Thanks to everyone for their reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Sorry it's been so long between posts, I'll try to update more often.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, if I did, everyone would have a happy ending!
Angel was sitting by Gunn's bedside, his head in his hands. He knew this was all his fault. If he hadn't been so impatient, so eager for all of this to finally be over... He had been careless. All he could see was the Shanshu, the promise that it would soon be over, and he could have his reward. He had known in his heart, his cold, dead, heart that the prophecy was for him, not Spike. The scroll had called out to him when he took it, he hadn't known why at the time. And now, it didn't matter anyway. He had given it up, signed it away, just to bring on the apocolypse, the apocolypse that was supposed to save him in the first place.
A beeping on the heart monitor startled him. He looked up, dreading what he would find, but to his surprise, Gunn's eyes were open. "Hey" he said weakly.
Angel had to lean over to him, he could barely hear him, but he was alive. "Gunn! Thank God!" Angel breathed a sigh of relief. At least one of his friends had survived.
"What...happened?" He could barely speak. "Ilyria? Sp...Spike?"
"Don't try to talk, okay? Ilyria and Spike are fine. The slayers showed up, helped us out. And, well, I think Cordy too." Angel shook his head as Gunn attempted to talk again. "Look, I'm not even sure what happened yet. We're still trying to figure it out. Just rest now." He stood up. "I'm going to get the doctor." He glanced at Gunn once more, then turned and walked out of the room.
BBB
"So, what's the plan, B?" Faith and Buffy were out in the courtyard,. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. No trace of the storms from the night before.
"I don't know, Faith. I think we should stay here for now, anyway. Make sure that the demons are actually gone."
"I guess. Angel doesn't have any ideas?"
"He thinks maybe Cordelia helped out somehow." Buffy shook her head. "Apparently, she was a higher power a few years ago."
"Man, that's weird. Are you sure we're talking about the same Cordelia?"
"Yep. Same old Cordelia." Buffy couldn't keep the jealousy out of her voice. "Except Angel said she changed out here. She grew up, became a real human being, if you can believe that."
"Wow, B! Do I detect a little sarcasm in your tone, there?"
"No! I mean, it's just kind of hard to take, that's all." Buffy tried to steer the conversation back to the problem at hand. "Anyway, some of the slayers can't leave yet. It's gonna take some time for them to recover."
Faith nodded. "True. And there's evil here. It's not like we're wasting time." She stood up. "We can keep training, there's plenty of room here." She walked away, but couldn't resist a parting shot. "And, of course, Angel's here."
Sorry it's so short, I promise to make it up to you in the next chapter! Please review, they make my day!