, was deafening in the alley behind the Hyperion. The clash of metal, the screams of the injured and dying assaulted the ears of all the warriors.
Angel tried to block it all out, to concentrate on killing as many demons as he could before he, himself was nothing more than dust. Swinging his sword, he cut off the head of another demon. He glanced to his right. Through the rain, he could just make out Ilyria, slicing a troll in half. Spike was just ahead of him, dueling with a huge green demon. Despite the severity of the situation, he seemed to be enjoying himself.
Angel knew Gunn had fallen a few minutes after the battle had started. Another soldier down. He blocked out the grief, focusing instead on bringing down as much destruction as possible on Wolfram and Hart, so that the deaths of his friends would not be in vain.
He ducked the blow of a another demon, losing his footing on the slick ground. As he struggled to keep his balance, he swung his sword blindly, hoping for a lucky shot. The demon jumped out of the way, then attacked again, knocking the sword from Angel's grasp. He scambled to find it in the blinding rain, expecting at any moment to feel the cold steel of the demon's axe. Instead, he heard a high pitched scream. He turned and saw the horned head, lying on the ground next to it's ruined body.
Angel looked up into the face of his savior. Her blond hair was plastered to her face, but it was the piercing blue eyes, eyes that haunted his dreams, that captured him.
"Hi honey! Miss me?" She smiled.
"Buffy?"
She turned suddenly, throwing her stake at the vampire that was charging her. The stake found its mark, turning the vamp to dust. She turned back to him briefly.
"Buffy, what are you doing here?!" His pleasure at seeing her here quickly turned to fear.
"We'll talk later." She reached a hand down to help him up.
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
"You shouldn't be here!"
"Don't worry. You didn't think I came alone, did you?" Lightning flashed, and lit up the alley, and Angel could see slayers, too numerous to count, filling the alley.
He smiled at her, shook his head, then turned, raised his sword, and attacked.
"You need to get out of here!" Angel, bleeding from multiple wounds, had to shout to be heard above the noise. "Take the slayers and go!" The rain was falling harder than ever, and the sounds of battle were increasing. They had beaten so many demons, including the dragon, but more and more kept coming. It seemed like for every one they killed, 10 more rose up to meet them.
"I'm not leaving you!" Buffy scanned the alley. She saw that most of her slayers were still alive, but half of those were injured. She had lost sight of Spike, and she hoped he was okay.
Angel grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side. "Buffy, we can't win! I knew that when I started. That's why I didn't ask you for help!" He looked at her, his eyes pleading. "Please, I need you to go!"
"Angel, I..." Her words were cut off as a bright light suddenly filled the alley. As one, heroes and demons alike looked to the sky. The light kept getting brighter. Angel threw his arm up to shield his eyes. Suddenly the light seemed to explode, and Angel and Buffy were thrown back, blinded. Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the light was gone.
Angel helped Buffy to her feet, then looked around. Slayers were getting to their feet slowly, looking around, bewildered. There were no demons to be seen. Dead and living alike seemed to have disappeared. "Angel? What happened?"
He looked at Buffy. "I don't ..." Suddenly he knew. "Cordelia!"
"What? How? I thought she was dead!"
"I don't know how, but..." He stopped as he saw a familar figure lying on the ground. "Connor!" He ran toward his son.
Faith was already helping him to his feet. "Connor, thank God! What are you doing here? I thought I told you to go home!"
Connor wiped the rain out of his eyes. "Yeah, well, you also told me once that I was a champion. And I figured that this was were champions needed to be."
Angel looked at his son. He was battered and bruised, and he clutched his side as if he had a few bruised ribs, but he was alive. He looked at Faith, then Buffy. "Gather everyone up and get them to the hotel. Anyone who needs a hospital..."
Willow materialized, seemingly out of nowhere. "Everything's been taken care of, Angel."
"Willow! Have you been here all along?"
"Of course. Dawn, Xander, and I have been taking care of the injured."
Spike limped up beside them. "Buffy, Faith. Don't think I've ever been more glad to see you two in my life." His eyes lingered briefly on Buffy for a moment, then moved to Angel.
"Spike, have you seen Ilyria?"
"I saw her just before everything went nuclear. I think she's okay." He looked to Buffy again, and Angel's eyes narrowed.
Faith seemed to notice the tension. "Spike, help me get the others to the hotel." She led him over to where 2 injured slayers were lying.
Buffy watched them go. "Of course Spike made it. He's too stubborn to die."
Angel looked at her sharply. "Yeah."
"Angel" She smiled at him and slipped her hand in his. Angel felt the warmth of her hand, and his heart felt lighter than it had in weeks. "Let's get out of this rain."
Angel's eyes scanned the alley once more, searching for Gunn's body. He didn't want to leave him here. "Gunn..."
Willow glanced up. "We took Gunn to the hospital."
Hope grew in Angel. "He's alive?!"
"He was pretty bad, but he was still alive, in surgery, the last time I checked."
They walked around the corner to the front doors of the hotel. The lobby was filled, and Angel noticed Ilyria in the crowd. Faith walked over to him. "Hey, big guy. You got enough decent rooms for all these people?"
Angel nodded. With the resources of Wolfram and Hart, I had the place redone. Everyone can find a room." He turned to Buffy, who was soaking wet and shivering. Everyone was. "Go change. If anyone needs any clothes, check in the office. Cordelia...well, her things are still here." He turned and walked over to Spike.
Spike looked up. "So, you feel a pulse yet?"
Angel shook his head. "It's not gonna happen, Spike."
"Yeah, well, after all that, seems like one of us should at least get some kind of reward."
"Spike, I..." Angel stopped. Now probably wasn't the time to tell him that he had signed away the prophecy.
"Nice call, bringing in the slayers, mate. Couldn't have done it without them. Faith, of all people, saved my neck out there."
"I didn't call them. Buffy just...knew."
Spike looked at him. "What the bloody hell happened out there, mate? Did the Powers That Be decide to finally step in?"
"I don't know. I think it was Cordelia."
He shook his head. "Nothing would surprise me anymore."
Angel sighed. "Yeah. Look Spike, Willow got Gunn to the hospital. I'm going to go check on him."
"So, Charlie boy made it through, huh?"
"Well, he made it to the hospital, anyway." He turned to go, then paused and looked back. "Spike, make sure everyone gets settled, okay?" He waited for Spike's nod, then "Thanks." He walked quickly away, leaving Spike to stare after him.