Title: Apokalupsis

Author: Erykah Miszti

Timeline: Post-Not Fade Away.

Summary: This is the legacy of Buffy's plan and Angel's apocalypse.

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Chapter Three: Outright Lies

"Are you gonna tell Buffy or do you want me to do it?" Xander asked Giles on the phone. He was sat on the bed nearest the window, looking out into the empty night.

"I don't think either of us should tell her." Giles replied after a long pause.

"But Giles…" Xander tried.

"Xander, Buffy is going to be in enough of a state about losing Angel, you remember how she was after Sunnydale? She won't be thinking clearly. She'll want to drop everything and rush over there but there are bigger issues to be considered here. We have to play the long game."

"You're right." Xander agreed.

He remembered only too well how Buffy had been when they were on the road after Sunnydale. He hadn't expected her depth of feeling to be that great. She'd only been back on her feet for the past few months, since being in Rome.

"I'll send Willow out there." Giles stated. "I'll brief her in advance, of course."

"She'll want to tell Buffy about Spike." Xander warned him.

"Yes." Giles sighed. "I'll just have to convince her that this is in everyone's best interests."

"Good luck!" Xander retorted.

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Spike could hear Xander talking but couldn't make out what he was saying.

He was sick of sitting there watching Illyria keep smashing her cars up in the game. Guilt struck at him. They'd left the body of that Slayer out there in the alleyway. None of them had thought about her. He hadn't even remembered her until now.

"Bloody hell!" He muttered to himself as he dragged himself out of the chair.

He just couldn't leave her there. There were things out in this LA night that would eat her whole. That just wasn't right.

Spike grabbed his duster and headed out.

Illyria turned to watch him go but said nothing. Spike often went out alone in the night. He would come home covered in blood from whatever evil demon he'd taken his frustration out on. She could understand that so she let him get on with it without questioning him. He'd been through hell and now neither of them knew exactly what to do to fix things. He'd given up so much already, it was her turn to do something.

She would have to try and find Vincent again. The old vampire would know where the crypt was.

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"I'm sorry I'm not there in person to tell you this Buffy. Xander just reported in…" Giles began, his eyes fixed on the tiny image of his Slayer on the computer screen.

"Angel's gone, isn't he?" Buffy interrupted him.

"Yes." He said softly.

Her head slumped forward and her shoulders visibly sagged.

"I knew it." She said so quietly that he barely heard her. "How did it happen?"

"They double crossed Wolfram and Hart, so they sent an army of demons to kill them."

"Oh god!" Buffy gasped. "We should have been there to help them!"

"Hindsight is always 20-20, Buffy. We didn't know and we couldn't run the risk of allowing Wolfram and Hart access to the Slayers." Giles rationalised.

"I know the argument, Giles." She stated firmly. "I even agree with it but we should have made sure there was no hope at all. Angel would have done that for me." She pulled herself together. "Did anyone survive?"

"Yes." Giles paused to draw a breath. "There was just one survivor from Angel's people. She's a former god, apparently, and her name is Illyria."

"A former god!" Buffy frowned. "How do you wind up as former God?"

"Well, there is a story about an ancient God called Illyria. She was apparently 'sleeping' in a hidden location called the Deeper Well, along with many old Gods. It's part prison and part safe haven."

"How did she get out and are we sure she's one of the good guys?" Buffy questioned.

"We don't know she got out but Xander's pretty sure that she's not evil." Giles covered. His knowledge of Illyria's goodness was based solely on her being with Spike, but he wasn't going to tell Buffy that. "But it does seem as if whatever Angel did upset Wolfram and Hart. They are the definitely the cause of our current problems."

"They're responsible for our global demon activity spike?" Buffy asked. Giles tried not to react to her innocent and yet highly appropriate choice of words.

"Yes, it seems that they opened a portal or a doorway to another dimension in order to let through the demon army. That doorway is still open and allowing evil to enter our dimension, almost like a planet-wide Hellmouth."

"Wow!" Buffy stated. "We REALLY should have helped them!"

"We didn't know this was going to happen." Giles reiterated. "I'm going to send Willow to LA. I've already been in touch with her and she believes that it is definitely the loci for the magical energy of the dimensional portal."

"Maybe I should go to LA to meet this Illyria?" Buffy suggested.

"I wouldn't recommend it, Buffy. You're needed exactly where you are, keeping an eye on the Immortal. We know he has links to Wolfram and Hart, maybe you can find out something useful from him."

"Yeah right." Buffy snorted. "I've met some tight-lipped men in my time but this guy takes the cake."

"Keep at it, Buffy. He's a powerful magician, maybe he knows how to close the portal." Giles offered.

"Keep me informed." Buffy instructed, then smiled fondly at him. "And Giles, when all this over, you come to Italy and I buy you coffee."

"Or you could come to England and I'll buy you a nice cup of tea and some scones, much more civilised." Giles smiled backs.

"Deal." Buffy agreed and Giles cut the video link.

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Buffy stared at the screen long after Giles' face disappeared. The tears started slowly; a single tear at first and then a whole ocean. She sobbed loud, long and hard… she'd now lost both of the men that she'd loved the most in this world. The world suddenly seemed incredibly lonely.

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Having taken the body of the Slayer – he didn't even know her name – to a graveyard and buried it, Spike stalked his way down the dark and deserted alleyways that made up his entire world.

Now that humans didn't come out at night anymore, he hardly ever saw any. It was at least good to know that so many of them valued their life enough to stay indoors…

A scream pierced the night.

…But there was always one didn't.

He ran towards the sound. He wasn't that surprised to find a man being attacked by a great big FFanhgash demon. Its slime was oozing all over the sidewalk and Spike, arriving at a run, went skidding across it, up into the air and straight into the side of a dumpster.

"Give me a break!" He complained as he got to his feet and headed, more gingerly, back to the fray.

The demon was big and ugly but really rather stupid and it took Spike no time at all to dispatch the thing.

He stalked over to the man, whilst trying to brush the yellow slime off his coat.

"Don't kill me." The man begged, scrunching further back against a wall.

"I'm not going to kill you, you idiot. I just rescued you, didn't I?" Spike drawled sarcastically. "What are you doing out here on your own? Don't you know that it's dangerous for a man to be out here alone at night?"

"I just wanted to get out of the house." The man said with a sigh. "I'm the only man left alive in a house with ten women. They're driving me mad!"

"I bet." Spike said in masculine solidarity. "You must NEVER be able to get into the bathroom!"

"Martin!" A female voice shrieked and Spike turned to find a foot hurtling towards his face.

"Oi!" He exclaimed as he picked himself up off the floor.

The woman started laying into him.

"Lynette, it's okay. He rescued me…" The man was trying to tell her but she wasn't listening.

"I'll teach you for trying to drink my husband, you evil vampire!" She told him as they danced. She didn't seem to have noticed that Spike was pulling his punches.

"You haven't got this quipping thing down yet, have you, love?" Spike replied, looking for an out. "So many Slayers around now and there's not a single one I've met that's any good at it. It's depressing. I miss the old days."

He obviously couldn't kill her – didn't even want to hurt her cause she'd need her strength to get them both home safely - but he wasn't going to let her dust him either, so Spike did the only thing he could.

He ran away as fast as he could.

"What a world we created, huh Angel?" He yelled out as he ran.