It was three thirty in the afternoon in Los Angeles and it was pitch black outside. Those that were still in the city following the apocalyptic battle only the day before were now fleeing in droves. Sirens and distant screams echoed through the impromptu night as Angel stared upwards, seeing stars for the first time since arriving in the city. Somehow, they seemed different to how he remembered them.

He felt Buffy enter the garden behind him, watching him from the terrace. Just hearing her voice gave him goosepimples.

"I need to talk to you."

Angel turned to face her as she walked down the steps toward him, the light from the lobby behind her creating a glow in her blonde hair, almost giving her a halo. He nodded slowly, steeling himself.

"I know, me too."

He took her hand, holding it between them like some sort of buffer zone as he looked her in the eye.

"Look, that kiss we almost had before… You have no idea how much I wanted that to happen, how much I've missed you. I love you Buffy, I always have and I always will. But you and me… We both know how that would end and I can't do that to you again. I won't."

Buffy sighed heavily.

"Angel…"

He squeezed her hand, his eyes locked on to hers.

"No, please let me finish."

She blinked rapidly and he knew she was fighting back tears. He offered a tentative smile as he tried to explain how he felt.

"Ever since I first saw you sitting on the steps to your school, wearing your heart on your sleeve, I loved you and wanted to protect you. And it kills me to admit this, but protecting you means keeping you away from me. If we went back there, if we let ourselves try again, we'd want more. But we can't risk it, we can't tempt fate like that."

He grasped her hand tighter and she looked down at their fingers weaving between each other, something she used to take for granted but now welcomed like an old friend long since lost. She squeezed his hand reassuringly, signalling for him to continue.

"I don't want to lose you again, Buffy, but every time I see you… It kills me inside. Knowing that even if you were willing to spend the rest of your life with me, I could never spend the rest of my life with you, and that kills me too. I'd watch you grow old and you'd hate me for it, hate me for all the things that we can never do together, and I can't stand the thought of you ever looking at me like that. Because I love you so much that I…"

Angel took a step forward, brushing the hair away from Buffy's face.

"Look, if the prophecy is right, I'm not going to get through this."

He raised a hand to silence her objections and for once, she dutifully complied.

"I don't know if I really believe all of that anyway but just in case, I wanted you to know that if I could, if we could… I love you, Buffy. The idea of anything happening to you, of seeing you hurt, it kills me. I need to know that you're ok. I need to know that for me to be ok. And if that means that I can't be with you, I have to do it, no matter how much it hurts."

He stared at her, not sure what else to say but tempted to take it all back and just kiss her right then. She shook her head and sighed.

"I was actually going to say that I came out here to talk to you about what weapons or plans you might have to help us get through this whole End of Days malarkey."

Angel dropped her hand and stepped backwards.

"Oh. Well, ok. I don't feel like an idiot now or anything…"

Buffy wrung her hands in front of her, partly because of nerves and partly to stop herself from reaching out to him.

"No, Angel, it's ok."

She stepped away from him, examining the jasmine bushes around the garden area.

"You're right, you know."

He turned to look at her, each of them standing on opposite sides of the yard.

"I'm right? Wow, that's a first."

She shrugged, idly picking at the plants.

"Not really. You were right to leave Sunnydale, leave me, and come to LA. You've done a lot of good here. But the other thing you were right about was us. We would always want more. It would be dangerous for us to be together. I know that Angel, same as you."

Buffy looked up at him, distractedly rolling a sprig of jasmine between her fingertips.

"I love you. And before in my dream, when I saw you fighting in that alley, when I thought that you'd died, my whole world came crashing down. I've always had hope Angel. I don't know why and I don't even really know what I've been hoping for, but I had hope."

He smiled, nodding to himself.

"Hope is a powerful thing."

Their eyes met and she knew he felt the exact same way, had hoped for the exact same things. She felt a smile brush her lips.

"Yeah, I guess it is. But that's why I have to just say this…"

She stepped forward, hands on hips as she glared at him.

"SHUT UP!"

He jumped, total confusion on his face at the fact she had just yelled at him. Buffy stalked toward him, still glaring.

"How dare you say all of this to me? Back inside, you were telling me you could never lose me again, that hope would basically save your life, and now what? You decide to recite the same old script we play out every time we see each other. Well, I'm sick of it, Angel! I know where we stand. I don't need it ramming down my throat at every available opportunity."

He opened his mouth to reply but she didn't give him the chance.

"Yes, we still love each other. No, we still can't be together. And yes, seeing you does hurt because I know I can't just reach out and touch you, I can't kiss you, I can't do any of the things that I want to do. It kills me too, Angel. So why do the lecture, huh?"

Angel frowned at her, not sure if he was actually supposed to answer. When Buffy was still glaring at him a minute later, he swallowed hard and stepped towards her.

"It was never supposed to be a lecture and if it came out that way, I'm sorry. If anything I was telling myself. I've missed you so much and suddenly, here you are. And I realised that I don't care about the demons or the Senior Partners or the End of Days because all I want to do is grab you and kiss you and never let you out of my sight again. It takes all I am just to resist you."

She arched an eyebrow, obviously about to come up with some snide remark but he quickly laid a finger on her lips. Seeing Buffy's surprised silence, he smiled and moved his hand to cup her face, angling it up to his own. She smiled back and he could practically hear her heart racing as she whispered.

"So resist me."

Their faces were so close now, he could feel the heat in her cheeks, their noses brushing together.

"I am."

She leaned in closer but he inched back a little, still leaving the minute gap between them.

"Buffy…"

He felt her stiffen as he moved away and knew she thought he was rejecting her again. His smile widened.

"That whole speech before… I had hope up until all this started. There was a prophecy, a different one, which said that after the final apocalypse I might turn human."

Her eyes widened and her mouth curved in to that enormous grin that melted his heart. He shook his head.

"But I had to sign it away, I had no choice. And you know what the only thing that almost stopped me from doing that was? You. The hope that one day you and I would be able to live a normal life together. And when I saw this new prophecy saying that I would die, it hit home exactly what it was that I'd given up. I was always meant to die here today, Buffy, but before all this started there was a chance that I could come back and be with you."

A solitary tear ran down her cheek and she blinked rapidly. He could see anger in her eyes but didn't move away.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because that's why I said all those things about us not being able to be together. Because I know that all of this is my fault, all of it, and I don't want to see you get hurt. At least not any more than you have to."

She frowned, shaking her head slightly, but never taking her eyes off his.

"I don't know what you mean. Are you saying you're driving me away so that I don't get hurt? Because if you are, it didn't work."

He gently stroked her cheek, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"I was scared, Buffy. I was scared that if I let you get close to me again, it would be hard for you when all this is over and you survive. Because you will. You'll see a tomorrow. But not with me."

The tears were flowing freely now and Angel felt the sting of emotion in his own eyes.

"Don't say that, it's not true! You will beat this Angel, you have to! So stop playing the martyr. No one needs martyrs, Angel, we need heroes."

"What's the difference?"

"A hero will die for the cause if he needs to, but he'd much rather live for it. I need you to live for this, Angel. I need you to be a Champion, and you need it too. For god's sake, Angel, I don't care that we can't be together as long as I know you're ok, that you're safe. As long as I still have a chance to…"

He didn't bother to wipe either of their tears away as he leant in close, finishing her sentence.

"To hope."

For the first time in years, their lips met, though it felt like they'd never been apart. Buffy's hands snaked up his back as the kiss grew harder, her fingers exploring the muscles under his sweater. Angel's hands gently caressed the small of her back from under her shirt, pulling her body in tight to him as their kiss grew steadily hungrier and more forceful.

Her fingers entangled in his hair, his fingers running down her spine, they both shivered as their skin seemed to prickle with excitement. They lost the world altogether, unaware the world had lost them too.

oooOOOooo

Connor wandered out on to the terrace to find his father. He'd seen Buffy come out here to talk to him and left it as long as possible before he ventured out himself. He didn't know what the history was between the two of them but it was abundantly clear that there was a lot of it.

Walking out of the dimly lit lobby, he felt like he'd been swallowed by the night. He stopped, attempting to let his eyes adjust to the dark. After a while, he realised they weren't. Confused, he called in to the night.

"Angel? Buffy? Where are you, guys?"

He shuffled forward a few steps, stopping when his toes were barely inches away from where the light gave up. Connor tentatively stretched his hand out in front of him, watching as it was swallowed by the darkness instantly coupled with a strange tingling sensation.

Scared of what was happening to his arm, Connor tried to pull away but something was pulling his hand back in, trying to drag his entire body into the dark void. Slowly but surely, it was working.

Now terrified, Connor yelled for help and Willow came running. Seeing the bizarre sight in front of her, she came to a sudden stop, unaware Giles was right behind her until he crashed into her back. Open mouthed, the pair stared at the young lad.

Stood on the edge of the terrace, Connor had a look of pure fear in his eyes. He also had only one arm. The dense night seemed to have swallowed it whole and now had a taste for the rest of him. Willow's fingers tingled and she threw a worried glance at Giles as they raced over to Connor, pulling him back with all their might.

After a few moments, Connor's arm was free and the trio were sent flying backwards into a crumpled heap. Eyes wide, he turned to the others.

"What the hell is going on?"

Giles blinked rapidly as he tried to process the information, while Willow clambered to her feet.

"Dark magics."

She stalked along the edge of the light. It was like the darkness had created a wall right along the edge of the terrace, the light pouring out from inside ending in a strict line. Frowning, she slowly raised her hand. Connor jumped to his feet and was pulling her back in an instant.

"Willow, don't! You'll get pulled in!"

She smiled at him and shook her head.

"Trust me."

He felt the blush creeping up across his cheeks and finally let go of her arm, if only so he could turn away in embarrassment.

Willow stepped forward again, her right hand raised in front of her. Giles watched with an arched eyebrow as her hand began to glow slightly, creating a reflection that shimmered off the rippling wall in front of them. Slowly, Willow lowered her hand and turned back to the other two, an odd expression on her face. Connor stepped forward.

"Where are they? Buffy and Angel, are they behind this wall thing?"

Willow swallowed hard and caught Giles's eye. He immediately knew something was seriously wrong. Eventually, she turned back to Connor.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news?"

His eyes wide, Connor shrugged.

"The good news, I guess."

"Well, there's two bits of good news. The first one is that just after Eve arrived I did some major mojo so that no-one else could just wander on in to the hotel. There's no point us all preparing to fight some major battle if we're going to just get picked off one by one in our own hideout. Anyway, that's why there's this wall. That's the edge of my protection."

She sighed heavily, taking a step closer to Connor.

"The second bit of good news is that I know where Angel and Buffy are."

Giles looked surprised.

"Where?"

Willow glanced at him then turned back to Connor, laying her hand on his forearm, her voice barely a whisper.

"That's the bad news. You see, this protection spell I did, it works right across the dimensions so that the Senior Partners couldn't just sneak through the astral back door. I think it's also become a kind of anchor, keeping us safe right here while Buffy and Angel… Connor, I know where they are because everything beyond this wall - the city, the people, everything - isn't here anymore. It's basically been absorbed by another dimension."

She turned her solemn gaze to Giles.

"The world's gone to Hell."