Author : Wild-Melody
Disclaimer : I don't own Buffy or Angel, if I did they'd still be together and on the same network.
Warning : None really.
Prologue
Buffy watched as Angel walked away from her for the last time….there would be no more next times, this time it was final. The swirling mists and smoke shrouded his dark figure, within seconds he was lost to sight. A single tear escaped from her eyes…Willow walked up next to her and threw a comforting arm around the Slayer's shoulders. "Y'all right Buffy?" Willow asked, staring off into the same direction as her distraught friend.
Buffy held her head high and forced a smile for her friend. "Of coarse I'm alright. I'm the Chosen One. The Slayer." She paused, once again staring off into the distance that had swallowed Angel up. "I have to be alright…" She said, her voice loosing some of it's bravado.
Willow just sadly shook her head and gently steered the young woman towards their waiting friends. "He'll be back," Willow said, looking Buffy straight in the eyes. "He always comes back, he can't stay away from you!"
Buffy sadly shook her head, "Not this time," she said quietly. She looked up, staring Giles and Xander right in their tortured eyes. "This time he's gone for good. He can't risk it anymore, I can't risk it. I won't be the cause of him loosing his soul again. I won't be the blame for it, not again."
Willow affectionately squeezed her shoulders. "I can't believe that Buffy…I mean that he won't be back. I know you would never risk his soul again. I'm sure he knows that too." She trailed off, her thoughts wondering.
Buffy sniffed, wiping the tears from her soot blackened cheeks. *Man, I must look a fright,* she thought….*No wonder he couldn't wait to get away from me.* A sudden wave of nausea over came her, her world begun to spin crazily, tilting crazily off its axis. Buffy fumbled in her steps, starting to fall, the hard pavement filling her vision.
Xander reached a arm out and helped Willow to steady her. "I think she may have taken a harder hit then we thought…." Willow trailed off, looking over to Giles. The Watcher's eyes carefully assessed the Slayer's tattered appearance.
"Um…." Giles accent punctured the silence, "She's taken harder hits than that…." He trailed off, watching the Slayer with growing unease. *Something strange is at play here,* He could just feel it permeating the cold night air.
"Let's get her out of the bloody cold night air, shall we?" Was all Giles said, not voicing his worries. *What new test were the Powers That Be throwing at the Slayer this time?* He wondered silently.
Just as that thought escaped his mind, Buffy doubled over in pain….