Nothing Ever Changes Darling

by Wicked R

Darla as a ghost still invokes feelings and memories for Angel.

Title: Nothing Ever Changes, Darling

Alternatively, if it was in any way appropriate, I'd give the title, Give us Darla Back!!

Author: Wicked R

Disclaimer: I have no right to use these characters, the WB has. Unfortunately, cause they do not want to use their rights enough.

Summary/Pairing: Darla as a ghost still invokes feelings and memories for Angel.

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Rating: this universe is a universal tale, is it not? Maybe 12 for violence. But than the same goes for The Seven Dwarfs.

Set: after episode Lineage, season 5 of AtS, but it's only loosely related.

Footnote: in Buffyverse vampires can cross running water no prob.

Other notes and excuses: English is not my first language, so be kind. ]

Angel had finished his conversation with Wesley and headed towards his rooms. He heard Spike muttering things behind him, but he didn't think they were addressed to him. Even if the were, he was too tired to care. But suddenly Spike appeared right in front of him and made him come to a halt. Not that he couldn't pass through him, Spike being a ghost and all, but instinctively you just stop if something appears in front of you. But instinct only ruled for a second. He was determined he was on his way and passed through.

Spike jumped, "Do you mind?!"

"Actually yes, I would mind…Can I go now?" and he carried on.

"Go or not, I gotta tell you something."

"Now??"

"Well, you'll see, I'm the one doing the favour here. I just happened to realise this now and…will you stop?"

Fred just stepped out of Wesley's office with Knox, overhearing them, "Angel…I was going to tell you about this, but this didn't seem like the best time, but now that Spike is at it…it's about Darla."

"Darla?"

"She isn't dead," nodded Spike, "at least not more than I am. Listen, I began to hear gossip circulating about the other ghost in our building. Mostly I just heard talk about "such and such happened, wasn't it you? It must have been the other ghost". I began to ask questions. People told me that sometimes you would see someone walk past you out of the corner of your eye and no one would be there. An administrator told me that sometimes if you got off the elevator in the basement, it would be really cold in one spot and warm in others. This sounds like typical ghost activity right? I also had heard something about the chair riding the elevator at night and then being found on a different floor the next morning. Another time, they were working on the third floor when all of the sudden the doors of the elevator opened and they heard the squeak of the wheels. They looked over and saw that the chair got out of the elevator. I never felt afraid of anything when I was there. I think whoever it was just wanted to let us know that it was there. I almost forgot about the whole thing, until I started dreaming.

When we are asleep our mind is open to many things that we may not consider possible while awake. I'm kinda in between of ghost and real world, so I guess it was easier for her to contact me. I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with a

feeling that someone was looking at me. I opened my eyes and I saw her holding a candle. She floated towards the bathroom and disappeared. I went to look for her in the bathroom. There was nothing there but on the counter, the candle. And with the hot wax, it was written, help me talk to Angel…"

And before Angel could wonder much about all this, Fred interrupted, "and I think I know how. You know, our ghost detectors proved useless in many circumstances. But I thought they should be personalised. If Darla wants to contact you, you should carry a trifled natural EMF meter. I assume she would be around you at some point, so you would be the one that could magnify her…well, let me explain. The device detects changes in extremely weak static electric and magnetic fields. Just turn the knob to the sum position on the meter, which combines any changes in the electric field to any changes in the magnetic field, so that if either field increases or decreases, the needle will rise above zero and it will automatically magnify the signal. By setting the minimum sensitivity to change at 3V/m, we have designed the meter to disregard this background noise…oh, well, just keep it on, here."

Once reaching his room, Angel laid back against the wall. Walking made him more nauseous. How can loosing your free will make you nauseous? Unless it is the thought of it you are revolting to. He slowly slid to a sitting position. Unexpectedly, his stomach revolted and he pulled himself along to the bed. He closed his eyes, bowing his head, waiting for the queasiness to pass.

Darla could feel his presence, as she always could. It was this place they revived her once and since the Powers That Be still had something up their sleeve regarding her, she never reached Hell either. Being an undetected ghost at Wolfram and Hart was a common thing to do. She didn't know why she was bound there, but she knew that Lindsey was behind it somehow. Angel looked quite shattered, dropping a weird looking piece of equipment next to him on the floor. He shook his head, desperately trying to shake off the queasiness. Spike just talked about Darla. He could be hallucinating from his previous ordeal with Wesley's father's look-alike. It can't be that the trifled meter or whatever it was called was working that well already. Moving was out of the question, partly because movement would've aggravated his sickness, partly because of being surprised and wary. But he could say her name. She turned gradually to look into his eyes and found the long desired eye-contact, realization suddenly taking her brain by surprise and shaking it vigorously, "hey! Can you really see me?" she exclaimed.

Angel glared up at the woman, "you?".

"Me," she smiled, floating through the bed, happily she could make contact this time. Darla reached out and soothingly smoothed down Angel's hair. Her fingers seemed to pass through it at first, so Angel leaned down and turned Fred's dial up to maximum. Their skins touched this time.

Angel quickly jerked away from her, eyes wide, as if just realising the impossibility of the situation. Only that nothing was impossible in this Universe. He had learnt that. Angel looked up at her, seeing the affection and candour in her eyes.

She knew he was waiting for an explanation, "does the word buttress mean anything to you?"

Angel nodded, "they are the ones the Powers That Be protect for some future venture."

"They're the ones that brought me back."

Emotions washed over them and they held each other once again. "Hey," Angel said, reaching up and putting his hand on Darla' cheek, guiding her face to keep Darla' eyes on his, "stay with me."

"I'm bound to the building…so, you will have to stay with me until…the Powers call it again."

"We won't let tha…"

Darla sighed and put her index finger on his lips, throwing her head back with an ironic laugh, "future tense? What is that? Do we have a life or we just act as puppets for the Powers? What really matters is the here and now," her feet warped around him. As she leaned closer , she could actually taste his lips poured on top of hers, the distant fading flavour of pigs' and otter blood, thawing as one like ice under fire. Fred's invention showed her brilliance again, if even taste was part of the deal. There was a smooth interweaving of not merely their lips but their souls as well, for the first time in their hundreds of years of co-existence, joining together as one, building the passion. As they kissed Darla went to undo Angel's shirt, Angel unbuttoned Darla's blouse in response and pushed her onto the sofa. Darla was gasping.

"Are you all right, Darla? You not gonna disappear like Spike does?" asked Angel.

"I just…I can't trust this is really happening. All this time I spent here thinking no one will ever know that I exist in this plane… "

Angel caressed Darla gently, comforting her, smiling at the treasured face in front of him. Feeling the vampire's hands running up and down her back, she sighed, burying her face in the back of Angel's neck. At first, he just wanted to hold her forever, but their relationship was always characterised with fervour and it was natural for them just to react the same way. He leaned to Darla's neck, sucking and biting there. Darla sighed and grabbed him, frantic for more. Angel pulled back somewhat, took Darla's hand and sucked her fingers into his mouth. He put one hand on her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. His lips softly pushed hers open, venturing his tongue inside. His mouth was demanding hers, dominating her in a way that under no circumstances felt this good for her with any other man than Angel. She could feel him hard underneath his trousers. She wanted to go further, and he, undoubtedly, was ready and able. However, he pulled away hastily and suddenly.

Darla's eyes narrowed and she grabbed for Angel's hand, stunned. "Angel?"

"No," he shook his head, "this isn't right!"

Darla sighed disappointed, "I thought it was a magic moment between us. Besides, do I know how long that machine of yours will work? I remember how it felt the first time you kissed me, I remember how it felt the first time I touched you. I remember the desire and the lust. I remember what it felt like to be a slave to you in my mind and body, without letting my conscience get in the way. I remember what it's like to crave you so much I'd die if you didn't touch me. You remember it too. I can see it in your eyes…Angel? Let me feel you," she pled, "please, such a long time without human contact…or any as a matter of fact. Not even a soulless being could stand that…"

He considered, "very well, feel me."

Delicately, she brought up her hand, tenderly touching, then caressing him, her hands running from Angel's shoulders down over his torso. She followed her hands with her lips. Supporting her weight on one hand, resting to the side of Angel, she used the other one to unzip Angel's trousers, pull Angel's erection away from his body and then she raised herself up and lowered herself on top of Angel's erection.

It happened unexpectedly. All this time he looked for the perfect happiness in his life. For a long time it couldn't happen because he didn't see his future. He didn't believe the shanshu prophecy anymore and that was enough. And after a while that was fine. One should chance what he can't have. Happiness for him completely resided in the moment with her real soul mate. The only one that went through the same as he did. If we don't count Spike but of course we don't. Bliss swarmed into his veins. It found his soul, and it destroyed all its pain and guilt. All the nightmares, terrible feelings were gone. It felt… good.

Darla knew it immediately. Now, when she wasn't trying. It wasn't him bending down in the pain of having his soul sucked away, it wasn't the scream. She knew it because it felt as if her own soul had been ripped apart from his. The hurting that was caused by this stopped her from acting quick enough and not letting Angelus take off.

Just a swift smash at the ghost-machine to give him time to disappear before they can build another one and find out what happened from Darla. The building was quite empty given the hour, no one stopped him. And there he was, outside, running, and already miles away from the offices. There and then, when he'd been feeling like it never would happen, for a long time it felt like it wouldn't. His freedom seemed a vampire lifetime away, and this was all like a dream. Only that he had to act quickly if it was going to last. From previous experience, and current developments of her powers, Willow could now reinstate his soul any time, from any distance. So he had to get to her before the others let her know. In other circumstances he would've killed anybody that knew about his transformation, but how do you exterminate a ghost? He could've pretended for a while that he was Angel and that he didn't meet Darla yet, but sooner or later they would find her and it will be too late to run and hit upon Willow. He had at least about ten hours to do this, before they would go looking for him. Even then, they would only know that he disappeared, nothing else. Besides, he knew from Buffy where Willow was now. Exactly. A mistake from the Slayer. Flying wasn't an option that vampires favoured either, but it was the only way to get there in the given timeframe. And it wasn't that far after all.

At first, the manor house the Scoobies rented in Cleveland was exactly as packed as Buffy's household in Sunnydale had formerly been. However, shortly, while they divided the job of detecting and instructing slayers all over the world amongst themselves, the dwelling gradually cleared, till all who was left was Willow and Kennedy. Angelus knew he had to act fast here as well, not giving the Slayer a chance to attack and Willow an opportunity to use her magic.

So far, so good. As he didn't think he was going to get an invitation in, he was waiting outside hoping Willow will leave the house pursuing some morning activity, with a bit of luck before daybreak. He was also forming a plan in his mind, in case she didn't. Moving about guardedly in case the residents could be aware of his doings, he made his way across the yard to the stairway and hid under it. Peeping in, he got a glance of the redhead coming out of the kitchen.

"Hi, you must be Angelus I take it," said a female, but strong voice behind him.

The slayer and she knows about him! Even less time to waste. He leapt up, swinging backwards towards Kennedy. Kennedy raised an arm and blocked the swing. Angelus's eyes grew wide in surprise. He tried a spinning round kick to the slayer's mid-section. The blow barely reached her, she was quick to move away. Buffy had trained her well. Angelus tried a fury of punches and kicks, none of which slowed down Kennedy. She back-handed him, sending him flying into the door. She lunged at him before he knew where he was, and slammed his head into the door one more time. The Slayer definitely enjoyed her new power and with that, her skills got evident. But he wasn't surprised by that, what shocked him were his own dawdling responses. He could only guess that his weakness would be due to not completely faded effect of the wand the fake Roger Wyndam-Price used. If he fell he would not get back up, he thought. While he was contemplating this, he got up to bombard Kennedy with a bout of devastating lefts and rights, but Kennedy withstood this bombardment and knocked Angelus onto his back. Kennedy then clutched her legs across Angelus's neck, but he bit Kennedy in the left leg. Kennedy answered with tugging quite vigorously on Angelus's hair. She lifted Angelus up by the collar of his shirt and flung him, shattering the porch light as he flew, slamming him against the stone walls of the manor.

Angelus felt the throbbing in his head and he fell slowly to the floor. The last thing he saw was the woman bending over him before he lost consciousness.

1776, Kilmarnock, Scotland

The covered cart rattled along the poorly maintained road. Darla and Angelus was sitting in the front of it, studying the rain clouds as it tipped down in soft murmuring, as it has been for the last twenty four hours. It was pretty plausible to say that the sun will not show its face this day either. The vampire favourable weather was one of the reasons they returned to the North, but not even they could suffer the endless tipping down. Not to mention that food, as in humans would stay inside their warm houses and not offer invites to any wonderer. They were now desperately looking for some warm liquid. If not, some beer at least. Nevertheless, it was a Sunday morning and it was likely that quite a lot of people would come out for church. If they could reach to one in good time. They hurried the horses on. In town they passed a church indeed, or kirk as the local nation called it. People were just coming out from the ceremony and quite a lot of them were turning in a row onto a narrow bridge. There was an inn at the other side of an elevated river. This was the tavern on Market Street, Kilmarnock, across the Marnock Water from the Laigh Kirk, which later became the Angel Hotel.

Hoarse laughter overflowed onto the street from the building. It's door stood wide open, waiting for the devoted churchgoers and anyone else who fancied an early morning boost up. Darla removed her muffs and the hood of her black coat off her head, protection against the rain or sunshine, whichever appeared. They stepped over the threshold without any difficulty, it was a public place.

Customers leaned drunkenly on rough-hewn counters. An odd sticky mix of sawdust, hay and beer lay on the ground.

They couldn't taste the beer, and alcohol didn't have that much effect on them as it had for humans, but they weren't drinking for enjoyment. They were waiting for some opportunity to raise. For someone to invite them home or the night to freely flavour the streets. She had only been waiting for a few minutes, when they saw a gentleman wearing a sword walking in the door. He wore a silk coat and embroidered cuffs. He ran towards the bartender, shouting frenetically, "where is Dr. Mackay ? Is he here?"

The bartender shook his head, "Lord Kilmarnock! What's going on?"

"Good old Auntie Gardiner! The fever came back! She can only be helped by blood-letting now!"

Angelus and Darla looked at each other. It wasn't the first time 18th century medical practice came to their rescue. Blood letting was common those days and masquerading as physicians amongst vampires was an easy way of leading a settled life somewhere and still getting enough to eat. Not to mention that the treatment itself was an idea of a vampire, back in ancient times. Bleeding was the most common course of treatment. The theory went that if you removed the patient's blood, the body would be relieved of that overproduced humour and could then function more freely with what was left. Doctors applied leeches to suck the blood away, or they would engage in "bloodletting" - slicing small cuts in the flesh to allow blood to drain off into bowls. This treatment was recommended for a variety of diseases, including inflammatory fevers, coughs, headaches, rheumatism, abscesses and some forms of heart disease. Bloodletting was also routinely performed as a preventive measure.

"Mister? Maybe we can be of assistance," Angelus approached the newly arrived man while tying the ribbon from under his throat to complete his presentable gentleman appearance , "I'm James Marshall, this is my wife Darla. We are travelling north up to the Hebrides, as my good friend and fellow colleague, Dr. Livingston acclaimed there's much to do on the weather-ridden planes of…"

"Doctor?" he was interrupted by the excited nobleman, "God sent you! Come help us!

My dear aunt is like a mother to me. There's no time to waste!"

"Well, sure, we can follow you with our cart to your aunt."

"No, no, I'm on horseback and the innkeeper here could provide you with another fast-legged creature," he waved to the bartender, who immediately left to see to fulfilling the wishes of the town's most eligible gentleman, "you have to come right away. Everybody here can pinpoint the direction of Dean Castle to your respectful wife," he bowed towards Darla, shoving Angelus out the door "my aunt was seized with violent fevers and pains in her head. Physicians ordered us to give her James' Powders. It gave her immediate ease and removed her fevers and other complaints, but these returned in four days…"

Darla looked after her lover childe as she couldn't hear anymore from the conversation not even with her vampire ears as the two men mounted horses. She was happy it was not her who had to go out and risk having to run for cover when the sun came out. It could hide behind clouds for weeks in a row but with the unpredictable Scottish weather you never know. You could have all four seasons the same day. But for now, she was going to have a boring day in a small market town in the middle of nowhere in particular. After looking around in the inn, her face lit up. There was whiskey and there was the possibility of sneaking after some inebriated worker on a no name alley.

The population of the town went down a couple and most stars appeared before Darla decided it was time to get on the cart and look for her companion. It was not a long ride, she could not miss it, she was told, if she just went up along the river about a mile passed the mills. Uphill, she reached the forest when her vampire hearing distinguished several voices even through the gallop of the horses. Coming from the direction of the castle, several riders were talking about what to do with the prisoner. Darla stopped the horses to have a better chance at hearing the conversation. One of speakers, who as she later found out was the little brother of the Lord, was lecturing the others about the characteristics of vampires.

Darla slowly and quietly jumped off the cart and drove the horses by foot off the road. Meanwhile, the Lord, as one of the main foremen of the town decided that it was best to keep the vampire in the basement of the Auld Kirk, which normally operated as a prison when times asked for it. And in front of the locals they were going to put the vampire out on market square at dawn and wait for the effect. Sir James definitely knew, this was a spectacular way of getting rid of them and making a great spectacle for the town. After all, he was well travelled and been to America too, which he felt the need of underlining. As they passed the point where Darla had gone off the road, they remembered the vampire's so called wife and they decided to send one of the servants ahead to warn the innkeeper. Their voices started to fade, but Darla knew everything she needed to know. She angrily kicked into the trunk of a tree. Instead of slaughtering them straight away, Angelus had probably tried one of his stupid games just to have fun. And that without her. She could go mad with boredom in town while he was playing wise ass. She could feel an urge to untie one of the horses and leave this area for good. Angelus could probably make his own way out if it was his own fault that he got into that situation. Or not. Stuff her if she'd cared. She remembered in time that those who are angry, punish themselves for the sins of others.

As Angelus opened his eyes and found himself conscious, he could tell just by the feeling that there must've been several crosses above him. Not in the same room, nevertheless. It was only a few seconds later when he looked through the small rectangular window that he recognised the churchyard their cart had passed in the morning on the way to the inn. The church that symbolised the fight against vampires, and the cemetery that was there birthplace went usually hand in hand. Dawn was far, the stars still shone brightly in the black sky.

Pain was throbbing through his veins, not just because of hunger, but because of the severe beating and blood loss. If he was not there, that James person, he could have killed every one of them one by one and would have only left one alive for Darla. But he immediately saw through him. Apparently, he met a vampire slayer in America. Native Indian girl, whom she married, bravely, against the wishes of the family. He possessed just enough knowledge about vampires to surprise him and send him in the arms of the Slayer. Not to mention the article he read up to his more conservative brother about this new doctor who went against the necessity of bloodletting, ever. If this gets to be a more global view, Darla will be royally pissed. What Darla. They will all be.

James and his men tied his hands behind him. They chained his legs down too. At first he tried his innocent approach, "please," he heard himself saying, "let me go. I do not know what you want and why you treat a doctor like this. I came to help." There were still many in the room, who did not believe in vampires.

From the corner came a low female voice, "you know what I want. Or you are still young and have not heard of slayers?"

"You're not going to get away with this! If my companions find out that you. . . ."

"Companions? You mean more vampires? Vampires usually leave their fallen ones behind. And I ain't scared of them. They will just be more scalps. I gather some dust from each of you and so far I could build a mountain."

"I wouldn't count on that."

"No? My watcher says they would not even care to do something about you. Vampires

do not feel, not even companionship or revenge."

"That's not true! There is a lot for you watcher to learn."

Suddenly the a stake was pressed against his chest, "see, it's real sharp. Could slice your chest open in a flash."

"What stops you?"

"My husband says we better teach the locals a lesson. But maybe I might exact a small punishment first."

"What? What would you do?"

"This!" She punched him in the gut, then along his sensitive ribs and sides, which have previously been hurt by the Lord and his man and their respective swords and knives. Just for the Slayer to include fire too.

Angelus knew he was going to be in perfect health by the next day, or latest the day after, but right than the pain was making it impossible to try to escape or do anything but just lie on his side with his hands clutched to his stomach, where most of his wounds were. He was still, humming softly to himself. The more they were waiting to do whatever they were planning to do with him, the stronger he will become. The noblewoman might have been the Slayer, but here she counted only as a woman and of questionable origins. She was not in charge, she could not even get to him at the moment.

Blood streaked his hands and has stained his chest too. He gazed at it blankly. A splash of colour in the gloom of the empty cell. Not much use for him, his own blood, nevertheless he licked his hands just to go against waste.

A noise at the door startled him. It was Darla.

"Angelus," she stared. Then she crawled over to his side to check out his injuries. She frowned.

His blood had also pooled beneath him, his clothes absorbing what they could, the rest soaking into the ground. The wounds on his body were finally dry, no longer oozing out the precious elixir. The bones would heal first, knitting themselves back together. Darla had figured the broken bones had already healed. It was only a matter of time before the soft tissue injuries would heal as well. Why waste the energy on something that would heal easily enough on its own?

"Good morning," she purred, "did you sleep well?"

"What?" he murmured, his mind refusing to engage. He gave up trying to figure it out-the thinking was just compounding his headache.

"How are you feeling?"

He glanced down the length of his body, but wasn't able to get up. He was tired.

"I have some blood for you if you like," continued Darla.

He nodded as best he could. Blood sounded like a good idea. Darla was helping him sit up. The room spun and he had to close his eyes to settle his stomach. A few minutes passed and he felt a cup being pressed into his hand. He gripped it weakly, almost dropping it. Darla's fingers closed over his and she helped him bring the cup to his mouth. He gulped down everything with his eyes half-closed. It was easier to

focus that way. It cut down the double images to just three or so. Everything hurt.

"Can you stand?"

He nodded half-heartedly, but found himself in a pile at her feet only seconds after she helped him up, with no recollection of how he got there. Intense pains ripped through his body, his muscles stiff and tense. Although she knew they had to hurry, Darla let him be a few moments till the nutrition got the desired effect.

"What is the score? Where is everybody?" asked Angelus in the waiting.

"They think you are locked in safe and the Slayer is temporarily unavailable."

"Unavailable?"

"Let us say her husband has sent for a real doctor to Ayr."

"In that case, what is your hurry?"

"Daybreak you silly. Sky seems to be clearing from clouds too. Besides, hm, do you think I only like the strong, brutal Angelus? I like the little helpless boy as well."

"What boy?" Angelus jumped and pressed her against him. Wherever they will find shelter from the sun, they will be having a lustful experience just the two of them. Undead life meant nothing without adventure...

"Angel? Angel!"

Angel slowly opened his eyes to somebody hovering above him. At first, he could not tell who was speaking.

"Angel, are you okay? Do you know who I am?" Willow questioned. She gently shook him.

Shaking him harder, he finally opened his eyes, "Willow? What are you doing here?" he said with a shock, "is Buffy ok?"

She held back the chuckle that came to her lips, "Angel," she said trying to keep a straight face, "where exactly do you think you are?"

Angel took a quick look around. Dominating the small room, was a huge double bed he lay on. Other pieces of furniture were scattered around the room, which was lit only by the sun beating in through some far-off opening, safely away from him. Not his vampire safe windows. His face took on a slight colour, which made him look completely normal. If you didn't know he wasn't. Angel tried to get up, the fibre sheets falling to his waist revealing his bare chest.

"It's my fault," explained a voice next to Willow, "we had to take care of the injuries," said Kennedy, slightly embarrassed by her own powers. Many girls had this power now all over the world, she still felt it was unjust against the rest of humanity.

Right enough, Angel's head pounded as he wiped his eyes and he knew from previous experience of how it felt that he'd been out cold for quite a while. His legs were shaky, only just able to sustain his weight and his stomach cried out for blood. How long had it been since he'd eaten something? Angelus couldn't waste his time with such things.

But somebody knew exactly how he must've been feeling. Two other women emerged from the doorway, Fred holding another of her EMF meters, and Darla. She could've not been bound to LA as Spike was. Or was Fred so witty to get around that one as well?

She moved towards him with a cup in her hand that was smelling of the required liquid, setting a hand on his arm. Angel jumped.

"I'm so sorry!" Darla yelped as she jumped back. Angel took the cup, but was looking uncomfortable to the others and Fred ushered them out to let the two speak.

Neither of them spoke until they were alone. Darla seated herself, perching tensely on the edge of the bed.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I must sound absurd after all I've done in the past, don't I? But I am sorry for changing you. Except that I didn't know you would. Except that it causes me extreme happiness that you did. It means…does it mean it Angel?"

She waited for what seemed forever for his reply. Not that is wasn't obvious, but she just couldn't believe it.

"Well, it could only be one explanation…I might be in love with you. When you came back the first time, their were only memories of you as a vampire. Now I also remember that lost woman you were, the mother of my child. The woman that gave everything for our child. The one who wanted to feel love, and showed the greatest proof of it all. The one who was afraid that she will loose the feeling with the soul leaving her. But I think you knew love all along. You loved me."

"I…You were…my perfect one. My equal on all levels. Mine…forever I thought. And now you could be…again. It doesn't matter if we can never do anything in bed. It won't matter, really. It's not like I can't live without sex. I've learnt to exist not even being able to touch things, to let people know I'm there, " she smiled gently.

Angel smiled back warily, "yeah?"

"Absolutely," Darla pulled him in for a long intense kiss. It felt good. He was in control and he felt he could carry on, but somewhere in the back of his head he knew that this wasn't going to be stay this simple. Because it was perfect. Even if it was the perfect blend of sin and heaven.

The End.