Connor charged through the hotel, clambering over fallen beams and piles of rubble. He didn't even think about where he was going. He knew exactly where his father would be.

Stumbling as he came out of the stairs, Connor came to a sudden halt as he stared open-mouthed, fear twisting his stomach into knots. The corridor that used to hold Angel's room was a hazy mess of twisted metal and concrete, the thick clouds of dust coating Connor's throat.

He tried to yell out but all he could do was cough intensely as the thick air almost choked him. He stumbled forwards, his hands gingerly feeling through the smoke in front of him.

Climbing over the mounds of debris, Connor's eyes filled with tears. As they streamed, he tried to convince himself it was just from the smoke and dust but panic was starting to take over. He tried to call out again.

"Angel? Angel, where are you?"

All he could hear was the ominous sound of the building creaking as more parts of the ceiling collapsed somewhere ahead of him. Coughing profusely, he slithered over the enormous chunks of masonry, trying to avoid the shards of broken glass.

After an agonising few minutes, Connor found himself at the gaping hole that used to be the doorway to Angel's room. Swallowing hard, he clambered down and through the clouds of dust.

Stumbling through the darkness, he stood still and tried to let his eyes adjust. It was hard to believe the area in front of him had ever even been a hotel room. One of the wall's was just a pile of rubble, the ceiling opened up in to the rooms above and pieces of furniture littered what was left of the floor.

He stared around in fearful disbelief, his heart in his mouth.

"Angel?"

Movement caught his eye and Connor took a tentative step forward. The area around the bed was where most of the ceiling had ended up, timbers and metal twisted around each other. And it was moving.

Connor raced forward, ripping the debris away from the body underneath, calling his father's name.

"Angel, come on, get up!"

His hand came through a gap in the rubble and Connor grabbed it, the relief washing over him. After a few more minutes of digging, Angel was clear. Covered in dust and blood, Connor gingerly reached out to hug his father. Despite the pain he was in, Angel held him tight.

Connor pulled back, a concerned eye running over his injuries.

"Are you ok? Do you feel alright?"

Angel nodded slowly before collapsing in to a coughing fit, sending shooting pains through his chest. He tried not to wince as he smiled at his son.

"Not great, but I'll be fine."

He tried to get to his feet but his knees immediately gave way.

"Might not be fine for a couple of days but I'll get there."

Connor offered him a hand up and he dutifully took it, trying not to rest all his weight on the young lad. Skirting around the holes in the floor, the pair reached the rubble that blocked the corridor. Barely able to stand, let alone go rock climbing, Angel sighed.

"Well, this could be interesting."

Connor coughed hard, trying to keep the dust out of his lungs.

"We'll get through it."

Angel looked down at his son, pride and love in his eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah, we will."

oooOOOooo

Buffy staggered inside, propping up Spike. Willow rushed forward.

"Oh my god, are you ok?"

Spike collapsed on to the sofa as Willow inspected his wound.

"Yeah. But since when have you had a twin?"

"Ok…"

Willow threw Buffy a worried look and scuttled off to find a first aid kit. Xander turned to pass Giles a book when he saw Willow disappear behind the counter with a yelp. He rushed over to help her up and panicked when he saw she was covered from head to toe in blood.

"Oh my god, Willow are you ok?"

She nodded slowly, her eyes wide as he helped her to feet.

"I think so. I'm ok. But you're looking at me weird. Am I ok? Is my head still on?"

Giles rushed over.

"Oh my god, Willow!"

She turned to Xander, her eyes the size of saucers.

"Really, am I ok? You're all looking at me funny."

Giles looked up and down with a grimace.

"You're bleeding."

Willow looked down at herself, her white top soaked red.

"It's… It's not my blood."

Giles looked down at the floor. A large chunk of masonry had landed in the area behind the counter, crushing an old fridge. Now laying on its side with the door a few feet away, the old blood packs inside had ripped open, spilling their contents across the floor and creating a long red snake up to the trio's feet. Giles looked up at the relieved pair in front of him.

"The river of blood…"

He rushed off to retrieve Wesley's diary as Xander took off his sweater and offered it to Willow, brushing down the t-shirt he'd been wearing underneath.

Buffy wandered over to them, quickly taking in the bloody scene.

"Everything alright?"

Willow nodded, a slight look of disgust on her face.

"Yeah, just getting covered in Angel's old pig's blood. Just another day in the wacky world of Willow."

She grabbed the first aid kit and marched back over to Spike to patch him up. Giles returned, clutching Wesley's diary which he thrust at Buffy. With a raised eyebrow, she took it from him.

"What's up?"

He jabbed a finger at the page in front of him.

"The portents."

She stared at him and Xander rolled his eyes as he walked away.

"Yeah, because that explains everything."

Giles cleared his throat and pointed at the page again.

"The portents are nearly all complete. Look!"

She read aloud.

"The ground below shall tremble,

Both moon and sun will glow.

God's cry been silenced,

A river of blood will flow.

Trusted friends assemble,

To answer to the call.

And the curséd one shall stand there,

But so shall he fall."

Buffy sighed as she passed the book back.

"Ok, I get the whole ground trembling part to be that earthquake, but what about the rest? I mean as far as I know, that's only the sun out there and I don't see any red rivers."

Giles pointed at the blood on the floor at their feet and Buffy shrugged.

"Oh, fair point."

He nodded, removing his glasses to polish them as he theorised. Buffy smiled to herself. Some things never change.

"The trusted friends are obviously our little group. I don't think we have a lot of time to prepare."

Buffy started to think ahead to the coming End of Days.

"We need weapons and we need people."

A familiar voice sounded from the lobby.

"Hey."

Hearing Willow squeal with delight, Buffy turned around to see Oz sauntering across to hug her.

"Got your message. I was doing a gig on the other side of town. Saw the big hubbub on the news. Big stuff going down, huh?"

Willow hugged him again, as Xander crossed over to slap him on the back. Oz nodded to him as Buffy pulled him in to a friendly embrace.

"Good to see you, Oz. We can use all the help we can get."

He smiled at her.

"Once a Scooby, always a Scooby."

Giles wandered over to shake his hand and even Spike nodded a hello, instantly regretting it as the pain shot through his temple again. Oz turned to the former Watcher.

"So what's the deal? Did you call me in for my werewolf opinion or just because you were worried about little old me not staying in my cage?"

Giles blinked rapidly.

"Your werewolf opinion?"

Oz shrugged.

"Well, because of the fact that the entire of Los Angeles is getting a suntan while enjoying a very romantic full moon."

Giles's eyes widened as Xander ran to the doors to look outside.

"He's not kidding, G-man. That's a very Star Wars sky we got up there."

Oz frowned as he considered that comment.

"Star Wars?"

Xander wandered back over towards him with a shrug.

"Yeah, you know in Episode III: A New Hope when Luke's looking out over his uncle's moisture farm."

"That's two moons, there's no sun."

"Then where's all the light coming from?"

"The movie's lighting guy."

Willow grinned as she watched the two men bickering, realising how much she had missed them all being together. Giles, meanwhile, pulled Buffy aside.

"That leaves only one more portent before the End of Days begins."

She nodded slowly.

"We need to do more research, Giles, we need to figure out where this is going to happen and what we can do. We need a plan, a good one. You know, the type with codenames and blueprints and all of that."

He nodded in agreement and she started to move away before he put a hand on her arm and pulled her back.

"Buffy, there's something else I need you to consider."

He paused and she frowned, knowing right away that it wasn't going to be good news.

"People are going to get hurt and I need you to be prepared for - "

She cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"Giles, we've been here before and we've all got through it together. We can do this. We can beat this apocalypse just like all the others."

He sighed heavily.

"Wesley didn't make it through the last one. And this isn't just another apocalypse. This is an all out assault that's meant to signal the return of our existence to the times of the Ancient Ones, making us humans just fodder for the demon hordes. This apocalypse is intended to turn our world in to another hell dimension."

Giles looked over the group, chatting and laughing together as Illyria regarded them with an almost bored expression. Turning his gaze back to Buffy, he swallowed hard.

"But none of that is the part that worries me. We are all willing volunteers and we know what we're up against. I'm just not sure that you do."

She frowned and shook her head in confusion.

"Giles, what are you talking about? I know what I'm up against. Yet another big bad evil thing, probably slimy and living in a crypt. That's if Hell has crypts…"

"The final lines of the prophecy that Wesley made Illyria write say that the cursed one will fall."

She shrugged.

"So?"

"Who do you know in this building that's cursed?"

Buffy stared at him a moment, totally lost, before the realisation of what he was telling her finally began to filter through. Not that she was willing to believe it.

"You're saying Angel's going to die?"

Giles began to polish his glasses again with incredible zeal, all just to avoid looking at her.

"I'm saying that is my interpretation of this prophecy, yes. Though with Spike's involvement as well, I can't be one hundred percent sure. The likelihood would indeed point to Angel. After all, Spike chose to have his soul returned to him. Angel didn't."

Buffy's gaze was drawn to the bleached blonde vampire, currently lying on the sofa. He had been drawn in to bickering with Xander but seemed to be enjoying it.

"I don't accept this Giles. I can't accept the fact that any of us won't make it through. I just can't do that."

She locked eyes with him and felt a father's love there. Swallowing hard, she admitted her deepest fear.

"And I refuse to lose Angel again."

Giles nodded and laid a compassionate hand on her shoulder.

"I understand Buffy, I just thought you ought to be aware of all the facts as I know them."

She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. She watched as Giles returned to the office to attempt more research before turning her gaze back on to her motley crew. As far as she was concerned, they were strongest as a team and they would win. She was not prepared to lose this fight. Or Angel.

Her heart fell and Buffy closed her eyes to steady herself, slowly realising just how much she still loved him. Opening her eyes, it suddenly occurred to her that Connor still hadn't returned with his father. Her heart now pounding so hard she thought he might explode through her chest, Buffy raced towards the stairs.

She had to find the man she loved.