Soft cool lips nipped at her own, a hard body pressed against her own and familiar hands were stroking her skin. Desire swirled within her, giving her a dizzy feeling that she hadn't experienced in a long time. She half-whispered, half-moaned the name that always sounded like music to her ears.

"Angel." He responded to her with a deep kiss. She kissed him back, then whispered passionately against his lips. "I need you, Angel." Abruptly he pulled away from her.

"You can't have me," he told her harshly.

"What?" she asked, near tears. She felt like she couldn't breathe when he stopped kissing her.

"You can't have me. I'm gone. You waited too long and now you've lost me. You should have known better."

"I...I didn't mean to...I didn't want to," she choked. "I love you Angel."

"That's really too bad. I'm gone forever. You could have had me, but you screwed up. You've always screwed up everything Buffy."

"Angel, why are you saying these things? I couldn't have done anything. Please," she pleaded, "I didn't want you to go."

"It doesn't change the fact that I'm never coming back." Buffy jumped back as her vampire lover burst into flame and burned to dust.

She woke up in tears, her breath coming in heaving gasps. She felt her heart beating wildly in her chest It took her a few moments to realize that it was all a dream. Then, as she calmed, she thought that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to sleep in Angel's bed. Having his essence surround her as she slept was no doubt messing with her head. She got up and went into one of the other rooms to take a long shower. The near scalding water pulsed down on her and she let it burn away her pain. She scrubbed at her skin to erase the scent of battle, blood, ash, and Angel. When she got out of the shower, she was all pruney but she was feeling more like herself.

She got dressed and went downstairs finding the new Slayers mulling around in the lobby, unsure of what their next steps would be. Buffy had no answers for them so she sought out Giles. "How is everyone?"

"Everyone seems to be doing well. Wesley arranged for some professional medical care for some of the girls with really bad injuries."

"Good. Good."

"And how are you doing?" the Brit asked his first and favorite Slayer.

"I'm okay. Tired, but making it." Willow joined them, bringing the offering of coffee which they gladly accepted.

"I couldn't sleep last night," she told them. "There was too much power buzzing in me. It's like I could feel all the new Slayers itching under my skin. I stayed up all night looking at the spell, trying to figure out its effects. Basically what happened was that all the potential Slayers out there in the world between the ages of 14 and 24 have been activated. We need to find them, train them. Maybe I can cast a spell that will locate them all and we can bring them together like we did with the other potentials."

"How can we afford it? We have nothing." Buffy said, knowing all to well that her financial struggle of the past few years was not helped by the destruction of her home and all her possessions.

"It occurred to me," Giles told them, "that there are several Watcher's Council bank accounts that I might be able to get my hands on but who knows if or when that will happen."

"Are you guys doing shop talk already?" Faith asked coming up behind them. "We just closed the Hellmouth and saved the world. Can't you take a friggin break?"

"Apparently not," Buffy responded.

Upstairs, Anya and Xander lay in bed. "I'm glad we're both alive and getting back together. I really missed making love with you, Xander." Anya cuddled up to him and started placing kisses all over his face. "So I was thinking that maybe I can call some of my demon friends and they can help you get a new eye," she suggested.

"I don't know. I'm not sure I want any demon mojo on my body." Anya pulled back from him.

"Are you gonna be hung up on the demon thing all the time now? Because I don't know if I can deal with that. I am who I am, Xander, and I'm over 1000 years old and I'm set in my ways even though I look like a hot 20 something."

"An, come on. Fresh start, okay? I promise you I'll think about the eye thing." He didn't want to fight with her, not when they were just starting over, not when he knew he would have lost her if it weren't it weren't for Andrew's last minute bravery. "I don't know what I would do if you died. I can't imagine how Buffy is feeling right now." As much as Xander disliked Angel for the time he had known him, he knew how much Buffy still cared for him.

Later that night, Wesley sat at the desk with a stack of folders in front of him. He was sorting through Angel's personal documents, trying to find a place to start putting his affairs in order. He had found a document specifying what Angel's wishes were. The hotel was to be transferred into Wesley's name and there were bank accounts to be split between Fred, Gunn, Lorne and Wesley and one to be given to Buffy. He wasn't surprised that Angel was so organized. Knowing that he put his life on the line every day, Wesley kept his affairs in immaculate order and there was no shock that Angel was the same. But as prepared as they all were on paper for the death of any one of them, he was far from prepared for the emotional impact of the loss. As he contemplated what the future held without Angel in it, the phone rang startling him.

"Hello?....Yes, this is Angel Investigations...........Of course, thank you. I'll be right down." Quickly, he rushed out of the office, nearly barreling over Buffy in the process.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Nowhere," he replied, continuing on his way. He got into his car and drove to the hospital, basically ignoring the speed limit. Arriving at the hospital, he headed to the intensive care unit and stopped at the nurses' station. "Hello. I'm Wesley Wyndham-Price. I received a phone call about a John Doe carrying Angel Investigations' business card."

"Of course, come with me sir," the nurse instructed. He followed her down the pristine hallway and into a room filled with beeping machines and a pale body in the narrow bed. Behind him, he heard a shocked gasp.

"Angel." Wesley turned to find Buffy standing behind him, looking as if she was about to faint.

"Buffy, what are you doing here?" The blonde didn't reply, she didn't even hear him. There was a roar in her ears and she couldn't tear her eyes from the man lying unconscious in front of her. A hand on her arm shook her out of her stupor and the nurse led her to sit in the plastic chair on the side of the bed.

"Are you all right miss?" she asked, taking Buffy's pulse. She had seen all the color drain from the young woman's face and she appeared to be quite shaken.

"Yes, I just need a moment," she replied, breathing deeply to chase away the faint feeling.

"Buffy, what are you doing here?" Wesley asked, crouching at her side.

"You were acting strange and I was curious, so I followed you. I never expected....I didn't know," her eyes darted anxiously to the prone figure on the bed.

"Can we have a moment?" Wesley asked the nurse. She nodded and left the private room, leaving the Slayer and her ex-Watcher alone. "I didn't know either. I just received a call about a man carrying our card in his wallet and they were wondering if I could identify him. I think it's obvious that I can."

"But you can't. It can't be Angel," Buffy told him, disbelieving her eyes. Given what she'd been through in the past few days, she didn't know if she could take it if her most desperate hope for Angel's resurrection were raised to reality only to be shattered by the absolute impossibility of it all. "Angel died. I saw him burning and Sunnydale caved in on top of him. And besides, even if Angel was alive, he's a vampire. This man is not - see the machine is showing his heartbeat - my Angel doesn't have one of those."

"Buffy, it's possible," Wesley told the confused woman. "You see, a few years ago we discovered a prophecy that said that after the End of Days, the vampire with a soul would 'shanshu' which we interpreted as living until death - that is to say mortal."

"You mean this is real? He's really here? He's really alive?"

"Yes."

"Oh my God," she breathed, as it started to sunk in. She was feeling weak, the actuality of the situation sending her mind into a tailspin.

"I need to call the others. Do you want to stay here?" She nodded and he headed towards the payphone. She sat in shock and stared at Angel's prone form. He was as pale as he always was but the steady rise and fall of his chest was new. Tentatively, she reached out and touched his hand - it was warm. This was much too much for her brain to process. Angel was human. The very thing she had dreamed of countless times but thought inconceivable had come to pass. He was human! However, it wasn't the wonderful dream sequence that she had imagined. They weren't running into each others' arms and kissing in the sun. They weren't celebrating by making love for hours. He wasn't taking her for picnics in the park. Instead, he was lying in a hospital bed, in a coma and who knew if or when he would wake up.

Wesley waited for Fred and Gunn in the lobby and when they arrived, they all rejoined Buffy in Angel's room. "I spoke with the nurse when I was waiting. She informed me of Angel's condition."

"And?"

"He was found near the crater that used to be Sunnydale by a news crew who had him brought here. He's been unconscious since they found him and he's bruised and battered, but apparently there are no broken bones or internal damage that they can tell besides their concerns of brain damage. He seems to have suffered from several head injuries, contusions and swelling. It's hard for them to determine the extent of the damage until he wakes up and further tests are done."

"But he is going to wake up, right?"

"Again, further tests are needed but the EEG shows brain activity so they believe it is likely."

"This is all too weird," Fred said, shaking her head in disbelief. They milled around the room for awhile while Wesley filled out paperwork, but there was nothing much for them to do.

"We should go home and get some rest. This has all been quite a shock. And it would probably be wise to do some further research into Angel's shanshu prophecy." As the others filed out, Buffy stayed put. "You're not coming?"

"Someone should stay here, I mean, in case he wakes up or something."

"Okay then, call if you need anything." As they exited the room and she was surrounded by silence except for the hum of the machines that were monitoring Angel. She was still at a loss for coherent thought, so she sat quietly drinking in the sight of Angel's face. She slipped into a trance-like state, just watching him with the sounds of hospital becoming white noise behind her. Eventually, she was lulled into sleep. Buffy was unaware of how long she slept before she was startled awake by a voice behind her.

"Hey B."

"Faith," she muttered, blinking her eyes awake. "What are you doing here?"

"Wesley told me what was going on, so I figured I'd come down here and see how the big guy was doing." She pulled up another chair and sat down. "How is he?"

"I don't know - the same, I guess. He hasn't changed since we got here."

"He'll pull through. He's a trooper. Trust me - I've been in his head, seen what's he's made it through so far - this is just a drop in the bucket. Besides, the Powers wouldn't bring him back just to off him again." Buffy nodded half-heartedly. While she knew Faith's assumption was logical, she had learned the hard way that the Powers were never logical or fair. "Listen, you've slept here all night in these chairs which can't have been comfortable. Why don't we go get something to eat and head back to the hotel? Wesley's law firm is sponsoring a shopping trip for everyone to get some essentials."

"I...I think I'll stay here. I don't want to leave him."

"Buffy, he's in a coma. He's not going anywhere and the hospital knows where to reach us if they need to."

"I know. But I just don't want to leave him alone. I know this probably sounds stupid to you," she said, knowing her sister Slayer usually thought with her instincts or her groin rather than her heart, "but I feel as though if I leave him, he'll disappear and none of this will be real."

Faith shrugged. "Well, it's up to you. Call if you want someone to bring you food or something."