Buffy mumbled to herself as she walked through the graveyard on patrol. It was dark and misty, and a light rain clung to her clothes and hair, making her shiver and wish that she had brought a jacket. The gravestones all seemed to jump out at her as she passed them, and she was reminded of crawling out of her own grave, all those years ago. *Well, things have changed since then* she thought. *We've crunched the first and all the other bad guys, and I'm still standing.* She stopped by a new headstone and sat on top of it, playing idly with the stake she had brought. She was waiting for a new vampire to wake up, because even though the Hellmouth was destroyed, there were still vampires. It had taken a long time to rebuild the town, as it was only a few miles away from where the original one had been, but just like the original, they still had their share of graveyards and churches. Buffy heard a soft crunching noise off to her right, and she peeked that way out of the corner of her eye, but didn't see anything. She slowly shifted her stake to he right hand, and peered to her right again. This time, she saw a flash of a feral face before she was knocked to the soft ground in front of the new headstone. Rolling to the left, she avoided the feet that stomped at her head, and jumped up behind the vampire. She snapped a kick into its jagged face and swept her feet under it, knocking it to the ground. As she moved in with her stake raised high, it was knocked from her hand by another vampire behind her. "Oh great." She muttered. Buffy was knocked sideways by the second vamp, and the first vamp came up and grabbed her head between his fingers. He began to squeeze, and she felt her skin bruise and wondered how they had snuck up on her. With a swift kick to the second vamp, Buffy wrestled to her feet began to fling her fists into the two vampire's faces. She punched one and then the other, slamming each impact until her hands began to ache. The two vamps still had left no opening for a staking, and she was getting tired. As suddenly as the other two had, a third vampire leapt out at Buffy from behind, but she sensed this one in time and ducked, causing the vamp to fly over her head and crash into a nearby headstone. He didn't get back up. The other two were still going strong, and Buffy had no idea where her stake had gone. She kept up her assault on the vamps, but she knew that she would lose this time. She was 25 now, and although that was very old for a slayer, she hadn't expected to get tired so fast. Her fists felt like they were punching iron, her skin reeled from various bruises. And still the fight went on. Just as she was beginning to feel her knees weaken and give out, the two vampires exploded into dust, and Buffy looked up into the face of a much more welcome creature of the night. "Hello Buffy." Angel said simply.

As during the last fight with Caleb, their eyes met and Buffy and Angel kissed. Slightly embarrassed, she drew back, and stepped away from him. "You never get tired of saving my life, do you?" She asked softly. "It's much appreciated, by the way." He smiled at her playfully. "Well, sometimes you need rescuing. I'm surprised Xander isn't here to be your white knight, but I'm happy to fill in." At this, Buffy looked down at her boots, and felt tears well up in her eyes. She had tried so hard not to remember how it had happened, and now it was all coming back to her. The fall, and the blood, and then the funeral... "What is it?" Angel asked softly. "Did I say something wrong?" He looked into her eyes and noticed with alarm the tears that hung on her face. "Xander's dead Angel," She said simply. "He fell off of a roof during a construction project. All the times he fought demons and evil, and in the end it was gravity that killed him." She laughed harshly. "He would have gotten a kick out of that irony." Angel took her in his arms in a warm hug, and Buffy cried bitterly into his shoulder. "When did it happen?" He asked tenderly. "A couple of months ago. It was so wrong Angel! We were going to go and check out the new club, but he had to finish the roof first because we were expecting some bad weather...." She stopped and broke into sobs again. "It's okay." He said softly. "It's alright. I'm here now." Buffy nodded against his shoulder. "Yes, you're here. But you won't stay. You never do." At this, Angel looked down at her sad face and loved her more than ever. Leaning down, he kissed her again, and he felt a passion long suppressed rise inside him again. Buffy noticed, and looked at him quizzically. "Are you staying?" She asked, taking in his handsome, timeless face. "I don't know Buffy. I'll be here for a little bit, but after that, I just don't know."