As Buffy jogged awkwardly down the street, she was nearly to the neighbor's house when Giles's new and practical for Slaying, SUV barreled down the road and stopped just shy of her.
She opened the passenger side door and climbed in.
Xander, who had been in the passenger seat, jumped over into the back with Willow to make room for her.
"My house, Now!" she ordered to him.
The SUV was rolling before the door even closed.
"What's going on Buff?" Xander asked, prepping for battle.
Buffy stuffed her personal feelings down and the Slayer in her took over, "Angel was re-ensouled but a dozen more of Graegus's men attacked. He's injured and outnumbered, and if we don't get there soon…." She trailed off, but they all knew the ending, 'he'll be killed.'
"I know this isn't the best time, but uhh…how did he get re-ensouled?" Willow asked curious since she was the only one to re-ensoul Angel in the last century.
"It's…complicated. I'll explain later."
'When I figure out what happened. They're going to freak when they find out Angelus is on the surface.'
"He's good, so no friendly fire." She warned giving Xander a look.
...
Angel knew he was losing, the sword impaled threw his back was a decent indication.
He ripped the blade free and growled in rage and pain; he wasn't going to give these guys the satisfaction of hearing him scream, or of seeing him fall.
This group was trained better than the last, he'd managed to kill three, four more were groaning on the ground but would soon be back to their feet, another four where watching with glee as the leader fought Angel.
He was Thanatos, Graegus's second-in-command, and as deadly as his name suggests; which in Greek mythology was the demonic personification of death.
This guy wasn't human like his men, his pointed horns and glowing red eyes gave him an appearance more akin to the devil.
Thanatos lashed out with his sword, Angel barely blocking it, the wound in his shoulder from the previous fight sapping much needed strength from his left arm.
Angel dropped to the ground, rolling and swinging his sword for the lieutenant's feet.
Thanatos jumped at the last minute, clearing the blow, but the unlucky goon standing behind him got knocked off his feet, literally.
Angel bit down the scream in his throat that wanted to escape as his shoulder and back protested the rapid movements.
He was tired; he figured it was from the rapid blood loss.
As soon as Angel regained his feet, Thanatos was on him.
Swords clashed as they fought, cheers roused from the men as their leader backed the vampire towards the glass window.
Thanatos sensed victory and increased his attacks, Angel lost pace and his sword when he was punched savagely across the jaw.
Thanatos grinned evilly as Angel swayed, nearly unconscious; "You look pale vampire, get a tan" He finished by viciously kicking Angel in the chest, sending him crashing thought the picture window and into the front yard.
Into the sunlight.
...
"ANGEL!" Buffy screamed when she saw her vamped husband crash threw their window and land in the sun.
Giles and Xander ran past her and raised their crossbows, shooting at anything that moved. The lackeys smartly stayed in the house, out of range and sight of the crossbows.
Buffy and Willow ran towards Angel, both expecting to see him burst into flames at any second.
Willow was currently faster and reached him first, "Angel?" she asked standing in the sun and trying to shield him best she could.
Buffy dropped beside him, both realized in relief he wasn't burning although his demon side was showing.
'Thank you, thank you, thank you.'
Buffy decided not to question why her husband wasn't in flames and was just grateful for it.
"Angel?" she called trying to rouse him.
He coughed, blood flowing down his lips. His eyes opened, one yellow iris bloodshot, matching the growing bruise around the eye.
...
Giles and Xander yelled as an energy force blew them back, their crossbows broken as they crashed to the ground.
The seven remaining soldiers rushed forwards, charging the downed men.
The pair shot to their feet and began fending off blows.
"Could have used Oz's help right about now." Xander complained as he tackled the nearest soldier.
...
The red-headed Witch stepped up to contend with Thanatos, who wasn't as strong a sorcerer as Graegus had been, but not one to be taken lightly.
...
Two of the goons noticed Buffy attending to her fallen Angel. They advanced eager to finish off the vampire and have a little fun with his woman.
"Buffy?" Angel managed to cough out as he focused on her.
"Shh, just rest ok." She said quickly, knowing he was in bad shape and not wanting to let him know it.
He sensed the men approaching, his demon powers were in overdrive since the re-ensoulment.
He knew Giles and Xander were fighting off somewhere to his left, Willow was in battle off to the right...and Buffy was too pregnant to fight without risking their child...that left him.
Despite every muscle in his body protesting, he rose to his feet, pushing both his injuries and Buffy's hand away as both tried to keep him down.
When he got swaying to his feet, her eyes fell to the amount of blood staining the ground where he had just laid, she felt a stab of cold hard fear hit her whole body.
She felt frozen from dread. 'Oh no. Too much, that's got to be too much.'
Liam kicked within her, drawing her attention back to the baby's father, who was now fighting the two soldiers.
She grabbed a fallen crossbow from the bag Giles carried from the van and pointed it at one of them, determined not to let this fight be Angel's last.
Before she could pull the trigger, Angel kicked one of the soldiers to the ground and grabbed the man she was aiming at around the neck.
A flashback to their fight with Cerberus crossed her mind as Angel sank his fangs into the man's neck.
The goon on the ground rose, and was about to stab an occupied Angel when the crossbow bolt pierced his arm.
"Oops, trigger finger slipped." she said innocently.
He screamed and dropped the weapon.
A second later Angel let the dead husk of his first victim fall and grabbed the one Buffy wounded, he drank him dry too.
"Angel?" Buffy called as she approached, she wasn't afraid of him, just for him.
He dropped the second body and turned to face her, his yellow eyes blazing in the sunlight. "Now I'm pissed." He growled as he picked up the fallen sword and headed back towards the battle.
"Angel, stop! You're hurt, you can't." Buffy protested, seeing borderline madness flashing in his eyes.
"I'm finishing this Buffy." He told her flatly, no room for argument.
The blood of the two soldiers flowing through his veins boosted his strength and pushed the grievousness of his injuries aside.
...
Willow was keeping Thanatos's magical blows in check, she would have ended the fight quickly, but his defensive magic was excellent.
...
Giles and Xander were handling the five that attacked them, only two left standing now, but they would soon fall to the duo.
...
As Thanatos was facing Willow, Angel took the opportunity to sneak up on the demon and send his sword through his back and out his gut as he had done to Angel earlier in the fight.
"How do you like it?" Angel quipped as he pulled the blade free.
Thanatos grunted in pain but kept on his feet. "Guess the reports were true, you're a hard man to kill Angelus. However I can be very persuasive." The demon yelled as he lunged for Angel.
The demons fought, swords clashing, blows exchanged, blood spilled.
Thanatos back flipped, kicking Angel in the face, breaking his nose and splitting his lip.
Angel spit the blood the ground. "This ends now. Death, meet death." He growled.
He hurled his sword at Thanatos's chest knowing the demon would pause to taunt him and leave himself open for the shot.
Thanatos laughed, "You dare to…" his words were cut off as his heart was cleaved in two.
"I dared." Angel taunted the dying demon as he ripped the sword out of his body and sliced off his head.
Angel swayed again, using the sword for support now the adrenalin rush ended and his body began to feel his injuries again.
Buffy was at his side in an instant, grabbing a hold of him, steadying him.
His vampire eyes looked down at her, her hazel green eyes wide in worry and fear.
He didn't think about it, he just bent down and consumed her lips in a hungry kiss.
She was surprised but kissed back, taking comfort in his lips.
'He can't be that bad off if he's kissing me like this.' She reasoned.
The kiss ended as abruptly as it began when Angel suddenly collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Buffy yelped his name when he fell, horrified he was dead.
'Oh god! Was that a goodbye last kiss?!'
...