Forever and Eternity

Angel's PoV

"Angel, are we really sure that this is a good idea?" Buffy asked, her eyes full of tears not for herself, but for the other Slayers who might leave behind if she really did choose to become a vampire, and the worst happened: her somehow remaining soulless. And Angel couldn't help falling in love with her all over again for her selflessness there. Really, it was a common occurrence for him. Buffy was just being cautious. They both knew the plan was, if they did choose this, that she would be ensouled by Willow and that they would probably still help out all the Slayers even then. But his girl was fretting about what-ifs.

"If this Harth Fray doesn't end up finding a way to try and blow up everyone at the Slayer conference, then they'll really be no need to ever bring it up again, my love. But if he does… you know how I'm going to worry about you. We've devised a way that, should the worst happen, all the Slayers will be transported to another dimension, so he thinks his little explosion did them in.

"But Buffy… if he succeeds in this… this will just be one more thing, on a long list of things, that has come for you. So, call me crazy that if it happens, when we get to the other dimension, I want to finally turn you for your safety."

Deep down, Angel knew it was the last part Buffy was the least certain about. Of course it was. He even felt that way, himself.

Because in adding that caveat, they both knew they were being extremely selfish. It was partly an added layer of security for Buffy, the Queen of the Slayers, yes, that if/when they ended up in this other reality, Angel would be there and Sire her (and Willow, with her powerful magic, would automatically know what had happened and to give her her soul back). That way if Harth survived and maybe tried such a thing again, he might turn his eyes away from Buffy, if it was only Slayers he cared about. And also, this way, Buffy should always be around to care for her girls, like they both knew a large part of her wanted.

…But more than any of that, the truth of the matter was, the two of them finally wanted to be together. Forever, even. And now that Buffy was somewhat getting up there in years, if this did happen, this would be a way to turn Buffy and make it look like it was for moral reasons—and part of it would be—when really both Angel and Buffy wanted her to be a vampire.

And that's why Angel knew a part of his ever-unselfish girlfriend couldn't forgive herself for such a thought.

"And more than all of that… this allows us to finally have some happiness. Don't we deserve that after everything we've been through? Don't you want to be happy, sweetheart?" Angel asked his girl now, as he finally stopped looking at some of the blue prints they'd drawn up for this plan, and instead glanced to look at his Slayer.

And the moment he began striding towards her, Buffy instantly grabbed his hand in pulled him closer to her—it seemed she didn't even care that she was ruining the nice Armani shirt she'd bought for him, as she accidentally splashed bath water onto it. She just wanted him with her to help her make this important decision. "I do like you calling me sweetheart," Buffy admitted. "You told me that Angelus called me 'sweet' before you ever called me "sweetheart." But 'sweetheart' sounds so good on your tongue. And it works for well for us… And it makes me think that if we can make that work, we can make anything work. Like figure out this crazy puzzle together."

"We can make anything work, Buffy," Angel promised her—letting her hair out of its bun, so it could brush against the warm water, in thinking this might relax her even further. "And if in the end, you don't think this is the best plan, we'll figure that out, too."

"But it surely is, my Angel. And I do want to be with you, I do. But it's just so hard to fathom giving up being the Slayer, if Harth does prove to be such a tool."

Angel chuckled at that, definitely understanding where Buffy was coming from: Harth Fray was the twin of a Slayer from the future, Melaka Fray. But since they were twins, something had gone slightly wrong and some of Melaka's Slayer abilities had been split between the two of them and given to her brother, which was unheard of. And then when Harth had become a vampire, this had made him an all too powerful foe. But his time traveling to the past in order to try and be a ruler, and using what he knew was to come via his history books that the Scoobies and Slayers weren't aware of, made it all worse.

But the fact that, in a way, Harth was a vampire who was part Slayer—or had been part Slayer before—may have made Angel's lover want to stay that way even more, to really stick it to him and show him that she was better than he was. And also to show her sister Slayers that she would never "betray them" like he had. But likewise, Angel also knew when it was time to move on and let go of certain things. And he knew that Buffy did deep down, too.

"You know that you could equally show him up as a vamp," Angel reminded the love of his life, leaning close to her by the bath now, and whispering in her ear.

At that, Buffy "angrily" splashed some water at Angel. "You just want me to be a vampire because you want me… well, you want me. And you want us to be able to have kinky vampire sex. Because as dark as some of my sexual interests are, there are still some things I won't do."

Well, when she was right, she was right. "Guilty as charged, my love." And her words had stirred him now, so Angel quickly started disrobing so he could join Buffy in her bath. "But more than anything, I want you safe to lead another charge against this roach another day, and I think this will see to that. Can't you see that, Buffy?"

And Angel had leaned down then, so that he could hold Buffy's face between his hands and look deeply into her eyes, hoping to impart just how serious he was now. They'd faced so much together—too much, truthfully—but there was something about this that didn't sit right with Angel, and he didn't see it as a blow to his masculine pride to say that he was terrified. For all of the Slayers, but Buffy in particular.

And Buffy must have seen it, because she leaned in and gave him one of the softest kisses they had ever shared together, before bringing his face down to lay on her breast. It was a little awkward, with her being in the tub and him still being out of it. But Angel wouldn't have moved for the world. Not if some special vampire and his minions, with visions of grandeur were adamant about taking her from him, like they seemingly were now.

"I see, Angel. I see. If someone was threatening to take you away from me like this, I'd be the same way. And trying to think of anything I could to save you, too. Okay. You gave me that Claddagh ring so long ago, and we said we belonged to each other then. But in some ways, I don't know if we fully put it to the test. If it really comes down to it, I'll be yours. Forever." And Buffy placed a kiss to his forehead, which was definitely a good move on her part, Angel thought, because he was suddenly shaking.

He wasn't the psychic one—except maybe in that one universe Cordy had told him about. And there, he had handled it horribly—but Angel knew the next few days were going to be a nightmare. But likewise, he knew they'd get through it together, like they did most things. And he supposed if he could hold onto that, he could hold onto sanity and the hope to win this fight.

"Forever," Angel echoed, stepping into the bath with Buffy—not even caring at this point that some of his clothes were still on. He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in the crook of her neck. And though he was the vampire, it sounded to him like Buffy was the one who had purred for that motion.

Then, he reached around her and found her left hand with her ring on it, and kissed her Claddagh like she once had his so many years ago. And oh, how it was perfect.

Months later

Rona's PoV

"Rona, why are you so hung-up on getting Buffy Summers out of the dimension she's unwittingly trapped herself in? Why don't you join me, now that you're free from said dimension and can?"

The Slayer smiled, but only ever slightly at the Warrior of Thrace's words. She didn't want to abandon Buffy—she'd never abandon any of her sister Slayers, if there was a way to save them—but more than anything, she did want to be with her demon lover, now that they were finally reunited.

And oh, how ironic that was since, she had once lectured Buffy whole-heartedly for being all about Spike, in her eyes (too much so, when it had seemed like Potential Slayers were dying while she was being dewy-eyed), but that was part of the reason she needed to save Buffy to make it up to her, wasn't it?

But time passing did many a thing… like show you when you were wrong in some areas, and that the world wasn't in black and white, and that you could be like a certain sister Slayer of yours more than you ever thought possible.

"I have to save her!" Rona exclaimed, battling with the portal that, for now, kept Buffy, Angel, and a number of the other Slayers trapped within it. "She and Angel saw what was coming, and they figured out a way to save us. But that Harth! He outmaneuvered them, and turned our salvation into a trap!

"I'm alive because of Buffy. And I managed to escape… but she and the others are still lost, and I'm not going to stand idly by and let that be."

"You're being a hero, then," Rona's beloved demon surmised. "Like all Slayers are. Like Frankie is. I suppose I shouldn't be shocked that you would choose this course—and that it would even be the first thing you'd opt to do upon returning, instead of resting and rebuilding your strength—but wouldn't it be better to think on how to defeat Harth and then figure out how to return your sister Slayers to a safe world?"

Rona blinked, and put Faith's knife that she had been using (God, Faith!) into her pocket for a moment, as she regarded Grimloch.

She chose not to focus on any jealousy about him having fallen for the new Slayer Frankie, Willow's daughter, while she'd been imprisoned—she wouldn't! She was older than Frankie and would be above it; especially since she knew that Grim was putting Frankie behind him now—but she supposed he did have somewhat a point with his other question. "Because if I don't get them out to help fight him, there might not be a world for them to return to, Grim.

"And speaking of strength, you should know why I would see it as a strength to free the girls as fast as I can."

Grim was all about strength, as a seasoned warrior demon. In fact, the two of them had fallen in love was fighting too many times—Rona in thinking he was an enemy at first, and Grim in just wanting to try what he had against a Slayer—and somehow fell in love during the course of those battles: Rona remembered it well: And how it had called up something in her she never knew she had, even though she'd treasured her power ever since she'd gained it during her fight with the First.

"I do, my love. I do," Grim reassured her. "But I also know that this is about honor and revenge." And before Rona could react, Grim had somehow slipped forward and stolen Faith's knife out of her pocket. She gasped.

Rona met Grim with a glare. Perhaps it was stronger than any look she had given him before—even when she'd thought they'd been somewhat enemies—because that had been Faith's knife, damnit.

And now- and now Faith was dead. She'd sensed something going awry before anyone else at the conference had, and she'd pushed Sadie out of the way, and had gotten caught up in the explosion. Rona had run towards Faith then—and had tried to grab onto her sister Slayer to aid her—but had only been able to grab onto her jean pocket, and unintentionally the knife Faith kept in there, before she'd been whisked away to the other dimension with the other Slayers.

Rona had wanted to give the knife to Buffy after that, but something had kept her from doing so. Maybe it was the bad history the two original Slayers had had with it, even though Rona knew that had been dead and buried for a long time. But truthfully? She thought that thinking about the knife at all would have made Faith's fate real, so she had mostly ignored it. Until now…

"Grim… give me that back!" Rona roared, baring her teeth and trying for all the world to not show that she was crying. "If anything is going to get the other Slayers out, it's going to be the scythe—that Buffy has—or this knife, so plea-"

For a moment, Grim looked at Rona with an expression she wasn't sure she liked: it was as if he was judging her worthiness, now that grief had taken her. And maybe she should have known that he always would have, since he admired strength above all else, and it had brought them together, but she couldn't help feeling incredulous.

But finally, he must have either seen something in her again that he liked—or the girl he loved—because he handed her the knife back, hesitating, but not without a warning. "You're surely right, dear Rona. But this Harth is smart. He'll have figured that out and have altered things so only the new Slayer can open the portal, I'm sure."

"Frankie." Rona couldn't help it: she laughed. It was just too ironic, that to truly fix her relationship with the original chosen Slayer, she would now have to stomach the new one—the girl who was trying to steal Grim away from her. Life was truly ironic.

But that was partly why one loved it, Rona supposed. It kept you on your toes. And to save her sisters and secure her future with Grim, she would do anything.

"…A scary prospect, indeed," Rona muttered the first under her breath, before pocketing Faith's knife again. "But that girl has so much hope, I guess I shouldn't be surprised she could work something like this. Lead me to her, Grim. I'm ready to face eternity."

Author's Note: The original idea of this came from me trying to guess who the Slayer who Grimloch loved was (because for some reason, I'd assumed it was one that we knew from Buffy season seven). Grim confirmed that it wasn't Buffy or Vi. It clearly wasn't Kennedy, since she's a lesbian. In "In Every Generation," Faith is allegedly dead, unfortunately, and Grim knew that, and he didn't react like, "Gosh, darnit, my Slayer's dead," but rather kept looking for news on his Slayer. So that left Rona or Chao-Ahn. And I thought it would be kind of ironic, and cool, if it was Rona, since she hated Buffy's deal with Spike (and I definitely get her PoV there), so I started this character development fic back then, though I didn't finish it until recently (even though the second "In Every Generation" book has since come out and this is not canon at all. It was still a fun idea to me/fun to write:))

I was totally right about the Slayers not being dead, though, and having been sent to another dimension. However, instead of that having been their plan, that was the bad guy's plan, and it just looked like an explosion.

I really didn't think the villain was Harth Fray (from Buffy S12) even when I wrote this. But "In Every Generation" hadn't revealed its main villain yet, and I needed one, so I just went with him.

I also don't know if Angel is with the Slayers in the "In Every Generation" canon. I want to believe that he is… because we don't know where he is in this series. We just know that Angel Investigations still exists, but Frankie says she doesn't know who's running it. And when the Slayers go missing, Spike says something like, "I would take getting news from even bloody Angel right now." But we never get any. And you'd think Angel, of all people, would be working on this, if he was around. But then at one point, in the second book, when they're asking those responsible who's in the dimension they say, "The Slayers and-" and whoever the "and" is gets cut off. I want to believe it's Angel, and it's being saved for the third book (I know Andrew's also there, but that's already been revealed before that moment). -fingers crossed- But, sadly, I could also see Angel being left out completely, with little to no explanation, as that seems to be the way of things lately.

And I'm aware that there's no way that, even if Buffy and Angel are together, that Buffy is turned or thinking about being turned in the "In Every Generation" series (at the most they'd be engaged or married. But LOL, that'll never happen either). That was just wish fulfillment on my part.

Anyway, all that being said, I hope you all enjoyed this "parallel," "character development", "me at one time guessing where 'In Every Generation'" was going story:)

Oh, and the Slayers and Angel, are all of course eventually rescued in this fic's canon:)