A Distant Angel 5

Author's Note: This takes place another three months after the previous chapter. I'm looking for some more reviews, and thanks to all the people who have reviewed so far.

Angel lay on the bed in his room, when he heard a knock at the door. 'It's open.' He called. It creaked as Buffy pushed it open, stepped inside then closed it again. Angel sat up, and nervously folded back the covers so Buffy could sit down.

'Are you okay Angel?' Buffy asked.

'Yeah, I'm fine. How are you?'

'I'm good.' Buffy slowly wandered over and took a seat next to Angel on the bed. 'Do you remember a few months ago when I asked you what happened back in the alley where we found you?'

Angel turned away. 'Yes.'

'Are you ready to talk yet?' Buffy was calm and friendly, not trying to force him to talk.

'I think…' Angel began. '…I think I can try.'

'For me, Angel?' Buffy pleaded sweetly. Angel nodded and looked her in the eyes.

'Buffy, It might paint a picture in your head that isn't pleasant. It was a horrible night, the rain pouring down, soaking us through to our skin. There were four of us against an army of thousands, and I'm still surprised that we won.'

'Angel, you did. And you did so well. When we found you though… you weren't doing so good.'

'I remember being hurled into a building about halfway through the fight. I broke the wall as I was thrown through it, and I landed on the stone floor amongst a lot of rubble. A demon jumped in after me and we fought for a while in there. I was weakened, and he was stronger. He threw me into a corner, and then the roof collapsed. It crushed him, and he fell to dust and I remained in the corner, surrounded by rubble and debris for a while. Then I pushed it all away and stumbled over to the wall I'd come through.'

Angel paused for a moment, finally being able to get everything off his chest.

'I watched Gunn die at the hands of three demons. I watched Illyria fly past and into a brick wall that collapsed on top of her. But when I saw Spike, that was it. A demon ran up behind him and stuck a piece of wood through his chest. I called out to him and he heard me, then as we looked at each other he fell to dust. I couldn't do anything more. I backed into the corner and curled up. Some more of the building collapsed around me, but I did nothing. I stayed there, not moving, not breathing not doing anything except thinking about all of them dying in front of me. That's the last thing I remember. That night, it still haunts me. I still think of them all dying, and it breaks me up inside.'

There was silence for a minute while Buffy processed all of the information.

'Angel, now I understand why everything hurts so much. And because I understand, I can help you. Do you want me to help you through this?'

Angel nodded. 'Please… Please help me. It hurts so much, even now.'

'You have to let me tell the others, so they can help too. Will you let me?' Buffy asked, reasoning with herself as well as Angel.

'Yes. Just please help me. I need help.'

A/N: More soon, I promise.