"Buffy?" Angel said into the phone. "Are you alright?"

"Angel. Yeh, I'm fine. I just…" Buffy hesitated.

She looked up and saw Willow urging her to go on.

"What is it Buffy?" Angel asked, the concern in his voice obvious.

"I want you to come home."

"You know I'm trying to sort things out so I can come back for a long stay. I'll be back as soon as I can. I shouldn't be more than a day or two"

"No! I want you home tonight. Angel, I just feel, I don't know. You have to come back to me."

Angel sighed; he could hear the stubborn tone in her voice. He was afraid that if he didn't do as she asked, Buffy might do something rash like decide to drive here to LA herself.

"Now that would be a disaster" he muttered thinking about his girlfriend's skills or lack thereof behind the wheel.

"What?"

"Nothing" Angel paused for a moment, "Ok Buffy. I'll leave at sunset"

He heard a squeal so loud he had to wince.

"I love you Angel"

"I love you too Buffy"

Buffy put down the phone with the biggest grin on the face and turned to Willow.

"He's coming."

(LA)

"You're going now?" Cordelia screeched loudly following Angel as he walked out his office into the lobby. Wesley trailed behind them still muttering about the prophecy or some such.

Fred is in the Lobby. She looked up as Angel stopped in front of her.

"Can you go and tell Gunn and Faith to take a break in their training and to come up here? I need to talk to all of you."

Fred nodded and walked away.

"Cordy. Not now!" Angel said irritable. "I'll explain when the others get here."

Fred, Gunn and Faith all walked in. Gunn and Faith are panting slightly.

"Good. They're here. Now will you tell me why you have to leave when there's still so much work to do?" Cordy asked again impatiently.

Angel just ignored her and motioned for everyone to sit down. When everyone was comfortable he said,

"I know I said I'd be staying for another couple of days but something has come up in Sunnydale. I'm leaving tonight."

This time it was Faith that spoke up

"Is everything alright with B?" She asked

"No, I mean yes, she's alright but no not everything is fine. She called earlier and I have to go" Angel surveyed the room and then continued,

"You all know what to do. Faith and Gunn will patrol while the rest of you assist Wesley with his research. Things have been quiet of late but we still have to be vigilant. There seems to be slight activity among the Balzthair Demons. We've been expecting this for a while so we are prepared."

"Yeh. We all good. Training with a slayer sure is the best way to prepare for some ass-kicking," Gunn said while rubbing his sore back.

"Good. And Wesley now has something definite to research. 'Mansaiy' So there's something to keep everyone busy" Angel stopped speaking and lifted his hand to his head. His expression was one of agony

Fred looked at him with a worried expression and asked, "Are you okay Angel?"

Before she could finish her sentence Angel collapsed onto the floor.

"Angel?" "Are you ok?" "Angel, Wake up man" "Dear Lord, Angel?"

They all cried and rushed to him. They tried everything they could to revive him but nothing worked. Cordelia even threw a bucket of ice cold water on him-Nothing.

"Ok" She said nervously clutching the bucket, "Who wants to call Buffy?"

(Sunnydale)

Buffy has finally joined everyone downstairs. Conner is in one of his moods and is sitting in a corner scowling.

"0o0o0o0o0, Let's play charades!" Willow said while clapping her hands excitedly

"Ok, Who gave her soda?" Xander asked while laughing at his hyper friend.

"I only had a teeny bit" Willow said defensively. Then her face broke out into a grin again, "Charades!"

Suddenly,

"Buffy!" Conner yelled while rushing to her. Everyone turned to see their friend collapse onto the living room floor.

"Buffy?" "What happened to her?" "Omg, Buffy wake up"

Dawn burst into tears all the while screaming for Buffy to wake up. Conner went upto her and stroked her back softly.

Xander ran to get Giles while Willow propped Buffy's head up onto her lap. Anya just stood by helpless, for once lost for words.

Giles rushed in and stopped short when he saw Buffy lying on the floor. "Dear Lord!" He walked over to where Buffy was lying and touched her face.

They tried everything to wake her up. Nothing worked.

"So, uh... who wants to call Deadboy?"

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sorry about the short chapters. It's just easier for me if I work scene by scene. My thoughts are better organised and it's easier to turn them into words. Plus it gives me time to develop the plot as this is a WIP. I have no idea as yet as to how I will end this story. Suggestions are welcome.

Thank You:

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I know this is a LOOOONG list but I wanted to thank each and every one of you who have reviewed. It's because of all you that I decided to finish this story. MWAH! You'll rock!