High above the furore of battle, a lone figure stood on the edge of the building watching events unfold. The demons swarmed below, clambering over one another and even fighting amongst themselves to get their chance with the three remaining good guys.

oooOOOooo

The figure searched the commotion for the fourth, the brave human with the weapon's name, but he was lost in the swirl of battle. He had been mortally wounded to begin with and this was never a human's fight. This was the realm of champions.

The shadowy figure turned, looking in to the distance. Still miles away, a boy was approaching fast, heading straight for this war. The impossible child from the union of two vampires. He was coming. It would all soon be in place.

The stranger's attention returned to the scene below with a wearied sigh, before disappearing back in to the shadows.

Spike felt the axe bury in to his shoulder before he knew the demon was even there. Spinning round, he broke the demon's neck with one swift punch. Ducking under another swing by a demon, the type of which he'd never seen before, Spike ripped the axe out of the top of his shoulder. He swung it up and round in a wide arc, freeing up enough space in front of him to concentrate on what was behind.

He knew he was on the losing side of an epic battle. He knew that he was never going to get through this. For some reason though, the occasional glimpses he caught of Angel and Illyria gave him hope.

Spike kicked some type of horned beast in the chest and used the motion to fling himself upwards, jumping over the demons and manoeuvring himself so he had his back to the wall of the alley. That made one less angle he had to defend.

Glancing around as he blocked blows and parried punches, Spike caught sight of Angel. He had the grim look of someone just waiting for the inevitable. Spike watched as Angel disappeared from sight behind the enormous bulk of another of Hell's warriors. Spike felt an odd pang of fear and, despite the hordes doing their best to kill him, attempted to angle himself to see his old sire again.

He caught another glimpse of Angel, bobbing and weaving as he fought. He disappeared again behind another demon and Spike carried on his own fight.

A few seconds later, he felt his attention inexplicably drawn back to where Angel had been. And all Spike could see was dust on the breeze.

oooOOOooo

Connor was still at least a mile from the epicentre of the battle. At least, he figured he was by the focused fire breathing of an enormous dragon circling overhead. He raced on, desperate to know if the father he had only just found was still alive or if he had lost him forever.

Buffy slammed her fist into Giles' desk, causing Willow to retreat towards the window.

"Don't you dare tell me there's nothing I can do!"

Giles blinked rapidly, raised an eyebrow and sighed.

"Buffy, I understand your frustration, but if your dream is correct then the battle is already well under way and need I remind you that we're in Rome. It's at least a ten hour flight to Los Angeles. By the time, you get there Angel…"

She shot him a vicious look and Giles started polishing his glasses.

"Well, the battle would be done one way or another."

Buffy started pacing up and down, refusing to accept what her former Watcher was saying even though she knew he was right.

"Then why would Wesley come to me, why would he make me see this?"

Giles opened his mouth to respond, but it was an unfamiliar voice that sounded from the doorway.

"I think I know."

Buffy spun on her heel as the demon stepped in to the light. He wore a brightly coloured suit covered in a beige mac, a trilby hat perched on his horns above aviator shades. The Slayer instinctively rushed to Giles' bookcase, yanking a sword from on top of it and pointing it directly at the demon's chest.

The green thing came to an abrupt halt, his hands raised in surrender.

"Woah there, sweet cheeks! Just cos I'm green doesn't mean you have to run me through right here and now. And trust me, if you're going for my heart, you'll be wanting my peachy behind. Living proof of the power of 'Buns of Steel'."

"Lorne?"

Willow charged towards him, pushing Buffy aside.

"Lorne, it's you!"

She pulled a face as she took a step closer to him, leaning in almost conspiratorially.

"You're not about to ask me to sing are you?"

He laughed and shook his head.

"Not just yet, my little red-topped muffin. How's my favourite magically charged mortal?"

Willow grinned and hugged him. Buffy threw a puzzled glance at Giles who simply shrugged. Buffy took a step forward, her sword lowered but still ready for action if the need arose.

"Err, sorry to interrupt the reunion guys, but huh?"

Willow grinned at her and gestured wildly at Lorne.

"This is Lorne! He's a demon, but ya know, the good kind. He can read people's destinies but only when they sing."

Lorne reached out his hand with an enormous smile as he removed the shades.

"The infamous Buffy Summers I presume. Well, colour me honoured. If honoured is a shade of green obviously…"

Buffy took his hand with a raised eyebrow.

"And you and Willow know each other because…?"

Lorne flopped in to the chair opposite Giles, examining the enormous dent Buffy had left behind in it.

"Ooh, someone's been eating their spinach. Willow's helped us out a few times. Us being Angelcakes and the gang. Which leads me to why I'm here."

He sighed heavily and seemed to deflate somehow, a look of pain across his face. Buffy perched herself on the edge of the desk as he gathered himself, regaining his usual showman's face.

"I'm guessing you're about to tell us something along the lines of enormous apocalypse, world needs saving, the usual. Wesley gave me the heads up."

Lorne's eyes locked on hers.

"You spoke to Wesley? Then he's alright? What about the others?"

Buffy averted her gaze and cleared her throat.

"I didn't really speak to him. Not in the sense of he and I having a proper conversation. More along the lines of otherworldly dream invasion. He said that… He said he and Cordelia…"

Lorne's face fell and he looked away.

"Wesley's… At least now he can find some peace with Fred."

Willow let out a yelp from behind Lorne.

"Fred's dead?"

Lorne looked up at her with a slight nod. He looked around the room at the blank faces.

"Wow, Angelcakes really knows how to keep people out of the loop. Let me give you the skinny. The world as we know it is ending right now, in the middle of Los Angeles. Personally, if I was a legion from Hell, I'd pick somewhere a little more… I dunno, start in Australasia and build up from there. Guess the Senior Partners never played Risk as kids…"

Giles raised an eyebrow.

"The Senior Partners?"

Lorne nodded.

"The guys running Wolfram and Hart, the big evil law firm. These guys have the serious bad mojo on their side and they've been around since the dawn of time. Probably even before that, knowing them. Basically, they wanted to rein Angel in so they gave him their LA office to run, hoping that they'd turn him to the dark side of the force before the apocalypse came about. Looked like it was working too. Not that our favourite brood boy avoids the dark, but we all knew something was different. The outfits alone… Anyway, it was all an act. Angel was really planning to bring about the apocalypse on his own terms."

Buffy swallowed hard.

"From what I saw, he wasn't exactly fighting on his own terms."

Lorne nodded.

"That's why I'm here, sugar puff. We knew we could never take on the full might of Wolfram & Hart and win. But we tried. Problem is, we just opened the gates to Hell and I'm worried there's gonna be no-one left to close them."

Buffy looked exasperated and renewed her pacing round the room.

"Why didn't he tell me about this? Why didn't he call!"

Her anger was on the verge of overflowing but even Lorne, stranger as he was, knew it was mainly down to her concern for Angel.

"Because this wasn't your fight, Buffy. It never was. Until now."

She spun to face him, still finding it odd to feel so comfortable in a demon's presence.

"Is that why you're here then, he sent you?"

"Err, no, not exactly. Personally, I was running for the hills. Planning on a little Julie Andrews' spinning and singing on a mountain top but… The game turned sour for me a long time ago but I love this world and I love my friends. I can't let it end like this. After all, a yellow belly would clash with my usual skin tone."

Giles rose from his chair, grim determination on his face.

"So what do we do?"

Lorne turned back to Buffy, manoeuvring her to sit in the chair.

"Now I set us all back on the right path."

Willow's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"You mean Buffy has to sing?"

The Slayer looked around frantically, praying for some escape route.

"Afraid so, kiddo. Wesley chose to come to you after he…passed on. That means he knows you can do some good, and hopefully stop the world being sucked in to hell. Not for the first time, from what I hear. Anyway, let's get those pipes a-pumping."

Buffy shook her head wildly, pleading with her eyes. The faces of the others told her that there was no other way. Grimacing, she cleared her throat and remembered the song her mother used to sing when she couldn't sleep as a child. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her voice tentative.

"You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away…"

She trailed off and opened her eyes, focusing on Lorne's distraught face.

"What? What did you see?"

He swallowed hard and shook his head.

"We're too late."