Immortality

Summary: What happens when Angel kills himself, at Buffy and Riley's wedding day?

Timeline: Five years after Chosen.

Disclaimer: NOT MINE! They're all creations from Joss' sick mind.

Author's Notes: Angel's sucky fifth season never happened. Cordelia is awake and with Gunn. Fred is dating Wesley.

Prologue

My Fate, Your Fate

The dark eyes stared intensely into the creamy white piece of thick paper. It had words written in gold all over it, and the Greek-god-kind-of-handsome man read it again and again. He had read it so much that the words were engraved in his mind.

And, yet, he kept re-reading.

And, yet, his heart kept on breaking.

Elizabeth Anne Summers & Riley Joseph Finn

Kindly invite you to their wedding ceremony, to take place at March 15th, on Sunnydale Central Park, at 17:00.

After the ceremony, the newlyweds will receive their guests in their new home, on Revello Drive, 1756.

Of course, he thought bitterly, he had to receive an invitation.

"I bet she thinks I hate her... Buffy, you are nowhere close to the truth", he whispered, his eyes filling with tears.

His fingers played with the Claddagh ring he still wore, and he kept on speaking to the old picture of her, which was carefully guarded in a frame. "You'll never know how deeply you hurt me by sending me this... But I hope you're happy. I know he's the normalcy you always wanted". He gave a bitter laugh. "Not that I'll stick around to see it, of course".

As the hour set for the wedding to begin came closer, he got up, picked a very sharp stake from his weapon cabinet and came back to his previous place, behind his desk. He opened his desk's drawer and took two envelopes out of it. One was subscribed to Cordelia.

The other, of course, was subscribed to Buffy.

He hoped Cordelia sent her the envelope.

As his clock hit 5 p.m., he shoved the stake right into his heart.

And smiled.

The physical pain caused by the staking was nothing compared to the emotional pain his heart had gotten by receiving Buffy's wedding's invitation.

Goodbye, Buffy, was the last thought he had before he exploded into ashes.

Angel was smiling sadly at her, a stake impaled in his chest. His Claddagh was on his finger, and he was staring right at her.

She was frozen on her place, desperately trying to move, but failing. He had impaled himself, killed himself, because of what?

"Goodbye, Buffy", he whispered before exploding to dust right before her eyes.

"NO! ANGEL! DON'T!"

She woke up with tears streaming down her cheeks. Willow, Kennedy, Faith and Dawn all rushed in, sleepy, but worried. Only Faith was wide alert, dressed in a sweat shirt and shorts. Buffy guessed she had probably been out for a run.

"Buffy!" Dawn sat down by her sister's side, grabbing her hand. "What's it? Why were you screaming?"

"It's... It's..." Buffy couldn't speak. A lump of tears was blocking her trachea, and she couldn't breathe.

Willow sat down by her friend's right, and tried to calm her down. "Now, Buffy, take deep breaths. In, out, in, out..." She said softly.

Faith eyed Buffy oddly. She knew her sister-slayer very well. B was only this panicked when it was about the dark, tall and handsome stud that lived in LA.

Buffy was slowly calming down. But tears still ran down her cheeks and she still felt a bit spooked. She looked up to Faith. "Have you talked to Cordy... recently?"

"As in... today?" Faith asked back, her eyes never leaving Buffy's. Buffy nodded. Faith added, "No. I mean, she and G are comin' to the weddin', why bother with calling her?"

Buffy considered it for a moment, then turned to Kennedy. "Can you give us some closest-friends-alone-time, please?" She asked with her sweetest smile.

Kennedy shrugged and said, "Whatever". Then she walked out, the door closing quietly behind her.

Willow turned to her friend. "Why did you ask Kenny to leave? What's it?"

Buffy took a deep breath and said, "I had a dream... With Angel", she whispered. Willow's mouth opened in a silent 'o'. Dawn bleached visibly.

"Angel?" She asked. "What is wrong with him?"

"I don't know, but..." Buffy's eyes were quickly getting wet with tears. "... I saw him... committing suicide".

"HEY!" Faith jumped up. "Stop it! You and I both know - you more than me - that Angel is not the type of guy to just go kill himself!"

"I know! I know!" Buffy replied. "But... I saw it! He looked at me, just looked at me, smiled, and then said goodbye".

Dawn inhaled sharply. "Goodbye?" She whispered. "But... But..."

"He never says goodbye!" Willow spoke for the first time. She then remembered what day was that. "Okay, quit the crying. Today is your big day. You're gonna get married!"

Buffy wiped her eyes and managed to give Willow a small smile. "You're right. It is. I'm sorry, it's just... Angel was the first man I truly loved. He still throws me".

Willow squeezed her hand lovingly. "I know honey. I know. Now get up, we have three hours to get you ready". She got up and dragged Dawn out of the room.

Faith turned to Buffy. "You sure you wanna go on with this lie?"

"It's not a lie. I... I love Riley. I promised him I'm gonna marry him", she said quickly. Faith looked at him, sighed and then walked to the door.

"B, remember we slayers have prophetic dreams", she said quietly before shutting the door behind her.

"I know..." Buffy whispered to the closed door, as she got up. "Believe me. I know".

At a quarter to five p.m., Elizabeth Anne Summers was ready. And anxious to get married. Her dress was strapless, snowy white, with a long assimetric skirt. Her hair, now longer and in a darker shade of blonde, was piled up the top of her head, some strands falling down, framing her face. Her veil was cautiously kept in place, right in front of her bun. She was not wearing any jewelry, except for some diamond earrings Joyce had given her on Buffy's last birthday before her death. Even her engagement ring was not in its usual place, her right hand.

Willow, beautiful and proud on her bridesmaid pale gold gown, stepped back, and flashed Buffy an admiring smile. "You are a lovely bride", she blinked quickly to clear her eyes. "Riley is gonna lose it".

Dawn, wearing a light blue maid of honor dress, scowled. Faith, in a turquoise blue version of Dawn's dress, smirked at her. They kept their mouths shut, however, both knowing that bad-mouthing Riley would mean Buffy in their throats. There was a knock on the door, and Dawn rushed to open it. Giles walked in (he would escort Buffy to the aisle), followed by Cordelia. The former May queen had a dark expression on her face.

Dawn hugged her friend. "Cordy!" She squealed. Cordy managed to give her a forced smile, and hugged her back. "Oh, my God, it's a long time. You look so beautiful!"

"Thanks, Dawnie. You look good too". She then nodded at Faith, scowled at Willow and then definitely glowered at Buffy. Faith braced herself. Queen C was back.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU SENT THAT GODDAMN INVITATION TO ANGEL!" She yelled furiously. Willow startled at her seething anger, and Buffy widened her eyes.

"What the fuck are you talking about!" She asked the brunette.

"Those innocent looks don't work with me, Buffy. You know what I am talking about. You sent Angel a kind invitation to your wedding!" Cordelia was not going to let Buffy get away so easily.

"I DID WHAT!" Buffy yelled, as Faith and Dawn screamed:

"YOU INVITED ANGEL TO THE WEDDING!" Her sister asked.

"HAVE YOU LOST THE FUCKING MIND!" Faith exploded.

"Stop it!" Giles said above all the yelling. The ladies quietened, surprised at his outburst. He turned to Buffy. "I came to warn you that we have ten more minutes. And why did you invited Angel?"

Buffy inflamed. "I did not!"

"I'm not insane!" Cordelia shot back. "I saw the invitation! He has brooded over it for weeks now!"

"Cordelia, you think I'm dumb? I never wanted Angel here!" Then it hit her. "Oh, God... He is so dead!" She whispered, raising her skirt and walking out of her dressing room. Cordelia, Will, Faith, Dawn and Giles all followed her.

Xander walked out of the church, and whistled appreciatively at the sight of Buffy. "You look very charming, Buff. But we still have ten minutes, so-"

"Where is Riley?" Her voice was even, but her tone was cold, and her eyes so icy, Xander felt a chill running down her spine.

"Inside. Hey, stop. You shall not go in there now, the groom can't see the bride before the wedding!" Xander caught her arm

"Let me go, Xander. Or you wanna die in Riley's place?" She said conversationally. Xander widened his eyes.

"What did he do?"

"He invited Angel", she answered, freeing her arm. Xander bit his lip.

"Actually, Buff..." He didn't even had the shame of looking sheepish. "... I did. I invited Dead-Boy".

Buffy was dumbstruck. She felt her blood freezing. "You... You invited Angel?"

"Uh... Yeah", he scratched his head. "I thought that, since you are over him, it would be nice to have an extra friend around".

Cordelia had caught up with her and was now about to explode. But she turned to Buffy and said, "Can I kill him?"

"Make it slow and painful", Buffy said, as an awkward chill licked at her skin.

"HEY!" Xander exclaimed. "I just came to terms with my new single state, so please don't think of taking my life".

Gunn approached his girlfriend. "Hey, sexy, why the drama?" He asked her. She turned to him.

"Meet Xander Harris, P.H.d at doing stupid things", she said bitterly, shaking with anger. The afro-American turned to the kid.

"I take you sent Angel that thing", he said coolly.

Suddenly, Buffy felt a sharp pang in her heart. It was so strong, she didn't hold back a scream. And she fainted.

It was, exactly, five p.m.

As her bridal gown fell on the floor, in L.A., Angel's ashes gently smeared in his carpet.

T B C...