Please read the note at the end; it's long, but it's kind of important.

"Come before us, lower beings," a male voice intoned.

"Lower beings?" Buffy repeated incredulously out of the side of her mouth. "High and mighty, much?"

Angel took off his watch and threw it to the female. She caught it and looked at it wonderingly. "I brought you this," he told her.

"Angel," Buffy hissed, looking uncertainly at the Oracles. "That's just a watch."

"I like time," the female replied, snapping her big blue eyes up to look peer at Buffy. Then she smiled a little secret smile and looked back down at the watch. "There is so little and so much of it."

Buffy grimaced and took a step forward. "I think there's a little too much of it all the sudden," she said. "Angel's been living the same day over and over again. We were wondering if you could help."

"Each day is always occurring," the female replied, staring at the watch and shrugging.

For a moment, Buffy was silent. "Look," she said finally. "We know we're mortals or lower beings or whatever other derogatory name you want to give us. We're not equipped to understand your paradoxes, and you know it. So, why don't you just give us the stitch without all the mumbo jumbo?"

"The Slayer," the male said, almost wonderingly.

"In the flesh," Buffy quipped. Then she turned to Angel, nose wrinkling. "Or, are we flesh here? I feel fleshy."

"She speaks with insolence," the woman said, turning to her male counterpart.

The man's great blue eyes didn't leave Buffy. Instead, they looked her over with an expression like—like compassion. Angel could see it was making Buffy extremely anxious. "Soon she will understand," the man announced, after a moment.

"Soon?" Buffy echoed, her face blank.

"All mortal beings come to understand, in time. That is the definition of mortality."

"Yes," Buffy replied, "but—soon?"

"No," Angel said, his voice hard. He took Buffy by the elbow and pulled her closer to him, as if to put himself between her and the Oracles, her and the light at the end of that long hallway. "It won't happen," he ground out. "I won't let it."

The female raised a brow and dropped it, the subtle equivalent of a shrug. "It is not our place to grant life or death. Nor is it yours."

"If she's in trouble," Angel growled, "I'll know. I'll feel it. Do you think I could be anywhere on this Earth and let her die?"

"Angel," Buffy said softly, and put her hand on his shoulder.

"No," he snarled. "I gave up—everything—for this. They can't—"

"Angel," Buffy repeated firmly, though gently. "This isn't what we're here to see them about."

He finally dropped his eyes to hers, his gaze darting over her, taking in the fact that he still held her elbow in a bruising grip. He forced himself to let go, watching the red blossom on her skin from where his fingers had pressed. He saw the blush not coming, the golden skin gray and lifeless. He saw one of his deepest darkest fears play out before him—her beloved, changeable eyes fazing into yellow, her small, piquant brow bulging and growing ridges, her teeth elongating into fangs. He saw Buffy dying, and saw in that revelation the possibility of Buffy coming back to life in the sickest way possible. "I won't let it happen," he repeated. "I won't."

"Of course," Buffy replied softly. "I won't either."

"Buffy." Her name was a groan, an ache, a prayer and a plea.

"Angel," she replied simply.

"Perhaps you should save your poignant moments for a suitable setting," a male voice said dryly.

"Perhaps you should save your revelations for whenever I come by to chat," Buffy snapped, "instead of when I come to you for help. This is about Angel."

The male frowned, but the female turned her golden head to look Angel up and down. "The auguries have proven false, brother," she said at last, eyes still on the Angel.

The male looked quickly from the female to Angel. His eyes widened slightly as he took in the vampire, as if he saw something that neither Buffy nor Angel could see. "He will remain a warrior," he said, sounding mildly interested.

"For the time being," the female intoned, her voice rife with self-satisfaction.

There was a small, somewhat awkward silence. "What do you mean, for the time being?" Buffy demanded abruptly, suspiciously.

"Is this a chat?" the male replied. His voice was cool.

"Yes, it's a chat," she said impatiently. "See, we're chatting. What do you mean by he's only a warrior for the time being? Will he . . .?" She trailed off, swallowing hard. Angel could feel her hand on his arm. He wasn't sure when or how it got there, but he felt her fingers convulse into his muscles, and he wondered whether she was seeking his strength or trying to give him her own.

"Only the Powers That Be are eternal," the female said finally.

"I tire of this 'chat,'" the male said, sounding bored. "We are not fortune-tellers. If you have come to ask us questions about your respective futures—"

"We haven't," Angel interjected hurriedly. "The Slayer told you why we're here. I keep experiencing the same day over and over again."

"This is none of our concern."

"But you folded time," Buffy said. "Surely this has something to do with that. You swallowed a day, and now it's all topsy-turvy-repeat-day."

"Temporal folds are not to indulge at the whims of lower beings," the male said.

"But you already did it," Buffy pointed out, scowling.

"The events of which you speak have, to put it in the inaccurate terms more suited to your understanding—" The male began, but Angel cut him off.

"No place on our time line," he finished for him. "The events are in the fourth dimension, but I can't experience them with my lower being brain. Or something like that," Angel said, remembering what the Oracles had told him before.

The Oracles were silent for several long moments. "This is true," the male said at last.

"You have been here to ask for our help on one of your previous days," the female suggested.

"Yes."

She nodded. "For ones such as we, this day has happened an infinite number of times and never. But for a lower being such as this," she went on, glancing at her brother Oracle, "the experience should register singularly, a point in the mortal reckoning of time." She turned back to Angel. "What you say is true. Time is fluctuating within your being."

"So glad you believe us now," Buffy said irritably.

"We know it's true," Angel said. "What we don't know is why it's happening or what we can do to fix it."

"If this day has occurred in consecution on your timeline, you have already asked these questions."

"And you have heard our reply," the male intoned, still bored.

"This is not our concern." The female.

"Seek answers elsewhere." The male.

Then the Oracles' arms rose simultaneously, and Angel and Buffy felt their inner organs jerk and their skins follow suit, back into the cave under the post office.

"Well, that went well," said Buffy, standing up and dusting herself off. "Next time I'm doing a really hard crossword puzzle, remind me to call on them. They have such easy answers to everything."

"You do crossword puzzles?" Angel asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sure. Eight-letter word, describes Buffy and Angel."

Romantic. Accursed. Desirous. Separate. Headlong. Did "turned on" count? How about "done for"? That was seven letters. Truelove. Destined. Finished. "Hopeless?" he said at last.

She looked as if someone had just pinched her. "I was going for 'warriors'," she said, turning away, "but I guess that works too."

"I meant—" He reached out a hand for her and then curled his fingers back on themselves. He followed her as she walked out of the caves and back into the sewers. Swallowing thickly, he said, "I meant because of the Oracles. Hopeless as in helpless. As in they won't help us. The Oracles, I mean."

She gave him a tiny half-smile, wry, but understanding. "I know what you meant. You just have a way of . . . putting things into perspective."

"Yes," he said. He didn't look at her.

She was silent for a while, then: "I understand. Why you did it." The moments stretched between them, and then, because she knew he wouldn't ask her to clarify, she did it anyway. "I understand why you chose being a superhero over a regular Joe, and I understand why you didn't discuss it with me before hand. And whatever I said at the time, I'm sorry. If I was unfair." She paused and scowled. "Was I unfair?"

Angel grimaced, still not looking at her. His hand clenched and unclenched at his side. "You were . . . You were . . . You understood then, too. You didn't want to, but you did. You were perfect."

"Oh," she said blankly, a little surprised. "Well, go me." She scuffed her shoes and sneaked a glance at him. "It was just . . . hearing what they said. About . . . you dying, I mean. And me. It suddenly seemed so simple. I would separate us for eternity if it meant I could keep you safe."

"But can we?" Angel replied suddenly, stopping and turning to face her. "Can I really keep you from—does it mean anything that we—" Angel's eyes sidled away. When they came back to her, his jaw was set and his voice was tight. "Do we really have to talk about this?"

Her brow wrinkled, and she looked thoughtful. "I should go home," she said finally.

To Be Continued . . .

A/N 1: The next chapter will deal with themes relating to non-consensual sex, so I'm changing the rating of the whole fic to M, meaning: 1) This fic won't show up on the default main page for this fandom (I'm saying this because I always forget the default is K-T and then wonder where the fics I've been following are), and 2) the M-rated content is simply thoughts in Angel's head; i.e, it's not explicit (and it might not even be M-worthy)—but please do not read if you don't know what the word 'necrophilia' means ;o)

A/N 2: Around chapter 30, this fic will become NC-17 (for explicit sex and a little violence) and will be moved to my livejournal. Just wanted to warn you in case you don't go in for that kind of thing; I wouldn't want anyone to get caught up in this fic and then be disappointed by some of the turns it takes.

A/N 3: A couple people have wondered about whether the end is in sight. I just wanted to take this moment to say that this fic is very, very long, and Angel lives this day many, many times. I also wanted to thank everyone who's been reading. When I first got the idea for this fic it was going to be very short. Instead, these first two days came out long and tedious, and I'm afraid things may feel repetitive and annoying. Still, I have tried to vary each day from the next as much as possible, so thanks if you're sticking with this.

A/N 4: I had to cut this chapter off in an awkward place or else it would have been too long. So, apologies for the abruptness.

Disclaimer: Lines stolen from AtS S1.8 "I Will Remember You" and 9, "Heroes."