Anything recognizable is the property of the appropriate owners. I do not make any claim to ownership, nor do I make any money from this.

This fic diverges after Buffy ends and between season 4 and 5 of Angel.

Warning: There will be gore and smut along the way. Please don't read if you're not of legal age in your country.

May 30, 2003

Buffy gladly let Giles and Xander steer her onto the bus, too overwhelmed to make any decisions. Now that all of the Potentials were fully fledged slayers, she simply could not continue as leader. Being Watcher, Giles stepped up until a more permanent decision could be reached. Injured and exhausted, the ragtag band drove away from the crater with only one dirty face turned to look back.

She shouldn't have been surprised to recognize the LA skyline when she finally opened her eyes. Angel's was the safest and closest place they could go until they decided what to do next. But Buffy wasn't sure she was ready to see the vampire again. The blonde squeezed her green eyes shut and forced her mind away from painful thoughts of her former lovers.

Angel was waiting when they arrived, just on the edge of the sunbeam, concerned eyes darting from girl to girl until he spotted the familiar blonde. Buffy was the last one off the bus and the tall vampire reached into the sun when she came close enough. The pain was worth being able to touch the young woman seconds sooner and he wrapped his arms around her. Buffy's scent was overlaid by sweat, and dust, mingled with tears and something else familiar.

"Is it over?" Angel tried not to sound too hopeful lest they only have another battle to fight.

Buffy nodded as best she could, crushed to his chest. "Completely."

Relief flooded the vampire. The only thing that mattered to him was the petite woman in his arms. Content to hear the full story later, Angel led the exhausted and filthy slayer away from the crowded area and to his private room. Once showered and wrapped in his too large robe, Buffy fell into bed and pretended that none of it had happened.

Bolstered by their slayer healing, the Potentials were soon on their feet and itching for the next assignment. One by one, the girls left for their old homes or foreign cities. There would always be people that needed saving so they scattered, looking for other slayers as they were revealed and defending those that couldn't defend themselves. Faith and Robin were the last to leave, deciding New York could use some slaying. Eventually, the original Scooby Gang was the only ones left.

Xander found another construction job and moved to Las Vegas, taking with him the memory of Anya. Willow could no longer put off the coven's request and she joined them in Westburg. Andrew hesitated in his decision until Giles suggested he help rebuild the Watchers Council to support the new slayers. Dawn also jumped at the idea and begged her sister to allow her to go to London and wasn't denied. Giles bade Buffy farewell and returned once more to the UK with his young charges.

Angel carefully watched the blonde slayer as her friends left one at a time. Since arriving in LA, Buffy interacted little and spoke less. She let others tell the story of the final battle and gave no opinion on things she would have cared about before. He knew she was stressed and hurt by having to sacrifice so many girls, but it killed him to see the young woman so crushed.

Then there was a conversation he had with Giles a few days after they arrived and as little as Angel wanted to admit it, he knew it was the key.

"Angel?" The Watcher knocked softly on the door frame. "I wanted to thank you."

"There's no need for that. Everyone is welcome here as long as they need." Angel was still uncomfortable around the Watcher after what he did after his soul was lost years ago.

"I don't mean for the shelter - well I do. But I specifically wanted to thank you for what you did before, bringing Buffy the amulet." Giles took off his glasses and began polishing them out of habit.

"Just doing what I could. Luckily the brat made it work." Being told he wasn't meant to use the amulet still stung.

"Yes, Spike did make it work."

"I never did hear who he pissed off enough to get cursed with a soul, though."

Giles looked up sharply, glasses at his side. "He wasn't cursed with a soul. Spike got it back on his own."

"Why on Earth would he do that?" Angel was shocked and incredulous at the information. No vampire in their right mind would choose to regain their soul.

"He did it for Buffy." The Watcher stated matter of factly and replaced his glasses before leaving the office.

Angel's first thought was one of possessive anger. Buffy was his and his alone. Spike had always been an insolent childe, proving himself against two slayers and always following after Drusilla. The part of him that was still Angelus wanted to rise to the surface and track down the blond vampire. Only the realization that Spike had done what Angelus never could brought him back to himself.

Watching Buffy sleep, tears still drying on her cheeks, Angel knew that he would always love her. Even when Angelus was free, he couldn't bring himself to kill her outright. There was something special about the blonde slayer that made him forgive his childe despite knowing the platinum blond would always have a place in her heart. Spike was the one that sacrificed so much for her when Angel had always been the one to run away.