Disclaimer; they're not mine...yadda yadda...Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, yadda yadda...

A/N; sorry I took so long to post this chapter, my teachers all seem to hate me right now as they are piling on the work. School sucks. Anyway, I've been raking my brains to figure out how to insert Buffy into this story, and so far I haven't come up with a solution. Would it be really terrible if she didn't show up? Anyway, I'll keep working on it. The story is pretty much coming to a close now, so it won't be easy to rewrite. Let me know if anyone has any ideas. And many, many, many, many huge thank-you's to all my beautiful reviewers: Lili, Kelly, Angel's Guardian, Eva, Glittering Rain, PadFootCc and dogspikelover11. Keep R'n'Ring and I shall do my very best to keep it interesting. xXx

Chapter 5

Angel sped along the streets of LA, following Caitlin's scent with his powerful vampire senses, as Wesley searched through some books he had brought along, trying to get an idea of what they might be facing.

"Are you sure the attackers back at the hotel were human?" Wesley asked, without looking up.

"Positive. They needed the cover of darkness to attack, and they didn't smell like demons," Angel replied.

"Urgh, did anyone ever tell you this whole smelling people thing is really gross?" Cordy observed from the back seat beside Fred and Gunn.

Wesley ignored her and continued, "If they're human then they must be planning to raise or summon something..."

"Yeah Wesley, but what? Times a tickin!" Gunn said impatiently.

"Ah-ha...oh dear..."

Angel glanced at the Englishman, knowing only too well what that exclamation meant. "How bad is it?"

"Well - tonight of all nights just happens to be the 2000th anniversary of the death of Leviathan, one of the fiercest demons ever to roam the earth..."

"Great! Just what I wanted to hear," Cordy muttered.

"However," Wesley continued, sounding a little more hopeful, "If it is Leviathan they're planning to raise, he won't be at full strength yet."

"So we can kick his ass?" Gunn asked hopefully.

"He will take on his mortal form until the ritual is complete," Wesley added.

"What does he have to do to gain full strength?" Angel asked without taking his eyes off the road. There was always a catch.

Wesley swallowed and read aloud from the book on his lap, "To become immortal, Leviathan must – ingest the flesh of a Slayer...before midnight tonight."

Everyone looked at the clock on the dashboard.

It read 23:36.

***

The creature had stopped attacking the door and all was quiet except for something that sounded like far away chanting.

Caitlin sat huddled in the corner, cheeks glistening with tears, breathing deeply to keep herself calm. As she moved to wrap her arms around herself, something fell out of the pocket of her jeans. Curious, she picked it up and unfolded it to reveal a photo. It was of Caitlin with Buffy and Dawn, and their mom, taken at Caitlin's surprise 18th birthday party at the Bronze back in Sunnydale. Caitlin remembered how great that day had been. She'd never wanted it to end. They were all smiling and looking happy in the photo, oblivious to all the pain and heartache that was shortly to follow.

Their mother had died just a week after that photo had been taken. The pain of their loss had been unbearable, but the sisters had learned to share their grief and to help each other through it all. Then, of course, there had been the whole fiasco with Dawn and Glory, the powerful Hellgod intent on destroying the earth...but defeated - at the cost of Buffy's life...

Their friends had not let it be, though. Willow had brought Buffy back from the dead, believing they were rescuing their brave friend from a torturous hell dimension.

They were wrong.

She had been torn out of a place of eternal peace and thrown back into violence and turmoil. Learning that Buffy felt this way shocked Caitlin and made her feel overwhelming guilt at having taken part in such a terrible act. But it was done, and there was no going back, so Caitlin promised that she would help Buffy to find her way again. And she had done. Buffy seemed to get better, eventually, although Caitlin couldn't help noticing that she had never completely returned to normal. Understandable, considering all that had happened. Buffy had been through so much...so much more than Caitlin could ever handle...

...Buffy...

...If Buffy were here right now, she wouldn't be huddled in this corner, crying like a coward...

This thought made Caitlin snap out of her fear. Buffy would make it through this, somehow. She wouldn't give up the fight so easily.

Slowly, Caitlin began to get angry. Even before becoming a Slayer, she'd never gone down without at least taking her opponent with her. She was a fighter, not a coward, she always had been. She stood up and wiped away her tears, putting the photo back in her pocket. Surveying the room for a weapon of some kind, her eyes settled on a long, wicked looking dagger lying on a bench in the corner. She mentally kicked herself for not having noticed it when she entered the room, and picked it up. It felt comfortable in her hand, like it belonged somehow.

Feeling more confident now that she held something to defend herself with, she stood facing the door and took a deep breath. After all she'd been through since becoming a Slayer; she was not going to die. Not now, not like this.

"Not today, asshole!" she growled through clenched teeth, and pulled open the door.

***

A/N; Leviathan - (Hebrew) the serpent of the raging sea. Grand admiral of hell. Seen as androgynous. And for any nitpickers, I know Angel probably wouldn't be able to follow one persons scent all the way across a city but this is my story with my rules. Plus, im pretty sure he used to follow Buffy's scent all over Sunnydale. He appeared out of nowhere quite a lot.