Chapter 3

Angel looked around. He still hadn't actually gotten his form yet. He was still a puff of smoke in the ether. He had the body of his soul in this particular time. He saw Willow wander into the box impervious to magic and, even though he was yelling warnings, Xander, Dawn and Giles got themselves in the cage. He saw Xander pace around angrily, Dawn sit there with her head resting on her knees and Giles testing the bars of the cage.

Angel knew what came next.

Giles had taken Dawn from L.A. It was too much for her. Knowing that Buffy was a vampire and all of them knew that sooner or later Buffy would pay her little sister a visit and Dawn wouldn't be able to get rid of that thought that maybe she could save her older sister. Xander had gone because he couldn't look at Angel without wanting to throw a punch in his general direction. Willow had stayed because she knew that if she didn't the guilt would consume Angel and even he couldn't survive that. Besides she knew a little bit more about the 'whole hurting people you care about' thing than the rest of them.

He saw Angelus stalk Buffy from up in the rafters. She was walking around trying to look for Angelus. Angelus held back a snigger which really had wanted to come out. As Angelus jumped down as silently as a cat Angel tried to warn Buffy by yelling and waving his non existent hands in front of her face. But it happened the same way. Buffy turned to meet Angelus' fist.

She fell. She flipped. They fought. Trying to escape by climbing boxes. Didn't work. Cornered in front of window. And then the banter that had been exchanged through some of the fight continued. I mean, who's Angelus without the banter? It's just not right.

She'd stayed with him as a companion and he was eternally grateful for it. Whenever news of the mass murder which had obviously been cause by Buffy and Faith would come in she'd grasp his hand and switch off the television or abruptly stop reading the newspaper or something of that kind. Angel knew she was being strong for him and regretted that he couldn't be the same for her.

"Take one last look at the moon out of the window. It's the last time you'll ever see the moon while breathing." Angel desperately tried to stop what was going to happen. Now, looking out of the window he could see Faith in the shadows. Buffy looked at Angelus instead of the moon. He put on a reassuring smile.

"Go on." Buffy turned and looked at the moon. But she obviously just saw Faith creeping closer and closer to the window. She tensed slightly as Angelus slipped in behind her and put a hand on her neck. But she quickly loosened as she realised that nothing would happen because of Faith. Angel shook his head, something was going to happen and Faith could do nothing to stop it. Neither could he.

"Mmm, I love the taste of scared Slayer at night." Angelus bared his teeth and was about to bite when Faith came crashing through the window and threw Angelus down onto the ground below.

Angel was a mess. Until she found that spell. It was a spell that could turn back time. Change a particular event that involved a small number of people. It sent one of them back in time and gave that person a chance to change what had happened. As soon as he heard of it Angel insisted that Willow send him back. Then she told him that they needed both Faith and Buffy here. Angel hesitated. But not for too long. He said he was going to go out to hunt and kill them anyway, so if he couldn't do what he knew he couldn't do (staking either one of them) then she would be preparing this spell and awaiting his return.

Both slayers jumped down and the big fight ensued. Angel winced each time that either slayer was hit by Angelus. Eventually they got to that point. The point of no return. Buffy was unconscious. Angelus began his play time with Faith who was standing and swaying just slightly.

"Faith," Angelus punched Faith, "Faith," Angelus punched her again, "Faith." Angelus punched her again. She fell to the floor, her consciousness about to make a trip elsewhere. Angelus picked her up with one arm so that she was dangling off of the floor.

"I feel so left out." He punched her again and then just let her sway there.

"You really should've told me that you were back." He punched her in the gut this time and she automatically curled over and started coughing and wheezing.

"I could've prepared a welcome party with balloons and clowns and dead people and knives and flame throwers and other torture devices." Angelus mock sighed.

"Ah well." He punched her again, "This will have to do."

After many punches and kicks Angelus began getting bored of playing with his Faith toy. So he picked her up off of the ground and held her on her feet. Seeing as she couldn't do that herself, her slipping between consciousness and unconsciousness and all.

Of course there was that whole thing about Faith being too strong. So Angel suggested a ensouling. That would have her in a pretty much comatose state for the first few days or so. The next few years would be hell. But hopefully it would never come to that.

"Now there's no drug you've injected into yourself that I should know about, is there?" Angelus asked as he dragged her to her feet and to face him. She swayed slightly, relying on Angelus' grip to keep her standing, and then she spat in his face.

"Good." Angelus smiled and wiped the spit off calmly whilst holding Faith up single handedly. He then smiled at her predatorily and brought her close to him so that there was barely an inch between them. Faith's eyes widened and fear came into them.

"No goody two shoes Angel 'round to help you now is there? He's just a puff of smoke floating around." Angelus smirked at Faith and revelled in his belief in the statement. Suddenly Angel felt himself gain form and he flexed his fist slightly before smiling at Angelus' back and saying,

"Not quite a puff of smoke." Angelus turned around and when he saw Angel his expression went from smirking smug guy to disbelief. He dropped Faith and looked at Angel with an ever so slightly open mouth. Angel closed it with a smashing upper cut. Angelus was thrown backwards onto the ground and groaned as he hit it. Angel had the upper hand as he hadn't just been fighting two slayers.

Willow agreed to the idea of reinsouling Faith and they had a plan. Willow warned him about the dangers of the whole going back in time spell and he accepted each one readily as they came. She then told him what to do and what would happen during while he was getting ready to head out and get the two vampires.

Angel walked over to Angelus as he was lifting the top half of his body back up to a sitting position and smashed him in the face. Angelus' head returned to it's normal position and Angel just kept on hitting him over and over again. Think of how Faith kept hitting Angelus in the Orpheus episode just before he drinks her blood.

Angelus eventually whipped his legs around so he made Angel fall back on his back. Angelus got up slightly swaying, bleeding, bruised and definitely broken in some places. Angel looked up at him and Angelus held up a finger and asked,

"How, the fuck, are you here?" Angel kicked Angelus' legs out from under him and jumped up.

"A certain witch." Angel kicked Angelus in the side and Angelus curled over.

"Damnit. I'm going to kill that witch." He said as Angel picked him up by the collar and slammed him against the boxes.

"Not if I kill you first."

"Look, the first few moments it's going to feel like your sinking. That's normal. Then you're going to be in the event. Watching everything. You're going to feel like interfering but you can't. Not until you're on the verge on the moment. When you get your form don't be all shocked, you've got to act fast. Begin the big fight with Angelus and keep him away from Buffy and especially Faith."

"Can I kill him?" Angel asked.

Angel snapped off a piece of wood from a plank next to him and held it threateningly behind him in a ready-to-stake position. Angelus' eyes widened. He was, for once actually scared of dying. All because he knew that Angel was willing and able to plunge the piece of wood into his chest. But, apparently, he was wrong.

Angel hesitated. And in that moment Angelus realised what was going on.

"No you can't, he's still a part of you. There's no way of killing him without killing yourself too Angel." Angel looked down at the ground and made his decision right then and there.

"Okay Willow." He started to head out but Willow's soft voice stopped him.

"Angel."

"You can't kill me without killing yourself, can you?" Angelus asked rhetorically both proud of himself and happy at the fact that he wasn't going to die.

Angel didn't reply he just looked down at the ground. Then he seemed to gather himself enough to do what he believed he had to. He pinned Angelus back up against the boxes with one hand and held the stake over Angelus' heart with the other.

Angel turned to Willow and she hesitated as she looked down at the floor. Angel saw her down cast eyes and he knew that this was a big and important thing.

"What's wrong Willow?"

"You do this and your pep talks to Faith are meaningless." Angelus said, only slightly worried that Angel was going to apply pressure to the stake hovering around his heart.

"I don't do it and she's dead." Angel said convincing himself as much as Angelus that this was indefinitely the right thing to do. There was no other option to him. Angelus looked at him for a second before shoving him off with an energy that probably came from being pissed off. The stake fell clattering many metres away.

"What? You saying you cost me a meal? Again?" Then he started muttering, "Even after I'm free of that bloody soul I'm being cost meals. Hasn't my torment been enough over the past decades? I mean..."

"Angelus said that the next time he gets out he's going to end the world." Angel replied after a second and when he did he did so softly,

"I know."

"Was he telling the truth?" She asked and Angel put on his leather jacket and looked her straight in the eyes.

"No." Angel said and tackled Angelus against some boxes which had nothing behind them so Angelus ended up on the ground surrounded by the wooden boxes which he'd been thrown against. Angel got up and stood above him looking down at him with hate. He was puzzled for a second before the realization hit him and his face suddenly cleared of thinking wrinkles. As it dawned on his face Angel knew he'd made a mistake. Angelus now had ammo, whether he used it or not didn't matter.

"I sired Faith? Hey great idea! Should've thought of that earlier." Angelus got back onto his feet. He obviously was too taken with the fact that he'd sired her to think of torturing Angel with it. Yet.

"How was our little Faith?" Angelus asked with an evil grin on his features. Okay, he was going to find another way to torture Angel. Angel ignored the pointed use of 'our' and decided to answer the question with a knock back answer.

"Fast enough to dodge your best kicks and punches." Angel replied and Angelus did the same ignoring as Angel did earlier.

"Our Faith give you a lot of trouble?" Angelus once again used 'our' to stir Angel a bit more but Angel had the best come back that was sure to piss off Angelus a lot.

"I gave her a soul." Angelus said in a tone that made it seem like the smallest and most simple thing in the world. Angelus roared long and loud.

"DAMN IT!" He knocked aside some of the boxes and kicked one of them so hard that he got his foot stuck in it. After he pulled it out he stopped. Something seemed to occur to him. And Angel knew that this was going to be something to hit back at him.

"What about the blonde?" Angel was silent at this and Angelus chuckled softly.

"I sire her too?"

"No." Angel replied quietly. Angelus took a few seconds to think before his grin grew and his chuckling increased to what can be called laughing.

"Ah, Faith. I really ought to give her more credit. Faith sired Buffy." Angelus came to the conclusion slowly and happily. He saw the expression on Angel's face and continued laughing and his smugness didn't disappear.

"And Buffy knocked you on your ass."

"Ooh, someone's hurting."

"Not just me." Angel said as he punched Angelus square in the nose and landed him on his ass. He then hauled Angelus off of the ground and pinned him onto the wall of boxes that once had Buffy, Angelus and Faith on it at one point in time.

"Yes." Then Angel left the warehouse with his coat billowing behind him and Willow looked after him with sad eyes. She knew what he was going to do.

What he had to.

Angel looked at him before releasing the spring loaded stake concealed in his shirt sleeve and piercing his heart. And leaving it there for extra effect. This time there was no hesitation. This time Angel didn't have to think about anything. This time it came naturally.

Faith had come back into consciousness to hear the last ten minutes of the exchange (from "You can't kill me without killing yourself, can you?") and see both of them collapse into dust and she knew that Angel had given his life to kill the most dangerous vampire in the world.

She cried until she could cry no more and when Buffy woke up all she had to do was look at the two piles of dust, see Faith crying and know that Angel had died. What she didn't know until later when Faith had managed to gather herself enough to tell all of the scoobies was that Angel had sacrificed himself so that the world was in no danger from Angelus. No danger now and no danger in the future.

Angel's soul did end up going to heaven. It was a special case. Besides, unbeknownst to most living on earth, souls are judged by their last living action. Sometimes what you do as you are dying is the most important thing that you can ever do. Angel had saved the world one last time in his last act knowing that this would kill him. That secured his place in heaven. In the dimension where all he felt was happiness. At last he was able to feel the one human emotion he'd always wanted but could never have.

"Don't you see Buff? With Angel around I'll always be around. No way to get rid of me without getting rid of Angel. And you know that. So does he. And so do I. How have I lived for this long? Besides being the best big bad? Having Angel for an alter ego. Nowadays keeps most slayers off my back." Angelus said as he kicked Buffy backwards into the boxes behind her. (Warehouse fight banter)

The End

That's all folks. The end of a pretty decent story even if I do say so myself. I reckon best AngelBuffyFaith story I've rolled out so far. Okay so it's the only one I've rolled out into this big world of ours. I'm gonna do some HopeFaith stories so I'll explain that in an attempt of promoting myself shamelessly. Hope is a character I've made up, she's Faith's twin sister and she comes to Rome where Faith is with the Scooby gang. When she comes she and Faith make such a great duo when fighting the baddies (Because Hope is this gun girl that can kill vamps better than any one we know) that it rocks the boat. The whole Scooby gang, Faith not included, reckons that Hope is a Potential but Hope has some problems of her own relating to slayers or more specifically being one.

There may be a pure Angel story being rolled out by yours truly in a little bit called 'Alone' and it's about (shock horror) Angel being all alone and all this other stuff. Having just watched the first two episodes of 'Taken' that won't be too hard. Set probably ten maybe twenty years after finale and no one from the A-team is left over. May have to deal with new slayers. Have to decide about that bit. Tell me stuff if you want maybe recommendations or something. Or not. Either way is good. I just had a young Willow moment, okay back from Seers. Back, back.

Before I rant for much longer or do more self promotion... Oh and on that subject if you're into the WesleyLilah relationship I'm putting a couple short stories up on that so please check them out... Okay I'm stopping. Hope y'all have a great life and if I don't see you again then 'Good morning, Good afternoon and Good night.'

Mwah, love y'allz!

JB