A/N Ok for my purposes Ats season 2 ends at Dead End. They never went to Pylea they never found out about Fred. Cordy never became a princess etc etc. Personally, I loved the Pylea eps but I'm thoroughly convinced as a diehard B/A'er they were just done to get Angel out of this dimension because we all know that if he was here he would have known Buffy needed him. (

Disclaimer: The song doesn't belong to me, neither do Buffy or Angel. If they did we'd have the 2 hour weekly Buffy and Angel show. The song belongs to Sara Evans "No Place that Far." The other song is "Mandy" by Barry Manilow.

Chapter 8-Intervention

-Angel-

I walk onto the construction site. The moonlight makes the scaffolding and half finished buildings look like ruins from some ancient society. It's an odd place to meet her, but she was the one who wanted to meet here, at least I'm pretty sure she was. She walks down the stairs of a large tower and holds her hands out to me. I take her hands in mine. They are icy cold. It's not right. Her hands are always so hot to me. There are purple black circles under her eyes and the moonlight makes her skin look death pale. She looks like she hasn't slept or eaten in days. Its to be expected, I suppose, with her Mom's death. I take my duster off and wrap it around her. She shivers a little and snuggles up to me. I can feel how cold she is through the coat.

I can't imagine any greater fear
Then waking up without you here
And though the sun would still shine on
My whole world would all be gone
But not for long

If I had to run, if I had to crawl
If I had to swim a hundred rivers, just to climb a thousand walls
Always know that I would find a way, to get to where you are
There's no place that far.

I bend to kiss her, but she puts her hand over my mouth. Tears gather in her eyes and spill down her cheeks. Her fingers are ice against my lips. I don't understand what's happening. I don't know why she wanted to meet me here, a construction site, of all places. She looks up to the top of the tower and back down at me.

It wouldn't matter why we're apart
Lonely minds or two stubborn hearts
Nothing short of God above
Could turn me away from your love
I need you that much

If I had to run, if I had to crawl
If I had to swim a hundred rivers, just to climb a thousand walls
Always know that I would find a way to get to where you are
There's no place that far

She turns to leave, still wrapped in my black leather duster. She walks back up the tower stairs. I watch her disappear. I turn to leave. There is a broken bag of dry concrete mix. Someone has written in it. My soul shudders in response to the message.

Save me

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I wake up with a two ton weight on my chest, at least it feels that way. I've got to tell someone about these dreams or they are going to drive me crazy. I glance at the clock. I've got a couple of hours until sunrise. If I hurry I can get to Caritas and back before it gets light.
I toss on black pants and a charcoal sweater. I'm usually very organized, a neat freak Cordy has even said. I look all over the apartment and in all the closets. I can't find my black leather duster. I flee to Caritas.

*

The green skinned demon answers the door quickly. He is just cleaning up the club for the night.
"Angelcakes! What brings you here this close to sunrise?" Lorne asks.

"I don't know if you can help me, Lorne but there's something wrong. I've been having dreams about a girl." I quickly drain the Irish whiskey Lorne set in front of me.

"Buffy?" He asks.

"You can see her, when you read me I mean?" I'm surprised. He's never mentioned Buffy before.

"Angelcakes, darling, I saw her the first night you sang 'Mandy'. I've seen her every time after that. She's just never been important to your reading, so I didn't mention it. Love of your unnaturally long life and all that, there's a lot of pain around her too." Lorne says, filling my whiskey glass again.

"Yeah, there's always that when we're around each other." I sip at the whiskey, taking a moment to gather my thoughts. "I've had 4 dreams about her in as many weeks. In the first one it was me with her and then all the sudden Angelus was there. He killed her. In the second one I ran her through with a sword, in the third one she turned to ash. Tonight, I think she was already dead. Someone had written Save Me in the concrete mix and I can't find my leather duster."

"Ok, slow down. It's really better if I just see it. Want to sing something for me, Sweetlips?"

This is the part of seeing Lorne I dreaded, at least there's no one here except Lorne and I don't have to actually get on stage. I start singing 'Mandy'. It's one I know by heart and it also reminds me of Buffy. I hope he'll get a stronger reading because of it. Lorne actually lets me get through the entire song. He shakes his head and looks confused when I'm done.

"There's definitely something wrong. I can't get a reading on it. I see the dreams, and they would creep me out too but when I try to focus on Buffy, I just get static." He tries to explain.

If I had blood, it would have all drained out of my face. "Like with the guy who wanted to freeze his girlfriend in time so she wouldn't leave?"

"No, nothing like that. It's like interference on the TV. There's a picture but you can't see it for all the static."

"So she's not going to die?" I'm looking for straight answers here.

"I honestly don't know."

Lorne's lack of an answer is enough to send me into total panic. "I've got to go. I've got to get to Sunnydale."

"Angelcakes, the sun rises in twenty minutes. If you hurry you'll be able to get back to your hotel before you turn into the contents of an ashtray."

*

I pace the hotel and check the clock every ten minutes. A day has never seemed so long. I go up to my room and sit in my chair. I try to read Whitman, he always relaxes me. I've already packed a bag. I don't know how long I'll be needed in Sunnydale, if I'm needed at all.

*

It's raining ice cold. I'm standing beside an open grave and the rain has turned the entire cemetery to mud. She walks up beside me. She's wearing a whisper of a white dress. It's much to cold out here for a dress like that. She pulls me close and kisses my cheek. She's cold to the touch.

I remember all my life
Raining down cold as ice
Shadows of a man
A face through a window, cryin in the night
The night goes into

Morning, just another day
Happy people pass my way
Looking in their eyes
I see a memory I never realized
How happy you made me

Oh Mandy, well
You came and you gave without taking
But I sent you away
Oh Mandy well
Kissed me and stopped me from shaking
And I need you today, Oh Mandy

She picks my black leather duster off the ground. She takes a white rose from wreath near the head of the grave and tucks it inside the pocket of my duster. She drapes the coat over my arm and looks at me as if memorizing every line on my face. Tears fall from her beautiful eyes and mix with the rain.

I'm standing on the edge of time
I've walked away when love was mine
Caught up in a world of uphill climbing
The tears are in my mind
And nothing in the rhyming

Oh Mandy, well
You came and you gave without taking
But I sent you away
Oh Mandy well
Kissed me and stopped me from shaking
And I need you today, Oh Mandy.

She takes a deep breath and walks to the edge of the empty grave. She glances over her shoulder at me and then jumps. I stumble to the edge of the grave, grasping at her. I fall to my knees and watch as she falls into a bottomless hole.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I wake up and grab the arm of the chair. I feel like I'm falling down. I've got to get to Sunnydale, if it's not dark yet I'll have Wes drive me. I can hide under a blanket in the backseat until nightfall. I grab my bag and stop, frozen in my tracks. My duster is draped over the arm of a chair. I pick it up. It's wet. There's a white rose tucked in the inside pocket.