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December 23rd, 2004

Los Angeles

The Hyperion

December 23, 2004 was a truly odd day for a couple of reasons. The first reason was that the day in particular was unusually sunny for Los Angeles in the middle of December. The second reason was that a somber like energy managed to envelope itself around the normally majestic and very exuberant hyperion hotel.

The reason that sad energy was radiating throughout the hotel was because the former vampire with a soul commonly referred to as Angel was set to pass away later that day.

On the morning of the 23rd, each member of the A.I. situated themselves in different parts of the hotel, working on their own individual tasks in preparation for the upcoming event.

Fred was on the phone with the caterers, trying to finalize the food for Angel's wake. Wesley was on the phone with Angel's medical team, discussing how the process to cut off the life support machines were going to go and what would happen afterwards. Wesley had already made arrangements the previous day to have Angel's body transported back to Ireland for burial, so that aspect of things had been taken care of.

Gunn was busy on the phone attempting to figure out Faith's flight schedule and also Connor's whereabouts. When Gunn got ahold of Faith several days prior and explained Angel's medical predicament to her, she promised to come to L.A. and say her goodbyes to Angel before the end. Faith was set to arrive in L.A. at some point during the day and Gunn found it to be kind of a nightmare to find out when.

As for the aspect of the whole Connor issue, that seemed to be an entirely different kind of nightmare for Gunn.

Gunn had found out the previous day from Wesley that he had indeed known of Connor's whereabouts for the duration of Angel's coma and actually had a recent phone number for him and just didn't share it with him because of his intense dislike for the young man and a need to not have him involved in Angel's situation.

The reveal of such information caused Wesley and Gunn to have a blowout argument and on the day of the 23rd, they were not on speaking terms at all. In fact, they were trying to avoid each other like the plague while in the hotel.

Gunn felt like no matter what went down between Angel and Connor before the battle in the alley happened or just with their relationship in general, Connor had every right to know that his father was about to pass away. When Gunn was able to eventually reach Connor on the phone, he sorrowfully explained Angel's predicament and also Wesley's involvement in his lack of knowledge about the situation. Connor promised to stop by the hotel before the machines were cut off, even though he had no desire to encounter Wesley. Gunn wasn't holding his breath that Connor would actually come and say his goodbyes to Angel but for his boss/friend's sake, he truly hoped that Connor would show up before the end came.

As for what Lorne was doing on that fateful morning of the 23rd, he was trying to stay busy by making calls to his contacts in the music industry in order to find a musician to come and play at Angel's wake. Lorne did not want the wake to be a sad occasion, he wanted it to be like a party of sorts. Lorne felt that Angel was a champion and that champions should be celebrated, not cried over.

Eventually Lorne was able to reach someone who was in Shakira's camp and her team promised that she would stop by the wake and sing a cover of "It's so hard to say goodbye" by Boyz2men.

Lorne was deeply worried for every member of the A.I. team when it came to their upcoming loss but most of his concern was directed toward a certain ex-slayer. Lorne's heart truly broke for Buffy because of what she was about to lose. Lorne knew that she had been through so much in what was still a very short life and that this loss was going to be worse on her than anything else she had ever dealt with.

Buffy had not been seen all morning and nobody was really sure if they should go upstairs and bother her and try to convince her to come downstairs. Lorne had contemplated going upstairs and checking on Buffy but ultimately decided against it. Lorne figured that the poor thing needed time to self-reflect and mentally prepare for what was coming and that she couldn't do that with him and the rest of the A.I. team smothering her.

Lorne was truly worried for Buffy's future. Shortly after the last time that he saw her at Caritas, the powers had shown him a glimpse of what her future was going to be after she left L.A. and what he saw shook him to his core.

The green demon foresaw Buffy going down a much darker path of self-destruction than what she had experienced in Rome and losing Angel was sadly going to be the catalyst for it.

Lorne knew that the powers that be were almost never wrong in the predictions that were sent to him but he needed for what he saw in Buffy's future to be false. Lorne was saddened for Buffy because whereas she was tough and usually put on a brave front, the future that he saw for her was horrific and would break her in ways that she could never imagine.

/

As for what Buffy was doing that fateful morning of the 23rd of December, she was situated in bed for most of that morning. Buffy hadn't been able to muster up the strength just yet to leave Angel's hotel room and so she lay awake in the bed with her face completely void of emotion and just staring at the ceiling.

Buffy felt as though her heart was breaking by the second and everytime that she thought about what was to happen later that day, she felt as though she couldn't metaphorically breathe. The thought of letting go of Angel again for what seemed to be the final time was literally ripping her soul into a million pieces and she had no idea how she was going to accept the loss.

The ex-slayer now turned P.I. did not have the faintest clue on how she was going to make it through the day or even how she was going to handle the aftermath of the day. Buffy was never one for prayer but she silently prayed in her head that morning to whatever god was out there in the universe to bring Angel back to her. All she wanted that morning was to wake up from the nightmare that she was dealing with and in her eyes, ending the life of her greatest love was indeed a nightmare.

Buffy climbed out of bed and walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out a crate off of it that contained several vinyl records and then picked out one record in particular and then walked over to a victrola that was seated in the center of the hotel room and placed the record on it and then walked into the bathroom as the record began to play.

The sounds of "I'll be seeing you" by Billie Holiday soon radiated throughout the hotel room and the lyrics of the classic haunting melody spoke soundly to the former Sunnydale resident.

As Buffy stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom and placed a pair of her mother's pearl earrings on her ears(which was one of the few possessions that she had left from Sunnydale), she placed a hand over her mouth and began to sob.

In her heart of hearts, Buffy had truly not wanted to cut off Angel's life support. It was a decision that she had fought long and hard for months NOT to do and then ultimately realized that discontinuing life support was the best thing that she could have done for him.

Buffy was well aware that she could have kept Angel on the life support machines for probably the next few months or perhaps the next few weeks but she didn't want to cause him anymore pain and she felt as though he finally deserved to have some peace, even if it broke her own heart to lose him.

The memories of her relationship with Angel began to cloud Buffy's brain heavily as the record on the victorla continued to play and she closed her eyes and let herself reminisce on their brief time together.

Everything from the memory of their first kiss down to the memory of that fateful night in Rome where she broke his heart for what would be the very last time hit Buffy all at once and she sank down to the bathroom floor and started to sob uncontrollably.

As she sat down on the floor of the bathroom with tears flowing rapidly and her head placed firmly down into her hands, it really began to hit her that she was about to lose the greatest love that she had ever been blessed to have and also any hopes that they ever had of reuniting and building a life together and that was a bitter realization for Buffy to process.

Buffy then laid her body down on the cold tile of the bathroom floor and held her knees up to her chest and just shook her head violently and allowed herself to think about all the dreams that she had for their life together and that she realized would now never be,

There was her dream of the real wedding that they wanted to have on a beach in Mexico with all of their friends and family by their side. There was the dream of the children that she wanted so desperately to give him. There was the dream of building a house in Ireland and raising those children in it. There was the dream of being able to grow old together and dying in each other's arms.

All of those beautiful dreams that gave Buffy hope on her darkest days in Sunnydale and even in Rome would never come to fruition and would vanish completely within a couple of hours and realizing that sent a large shard of metaphorical pain through Buffy's heart. Buffy would have given anything in that moment to just feel numb and not have to deal with the heartbreak that was excoriating through her entire being.

Buffy then picked herself up off of the floor and sat with her back against the bathtub and then dabbed at her eyes for a second and then reached up onto the bathroom counter and grabbed her makeup bag and brought it down to her and placed it into her lap. Buffy unzipped her makeup bag and ruffled around in it and picked what looked to be a tiny vial out of the bag that happened to have some white powder within it.

Buffy held the vial up near the light and glanced at it for a quick second. The vial of coke had been given to her as a party favor of sorts by The Immortal during one of their last hookups in italy. Coke was only something that she had done sporadically and she usually just did it in order to get through sex with the Immortal. Buffy had forgotten that the damn thing was even in her makeup bag until that moment.

Buffy thought about taking the coke in order to get through the day but she knew in her heart that being high wasn't the answer to deal with what was coming. Plus she figured that wherever Angel was, he would probably be mad as hell if she got high on the day of his passing.

Buffy then wiped her tears and got up off of the bathroom floor. She then walked over to the bathroom sink, turned on the water, opened up the vial, and dumped the coke down it.

"The first step of recovery is admitting you have a problem and mine just went right down the tubes." Buffy said exasperatingly to herself as she watched the coke go down the drain.

Buffy stared at herself in the mirror and let out a small smile. Buffy thought for a second that maybe by throwing away the coke that it was the first step toward returning toward her old self and she truly loved the possibility of that happening.

Buffy then glanced over at her claddagh ring that was firmly seated on her finger and toyed with it for a second and thought that maybe Angel was somewhere smiling at the fact that she had stopped herself from doing something so incredibly stupid.

In her heart, she knew that the day would be hard but she knew his spirit would be by her side and that's all she truly needed to get through it.

After Buffy's crying spell had ended and she had composed herself, she walked back out into the bedroom and put on her cross necklace and then slipped into a standard black dress and a pair of black high heels to complete her ensemble for the day.

Once she felt as though she was put together enough to handle the A.I. team and whoever else might be coming to the hotel to pay their respects to Angel, she prepared herself to head downstairs. However, before leaving the hotel room, she did something.

Buffy walked over to where Angel was situated in the hotel room and swiped his now longer hair from atop his forehead and whispered in his ear that she loved him dearly and then bent down and gave him a peck on his left cheek. The action caused Angel's heart rate to slightly spike on his life support machines and the seeing that made Buffy smile.

Then she proceeded to leave the hotel room.

/

As Buffy was walking down the stairs to the lobby of the hotel in order to start her day and basically see what the team required of her, she heard the unbelievably loud roaring of what seemed to be an engine from outside of the hotel.

Immediately Buffy walked to the front door of the hotel and stepped outside of it into the parking lot to inspect where the sound was coming from and found herself looking at the last person that she wanted to see on that fateful day.

"Hi, B". Faith said, as she took off her bike helmet and turned off the engine on the harley.

"Why did I not think that you would make a dramatic entrance?" Buffy murmured, as she rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her hair.

"Did you really think that I wasn't going to go all out to say goodbye to the big guy? I rented this baby a few hours ago. Do you like it?" Faith said, as she smiled and wrung out her hand to show off the Harley.

"Faith, motorcycles aren't really my thing." Buffy said, as she disapprovingly looked at the Harley up and down and then back at Faith.

"Classic, B. Always afraid to take a chance. You got to change that, baby." Faith said, as she got off the motorcycle and started walking toward the front door of the hyperion.

"Did you have any problems getting here from the airport?" Buffy questioned, as she and Faith walked into the hotel lobby together.

"No more than usual. I got off the plane and immediately went to get the Harley and then came here. I don't know what it is about the 405 but it is just horrible. How are you?" Faith replied.

Buffy walked over to the liquor cabinet and pulled out 2 shot glasses and began to pour some Jack Daniels into the both of them. Buffy figured that she needed to be a little bit tipsy to get through the day and also to get through a conversation with Faith.

"I have to kill the man that I love today, Faith. How do you think that I feel?" Buffy replied, sarcastically and as she handed one of the shot glasses to Faith.

"I am going to miss him, B. Angel was the only one who believed in me when everyone including you acted like I was nothing. Plus he was the closest thing that I ever had to a brother." Faith said, sorrowfully and just before she downed the shot of whiskey.

Buffy might not have liked Faith and god knows they were barely cordial at times but she knew that her relationship with Angel was important and that she would be as affected by the upcoming loss as Buffy would be.

She felt sorry for Faith because she knew that she had a terrible background and that Angel was the closest thing that she ever had to a "brother" and that he was the only person to truly understand her and try to keep her on a straight path and now that he was going to be gone, Faith would never have that support system again.

In what was clearly a sign of solidarity and something that she promised to mentally never do in any other circumstance, Buffy walked over to where Faith was situated and wrapped her arms around the dark haired slayer and pulled her into a hug.

"I know that Angel cared about you. I have always been kind of jealous of the relationship that the both of you have but I also kind of respected it." Buffy exclaimed, as she pulled Faith further into a tight embrace.

"B, why are you being nice to me today? Where did that come from?" Faith nervously asked, as she burrowed her eyebrow and was visibly shocked by the hug.

"I know that Angel would want me to embrace you and put our petty beef to the side for at least today." Buffy sweetly stated. "However please know that this is a temporary truce." Buffy curtly affirmed, as she pulled apart from the hug.

"I would expect nothing else from you, Mrs. Summers or should I say Mrs. O'Flannery? Did you and the big guy really secretly get married?" Faith said, while shooting a questionable look at her sister slayer.

The last thing that Buffy felt like doing in that moment was relaying the story of how she and Angel managed to get married and how he never got the damn thing annulled to Faith of all people and so she immediately sought to change the topic.

"Someday I will tell you that story over a lot of tequila." Buffy murmured. "Speaking of relationships that are dysfunctional in nature, how are things going with Robin?" Buffy continued.

Buffy then walked into Angel's office to try and find the papers that Honest Abe gave her to give Faith regarding her share of Angel's will.

"Things with Robin are interesting." Faith said, dejectedly.

Robin was not a subject that Faith wanted to talk about with Buffy or really anyone else. Robin and Faith had a fight prior to Faith leaving London and it ended with them officially parting ways but Faith didn't feel the need to divulge that information to Buffy on the day that she was losing the love of her life.

"Is that a good interesting or a bad interesting?" Buffy pondered, as she poked her head up from one of the drawers in the office.

One thing that Buffy didn't understand was how Angel, who was a certified neat freak, could have such an unorganized office. Most of the time Buffy couldn't find anything in there and the papers that Faith needed in order to get her share of his will was no exception.

"Its an "Interesting" that I will tell you about over Tequila as well." Faith retorted quickly, while trying to end any topic that pertained to her now ex.

"What are you looking for in there?" Faith asked, as she tried to look over Buffy's shoulder to see what she was doing.

"Angel left you something in his will. It's money and a couple of other things." Buffy said, as she continued to rumble around in the drawers and then ultimately found what she was seeking.

"The big guy left me some money? I always knew that I liked him." A shocked Faith said with a smile on her face.

"One thing that I can say about my ex-honey is that he was always taking care of the helpless and Faith you couldn't be more helpless." Buffy snarkily said, as she laid out the papers on the desk for Faith to sign.

"All of this seems a bit surreal, B. Are we really going to lose him today?" Faith sadly said, as she picked up a nearby pen and began to scribble her name down on the legal documents.

Faith, who almost never cried, began to shed some tears as the realization that she was never going to see Angel again finally hit her.

"Faith, come here. We are both losing the man that we love today. You know he wouldn't want tears. I think that I have done enough crying for the both of us today." Buffy said exasperatingly, as she pulled her sister slayer into an embrace again and dabbed at Faith's eyes with her hands.

"What are we going to do without him, B?" Faith asked, scarily.

"Well for today, we are going to lean on each other and we are going to be civil toward each other and try to be switzerland." Buffy replied, as she lightly nestled the back of Faith's head.

"You know he would freak out if he could see us, right?" Faith said, as she lightly laughed and then dabbed at her eyes with her thumbs.

"I can just see the look on his face. The man would think that hell truly froze over." Buffy said, as she also laughed and then began to wipe her own tears.

"This is weird, B. We are not the touchy feely type."

"I know but let's try to be that way today for Angel's sake. We can go back to wanting to be at each other's throats tomorrow, Faith."

"How about a permanent truce, B? We have been at each other's throats for too long. I am not one of those philosophical broads like Red but isn't what we are dealing with right now proof that life is too short to keep fighting. Let's at least try to be friends. You know it's what Angel would want."

"Maybe you have a point, Faith. I mean we are never going to be super chummy but I can at least attempt to be somewhat civil with you. I am fine with calling a permanent truce." Buffy happily stated, as she took the legal documents that Faith signed and put them in a folder and then shoved the folder into one of the office drawers.

"When are they going to cut off the machines?" Faith asked, as she began to walk out of Angel's office.

"Maybe within the next few hours. I am trying to prepare myself for it but I can't. All of this just feels so surreal and weird. It's just something that I can't really wrap my head around." Buffy said, as she followed Faith out of the office.

"B, he went down fighting. Maybe it will give you some comfort to know that." Faith said, assuredly.

"Faith, I appreciate the sentiment but it's not really helping. The only thing that would give me comfort right now is Angel waking up and that's not going to happen." Buffy exclaimed, bitterly.

"Look at you, still hung up over the big guy. I guess that Rome didn't change you too much." Faith said, as she leaned against the counter in the hotel lobby.

"I guess I am going to always be hung up on him. You should go help Fred in the kitchen with the food." Buffy said, while giving Faith a small smile and lightly toying with her cross necklace.

"Are you going to be okay?" Faith concerningly asked, just before she turned the corner to walk toward the kitchen.

"No, but I have some things to do before IT happens so shoo away now." Buffy retorted, as she acted as though she made a gesture with her hands as though she was shooing Faith away.

"Bye, B" Faith said, as she continued walking toward the kitchen.

/

Shortly after Faith arrived at the hotel, Buffy found herself in the midst of talking to the doctors on the phone to make sure that the process of cutting Angel's life support off later that afternoon was to go smoothly and without a hitch. Once that was over, she was tasked with basically running all over the hotel to talk to the scattered members of the A.I. team about how things were going to go in terms of the wake.

Buffy found both of those major tasks to be incredibly stressful and once she got them sorted out, she made a beeline for the courtyard. Once in the courtyard, Buffy positioned herself down on one of the patio chairs and then wrapped herself in a red flannel blanket that she had grabbed from upstairs in Angel's room.

Thankfully there was a makeshift fire pit in the center of the courtyard and it gave Buffy some comfort on that semi cold day day. Eventually Buffy became so comfortable next to the fire pit that she soon drifted off to sleep in the patio chair.

/

Immediately after falling asleep in the courtyard, Buffy entered into a dream where she was standing on a beach on a bright sunny day. Within the dream, Buffy's hair was back to its natural brunette state and she was wearing a short white floral dress and her feet were bare in the sand.

The only sounds that she was able to hear in her dream were those of waves heavily crashing around and also the sound of what happened to be a child's laughter.

The mysterious laughter intrigued Buffy and she walked a bit further down the beach until she was able to find where it was coming and ultimately stopped when she came across a little girl who was sitting down on the beach, scooping some sand into a little pink bucket.

The little girl looked to be about 5 years old with long black curly hair and big chocolate like eyes and a tiny gap in her teeth and she was wearing a yellow sundress with hearts all over it.

"Hi, Mommy. Come play with me." The little girl said, as she reached her tiny hand up into Buffy's hand and then looked up at her and smiled.

"Are you my little Lily Rose?" Buffy softly asked, as she sat down in the sand with the little girl and reached behind her ear and lovingly lifted some hair up from behind it.

The little girl quickly nodded her head in response to Buffy's question and then smiled at her. Buffy was taken aback by the sight of the sweet little girl that was sitting in front of her. In all of the dreams that Buffy had in the past about what a potential daughter with Angel might look like, the image of the child was always blurred. However in this particular dream for some reason, the child was visible and was actually the splitting image of Angel and seeing her in that regard made Buffy's heart melt.

Buffy was well aware of the fact that she was in a dream and also aware of what was about to happen in the waking world to Angel and how it would mean that she would never get a chance to make this sweet person that was sitting in front of her or even hold her and that made Buffy start to sob a bit.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" The little girl now known as Lily Rose asked with concern in her voice. Lily lifted one of her tiny hands up to Buffy's face and dabbed at her tears with her thumbs.

"Because baby girl, I am never going to have you. You have only ever existed in my dreams and that's where you are going to remain and I want you more than you will ever know." Buffy woefully stated with a slight scowl on her face.

"Mama, don't be sad. It's going to be okay." Lily Rose said, as she reached into the little blue purse that was seated near her sand bucket and pulled out a tiny baby snickers bar and handed it to Buffy.

"Lillian Rosalyn Summers O'Flannery, you are definitely Angel's little girl." Buffy said, as she laughed and then pulled the little girl over into her lap and started to lay kisses down her tiny face. Lily then started to giggle loudly and wiggle around in Buffy's arms.

"Daddy always says that when you are sad, just hand you some candy and you will be all better."

"Oh is that right?" Buffy said, as she continued to nuzzle the little girl.

"Yes, that's right." An unknown voice from that was clearly coming from behind Buffy softly said.

Buffy gave Lily Rose a quick kiss on the cheek and then placed her out of her lap and back into the sand and then turned around very slowly and faced the unknown figure that had just spoken. Oh and when she saw him, her heart almost sank down into her stomach and it seemed as though time had stopped.

Angel was standing there on the beach in front of her wearing a halfway buttoned white shirt and a pair of blue jeans and he had the biggest brightest smile plastered on his face.

"Oh my god, Angel. Is it really you?" Buffy softly asked, as she reached her hand out to cup the left side of his face. Angel then grabbed her hand and adoringly pressed her hand up against it.

When she realized that Angel was actually standing there in front of her on that beach, Buffy immediately rushed into his arms and held onto him for what seemed like dear life. Angel responded in-kind and he loved the feeling of her pressed up against him and he did NOT want to let her go either.

Neither one of them seemed to care that they were in a dream, they were just beyond happy to be in each other's embrace again.

"Well yeah but not really. We are in a dream, so kinda." Angel replied curtly, as he broke apart from the hug and then wrung his hands around and gave Buffy a small smile.

"You know you are an asshole, right?" Buffy sharply said, as she lightly hit him in the chest.

"Mommy, Language!" Lily shouted, while watching the whole exchange happen with her parents from her place in the sand.

"I am sorry, baby. Keep playing with your sand." Buffy said, just before she slightly bent down to give Lily a kiss on the forehead and then grabbed Angel's hand and they started to walk down the beach together.

"Angel, where have you been all these months?" Buffy asked, as she ran her hands down her shoulders and then folded her arms.

"You know she is absolutely adorable. I think she has your eyes." Angel said, as he looked back at Lily and then toward Buffy and then let out a sigh.

"Lily Rose is mostly all you with a teeny tiny dab of me mixed in." Buffy said, just before she stood up on her toes to give Angel a kiss. "Now answer my question and stop trying to change the subject." Buffy urged.

"Baby, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Angel replied.

"Try me." Buffy retorted, while giving him a serious look and placing her hand on her hip.

"I was in Heaven." Angel stated, while nervously tangling his hands through his hair.

Buffy immediately stopped in her tracks upon hearing the revelation and her eyes became enlarged and she looked to be in a bit of disbelief.

"Yup I was in heaven, baby. I was met there by my mother and your mother and Doyle and some girl named Abigail and Cordelia and another girl named Tara."

"Wow, that's crazy." Buffy said, as she was truly trying to make sense of what she just heard.

Buffy was relieved to know that Angel was in heaven during the last several months and the fact that he was at peace for at least a brief moment in time was comforting to her but the mere fact that he had met so many of her loved ones there was throwing her in a tailspin, especially her mother.

Buffy knew her mother and she was sure that even on the other side, Joyce still couldn't stand Angel's guts and she could only imagine how their heavenly exchange must have gone.

"Look, I don't have a lot of time. I need to tell you a few things." Angel babbled, as he began to pace back and forth on the beach. "The first thing is that I love you." Angel continued, while giving her a small smile and reaching out to caress her face.

"I love you too and I never stopped for a second." Buffy replied, wholeheartedly and earnestly.

"The second thing is that Tara told me that the only way that I can wake up is for an act of the unimaginable to happen. I don't know what the hell that means and I am at a loss trying to figure it out." Angel angrily stated, while throwing his arms up in the air.

"I am so confused by that. What does that even mean?" Buffy spouted out.

"Honey, your guess is as good as mine." Angel frowned.

Lily Rose came walking up the beach in the midst of Buffy and Angel's conversation and tugged on Buffy's dress and made a gesture to her that she wanted to be picked up. Buffy quickly scooped up the tot and gave her a kiss on the cheek and then turned her attention back to Angel.

"Angel, you have to wake up. You are going to die in a few hours. Do you know that?" Buffy loudly stated, with a deep look of concern embedded on her face.

"Buffy, there's nothing that can be done. I have done everything imaginable to wake up and it's just not working. My time on earth is clearly over." Angel said despondently, as he started to sit down on the beach and then placed his head in his hands.

Buffy sat down on the beach right next to Angel while holding Lily Rose close to her chest and then lovingly ran her hands over his back.

"Do you see this beautiful little princess?" Buffy murmured, as she adoringly smushed up the Lily's cheeks and then gave her a smooch on one of them. Angel looked over at the tiny tot and smiled at her. Lily was far too busy playing with Buffy's cross necklace to notice him staring at her. Angel reached over and ran his hands through Lily's hair.

Buffy lifted Lily up and handed her to Angel. Immediately upon taking the tot, Lily rested her head against his chest and he gave her a kiss on the forehead. Angel would have given anything for the precious little creature that was pressed up against him to be a reality.

"You got to wake up, so that we can make her." Buffy fiercely stated, as she glanced over at Lily and started to fumble with one of her tiny little hands. "I want to meet this little girl in real life and not just in a dream. I need you to fight. I am not ready to lose you, Angel." Buffy continued.

Angel's heart was breaking at hearing the desperation in Buffy's voice. Angel had already made peace with the fact that he wasn't going to come back from his tragic circumstance but seeing Buffy hold out hope for a different outcome was too much to handle.

"Buffy, there isn't anything that can be done. Its over, Ioniun." Angel hoarsely stated, while tears were beginning to well up in his eyes.

"Liam Seamus O'Flannery, you need to find the strength to wake your stubborn irish ass up and come back to me and the other people that love you so much. You are one of the strongest people that I have ever met and you are going to find the power and the strength to wake up. I just need you to do that SOON." Buffy shouted angrily, and with tears also beginning to well up in her eyes.

"Honey, my time is over. I know that you want a different result but its not going to happen." Angel retorted.

"No, there's still time. You can still wake up. The machines haven't been cut off yet." Buffy emphasized, while violently shaking her head.

"God, do you know how much I love you? Do you know how blessed I am for having had you in my life, even if it was for a brief moment?" Angel sweetly stated, while looking directly over at Buffy and then pulling her and also indirectly Lily Rose into his embrace.

"I don't understand any of this, Angel. If you were in heaven, why did you leave it and come here? Why did you decide to visit me in a dream on today of all days?" Buffy asked, while pressing her head into Angel's chest and looking out at the ocean.

"I am going back to heaven, my love. The girls sent me here to say one last goodbye to you." Angel said, as his voice was beginning to crack. Angel then threw his head back and silently cursed at the wind for allowing him to get into this fucked up predicament.

Angel then quickly gave Buffy a kiss on the forehead and then Lily Rose a kiss on the cheek and pulled them off of him and then got up from the sand and started walking down the beach.

"What?" Buffy murmured, while being in disbelief and also while running after him with Lily Rose in tow.

"Baby, I am so proud of you for fighting so hard to keep me alive but you have to let me go."Angel urged, while stopping in his tracks and staring deep into Buffy's big green eyes.

"I haven't the faintest fucking idea how to do that. My heart isn't ready to do that, Angel." Buffy shouted, while being visibly irritated and also while throwing her hands in the air.

Angel could feel that his time in the dream was starting to end by the fact that the misty orange circle that was a portal to heaven was beginning to open up in front of him and so he hurried to tell Buffy everything that he wanted to say to her before it completely encapsulated the dream.

"You are so beautiful and you are strong and your heart is filled with so much love that it overflows at times. You are going to be okay, baby. You have to take care of Connor for me. You and Connor need to lean on each other from now on." Angel said softly, as he walked over to Buffy and lifted up her chin so that her eyes could meet his and caressed her face.

"How am I supposed to forget you? How am I supposed to let go of what we could have had?" Buffy asked, as her eyes turned from green to blue and a frown graced her face and she began to sob.

"Mommy!" Lily Rose shouted, as she interrupted the conversation between her parents and then pointed at the portal which was beginning to open a bit more and then looked up at Buffy.

Buffy scooped her up and ran her hands through the tot's hair and then glanced horrifyingly at the misty orange circle and then glazed her eyes over at Angel, who was finding it rather difficult to say goodbye to her for what he knew was the last time.

"Baby, I am sorry that I have to leave you. I am also sorry that I couldn't give you the life that you deserve." Angel wholeheartedly stated, while giving Buffy a sad smile and then looking down at Lily Rose and giving her a tiny wave.

Angel then started to walk rapidly toward the portal because he had to go into it before the portal got bigger. The last thing that he wanted was for that portal to open further because he knew that Buffy might get sucked into it with him and if that happened, she would essentially die in her sleep and he did NOT want that on his conscience.

Buffy ran after him with Lily running right after her and pulled him into a kiss that was full of passion and longing. Angel wrapped his hands around her waist and attacked her mouth hungrily.

"Angel, please tell me what's really going on." Buffy asked earnestly, as she broke apart from the kiss.

"Baby, there are things happening here that neither one of us knows about." Angel urged, while looking at the portal and then back at Buffy.

"What the hell does that even mean?" Buffy asked, fearfully and also while a little bit confused.

Angel could see that the portal was beginning to expand even further and that he had maybe a minute or 2 left before it did to tell Buffy the truth about Connor and his theory about Wolfram and Hart's involvement in his coma and just before he able to do that, he saw through his celestial vision that someone was nudging Buffy to wake up and therefore attempting to end the dream.

"Great, now that fucking idiot is about to ruin everything." Angel screamed, just before he let out a collective sigh and then snapped his fingers and then jumped into the portal.

Once he jumped into the portal, Buffy ran after him and was knocked back by the sheer force of it and then she was knocked unconscious and everything turned to black.

End of Dream

/

Back to Present Day.

Buffy was awakened out of the peaceful dream that she had been having when she felt someone nudging at her arm. She then rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the edges of her knuckles and then pulled the red flannel blanket from off of herself and looked to see who had disturbed her rest, and was met with the sight of a man who she considered to be one of the worst romantic mistakes of her life.

Spike was standing right above Buffy in the courtyard, glancing down at her with a cheeky grin on his face and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. The signature black duster that he normally adorned was surprisingly missing and what replaced it was a simple blue plaid shirt, a fez, and a pair of black corduroys.

As for Spike's smell, that sadly hadn't changed at all. Spike still seemed as though he reeked of dollar store cologne, cheap marlboro lights, and magnum 40 oz malt liquor. Wardrobe changes and weird smells aside, Buffy was lowkey kinda happy to see her blonde nightmare.

"Hi, Pet." Spike said, as he sat down next to Buffy and pulled her into a hug.

"Well look at what the cat dragged in. You look good. I guess being human has been good to you." Buffy said, while breaking apart from the hug and giving Spike a once over. "I was sure that you would miss this one. How was Morocco?" Buffy asked.

"Morocco is hot, sweaty, and everyone smells like chicken." Spike replied, while letting out a small laugh. "Pet, you know that I wouldn't miss seeing the poof get his comeuppance." Spike continued.

"Hey, that's my ex-honey that you are talking about." Buffy angrily murmured, as she lightly squinted her eyes and then playfully hit him in the chest.

"I know and it breaks my heart to know that. How are you?" Spike said, as he sat down next to Buffy and then reached into his pocket for a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

"I feel like my heart is about to be stomped on. I am going crazy here. I can't believe we are about to lose him." Buffy said, as she folded her arms and leaned back on the patio chair and shook her head in disbelief.

"Pet, it is not a great loss." Spike indignantly stated, while lighting one of his cigarettes.

"I am NOT in the mood today for one of your tirades about Angel, so save it okay." Buffy abundantly said, while wringing her hand around for emphasis. "Can I get one of those from you?" Buffy asked, in reference to his cigarettes.

"Ladies don't smoke." Spike retorted, while glancing over at Buffy and shooting her a haughty look.

"Well, you are going to make an exception for me today." Buffy empathetically said, as she forcefully took the cigarette that he had lit in his mouth and placed it into hers.

"When the hell did you start smoking?" Spike asked, wryly.

"When my life started to go completely to shit, Spike." Buffy answered, with a deadpan expression on her face and just before she took a drag of the cigarette.

"You know he isn't worth getting lung cancer, Pet." Spike retorted, as he looked at her haphazardly and then took the cigarette out of her mouth and then threw it on the ground and stomped it out.

"Spike, I am really and truly not in the mood today for Angel bashing. If you are going to act this way, you can go right back to Morocco." Buffy angrily shouted, just before she got up from the patio chair and started to walk back toward the courtyard entrance of the hotel.

"I know that you don't want to hear this but the poof was an ass who put himself in this position, so forgive me if I am not playing harps like everyone else is because he's 2 seconds from being worm food." Spike said, sarcastically.

Buffy immediately stopped in the middle of her tracks upon hearing Spike's words and then walked back to where he was situated and raised her hand to slap him, but he caught her hand before she could do so.

"I am more here for you than I am for Angel." Spike admitted, while wrapping his hands around his waist and pulling her closer to his body. Spike then sexily ran his hands down the back of her dress and whereas she would have felt desire in the past at him doing that, she just felt pure disgust at the action now.

"Spike, you and me together were a huge mistake. Oh and its a mistake that I never plan on making again." Buffy said, earnestly and while forcefully pushing Spike's hands off of her.

"I can't believe this. The son of a bitch is on his last legs and you are still choosing him over me." Spike murmured, while lightly laughing and then shaking his head in disbelief.

"This isn't about me choosing Angel or even the Immortal. This is me not wanting to keep bringing toxic bullshit into my life."Buffy inherently stated, while tilting her hand near her eyebrow for emphasis and then violently shaking her own head. "This is about me choosing happiness and working to become the woman that I was before I ever got with you or the Immortal or ever walked into an escort agency." Buffy continued.

"Bravo, Bravo. Are you done with your little impassioned mini speech?" Spike asked, as he clapped mockingly. "We both know that you will take one more ride on the spikey train before I go back to Morocco." Spike enthusiastically said, while sliding his hands into his pants and shooting her a look.

"Its not going to happen, Spike. Those days are long OVER." Buffy empathized loudly, as she shot him back a look and then hurriedly walked out of the courtyard and back into the hotel.

Once back inside of the hotel, Buffy immediately made her way to the lobby and went straight to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a shot glass and poured some Tennessee Bourbon into it and began to guzzle down the amber liquid for dear life.

Spike had truly managed to frazzle Buffy's nerves even without the slightest bit of trying and she didn't really know how to handle that. Buffy knew that her feelings for Spike were complicated to say the least.

On one hand, she was grateful for his companionship at a certain low point in her life. On the other hand, she truly hated how toxic and destructive that their involvement was and she actually wished that she could erase the American horror story that was their relationship from her mind.

As she stood in the lobby nursing that glass of bourbon, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to remember all of those nights in Sunnydale with Spike. The memories came back in an instant flood and her heart literally broke at the mere recollection of them. Even though it had been years after the fact, Buffy still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that she gave herself so willingly to someone so toxic and vain.

Over the years since their entanglement ended, Buffy had come up with possible reasons for why she began sleeping with Spike. One of them was that she missed Angel dearly and wanted to be with someone that somewhat reminded her of him, which made a lot of sense in her eyes.

Another plausible theory for why Buffy believed that she entertained Spike was because she had undiagnosed PTSD from climbing out of her grave by herself and that made her brain all wonky and she was making illogical decisions like sleeping with Spike because of it.

No matter the reason for why she had originally hooked up with Spike, she knew in her soul that she would never deal with the toxicity that was their courtship again. In her eyes, Buffy knew that she had stopped being at least mentally strong the moment that she first allowed Spike to touch her and that one decision alone led her down a dark road that she still hadn't come back from, even years after the fact.

All of the illogical decisions that Buffy had made in the last several years started with that one aforementioned moment and her heart broke at the internal acknowledgement of such a thing. Buffy knew that with all the mistakes that she had made that it might be impossible to return to the woman that she was before her life took a horrible downturn but she was sure as hell going to try.

Buffy was pulled out of her reverie by the sight of Spike entering the hotel lobby and then grabbing a beer out of the mini fridge that was under the hotel counter and then plopping down on the lobby couch and putting his feet up on it and then cracking the brew.

"You really don't have respect for other people's things, do you?" Buffy asked, as she walked over to where Spike was sitting and pushed his feet off of the couch.

"If it is Captain forehead's stuff, then no I truly don't give a fuck." Spike replied, while shrugging his shoulders.

"I am honestly NOT in the mood for your antics today." Buffy sprouted, as she leaned up against the lobby counter and then took another swig of bourbon.

"Pet, the ponce came up with this harebrained idea knowing what could happen. Oh and the sad part about it is that you have been here trying to keep the asshole alive." Spike angrily stated, while putting his hands behind his head and looking at Buffy inherently. " Did you know that he had a bit? Her name is Nina." Spike asked.

"Spike, I know all about Nina. We have had interactions." Buffy sheepishly said, while trying to avoid eye contact with Spike and tweedling with her hands.

" Did you know he was seeing her when we visited you in Italy?" Spike remarked, while sadly noticing that his mere mention of the werewolf clearly made Buffy uncomfortable.

" You know I am not focused on any of that today. I just want to be able to say goodbye to Angel and then move on from there." Buffy urged, while walking over to the hotel stairs and sitting down on the bottom of them.

"Where is the little bit and Red?" Spike concerningly asked, while walking over to the stairs and sitting down next to her.

"Dawnie had a prior engagement so she couldn't come today and Will is busy doing an archaeological dig in Cairo, so she couldn't make it either." Buffy replied, harshly and while rolling her eyes.

"Buffy, what the fuck is a prior engagement? Oh and what the hell is wrong with Red? I would have thought that she would have flown in on her broom by now and been a shoulder for you to cry on." Spike stated, irritably and while wringing his hands around.

"It is not Dawnie's responsibility or Will's responsibility to be my shoulder to cry on, as you say. I can take care of myself." Buffy retorted.

"Do you hear yourself, Pet? You are just saying that to compensate for the fact that Red and the little bit abandoned you on a day when you need people around. I mean it's bad enough that you are all hearts and flowers when it comes to the poof today but that just makes it worse."

"Spike, can you please not start on Angel again? I can't stand to hear you trash him again." Buffy murmured, as she put her hand up in the air to gesture to him to change the subject.

"If you knew how many lies that the ponce kept from you, you wouldn't be so loyal to him." Spike urged, while shaking his head. "It's actually sad how you are still pining for you even now. That asshole never knew how good he had it with you." Spike continued, while scoffing.

"Spike, why the hell did you leave Morocco and come back here if you were going to be this way?" Buffy asked.

"Because I know you and I knew that you needed someone today that wasn't apart of Angel's merry band of misfits." Spike softly replied, while taking her hands into his and glaring at her directly in her eyes.

"Can you please not trash Angel's team?" Buffy asked, wryly."They have been really good to me since I got here and I don't need to hear your vitriol about them." Buffy continued.

"Did his band of merry misfits at least tell you about the pipsqueak? His name is Connor." Spike remarked.

"Yes, I know that Angel adopted a kid at some point." Buffy replied, while shrugging her shoulders and giving him an awkward glance and acting as if knowing about Connor wasn't a big deal.

"Adopted? That's a load of bullshit. I know that you didn't fall for that." Spike angrily exclaimed, while standing up from the stairs and then pacing back and forth for a few seconds to keep his anger in check and then looking at Buffy pointedly.

Spike was mad as hell and in sheer disbelief at the mere fact that Buffy had been in Los Angeles for what was half a year and in that length of time, nobody on Angel's team had not even bothered to tell her the real truth about Connor. Oh and to make matters worse, what they did tell her about Angel's spawn was complete bullshit. Adoption? Really?

Spike figured that perhaps Angel's team were keeping the truth about Connor from Buffy out of some stupid blind loyalty to Angel but even in the midst of that fact, he knew that she had a right to know about her ex-lover's child. Oh and given how dire that Angel's situation had become, Spike felt as though she needed to know the real truth about Connor before Angel died and he was going to be the one to tell her.

"Buffy, you are a smart girl. Do you seriously believe that Angel of all people would just suddenly adopt a random kid off of the street?" Spike asked, while tapping the side of his forehead with 2 fingers for emphasis. "He is a pompous ass who thinks of himself most of the time." Spike continued.

"Spike, I am not having this conversation with you today of all days." Buffy stated, disapprovingly and while walking over to the hotel counter to avoid his gaze.

Buffy secretly didn't believe the story about Connor being adopted but she knew that there was no other logical reason for why Angel had said in his will that he had a child and so she just accepted that explanation for it.

"The poof's team is lying to you about everything. Connor is Angel's-" Spike said, before he was interrupted by Buffy turning around and walking right up to him and placing her finger in the middle of his lips in an attempt to shut him up.

"Spike, I don't care what the truth is about Connor. Angel loved Connor and so I'm going to love him and care about him too when I meet him, regardless of whatever craziness might surround his connection to Angel." Buffy said, hoarsely while giving Spike a sad smile and folding her arms.

"Buffy, you deserve to know the truth. Angel lied to you." Spike said, sharply.

"Sweetie, I honestly don't care. Debunking any lies that Angel might or might not have kept from me is nowhere near the most important thing today. What matters today is being there for Connor when he comes and everyone getting to say their goodbyes to Angel." Buffy stated, while giving him a hard glare that basically told Spike to drop the subject.

"Fine!" Spike shouted, throwing his hands up and reluctantly dropping the subject of Connor.

"I am really happy to see you even if it is under such bad circumstances and I don't want to kill the mood." Buffy said, sweetly.

"Its good to see you too, pet." Spike replied.

"What are you finding to be the best things about being human, Spike?" Buffy asked, while walking over to the mini fridge and grabbing a "miller lite" beer out of it and starting to guzzle it down.

"I really like being out in the sun, it feels tingly on my skin. Oh and I love steaks, they taste so much better than the red stuff." Spike expressed, excitedly and with the giddiness of a 12 year old school girl. "What are you planning on doing after the poof gets his comeuppance?" Spike remarked, while gagging and making a gesture that looked as though he was cutting a neck and then looking at Buffy.

"You will never be one for subtleness." Buffy said, while slightly tilting her head to the side and looking at Spike pointedly.

"You can't seriously be thinking about staying in this dump of a hotel and trying to carry on the so called "Good Fight", right?" Spike said, while using his fingers to make air quotes.

"I am going to be leaving Los Angeles immediately after Angel's life support is removed. I am not even going to stay around for the wake." Buffy despondently stated, while toying with her cross necklace.

"Where are you going to be heading to?" Spike inquired, while plopping back down on the hotel couch and taking a swig of his beer.

"I honestly couldn't even tell you but I am getting the hell out of L.A." Buffy said despairingly, as she leaned over the hotel counter and a look of uncertainty appeared on her face.

"Are you done with the hooker mess?" Spike asked, firmly and with his eyes deeply fixated on her.

"I got 15 million reasons to never go back to that bullshit, Spike." Buffy said, while lightly laughing and rubbing her claddagh ring and smiling. "Escorting is a part of my past, honey. Oh and for your information, I WAS an escort, not a hooker. There is a big difference." Buffy continued.

"That's good to know, Buffy. You are smarter than that bullshit anyway." Spike empathetically stated, while giving her a tiny smile.

"I am just going to pick up and leave once everything is completed." Buffy said, while shrugging her shoulders and then plopping down on the couch next to Spike. "I don't know where I will land but I know that it will be a fresh start and I need a proper one of those. Rome definitely was NOT that." Buffy continued, while rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

"I am probably going to go back to Europe after this. I think that I am going to Ibiza this time. You should come with me." Spike remarked, while looking over at Buffy and lovingly clasping his hand with hers.

Buffy was completely caught off guard by Spike's offer of sun and fun in Spain but surprisingly, she actually contemplated the offer for a millimeter of a second. The idea of partying in Spain definitely appealed to Buffy's newfound carefree nature. However the idea of giving Spike the wrong impression of where they stood in terms of having a relationship by going halfway across the world with him did NOT.

Buffy knew that she was going to need some time to heal after Angel's passing and there was no way that she could do that while being in Spike's presence and so she respectfully declined his offer.

"I don't think that is such a good idea. I am going to go off on my own and see where I end up. Plus I don't want to hurt you and if we start things up again, that is exactly what will happen. You need to go find a girl that isn't complicated." Buffy said.

"You still got me wrapped around your finger, Pet. It's a little hard to get past that." Spike said, dejectedly and as he looked down at the floor in an immediate attempt to avoid eye contact with her.

"Us being together was a nightmare and it's not one that I am going to relive." Buffy undoubtedly stated, while suddenly nervously tangling her hands through her hair.

Buffy then stood up from the couch and then walked over to the liquor cabinet, where she pulled out a bottle of seagram's gin and poured it into a nearby shot glass and began guzzling the clear liquid for dear life.

"You know Angelus really was an idiot to let you go. The lucky bastard didn't know what he had." Spike said, bluntly and as he took the chance to give her a once over.

"Spike-" Buffy yelled.

"Fine! I will stop talking about the ponce but you know I am right." Spike reiterated. "Where are the rest of the merry band of misfits? I know that they are lurking around here somewhere." Spike remarked sharply, as his eyes traveled around the hotel and then back toward Buffy.

"Spike, I need you to go in the kitchen and help the others with the food. Faith is in there and I know she will be happy to see you." Buffy said, as she smiled at him sweetly.

"Are you going to be fine out here?" Spike asked, just as he walked over to Buffy and pulled her into a hug.

"Yeah, I am just going to sit on the stairs and wait for the others to come." Buffy replied, as she pulled apart from the hug and then started walking back toward the stairs and sat down on them.

"I will be in the kitchen if you need me." Spike said, just before he walked out of the lobby.

"Thank you for being here, Spike." Buffy remarked, warmly.

"You are welcome, pet." Spike murmured, as he gave her a tiny wave and then disappeared from sight.

/

Literally 2 seconds after Spike went into the kitchen, Buffy immediately headed upstairs to Angel's hotel room. When she entered the room, she was met with the sight of several nurses doing various things such as changing Angel's IV's and also the sounds of loudly beeping machines.

"Is everything okay?" Buffy asked one of the nurses.

"Yes, Mrs. O'Flannery. Everything is expected to go just fine when it comes to disconnecting the machines for Mr. O'Flannery." One of the nurses replied.

"That's good to know. Can you please leave me alone with Mr. O'Flannery for several minutes? I would like to have sometime alone with him before everything gets started." Buffy said, while nervously running her hands down her arms and glancing over at Angel and then back at the 2 nurses in the room.

The 2 nurses immediately exited the hotel room without question and left Buffy alone in there with Angel.

"Hi, baby." Buffy said, as sat down on the side of Angel's bed and then lifted her hand and lovingly ran her fist down the side of his left cheek. "I just wanted a few minutes with you before all of the chaos starts." Buffy continued.

"I wish that I wasn't doing this. I wish to god that I wasn't about to let you go. I wish that I could fix this. I wish that you would wake up. God, I need you to wake up." Buffy murmured, as she ran one of her hands down his left arm and placed another hand over her mouth and started to cry a bit.

"I swear to god Angel, I am doing way too much crying these days." she said, as she lightly laughed.

"I don't know I am going to live in a world that doesn't have you in it." Buffy said, as she was wiping her tears. "Even during the years that we were apart, I was at least able to function somewhat properly because I at least knew that you were somewhere in the world and doing some good." Buffy continued.

"I am not going to know that anymore and that is killing me inside, baby." Buffy despondently expressed, as she climbed off the bed and started to pace back and forth in the hotel room.

"I don't want your money. I don't want this stupid hotel. I would give it all back in a second to just have you wake up and take me in your arms and tell me that you love me." Buffy tearfully stated, as she glanced over at Angel while holding onto her cross necklace for dear life. "I do NOT fucking understand any of this is happening." Buffy shouted.

"Kitten, is it okay for me to come in?" Lorne asked, as he proceeded to walk into the hotel room.

"Hi, Lorne." Buffy sweetly said, as she walked over to give him a hug.

"I figured that you would probably be up here with him." Lorne said, as he broke apart from the hug and glanced over at Angel and then back at Buffy.

"Yeah, I needed a little bit of time with Angel before everything got started. How are things going downstairs?" Buffy said, with a sigh and while her arms were folded.

"Its starting to turn into a pretty big turnout down there. Our champion here sure had a lot of people who admired him." Lorne replied, as he walked over to where Angel was situated in the room and glanced down at his old friend and just shook his head at Angel's predicament.

"Angel was one of those people that could leave an impact on you, so I am not surprised to hear that." Buffy remarked, while smiling a sad smile.

"How are you really holding up, kitten? Oh and don't give me the answer that you are giving Angel's group of bandits." Lorne said expressively and while looking at Buffy pointedly.

"My heart is broken and I want to scream and I feel like I am fighting the intense urge to cry every 5 damn seconds. Oh and I have to try and keep it together because since I am the leader of Angel's team now, I can't allow myself to completely fall apart." Buffy said candidly, as she went back to sit down on the edge of Angel's bed.

"Oh Buffykins, I am sorry honey." Lorne said, sadly.

"If you don't mind, I am NOT really feeling like talking about my feelings right now. In fact, I am glad that you are here because I feel like we need to discuss a bit of business."

"Buffy, I don't think that today is the best time to be discussing Caritas and you buying it." Lorne urged.

"I actually don't want to buy Caritas anymore. I don't see the point in buying Caritas since I am going to be leaving Los Angeles once the life support machines are cut off and I probably won't be coming back here, at least anytime soon." Buffy firmly stated.

"What?" Lorne said, while being a bit shocked.

"I am giving up on my plans to buy a club here in Los Angeles. Why do you seem so surprised to hear that? You were on the fence about me buying the club from you and now you don't have to be." Buffy reiterated, while shrugging her shoulders.

"Kitten, Caritas is yours whether I like it or not. The powers that be want you to get the club and Angel would want you to get the club, so it's yours." Lorne announced. "You can't let yourself make a major decision like this when your emotions are all wacky and trust me sweetheart, your emotions are definitely all wacky badacky right now." Lorne continued.

"Wait, I thought that you didn't want me to buy Caritas because you didn't think that I was ready for it due to the 1 million problems that I have?" Buffy asked, while looking at him skeptically.

"Buffy, you are a good person. You have made some mistakes. You deserve a second chance or in your case a 1,500th chance in order to make things right. Taking over Caritas is the real start of you doing just that. You began the process of fixing things in terms of your destiny when you got here and started working with Angel's team but you still got a lot of work to do in that regard and buying Caritas will help with that." Lorne said earnestly, as he took Buffy's hands in his and looked her square in the eyes.

"Lorne-"

"Kitten, you are about to experience heartbreak in a way that you never dreamed of and once you have at least somewhat healed from that, I want you to come back to Los Angeles and we can get the paperwork started and I will sell you the club." Lorne said, while giving Buffy a half smile and then pulling her into a warm hug.

"Lorne, you know that you are a sweetheart, right?" Buffy remarked, as she pulled apart from the hug and then smiled at him.

"Kitten, you sure know how to flatter a man." Lorne replied, as he dramatically placed his heart over his heart.

"Lorne, I am going to miss him so much." Buffy woefully said, as she lovingly glanced over at her Angel and then back at Lorne.

"Kitten, you will always have him right here." Lorne said, as he pointed to her heart. "And when you are having a hard time accepting the loss of him, just remember that he loved you as much as you clearly still love him." Lorne continued.

"There were so many things that I never got to tell him, Lorne." Buffywhispered, as tears began to glisten in her eyes again. "One of them is something that he'll never know and it's something that could have changed everything for us." Buffy continued.

"Kitten, you have made certain decisions for the best. Oh and if you had told Angel about the one that you are plagued about, he wouldn't have hated you for that sweetie." Lorne said, as he placed his hands on her shoulders to be comforting. "Stop blaming yourself for things that were out of your control." Lorne urged.

Just before Buffy was able to respond to that, she suddenly heard what happened to be some loud arguing coming from downstairs in the lobby.

"Do you hear that?" Buffy asked, as she moved closer to the hotel door to see if she could decipher what was being said downstairs.

"Buffykins, that sounds like someone is fighting." Lorne replied, as he tuned up his ears to hear whatever was happening downstairs.

"Oh my god, I know exactly who is downstairs." Buffy grumbled, as she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Oh holy hell NOT today." Lorne yelled, as he also quickly realized who was downstairs causing a fuss.

Buffy and Lorne soon hurried out of Angel's hotel room to rush downstairs to deal with who they knew was a very uninvited guest.

/

As Buffy and Lorne were walking downstairs to the hotel lobby, they were met with the sight of a rather unpleasant scene unfolding and it was one that they did NOT want or expect to see on that day in particular.

Faith was standing next to the entrance of the hotel with Nina firmly wrapped into a headlock and she appeared to be arguing loudly with her.

The mere sight of Nina at the hotel made Buffy's blood boil and she couldn't believe that this bitch managed to show up and cause trouble on the day that she was about to lose the love of her life.

"B, you know this chick?" Faith roughly asked, as she saw Buffy standing on the edge of the stairs and then held her grip on Nina's neck a bit tighter.

"Yeah, I sadly do." Buffy gruffly replied, as she stared coldly at Nina and then let out a huge sigh and then gestured to Faith to let Nina out of the headlock. "Faith, why are you fighting with her?" Buffy remarked.

"B, she bursted in here shouting lies about how she's Angel's girlfriend and was trying to get upstairs to see him and I stopped her and we started fighting!"

"I am his girlfriend, you nut job!" Nina yelled, as she rubbed the semi sore back on her neck.

"Faith, she's not lying. Nina was Angel's girlfriend." Buffy reluctantly stated. "But the bitch still shouldn't be here." Buffy said, while looking at Nina inherently.

"Nina, you need to leave." Lorne urged, as he walked over to where Nina was standing.

"Look, green goblin, I am NOT going anywhere." Nina adamantly stated. "Angel meant a lot to me and I cared for him and I am here because I wanted to say my goodbyes." Nina continued.

"How in the hell did you even know that we were going to be shutting off Angel's life support today?" Buffy questioned.

"I was the one who informed Nina that we were going to be cutting off the life support today, Buffy." Wesley said, as he stepped into the lobby.

"You did what?" Buffy angrily exclaimed.

"Buffy, I know that you might have some misgivings about Nina but Angel did care about her and because of that, she has every right to be here." Wesley explained, while hitting the middle of his hand for emphasis.

"Wesley, why would you do something so stupid?" Buffy asked, while holding her arms and giving him what seemed to be a death glare.

"Because he knows that you are a callous bitch and that you never would have told me otherwise." Nina interrupted, while raising her hand. "I have more of a right to be here than you do and we both know it." Nina stressed.

"I didn't tell you that we were cutting off the machines because I not only barred you from the fucking hotel but because it was none of your damn business. Oh and I have every damn right to be in this hotel because unlike you wolfbitch, I actually loved Angel and didn't see him as a come-up." Buffy expressed passionately.

"I haven't known this broad for 5 minutes and I already don't like her." Faith interrupted, while shooting Nina a dirty look and folding her arms.

"I take it that you are the infamous Faith, right? Nina remarked, while giving Faith a once over. "Shouldn't you be in a mental institution right now?" Nina snarkily asked.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are or where you come from but if you keep talking slick to me, trick. I will remind your stupid ass of why I went to that mental institution." Faith said, while walking right up to Nina and getting up in her face. "I am NOT like B or the other ones here. Bitch, i will fuck you up and they will never find your body, do NOT play with me." Faith continued.

Buffy could clearly see that Faith was on the edge of potentially dogwalking Nina and the last thing that she wanted was for her to spend the night in jail, so she immediately stepped in between the 2 women and pulled Faith to the side and gave her a look that basically told her to stand down.

"Faith, the bitch is NOT worth breaking a nail over." Buffy exclaimed. "Go outside right now and cool off." Buffy said, as she pointed toward the front entrance of the hotel. Faith exited the hotel and Lorne followed behind her.

"There was no logical reason for why you called Nina and told her to come here today." Buffy expressed, as she turned her attention back toward Wesley.

"I did it because it was the right thing to do, Buffy. Angel would have wanted her here and you know it." Wesley vehemently expressed.

"I honestly don't care right now what Angel would have wanted when it comes to that bitch. I don't want her here and you need to tell her to leave or I am throwing her ass out." Buffy replied, very passionately.

"God, you are such a bitch. I truly wonder what Angel ever saw in you." Nina said, as she chimed in while giving Buffy a once over.. "I am here and I want to see Angel. You don't have a choice in that matter." Nina continued.

Buffy could feel anger really beginning to rise up inside of her but she was beyond determined to not let the vitriolic bitch get the best of her, even though Nina's words were cutting through her like a knife.

"What in the world is going on here?" Fred asked, as she walked into the lobby carrying what appeared to be a notebook and noticing that Buffy and Nina were appearing to have an epic staredown. "What is Nina doing here?" Fred continued.

"Fred, Wesley called Nina and told her what was going on today." Buffy angrily stated, as she looked at Wesley and then back at Fred and then put 2 fingers to her temple and slightly spun around and then scoffed at the absurdity of the situation.

"You did what?" Fred harshly said, as she glanced over at Wesley and looked at him pointedly.

"I felt as though it would have been right for Nina to be here." Wesley nervously said, as he slightly stammered on his words and shrugged his shoulders. "Angel would have wanted Nina here and you know it, Fred." Wesley continued.

"Do NOT give me that bullshit about how Angel would want Nina to be here." Fred exclaimed, as she angrily wrung her fingers around. "You did this to piss off Buffy and we BOTH know it." Fred continued, as she poked him in the chest.

Fred might not have been Buffy's biggest fan at that point because of her feelings about the hotel being potentially sold but she still didn't want to see her get hurt. Oh and inviting someone that Buffy not only saw as an enemy but also as someone who Angel might have cared for was going to bring forth a world of hurt to her and Fred did not want Buffy to experience that, especially not on the day that Angel was basically set to die.

Fred could have ringed Wesley's neck at that moment for doing something so stupid and careless as to invite Nina to the hotel that day. Oh and she was really pissed at him for not talking to her before he made that decision and at least allowing her to have some input on it. Fred seriously felt that if he was going to make this kind of a decision, she should have been able to warn Buffy about Nina's arrival beforehand and possibly got in front of the bloodbath that she was sure was about to come between the 2 women.

Gunn walked into the lobby around the time that Fred was beginning to rip into Wesley for his ignorant choices when it came to decision making and saw that Buffy and Nina were in close proximity and had an instant "oh shit" moment.

Gunn then noticed the women were looking at each other as though they were ready to beat the living shit out of each other and then turned immediately turned right back around and went to the kitchen to hide the knives, because he could tell from the energy that they were both putting off that one of them would be needing a knife soon and he didn't want a murder or murders on his conscience.

Gunn was someone that missed Angel greatly but given what he knew was probably about to go down in the hotel lobby between Buffy and Nina, he was beyond happy to know Angel was in a coma and wouldn't be witnessing that disaster.

Meanwhile back in the lobby, Nina was beginning to get annoyed at the whole predicament and made her feelings about it known.

"Is anyone going to let me go upstairs to see Angel?, that's kind of what I am here for." Nina skittishly interjected, while looking in the direction of Fred and Wesley.

"Hell No!" Buffy and Fred loudly said to her, in almost perfect unison from their perspective places in the hotel lobby.

Nina just slumped down on the hotel couch after that and decided to shut her mouth.

"I can't believe you would do this. You know that Buffy and Nina hate each other and getting them together in the same place is like putting oil on fire." Fred said, as she turned her attention back toward Wesley, who was really beginning to regret inviting Nina there.

"Fred-"

"Do NOT Fred me on this one, Wesley. We are about to lose Angel today and the last thing that we want is a catfight to happen between 2 women that he didn't have the balls to tell each other about." Fred expressed, while glancing over at Buffy and Nina and then back at Wesley.

Right in the middle of her conversation with Wesley, Spike came walking into the hotel lobby carrying a bag of cheetos that he found in the kitchen and sat down on the edge of the hotel counter.

"What is tweety bird over there ticked off about?" Spike asked Buffy, as he looked over at what seemed to be a very pissed Fred.

Buffy raised her finger and pointed at Nina, who was just sitting on the couch twiddling her fingers.

"I believe that bitch would be the reason why Fred is mad, Spike." Buffy remarked, while rolling her eyes.

"Oh bloody hell, Fido came to see the ponce off?" Spike questioned.

"Bite me, you blonde freak!" Nina shouted, as she scowled at him and then gave him the finger.

"Clingy daft bitch." Spike muttered under his breath.

"Nina, there is absolutely no point in you being here. You need to fucking leave." Buffy adamantly stated, while looking over at the weapon's cabinet and then back at Nina.

"I refuse to go anywhere until I see Angel. Angel and I cared about each other and as much as you don't want to hear this, he was falling in love with me before all of this mess happened."

Spike found himself nearly about to choke on a cheeto when he heard Nina's take on Angel's supposed feelings for her and immediately chimed in to dispel what she was saying.

"You delusional bint, Angel saw you as nothing more than a piece of ass. If anything, you were just a place for the idiot to rest his balls at night. Trust me, Angel wasn't all hearts and flowers when it came to you." Spike interjected, just before he popped another cheeto in his mouth.

"I am going upstairs, whether all of you like it or not." Nina announced, just before she got off the couch and started to walk toward the stairs.

"No, you are NOT. I don't know what the hell Wesley told you but this is the wrong time to walk into MY hotel and start pulling rank. Angel is going to die in a few hours and if you give a fuck about him like you say that you do, you will leave this hotel RIGHT now and take this negative energy that you have right along with you." Buffy shouted, as she stood in front of the stairs with her arms out to block Nina from going up it.

"You are the same ignorant bitch that you were in high school. If you don't get the fuck out of the way Buffy and let me up those stairs, I swear to god that I will tell this entire lobby about the little secret that you have been holding all these years." Nina replied, while gritting her teeth and looking at Buffy inherently.

"I want you to go right ahead and tell them, bitch. I honestly don't give a fuck anymore if you tell them. After today, that secret isn't even going to matter anymore, so tell them." Buffy smugly said, while shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.

Nina thought for a second about calling Buffy's bluff and revealing her supposed secret to the "audience" that was standing there in the lobby, but she knew it would be a bad power play to do so and so at that moment, she held off from revealing it. However she knew in her heart that when the perfect time came, she was going to happily blow Buffy's world to smithreens by revealing that secret.

"I will never understand what Angel saw in you. You have a lot of nerve being here and acting you are like so perfect, knowing full well that you didn't give a fuck about him in his last days." Nina yelled, while wagging her finger around excitedly and getting in Buffy's face.

"Nina, you haven't the faintest idea of what the hell you are talking about. I love Angel with every fiber of my being and I would have never abandoned him, if I knew that any of this bullshit was going to happen." Buffy angrily exclaimed, as she tried to fight back some tears that were starting to fall from her eyes.

"Oh my god, you are just unbelievable." Nina said, as she coldly stared at Buffy while gritting her teeth. "Please stop saying that you loved Angel in the year before he went into this stupid coma because if you did, you wouldn't have hurt him in the way that you did." Nina continued.

"Bitch, you are really pushing it." Buffy gruffly said, while strongly fighting the urge to knock Nina across the room.

"This little act where you are here and you seem like you are so distraught over what happened to Angel might be able to fool some of the people in this room but I know the real you and I believe with all of my heart that if there weren't 15 million dollars on the table, there is no way in hell that you would be in Los Angeles." Nina said, curtly and while laughing lightly.

At the mere mention of the 15 million dollars that Angel left to Buffy in his will, Buffy looked over at Wesley and gave him a death stare because she knew that he was the only person that could have told her that and then she doubled back to the pest that had sadly infiltrated her life.

"Nina, fuck you. You see, unlike your stupid ass, I am NOT a gold digger and I don't have to chase a man to get some money. I didn't know that Angel was going to leave me anything in his will and I don't want anything from him and I haven't spent anything that he left me." Buffy loudly exclaimed, while starting to really contemplate going into the weapons cabinet and finding something that she could end this insufferable bitch with.

"Are you going to do something about this?" Spike asked Wesley and Fred, who were just standing by watching Buffy and Nina throw verbal jabs at each other and not really doing anything about it.

"What can we do? You knew that this fight was going to come sooner or later, Spike. All of this shit could have been avoided if Angel had just told them about each other." Fred expressed, with a worrisome look on her face.

"I am not going to let the ponce be the reason why Buffy kills Wolfie over there." Spike replied, as he started to walk toward the stairs.

"Don't get involved in that, Spike." Wesley urged, as he stood in front of him and tried to block him from walking over to where Buffy and Nina were standing.

"If you hadn't invited the miserable cow here in the first damn place, they wouldn't be arguing right now, so fuck you." Spike angrily muttered, as he pushed Wesley out of the way.

As much as Spike was always game for a good girl fight and there seemed to be a small part of him that actually did want to see Buffy mop the floor with Nina, he couldn't let her do that and so he walked over to the hotel stairs and grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the stairs and over near the hotel counter.

"What are you doing, Spike?" Buffy shouted, as she shook out of his embrace.

"This is the world's worst time for you to be arguing with that miserable git. Your emotions are all over the place and I am going to stop you from doing something that you will regret." Spike said, concerningly.

"I highly doubt that I would regret jamming an ax into that stupid bitch's head." Buffy said, sharply.

"Then she is going to win and is that what you want?" Spike asked, while glancing at her with a serious look in his eyes.

"The only thing that I want to do to her is beat the shit out of her." Buffy yelled, as she glanced over in the direction of Nina, who was looking right back at her with a smug expression on her face.

"Do you think that is what Angel would want?" Spike remarked roughly, and as he lightly shook her.

"Spike, that bitch should not be here and you know it." Buffy whispered, as she ruffled her hands through her hair and dabbed at her eyes with her thumbs and then walked over to the liquor cabinet in an attempt to calm down and poured herself a glass of bourbon and started drinking it.

"You are still here?" Gunn gruffly asked Nina, as he walked into the lobby.

Gunn glanced over at Buffy who he could see was very visibly upset and then back at Nina who was standing on the stairs with resting bitchface firmly implanted on her face and came to the conclusion that all hell must have broken loose in the time that he was gone between the both of them.

"Yes, and I am NOT going anywhere." Nina responded, as she started to walk up the stairs. "I am going to go say my goodbyes to Angel, whether any of you like it or not." Nina continued.

Before she was even able to get halfway up the stairs, Gunn steadfastly walked over to it and roughly grabbed Nina by the arm and walked her over to the front entrance of the hotel.

"What the hell are you doing? Let me go!" Nina shouted, as she struggled out of his hold.

"Girl, you know damn well that you shouldn't be here." Gunn responded, while giving her the evil eye.

"I don't expect you to know anything because well your people are known for being that way but I loved Angel and he loved me and because of that, I should be here saying my goodbyes to him and I am GOING to do just that." Nina bellowed, as she tried to walk back toward the stairs and Gunn blocked her from doing so.

"Nina, you are a scab. If you care about Angel as much as you are weirdly proclaiming right now, where have you been for the better part of the last 6 months? Oh and how are you suddenly lovey dovey about the man when you told him to kick rocks just before all of us went into the alley?" Gunn questioned, as he looked at her skeptically and then scowled.

Nina stood in silence for several seconds after that, not really sure what to say and lightly scratching her head.

"Checkmate, bitch." Buffy happily said, while giving Nina a fake smile and then taking another sip of bourbon.

Nina rolled her eyes and then gave Buffy the finger and then turned her attention back to Gunn.

"I might have been mad at Angel the last time that I saw him but I loved him and I know that he loved me and I know that he was done pining after Buffy and that he wanted to make a life with me." Nina remarked, while glancing at Gunn inherently and then sighing.

"Oh my god, do you know how crazy that you sound right now?" Gunn remarked. "Angel was not in love with you. Angel barely knew you. You are crazy as hell. Angel might have saw you as a decent fuck but he was NOT about to ride off into the sunset with you if he turned human." Gunn continued.

Gunn then raised one of his fingers up to point over to the liquor cabinet where Buffy was still standing and adamantly said to Nina. "Do you see that one over there? She's been here for Angel. That was the love of Angel's life and that never changed, even when he was entertaining your crazy clingy shiesty racist ass."

Buffy smiled at him for his sweet words, mouthed a "Thank You" in Gunn's direction and then proceeded to wipe her eyes with a nearby kleenex.

"I can't believe that I am hearing this." Nina stoically said. "You are wrong. Angel was in love with me. I know that he was in love with me." Nina continued, as she squinted her eyes and looked at Gunn evilly.

"He went on 2 dates with you, you nutcase. How in the hell do you think that someone is in love with you after 2 damn dates?" Fred said, as she looked at Nina stupidly and just shook her head.

"Nina, I am one of the few people in this room that Angel confided in and if he was in love with you, I would have known it." Gunn hoarsely stated, as he clasped his hands together.

"I don't believe you. I think that you are wrong. Angel hated Buffy at the end of what we know now was the end of his life and he was ready to completely move on from her and be with me." Nina adamantly stated.

Nina was in disbelief at Gunn's words. In her heart, she felt as though Angel was falling for her. Oh and even though secretly he was supposed to be someone that she was to help destroy, she found herself actually falling for him. There was no way in the world that he wanted Buffy over her at the end of his life and she knew it.

Gunn would have loved nothing more than to throw Nina right out on her ass because he was growing frustrated with their conversation and also because his heart seemed to be breaking everytime that he looked over at Buffy's face and saw the deep hurt that was imprinted on it, however he knew he had to get through to the werewolf before that happened.

"If Angel was in love with you, I would have been the first to hear it." Gunn said earnestly, and as he looked at Nina square in her eyes. "Yes, he was beyond pissed at Buffy for how she had been acting toward him during that time but one of the last things that he ever shared with me before all of us went into the alley was how much he loved that girl and how one of his biggest regrets is how he never got to fix things with her." Gunn continued.

Gunn then glanced over in Buffy's direction and looked at her morosely and then mouthed the words "I'm sorry". Buffy placed her hand over her mouth and angrily shook her head after hearing Gunn's admission and then ran out of the lobby and out into the courtyard.

"Oh great, now she's determined to play victim and act like a damn drama queen" Nina sarcastically said, as she watched Buffy run out of the lobby and rolled her eyes at the ex-slayer's exit from the room.

"You know what? Its time for your ass to leave." Gunn harshly said, as he roughly grabbed Nina by the arm and threw her out onto the sidewalk of the hotel. The moment that Nina hit the concrete, she felt one of the bones in her arm break and let out a scream.

"See, that's what stupid bitches get." Faith mockingly said, as she watched Nina get thrown out while standing outside with Lorne smoking a cigarette.

"Oh bite me, you crazy jailbird!" Nina clapped back, as she was writhing on the ground clutching her arm.

Faith then walked over to where Nina was situated on the ground and bent down to her level and put the cigarette out on her arm and then smiled sadistically at her.

"Nina, don't ever bring your ass back to this hotel again. You are done here." Gunn harshly stated, while looking in the direction of where Nina was on the ground. "Oh and if you do, I will sic Faith on you and she's a lot worse than me." Gunn continued.

Nina then picked herself up off of the ground and ran like a bat out of hell away from the Hyperion.

Once Gunn was done dealing with Nina, he quickly ran back into the hotel and out into the courtyard to find Buffy. When Gunn entered the courtyard, Buffy was sitting on one of the patio chairs with her head almost down onto her lap and she was crying.

"Buffy, are you okay?" Gunn asked softly.

"No, and I will never be again." Buffy replied earnestly and as she looked up at him. "Gunn, the man that I love is about to die and his whore just came at me with both barrels. I am far from okay, sweetie." Buffy continued, while giving him a weak smile.

"He was mad at you in his last days, Buffy." Gunn awkwardly said, as he sat down next to her.

"Thank you for telling me that, Gunn." Buffy replied, sarcastically. "I really needed to hear that right now." Buffy continued, as she shot him a look.

"What I was going to say before you just interrupted me Boss Lady-" Gunn said, as he shot her back a look. "Was that even though he thought that you were tripping in Italy, he never stopped loving you. Angel might have been mad at you in the end but he damn sure didn't hate you and that is something that I know for a fact." Gunn continued.

"But what about what Nina said? About how he hated me and how he was ready to move on completely? Explain that to me, Gunn."

"Nina is a self-absorbed clingy bitch who has always given off the vibes of someone who lives to make trouble." Gunn candidly expressed, as he closed his eyes and lightly shook his head. "You can't take a damn that she says seriously." Gunn continued, as he hit the middle of his hand to prove a point.

Buffy picked up her pack of camel cigarettes that was sitting on a table next to the patio chair that she was sitting in, took one out of the pack, lit it, and began to smoke it.

"You want one?" Buffy asked, while offering up the pack to Gunn.

"Nah, I am good."

"I am not doubting that Angel didn't love me in the end but I know that his feelings toward me weren't nearly as strong as you and Fred have made them out to be over the last few months. Oh and how could they be? I broke his heart in Italy." Buffy expressed, while leaning back in the patio chair and gazing up at the sky while taking a drag of her cigarette.

"Do you want to know something?" Gunn remarked, as he grabbed her eyes and placed it over his.

"What?"

"The morning of the day that Angel returned from Italy, he contacted Honest Abe and had his will revised." Gunn said earnestly.

"What? Why would he do that?" Buffy asked, as she became wide eyed at the admission.

"Because you were his girl and he wanted to make sure that you were always taken care of." Gunn said, sweetly. "I am not really sure what went down between you and Angel in Italy but when he came back to town, he was hellbent on making sure that you were good and so he went to Abe and made it happen." Gunn continued.

"Oh my god, Angel." Buffy muttered, as she placed her hand over her mouth and clutched her cross necklace tightly with the other one.

"Stop thinking that Angel didn't love you. That man left you everything he had and when the words of a certain cackling bitch start coming to your head, you need to remember that and see it was proof that you were the love of his life."

"Gunn, Fred is a really lucky girl and I really hope that she knows that." Buffy murmured, while wiping her eyes and then tilting her head and giving him a big smile.

"Buffy, you were family 6 months ago and you are family NOW. Fuck Nina and her cackling self. Angel loved you and so all of us here love you too. You are NOT going to be alone when its time for IT to happen later. Me and Fred and Lorne and even Wesley's annoying ass got you today and always. " Gunn expressly stated.

"Thank you so much for your kindness during this entire crazy time. You are a good man, Charles Gunn." Buffy said, while reaching out to him and pulling him into a hug.

Before Gunn was able to say another word to Buffy, Faith came walking out to the courtyard.

"I heard what went down between you and Cujo. You okay, B?" Faith mumbled, while giving Buffy a small smile and walking up to where she was standing.

"Yeah, I am going to be okay, Faith." Buffy remarked, sheepishly.

"Yes, she is." Gunn said, while giving her a look that could be translated to "things are going to be okay."

"You know what? Can the both of you go check on what's happening with the catering and the music? I am sure that the musicians that Lorne found to play at the wake are probably already here and need to figure out where they can set up their equipment." Buffy uttered, while running her hands down her arms.

"Sure." Gunn replied, as he walked back into the hotel.

"Yeah sure but B, are you going to be okay being out here by yourself?" Faith said, concerningly.

"Faith, I am going to be okay. I am going to finish my cigarette and then come back inside in a little while." Buffy assured her, with a small smile.

Faith then exited the courtyard and went back into the hotel and left Buffy out there sitting by herself.

/

Sometime after the drama between Buffy and Nina happened and her heart to heart with Gunn ended, Buffy walked back into the hotel and sat down on the hotel stairs and waited for the guests that were to show up for the wake that was to happen later that day.

Oh and 2 minutes after she did that, a whole furry of guests began to enter the hotel to either pay their respects or to get their places ready for the wake and Buffy seemed to find each guest that arrived to be much weirder than the next one.

The first guest to show up at the hotel was a demon named Moe. Moe was a 4 foot kevlar midget who was associated with the Gambino crime family. Moe was thankful to Angel for helping him out of a bind in Las Vegas once and came to the hyperion to pay his respects. Buffy found Moe's behavior to be a bit strange since he was acting quite nervous and fidgety around her and she ultimately just chucked it up to him being scared of slayers.

Buffy allowed Moe to go upstairs and see Angel one last time before the cords were pulled and pay his respects to him, since he told her that he couldn't stick around for the wake due to a prior engagement. Oh and after he was done paying his respects and just before Moe was about to leave the hotel, he handed Buffy an envelope.

Buffy was afraid to open up the envelope for fear that it might have something crazy in it but ultimately decided to do so and found it to contain $4,000 and a note that said "Payment for The Bellagio Job from Old Moe to Danny Ocean".

Buffy literally was scratching her head wondering who the hell Danny Ocean was and then broke out in a fit of laughter when she remembered a time in Sunnydale when she and Angel went to a late night showing of the original "Ocean's Eleven" and during the movie, he annoying spoke each line of the movie word for word as though he were Frank Sinatra and by association, also Danny Ocean. The memory made her smile and gave her a tiny bit of comfort on what was on a sad day.

The next guests to arrive at the hotel were a trio of what Buffy assumed were Nymphs and Honest Abe with his date, the famous local L.A. celebrity "Angelyne".

What followed Honest Abe and Angelyne's arrival were a wide range of demons that traveled through the Hyperion's doors that day to say their goodbyes to Angel, including several demons that teleported from Pylea and many "innocents" that he helped during his time in Los Angeles

As the day carried on, the front lobby itself of the hotel soon became filled almost to the brim with many different flower arrangements, sent from Angel's various associates and admirers from all around the world.

The great outpouring of love and gratitude from what seemed like various people based around the globe toward Angel was immense and it truly warmed Buffy's heart. If Angel didn't believe that he ever made a real impact in the world, the proof of such a thing was definitely shown in The Hyperion that afternoon.

/

After she was finished making sure that all of the guests for the eventual wake were comfortable and checking in with the A.I. team for what seemed to be the 50,000th time that day to make sure that things were running smoothly with everything, Buffy quickly ran upstairs to grab her laptop. Then she proceeded to walk back downstairs with it and sit at the tailend of the hotel steps, looking for plane tickets to buy on the internet.

As she began to scour the internet for what would hopefully be her next destination, Buffy looked up from her laptop when she spotted someone walking into the hotel lobby. The guest appeared to be one that she didn't recognize but strangely felt as though she somehow knew.

The guest was a young man who had dark shaggy hair and was semi skinny and had angelic features pressed on his face and had a backpack on his person and his body language was giving off the impression that he wasn't sure as if he should be at the hotel or not.

Buffy immediately placed her laptop to the side, got up from her seat on the stairs, and went to go greet the young man who she thought might have been one of the caterers coming in early to setup everything for the wake.

"Um, are you one of the caterers? The kitchen is around the back." Buffy muttered, as she approached the unfamiliar guest and made a motion with her fingers that pointed toward the kitchen.

"No, my name is Connor. I am Connor Reilly. Angel was my father, my adoptive father." Connor replied, sheepishly.

Connor thought that the adoption lie was completely stupid. When Gunn explained all of the events surrounding Angel's predicament on the phone, he explicitly told him NOT to tell Buffy about his real parentage if he was coming to the hotel to pay his respects.

Connor knew that he was someone who never followed anyone's rules but he knew that this day in particular was going to be especially hard for Buffy and he didn't want to bring her any more pain, so he kept up the stupid adoption lie.

"You know that you are a hard man to find, right? Where have you been hiding yourself?" Buffy questioned, as she looked him over and then gave him a smile.

"I take it that you are the one and only Buffy." Connor said, as he extended his hand out to shake her hand.

"That would be correct. I am so sorry that we had to meet under such terrible circumstances." Buffy apologetically stated, as she pushed his hand away and gently pulled him into a hug. The hug caught Connor a little off-guard but he welcomed it immensely.

"We are family, Connor. We don't do handshakes, baby." Buffy softly said, as she broke apart from the hug and lovingly touched his left cheek.

"It's nice to hear that. I am not really used to hearing the "F" word". Connor said, as he tangled his hands through his hair.

"Well Connor, Angel loved you like a son and took you in and he would want me to embrace you and so yeah you are family." Buffy said sweetly.

"Are you okay?" Connor concerningly asked, as he noticed Buffy beginning to cry.

"If you want to be honest, nope. I am NOT myself today at all. In fact, I am a damn weepy mess. It's just hard to keep myself together knowing what is coming." Buffy said, as she walked over to the hotel counter and grabbed a kleenex from on top of it and started to dab at her eyes with it.

"Where is Angel's crack staff?" Connor asked, while brushing off the memories that were flooding back to him of his bad history with the A.I. team.

"Everyone is off doing their own tasks. Some are in the kitchen. Some are upstairs talking to the doctors. Some are just trying to stay away from the hotel until IT happens." Buffy retorted, while walking behind the hotel counter and grabbing a coke out of the freezer and popping it open.

"I am not surprised to hear that at all. I never thought this day would happen. I mean I had my problems with Angel but he was still my adoptive father and to think of him NOT being around seems a little surreal." Connor said, while plopping down on the hotel couch and slightly shaking his head.

"Kid, you are not the only one who feels that way. Me and Angel had our problems and god knows that there were times when I could NOT stand him but I always loved him. I know our relationship was complicated but I ALWAYS loved him." Buffy said, while plopping down on the hotel couch next to him and handing him a coke of his own.

"Angel was a wildcard and he could definitely be an ass at times but I know him and he loved us, Buffy." Connor confidently stated, as he placed her hand in with his. "You are not going to be alone today. I know your whole thing is to be tough but it's okay to fall apart if you need to today. I got you." Connor continued, as he looked at Buffy directly in her eyes and gave her a sweet smile.

"You know I have only known you for a few minutes but I like you already. You are very sweet, Connor. I can see why Angel adopted you." Buffy remarked, as she got up from the couch and started to walk to the liquor cabinet.

"Well I have been told that I am very charming." Connor jovially stated, as he comically massaged his chin and then followed right behind Buffy.

"You know I just realized something?" Buffy asked, as she glared over to Connor and stared at him intensely for a few seconds.

"What?" Connor replied.

"I just noticed that when you smile like you just did, you kind of look like Angel. I mean I know that you are not his biological kid so that's not possible but it's just a really interesting observation." Buffy muttered, as she began to pour some whiskey into a nearby shot glass.

"Your eyes are just playing some tricks on you, that's all it is." Connor quickly stated, while hoping to dispel any notion that the adoption lie was indeed a lie.

"Yeah, that must be it. If you will follow me, I have some papers that I need for you to sign." Buffy said, while brushing off the strange feeling that she had about Connor and then walking over to Angel's office.

"What kind of papers?" Connor asked, as he followed Buffy into Angel's office.

"When we did Angel's will reading a few months ago, he left you something." Buffy remarked, as she began to shuffle through the drawers, looking for the will paperwork.

"What is it?" Connor replied, as he burrowed his eyebrow.

"Money, a lot of it." Buffy exclaimed.

"Seriously?" Connor said, while being a little astounded.

"Yeah, Angel might have dressed like a long lost member of debarge most of the time but he was loaded." Buffy happily stated, while continuing to look through the drawers.

"Wow, that's another thing that I didn't know about Angel." Connor murmured, while tangling his hands through his hair.

"I was trying to find you but I couldn't find a recent address for you and everyone around here is so cryptic about you for some reason." Buffy said, while still looking in the drawers for the paperwork from Honest Abe and started to get frustrated that she hadn't found it yet.

"You know it's fine if you don't find the papers right now. There's a lot going on right now and I can find out whatever Angel left me later on."

"Connor, why weren't you around for the last few months?" Buffy asked, while popping her head up from the desk and folding her arms and looking at him somewhat intently. The question had been asked before but she was asking it again with the hope that she would get a real answer this time.

"Things are really complicated between not only me and Angel but also his team. I wanted to wait until the smoke officially cleared before I showed my face around these parts, Buffy." Connor replied, while peering over at a very somewhat disheveled Buffy and shrugging his shoulders. "How are you?" Connor continued.

"I am losing my shit here because my heart is going to be ripped open in a few hours and I can't stop crying because of it." Buffy remarked sadly, while temporarily stopping her search for the will paperwork and leaning her head up against the wall of the office and then giving him a tiny sad smile.

"Can I tell you something?" Connor asked.

"What is it?" Buffy replied, while looking at him disparagingly and trying to not cry again.

"You were one of the few things that he was fighting to get back to in those last few months at Wolfram and Hart. You were the one light in his very dark world. Angel loved you very much, Buffy." Connor sweetly remarked, while standing closer to Buffy and looking at her intently.

"You know everyone keeps saying that and I understand that it is supposed to be comforting but I am tired of hearing that. You know what I want to hear? I want to hear Angel wake up and yell at me or tell me that he loves me or something to that degree. I don't want to be fucking looking for stupid papers and getting ready to tell my Angel goodbye." Buffy loudly shouted, as she placed her face into her hands and began to cry.

"It's going to be okay. You are going to be okay." Connor repeatedly said, as he gently pulled Buffy into a hug.

"I can't believe this is happening. Angel is human and he's never going to be able to experience what that even means. How in the hell is that fair?" Buffy yelled, as she leaned further into Connor's embrace and her tears fell on his shirt.

"None of this is fair." Connor replied, as he held Buffy closer to his chest and slightly shook his head in a disapproving manner.

"I don't know where the hell the papers are. I don't know anything right now." Buffy angrily stated, as she broke apart from Connor and then wiped her tears and nervously tangled her hands through her hair.

"You know what? Let's get out of here." Connor suggested, as he lightly grabbed Buffy's arm and led her out of the office.

"Connor-" Buffy said, as she almost reluctantly left the office.

"Buffy, you need a break from this place." Connor proclaimed, as he started to walk toward the hyperion front door while still arm in arm with Buffy.

"What about the papers?" Buffy asked, while he was leading her out to the parking lot.

"We will deal with that later on. Come on." Connor expressed, while walking over to his car and getting in it.

"Okay, I guess a short break wouldn't hurt." Buffy said, as she finally relented and Connor drove off of the hyperion lot.

/

About an hour after leaving the Hyperion, Buffy and Connor ended up inside of Caritas. Buffy was most certainly NOT in the mood for clubbing but she was somewhat relieved to be away from the hotel for a little while, so she welcomed the distraction.

Connor was also NOT really in the mood for clubbing but once he saw how much of an emotional trainwreck that Buffy was, he knew that he had to get her out of the Hyperion and take her somewhere that would get her mind off of things for a little while.

Once they got inside of the club, they were met with the sight of a Syncari demon that was on stage brutally eviscerating "I would die for you" by Prince while wearing an exact replica of the yellow leopard print assless chaps that Prince wore at the 1991 VMA's.

The sight of such a freaky looking thing caused Buffy and Connor to heavily laugh in tandem.

"Kid, are you even old enough to drink?" Buffy asked, as she began to walk over to the bar.

"Relax, I got a fake ID and so it's fine." Connor assured her, as he wrung his hands around to emphasize a point.

"Um, you are sticking to strictly coke where we are here." Buffy replied, as she looked at him pointedly. "I am not letting someone who I am sure is close to my baby sister's age, drink." Buffy continued, as she sat down on a bar stool.

"Are you always this maternal?" Connor asked, sarcastically as he sat down on a stool next to her.

"Please don't ever call me the "M" word, Connor." Buffy said, as she looked at him with a deadpan expression on her face. "I just know what underage drinking can do to someone and I definitely don't want that to happen to you." Buffy continued, as she had a flashback to when she got a little too drunk and became a cavewoman.

Connor gave Buffy a skeptical look and then gestured to the bartender to come over to where they were sitting.

"What will it be tonight, you guys?" The bartender remarked, as he was rubbing his hands with a rag.

"Marty, I will have a screaming orgasm." Buffy replied, while giving the bartender a tiny smile.

"One screaming orgasm coming right up." The bartender said. "What about you?" The bartender continued, as he looked over at Connor.

"I will have vodka on the rocks." Connor murmured, while looking at Buffy and then back at the bartender.

"Marty, he's only 19. Give him a Coke and put it on my tab, honey." Buffy said, hoarsely.

"One screaming orgasm and one coke coming up." Marty announced, as he then made his way to the other side of the bar and started making the drinks.

"You do know that I have a beard and I have had sex, right?" Connor loudly proclaimed, while squinting his eyes and getting semi mad at his stepmother's behavior toward him, even though he lowkey liked that she was sort of acting like a mother toward him. However, he knew that he would never let her know that.

"You do kind of have a beard but it's more of a stubble. A little cute stubble." Buffy said happily, as she ran her thumb over Connor's chin. "Do NOT ever tell me about your sex life though, okay." Buffy adamantly stated, while scrunching up her face and wringing her fingers around.

"Here is one screaming orgasm." Marty announced as he handed the alcoholic drink to Buffy. "And one coke" as he handed the carbonated drink to Connor.

The both of them said their thanks to him and then Marty walked to the other side of the bar.

"Now tell me about yourself, Connor." Buffy remarked, just before she took a sip of her drink.

"There isn't much to tell, Buffy. My biological parents are demons and I have a weird relationship with them." Connor replied. "I came across Angel and he took me under his wing and when it got to be too much for him, he made sure that I got put with my now adoptive parents."

Connor knew that he was lying through his teeth but that cover story was much better than the truth. Connor really did hate lying to Buffy but he figured the truth would probably scare the hell out of her and that's the last thing that he wanted to do to her, so he kept up the really stupid adoption lie.

"How exactly did it get to be too much for him? I can't just see Angel throwing someone away, especially not a kid that was in trouble." Buffy stated, while scratching her head.

Angel might have been a lot of things but Buffy knew he wasn't callous or heartless when it came to people that needed help and he most certainly wouldn't abandon a random street kid that he took in without a good reason for it. Buffy was sure that there was way more to this story than Connor was telling and she was suddenly determined to find it out.

"Buffy, that's a long story that I definitely won't tell you today. We basically had a tumultuous relationship from the start and things happened and he ultimately realized that I was better off with another family." Connor retorted, just before he took a sip of his coke.

"Connor, what aren't you telling me about your relationship with Angel?" Buffy asked, while tilting her head and looking at Connor intently. Buffy was absolutely sure that Connor was full of bullshit about his supposed "origin" story and she wanted to call his bluff.

"There are things that I am not allowed to tell you about me, Buffy. Angel has to be the one to fill in those blanks about me to you." Connor said, as he sighed and then slightly shook his head and then looked at Buffy.

"I am so tired of everyone being cryptic when it comes to you and now you are doing it. I just wonder what the hell is the big secret that everyone is keeping about you." Buffy loudly and angrily proclaimed.

"I can assure you that it's not a truly bad secret, Buffy. It's just a secret that Angel has to tell you." Connor haphazardly emphasized, while wringing his hands around nervously.

"Can you at least tell me why the fuck he never told me about you?" Buffy asked, as her voice started to mildly crack and she traced the rim of her shot glass with her middle finger.

"Buffy, there's things that he kept from you because he didn't want to hurt you. The truth about me is a little bit crazy and he knew you couldn't handle it and so he never told you." Connor stated, as he ran his hand over Buffy's back in an attempt to be comforting.

"That's Angel, always keeping shit from me that I need to know under the guise that I can't handle it." Buffy said, as she was starting to become incensed. "First, it was the fact that we are still legally married when I was sure that he filed that damn annulment. Then it was the fact that there is Nina, which completely hit me off-guard. Now there's you and some weird secret that you have. What the hell else is he keeping from me?" Buffy continued, as her face started to become reddened and she waved her hands around wildly for emphasis.

"Wow you are really mad." Connor remarked, while carefully examining her pissed off demeanor.

"You know what I wish that I had done? I wish that I had stayed in Rome. If I had just stayed in Rome, a lot of bullshit could have been avoided and I wouldn't be nearly in as much pain as I am right now." Buffy inherently stated, as she ran her hands through her hair and then took a sip of her drink.

"You weren't going to abandon Angel if he was in trouble, that's not really your style. Angel told me many things about you in the brief time that we knew one another but the one thing that really stuck out is how loyal you are. You are a good woman, Buffy." Connor said, while looking over at Buffy and giving her a smile.

"Connor, you know that you are a doll, right?" Buffy sweetly said, just before she leaned over to his stool and took the bottom of his face in her hand and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

The kiss hit Connor off-guard but he welcomed the warm exchange of affection.

"You know what? I want to change the subject. I want to get to know you a bit better. Tell me, are you in college? What are you studying?" Buffy happily stated, as she gestured to Marty to bring her another drink.

"Art History." Connor replied.

"What are you doing for work at the moment?" Buffy curiously asked.

"I am actually trying to start up an interior design business. I guess now that Angel has left me some money, I can use that to get it off of the ground." Connor said, as he turned around on the stool and faced the front of the club, while stirring his drink with a straw.

"I know that you are doing your own thing but have you ever thought about taking over Angel's business? You know at least until things get established with the interior design thing." Buffy muttered, while semi nervously running her hands through her hair.

"I never really thought about that sort of thing. Plus there isn't any love lost between me and Angel's team, so it wouldn't really be a good fit." Connor replied, while squinting his eyes and wringing his hands around.

"I am leaving town immediately after the life support is cut off. You see, when I thought that nobody was going to be able to find you, I told Wesley to do whatever he wanted with the hotel. I haven't signed anything that gives him that power, it's really just a verbal thing. If you want to have the hotel, I can talk to Honest Abe about giving you the deed." Buffy stated.

"Buffy, are you serious?" Connor asked, as his eyes became enlarged.

"I really can't stand Wesley and he's been an ass for most of the time that I have been in L.A, so not giving him Angel's hotel would make my soul soar. Plus you are Angel's adoptive son, so it's only right that the hotel goes to you. I would much rather that you use it as a place to help people but I would be happy if you used it as a place to set up for your business." Buffy said.

"An old creepy hotel is not really the best place to run an interior design business in, Buffy." Connor said, sheepishly.

"Connor, can you just promise that you will think about it? Please?" Buffy asked, while giving him puppy dog eyes and putting her hands together in a prayer like position.

"Fine! I will think about it." Connor shouted.

"You really do remind me of him a lot, it's kind of weird." Buffy expressed, while tilting her head and giving Connor a tiny smile.

"Your eyes are really playing tricks on you today." Connor said.

"Connor, did Angel ever do that thing where he tries to push you out of his because he doesn't feel like he is worthy of your love?" Buffy asked, just before she reached into her purse and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"Yeah, more than once. How did you know?" Connor replied, sarcastically.

"I have firsthand experience with that narrative. Angel walked away from me years ago because he didn't feel like he was worthy of my love and that he couldn't give me a life that he thought I wanted." Buffy remarked, sadly and as she gestured to Marty to come over to her and light her cigarette.

"Have you ever thought that Angel walked away from us because he loved us?" Connor asked, with a serious tone to his voice.

"That man was the king of self-sacrifice. Angel was always putting others' needs before his own and when he would do that, he broke his own heart. One of the reasons why I never stopped loving him is because of that." Buffy stated, as she toyed around with her cross necklace with one of her hands and took a puff of her cigarette with the other one.

"I knew what Angel was planning to do when it came to the battle. I tried to talk him out of it more than once but he never listened to me. Given what's going to happen today, I wish that Angel had listened to me." Connor angrily said, while slamming his fists on the bar and then shaking his head.

"Connor, do you know who you are talking about? A man who was equally cute as he was stubborn. Kid, you can't blame yourself for what happened in that alley. Angel was desperate to get out of his predicament and he was going to do whatever it took to make that happen, no matter the cost." Buffy remarked, as she put her cigarette in a nearby astray and then lifted up Connor's chin and looked at him square in the eyes.

"What drove the both of you apart?" Connor brazenly asked, while folding his arms and also attempting to change the subject.

"Connor-" Buffy shouted, while looking at him questionably. Buffy was being put on the spot by this kid and she couldn't believe it.

"No, I want to know. Whenever Angel mentioned you, it seemed as though he was still really crazy about you. Whenever you talk about Angel, a weird gleam appears in your eye. It's pretty obvious that there was still a sizzle there." Connor murmured, as he tilted his head and looked at her pointedly and then gestured to Marty to bring him another coke.

"You are like 19, right? What do you know about a sizzle, kid?" Buffy exclaimed, as she bounced out of her reverie and looked at him skeptically.

"I know enough about it. Now tell me what I want to know." Connor remarked, as he made a rolling motion with his hands.

"We split up because Angel is the king of self-sacrifice, like I just told you. We definitely didn't split because of love cause I always loved him and he always loved me. We just had problems that couldn't be overcome and I am wishing now that we were able to do so. I should have been with him at the end." Buffy sadly stated, as she toyed with her cross necklace and then picked her cigarette up out of the ashtray and took a deep puff off of it.

"Buffy, I didn't mean to make you sad again. I am sorry." Connor said.

"Connor, do you have a girlfriend?" Buffy asked, as it seemed like tears were beginning to fill her eyes.

"I have someone, Buffy." Connor quickly retorted.

"Are you in love with this person?" Buffy remarked, while putting her cigarette back in the ashtray.

"I dunno." Connor said, as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Well if you grow to love this person, don't let her go. Me and Angel made so many mistakes when we were together and even afterwards with each other. Do NOT make our mistakes. Hold on to what you have with this girl, no matter how little it might be. Fight for this person and fight for your love, Connor. I have so many regrets and now I will never be able to make things right with Angel." Buffy fiercely stated, as tears began to glisten in her eyes and she looked at Connor intently.

"Buffy, you have got to stop blaming yourself for Angel being in that alley. If he was here right now, he wouldn't even want you to blame yourself for that. I think that in Angel's last moments, you and I were on his mind. I have no doubt in my mind that Angel still loved you at the end and probably had the same regrets that you have about your relationship." Connor said, while waving his hands around for emphasis.

"None of this makes any sense, Connor. I am trying my best to accept all of this and accept what is coming but I can't do it. I am not ready to let Angel go, knowing what could happen between us. I know that we might have not gotten back together but knowing that there is never going to be a chance now for us hurts beyond measure." Buffy shouted, as she shook her head violently and then placed a hand over her mouth.

Marty could see that Buffy was truly beginning to cry and he walked over to where she was and handed her a kleenex.

"Buffy, here is a kleenex. Dry your eyes." Marty remarked.

"Thanks, Marty." Buffy said, while giving him a smile.

"Anytime sweetheart." Marty sweetly said, just before he disappeared to the other side of the bar again.

"I am so sorry that I can't stop crying. Today just really sucks." Buffy exclaimed, while dabbing her eyes with the kleenex.

"I understand." Connor retorted, while giving her a tiny smile.

"There is something that I want you to have." Buffy said, as she took her cross necklace off of her neck and placed it in Connor's hand.

"What is this?" Connor asked, while being kind of confused.

"Angel gave this necklace to me the night that I met him. I have always treasured this necklace right along with my claddagh ring. You need to have it now." Buffy remarked, while reaching over to run her hand across his chin and giving him a sad smile.

"Buffy, I can't take this from you." Connor said, as he immediately rebuffed the gift and tried to hand it back to Buffy.

"Connor, you are Angel's kid in every way that counts. Angel would want you to have the necklace." Buffy passionately stated.

"Thank you for this." Connor uttered.

"Connor, I want you to know that no matter where I am in the world, I always got you. I really don't know the real nature of your relationship with Angel but I know his heart and if he lets someone into it, then they must be pretty special." Buffy happily remarked, as she sat up from her stool for a few seconds and placed the cross necklace around Connor's neck.

Connor couldn't believe how kind that Buffy was toward him. Buffy had welcomed him into the fold when most of Angel's so called family didn't and now she was giving him something sacred of hers that belonged to his father. Connor couldn't let Buffy continue to do what she was doing without telling her the truth about Angel being his biological father. He knew the truth had to come out, damned be the consequences.

"Buffy, there is something that you need to know." Connor loudly stated, as he raised up from his stool. "The truth about Angel is that he is my-"

"Connor, can you hold that thought for a second? I have to answer this." Buffy said, as she put her finger up and interrupted him due to her cell phone suddenly beginning to ring.

Buffy walked over to an area of the club that was a little bit quieter and took the call. The call ended several minutes later and when Buffy walked back to where Connor was sitting, he saw that she suddenly became as white as a ghost and had a terrified expression on her face.

"Buffy, what's wrong?" Connor asked, concerningly.

"Connor, it's time. We have to go back to the hotel. They are ready to cut off the machines." Buffy said, in a monotone type voice that seemed to be cracking a bit.

"Are you ready for this?" Connor empathetically remarked, as he got up from the stool and started to collect his bearings.

"No, and I will never be but we need to go say goodbye to Angel. Let's go." Buffy stated, as she grabbed her and collected her bearings as well.

The both of them then exited Caritas and prepared to make their way back to the Hyperion.

/

As she was standing at the front entrance of The Hyperion, Buffy froze up and found herself unable to go inside of the hotel. Buffy's hands were clammy and her heart was beating rapidly and she knew in her heart that she did NOT have the strength to go into that hotel. Buffy knew what was coming when she entered the Hyperion's doors and as much as she was trying to prepare herself for it, she was losing the battle.

Connor, who was lightly trailing behind Buffy could see that she was struggling and decided to do what he knew his father would want him to do in that predicament and he placed his hand in with Buffy's and led her inside of the hotel. Buffy was a part of Connor's family now and he knew that he had to be there for her.

Once inside of the hotel, Connor and Buffy headed up to Angel's hotel room. All of the A.I. team along with Spike and Faith and Lorne along with a couple of nurses were situated in the room when Buffy and Connor arrived. Everyone there was a little shocked to see Connor and Buffy arriving at the same time and wondered if Buffy now knew the real truth about Connor but didn't press the issue at that moment for obvious reasons.

Faith was the first one to greet Buffy and Connor upon entering the hotel room and the others soon followed suit. Buffy walked over to the bed where Angel was situated and bent down beside him and gave him a kiss on the cheek before going to sit down in a chair that was situated in the middle of the room.

One of the nurses walked to one of the life support machines and checked Angel's vitals and then inserted a syringe of morphine into one of his IV's so that when she removed the breathing tube, he wouldn't feel any pain. Then that nurse began to turn off the alarms on the life support machine.

Another one of the nurses walked over to the 2nd life support machine and began to cut off the alarms within it and started the process of removing Angel's breathing tube. The moment that Angel had his breathing tube removed, he started to gurgle and cough. Then Angel began struggling to breathe and was convulsing violently.

The way that Angel was moving around made it seemed as though he was coming out of the coma but the nurses immediately informed the occupants of the room that he was just beginning the process of passing away.

Buffy immediately arose from her chair to try and do something about his convulsing and Wesley gave her a pointed look that told her to let the nurses do their jobs. Spike walked over to Buffy and placed his hand on her shoulder as everything was happening, as a way to be comforting.

Connor rolled his eyes at Spike's attempt to be "comforting" and found it to be disrespectful as his father basically lay dying in the center of the room.

Buffy felt as though her whole being was about to break as she was watching life essentially leave Angel's body. Everything in Buffy's soul was screaming at her to stop the process of the life support ending but she knew in her heart that this was happening for the best. Angel's suffering needed to end.

After about several minutes, Angel stopped convulsing and his face began to turn blue. Mild tremors followed Angel turning blue but after a couple of seconds, the tremors stopped. Once the tremors stopped, Angel's heart rate began to decelerate and he then flatlined.

When Angel flatlined, something seemed as though it metaphorically ripped inside of Buffy and she let out what appeared to be a bloodcurdling scream and fell to her knees. Buffy in that moment felt as though she couldn't breathe anymore and also as if someone was ripping out her soul.

Tears rapidly fell from her eyes and she honestly felt as though her heart was breaking in a way that she never thought possible.

Connor and Faith quickly rushed to comfort Buffy but were quickly met with resistance from her.

Wesley quickly rushed out of the room once Angel flatlined, so as to not show any emotion in public. Fred immediately burst into tears upon watching her friend pass away and Gunn instantly took her into his arms, comforting her. Lorne was not really sure what to do in terms of emotion, so he just took a drink from his flask.

Spike was just mad as hell at his former sire because he knew in his heart that Angel shouldn't have died in that manner and everyone in that room shouldn't have had to grieve for him.

Spike glanced over at Buffy and saw that she not only was inconsolable but that she also looked like a woman who seemed as though all of the life had been drained from her body. Spike felt sorry for Buffy because he knew that she had been stuck cleaning up Angel's bullshit and now to add insult to injury, she had to grieve for him too. If Angel wasn't already dead, Spike was sure that would have pummeled him to death for putting her through more additional suffering than she was used to dealing with.

The nurses made sure that the life machines were completely cut off, declared Angel as deceased, cleaned Angel up, and then quickly exited the hotel room.

Once the nurses left the room, all of the occupants within the hotel room took their turns saying goodbye to Angel. When all of the occupants of the room were done saying their goodbyes to Angel, they made a swift exit downstairs to the kitchen to prepare for the wake and left Buffy and Spike in the room to say their goodbyes to him.

Spike was beyond livid that Angel had put his loved ones through the process of having to grieve for him. In his eyes, Spike knew that Angel's subsequent coma and now death could have been avoided if he had just used his brain and not been a pompous asshole but it was too late to change what had just occurred.

Spike was mostly angry at the fact that Buffy was going to be grieving for the ponce forever. Spike knew that Buffy was never going to love him in the same vein that she loved Angel but he still didn't want to see her in pain and watching her cry over a man who he thought never really deserved her broke his heart.

Spike stepped forward in the hotel room to look at Angel's now deceased body(which was almost completely covered under a white blanket) and he was prepared to say something snarky to his former sire until Buffy gave Spike a death glare. It was a death glare that basically told him to shut his mouth.

Spike had a lot to say to Angel but out of respect for his former lover, he kept his comments to himself. Spike then walked back over to Buffy and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead and lightly caressed her shoulders for a few seconds and then gave her a look of adoration and then exited the hotel room, ultimately leaving her in the room by herself and heading downstairs to join the others for the wake.

Once Buffy was left in the hotel room by herself, she quickly became unglued and let all of the emotions that she had been suppressing come out. Tears came first and then she started throwing chairs around the room and then she let out an unnerving scream that was surely heard throughout the hotel.

Once Buffy's explosion of anger and grief was over, she slowly walked over to the bed where her ex-lover lay deceased and she semi pulled the white blanket low enough on him to where she could see his face.

"You know I have known you for a long time and I have loved you for seems like forever." Buffy said, softly as she ran her fist across Angel's chin. "It wasn't supposed to end like this, Angel. You are supposed to wake up and I am supposed to fix us and we are supposed to have the life together that we wanted and that we envisioned." Buffy continued, as her voice was starting to crack.

"None of this is fair. This will never be fair, my love." Buffy shouted, as she shook her body violently and then took one of his hands and held it up to her face and kissed it gently.

"You are supposed to give me a pumpkin belly, baby. We are supposed to have a family. We are supposed to grow old and tell our grandkids about our love story. How can I just give up that dream?" Buffy quietly said, while kneeling down on the side of Angel's bed and placing her head down in her hands.

"How in the hell am I supposed to go on knowing that we almost had everything? How am I going to put my heart in a coffin? I don't care what I said in italy to you. You are my heart and I love you so much and I never stopped and I never will, baby." Buffy loudly muttered, as she got up from off of the floor to directly face her now deceased lover and just as her tears began to fall down on his chest.

"You know when I kicked you in that alley years ago, I had no idea the effect that you would have on me or how madly in love with you that I would become. Even though we were apart for years, my love never wavered for you. You changed me in so many ways and I will always be grateful to you for that, Liam Seamus O'Flannery. You will always be my Angel and I will never forget you, baby."

Buffy bent down and pressed her lips to Angel's and kissed him with every fiber of her being.

She then raised her fist and ran it slowly across Angel's chin, while trying to memorize the face of the man who had what she knew was a permanent claim on her heart for the last time.

"I will love you for the rest of my life and I am so sorry, baby." Buffy whispered softly, as her voice was cracking and she was staring down at him.

Buffy then walked to the hotel room door and opened it and began to prepare herself to leave it and her greatest love behind forever. However before she exited the hotel room, she took one last glance at Angel and told him "Goodbye" in a soft whisper.

Buffy then closed the door and ran down the hotel stairs(past all of the guests and the A.I. team) and then ran into the hyperion parking lot, where she got into her car and immediately sped away from the hotel.

/

About an hour after the life support machines were cut off and all of Angel's friends/associates had headed downstairs for the wake and Buffy had left the Hyperion, a strange blue mist began to form in Angel's hotel room and worked itself over to where he was situated and surrounded itself around his freshly deceased body and caused it to spring to life again.

At first, Angel's fingers began to wiggle a bit. Then Angel's legs started to move around a bit. Then Angel's eyes completely popped right open.

As he started to wake up, Angel was a little bit confused at first about his surroundings. It took a few seconds for it to completely register in his brain that he was indeed in his bedroom at the Hyperion.

Angel leapt forward in his bed and pulled the white blanket off of himself and then tried to stand up from the bed but was immediately knocked back onto the bed by the soreness/muscle atrophy that was coursing through his legs. Angel took a deep breath and gave himself a few minutes to rethink how he would get downstairs.

Angel grabbed onto one of his life support machines and held onto the machine and pushed the machine toward the hotel room door and then opened the door and then proceeded to make his way toward the hotel stairs, while leaning up against the hotel wall for support along the way.

Once Angel made his way to the hotel stairs, he held onto the bannister of one of them and slowly made his way down the stairs. When Angel was halfway down the hotel stairs, he found himself starting to really get out of breath and that made it increasingly difficult for him to continue going forward.

Luckily enough for Angel, Faith was walking into the lobby from the kitchen because she was about to go outside and retrieve something from her motorcycle when she saw Angel standing at the middle of the hotel stairs.

At first glance, Faith was pretty sure that she was seeing a hallucination because she had eaten some edibles that Lorne had given her but once she heard Angel call out her name, she knew he was real and in technicolor.

Faith immediately rushed over to where Angel was situated on the stairs and lifted up his arm and placed it around her torso area and then led him down the stairs and then over to a nearby couch, where she sat him down.

"Hey, big guy. We thought that you were out for the count." Faith said, with a tiny smile on her face.

"Not that it isn't good to see you Faith but what are you doing here?" Angel asked curiously, as he was struggling to breathe and his words were coming out in breaths.

Angel felt as though he was completely void of energy while sitting there on the couch and the pain that was coursing through his legs due to the muscle atrophy from the coma wasn't really helping matters. He was really trying in that moment to fight the very real urge to scream his head off due to the intensity of his pain and he was barely winning the battle.

"Um, I don't know how to tell you this but you died." Faith muttered, while rubbing the back of her hair nervously.

"What?" Angel said, as his eyes widened in response.

"Yeah, the machines were cut off about an hour ago. We are just having a wake for you." Faith said, anxiously and while wringing out her hands.

"Faith, how in the world is that possible? The last thing that I remember was being in the alley and dealing with the dragon." Angel remarked, as he looked at her awkwardly and also a bit confused.

Before Faith could answer Angel, Fred walked into the lobby to find Faith after she hadn't come back from being outside and she let out a huge scream when she saw a very alive Angel sitting on the couch in the lobby.

The scream was so loud that it caused all of Angel's friends and Connor to run out into the lobby to see what caused the ruckus.

"Angel, is it really you?" Fred asked, while holding her hands under her chin in a prayer-like position and as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Fred, I am so happy to see you." Angel replied, while giving her a smile. "I would hug you but I am not really in a position to do so." Angel continued, while referring to his labored breathing.

"You just couldn't stay dead, could you?" Spike said, while shaking his head and shooting Angel a dirty look.

"Fuck you and bite me, blondie bear." Angel angrily stated, while using the little strength that he could muster up to give him the middle finger.

"Angel, are you okay?" Wesley asked, as he approached Angel.

"Wes, I feel like my head is spinning and like my legs are jelly. What in the hell happened to me?" Angel said, loudly and while looking at each person that was in front of him to hopefully give him an answer to his newfound confusing predicament.

"A coma for 6 months is what happened to you, ya ponce." Spike interrupted, as he held up his hand to speak.

"Seriously Spike, please fucking me bite right now." Angel urged, sternly.

"Angel, you have been in an irreversible coma for almost a year and we just pulled the plug on you not too long ago." Gunn stated, as he folded his arms. "Dude, you are supposed to be dead." Gunn continued.

"Gunn, it's really good to see you as well. We have so much to talk about." Angel remarked, while looking directly at the former street vigilante.

"Dad!" Connor shouted, as he flew into Angel's arms and the ex vampire hugged him tightly.

"Connor, it's really good to see you son." Angel remarked, while pulling apart from the hug and looking at Connor with nothing but adoration in his eyes.

"I thought that you were gone. What happened?" Connor said, while slightly shaking his head and looking at his father confusedly.

"Connor, I am not sure of what the hell is going on here. I just know that my head is killing me and my legs feel horrible and for some strange reason, I feel warm all over." Angel said, while raising a hand to pat his forehead.

Angel then began to examine why he somehow felt warm all over and immediately placed his hand right over his chest and noticed that he surprisingly had a heartbeat.

"I am human! I am human! Holy shit, I am human!" Angel repeatedly stated, while smiling heavily and freaking out at his newfound revelation.

"And you don't fucking deserve it." Spike quipped.

"Aren't you supposed to be dust in an alley, you incessant moron?" Angel clapped back.

"How does it feel, big guy?" Faith asked, just as she sat down next to Angel on the couch.

"I don't know, Faith. I am happy but I am also in a shitload of pain." Angel said, as he reached down and lightly rubbed his left leg which felt as though it might metaphorically fall off at any second.

"It's good to see you, Angelkins." Lorne happily stated, as he raised up the glass of bourbon that he was holding and gave him a big smile.

"Do you know anything about this?" Angel worriedly remarked, as he referred to his new and very unexpected humanity.

"All I can tell you right now is that it's a gift." Lorne expressed, warmly. "Enjoy it." Lorne continued.

"Dad, I know that you are happy about being human and all of us are certainly happy for you but don't you think that we should get you to a hospital?" Connor said, while giving his dad a once over.

"Connor, there's no time for that. I need to go find someone." Angel replied, as he started to get up from the couch.

"Who?" Connor asked.

"I need to go find Buffy."

"B is gone. B left immediately after we shut off your machines. B is probably at the airport now." Faith emphasized strongly.

"I have to go and find her before it's too late." Angel said, as he almost fell back toward the couch while trying to get off of it.

"How do you know that Buffy was here?" Gunn curiously remarked, as he burrowed his eyebrow.

"Gunn, I am a lot of things but I am most certainly NOT deaf. I don't know how I was able to do it but I heard her talking to me while I was in the coma and that's how I know that she was here." Angel conveyed, while finally getting off of the couch and starting to limp toward the lobby door.

"Mate, you are NOT in a position to go anywhere but the hospital." Spike indicated, as he stood in front of Angel and blocked him from getting to the lobby door.

"Why in the hell are you even here, Spike?" Angel angrily muttered, as he stared at him intently and then roughly pushed Spike out of the way and onto the ground. With the way that Angel was feeling in that moment, he had no patience for the likes of Blondie Bear.

"I wanted to see you get your comeuppance and also come get our girl." Spike casually remarked, from his place on the ground. "I swear you are not even awake for an hour as a human and you are already being an asshole. Some things just never change." Spike continued, as he just shook his head in disbelief.

"Spike, do you know that you are the walking equivalent of a headache? Please fuck off." Angel brazenly stated, as he continued to limp toward the front door.

"Dad, you NEED to go to the hospital. You are NOT in the best shape to do anything, much less make it to Buffy. Plus you don't even know where she is." Connor strongly emphasized, as he ran behind his father.

"Connor, I know that you are concerned about me right now and I really love you for being that way but I don't care what's going on with me right now. I am going to go find my Buffy and bring her home, where she rightly belongs." Angel said, as he placed his hands on Connor's shoulders and looked at him directly.

"Angelcakes, take everyone's advice here and please let us take you to a hospital. You can't even walk straight and your breathing sounds terrible, toots. Oh and you just said that your head is spinning. You NEED to go to a hospital." Lorne said, concerningly.

"Mate, you will be dead before you even get halfway to her." Spike interrupted, while looking at Angel with a deadpan expression on his face.

Angel stopped in the middle of his tracks as he started to take heed to what everyone around him was saying. As much as he did desperately want to get to Buffy, he knew that he probably wouldn't make it very far in his condition.

"I know that you want to get to her but you need to get checked out first." Fred exclaimed.

"Lorne, you know what is going to happen if I don't go now. I will never see her again." Angel softly whispered, as he turned to face the empath demon.

The expression on Angel's face in that moment was one of deep fear and Lorne knew exactly why he was looking at him like that.

Lorne had been one of the few people that Angel secretly confided in about the true nature of Buffy's life in Italy, when he had only divulged bits and pieces of it to the rest of his team.

Lorne had gathered from the culmination of what Angel had told him about her and what the powers that be had told him about her and his own interactions with Buffy, that she was a kindhearted person whose life had taken a downward spiral in the last few years and she was constantly struggling to find her way out of the proverbial darkness that had plagued her life.

Lorne knew that the questionable decisions that Buffy had made in the last few years had tarnished her soul immensely and made her feel as though she was worthless and would never be worthy again of receiving anyone's love or even having the family that she secretly desired.

Lorne's heart broke greatly for Angel because he knew that his old friend would metaphorically crawl on broken glass in order to get to Buffy, because he loved her beyond reason and wanted to help her return to some state of normalcy and mental stability. The only caveat of Angel doing such a thing was that no matter how much he really did want to help Buffy, she was really the only one who could help herself and she needed to be able to find the strength on her own to do that.

Buffy was a broken troubled woman who just wanted to escape her past and all of the pain that was encased in it and Lorne knew that her answer to do that was simply just to disappear into the wind never to be seen again. Oh and from how she had been talking all day about her travel plans, Lorne was sure that she was planning on doing just that.

"Do you honestly think that Buffy would want you to risk your health getting to her?" Lorne asked, sharply and as he bounced out of his reverie.

"Lorne, I am not stupid. I know what you are saying but I have to get to her before it's too late. Angel shouted.

Angel mustered the little bit of strength that he felt like he still had and hobbled over to the front and walked outside. Oh and when he made it outside, all of friends and associates ran behind him.

"Dad, how in the hell do you think that you are even going to get to Buffy?" Connor asked.

"My dearest boy, you are going to drive me to where she is." Angel said, wryly.

"I am NOT doing that, dad." Connor vehemently refused, while shaking his head.

"Connor, I don't have time for this." Angel angrily shouted.

"Dad, you are being a bit crazy right now. I am NOT taking you on some wild goose chase to find Buffy when you are on the verge of potentially keeling over. You need to go to a damn hospital. Stop being stubborn and let me take you to a hospital, PLEASE." Connor loudly retorted, while starting to get a bit angry as well.

"You oughta listen to the pipsqueak here." Spike interjected, while nodding his head.

"Spike, please stay out of this and while you are at it, learn to shut the fuck up. God, why are you even here?" Angel bellowed.

"Give me your keys, Connor." Angel said, while holding out his hand and wringing it around.

"No, because you are going to pass out before you hit the freeway." Connor stated, sharply.

"Angel, you need to listen to your kid. B would be devastated if something happened to you." Faith said, as she stood near the outside entrance of the hotel.

"Faith, I know you are concerned but please stay out of this." Angel requested of his surrogate sister of sorts.

Angel was really beginning to feel only mildly lightheaded at this point and whereas some of the pain in his head had subsided, the pain in his legs was still present and he wasn't sure how much more of it that he could take.

"Connor, I will make a deal with you." Angel uttered, as he pressed his hand to his forehead.

"What kind of a deal?" Connor asked, while burrowing his eyebrow.

"If you will take me to go find Buffy, I promise you that I will go to a doctor immediately afterwards." Angel pleaded strongly, with a look of desperation in his eyes.

"You know she's going to kick both of our asses if we find her, right? You know she's really going to kick my ass for helping you get to her in your condition, right?" Connor asked, as he nervously ran his hands through his hair and closed his eyes.

"Connor, Buffy isn't going to hurt you. Now me, that's another story." Angel said, wryly and as he gave Connor a tiny smile.

"Connor, please don't tell me that you are going to do this. Angel needs to go to the hospital." Fred loudly exclaimed, while her eyes were enlarged.

"You can't really be considering doing this, right?" Wesley asked Connor, while folding his arms.

"Are you sure that you will go immediately after we go find her?" Connor remarked skirmishly, as he ignored Fred and Wesley's pleas and then turned his attention back to Angel.

"Connor, I will do whatever you want me to. I just need to go find the woman that I love before she disappears forever." Angel begged, as he put his hands together in a prayer-like position.

"I cannot believe that I am agreeing to this but dad get in the car." Connor said, as he let out a sigh and then shook his head and then walked over to the driver's seat of his car and climbed in.

"Connor, you will never regret this!" Angel happily stated, as he gave his son a smile and then climbed into the passenger seat of Connor's car.

"Connor, please don't do this." Gunn said, as he walked up to Connor's side of the car and tried to plead with him.

"Gunn, please stay out of this." Angel interrupted, while looking at his friend/associate intently.

"Dad, what if Buffy isn't even in L.A. anymore? What if she is already in the wind? Have you thought about those 2 things?" Connor questioned, just before he put his keys in the ignition.

"Connor, I know Buffy and she's definitely still in Los Angeles. I know exactly where she is. Now will you please stop arguing with me about this subject and get me to her?" Angel yelled, while reaching down to rub his left leg which was hurting even worse than before at this point.

"Fine!" Connor roared, as he then put his keys in the ignition and started to drive off of the Hyperion parking lot.

/

Immediately once Angel's life support machine was cut off and she had said her final goodbyes to him, a very tearful Buffy ran out of the hotel and climbed into her car and just started driving. Buffy wasn't really sure where the hell she was going, she just knew that she had to get the hell out of that hotel and away from what she believed was Angel's dead body.

Buffy had informed the A.I. team several days before the life support machines were disconnected, she was going to be leaving Los Angeles for good, so she didn't expect them to really be surprised by her absence at Angel's wake.

Buffy had found out rather quickly that booking a flight of Los Angeles online wasn't going to be an option due to it being Christmas eve and the airports being a chaotic mess, so she settled on just driving to whatever might be her next destination.

After a couple of hours of driving around and trying to make sense of what had transpired within the last few hours and also basically trying to figure out her next steps, Buffy found herself standing on the edge of the Santa Monica Pier looking at the waves despondently.

As Buffy was standing on the pier hopelessly looking out at the ocean and metaphorically feeling as though she was numb on the inside, she broke down and cried. A torrent of emotions ran through Buffy there on the beach all at once and they managed to consume her immensely and bring her to the point of tears.

In her heart, nothing suddenly mattered anymore now that Angel was gone. Angel was the love of her life and the keeper of her heart and now that he was gone, all of the dreams that she wanted so desperately to happen seemed to have died right along with him.

Buffy wanted nothing more than to have a chance to make things right with Angel when it came to fixing their issues and the guilt that she carried knowing that she would never get that opportunity was literally tearing Buffy apart.

The thought that Angel went into his final battle still deeply in love with Buffy but thinking that she hated him with a passion made Buffy's tears flow even harder, when that couldn't have been farther from the truth.

There hadn't been a day since the moment that Angel left her all those years ago on graduation day that Buffy had fallen out of love with him, even when he gave her continuous reasons to do so. Angel was always on her mind and in her heart, no matter how much she tried to deny it at times.

Even when Buffy ran off to Italy and forgot who she was essentially as a person, her love for Angel was the only thing that still ringed true in her life. That love gave her hope on her darkest days when dealing with being an escort and it also gave her the strength to stay alive when that situation was metaphorically killing her on the inside. Nope, the love that Buffy had for Angel never went away and she knew in her heart that it never would.

As she continued to stand there on the beach, A small part of Buffy wanted to walk out into the ocean and go join Angel but she knew that wasn't the answer. Angel would want Buffy to live, even though everything in her at that moment wanted to do the complete opposite.

In her heart, it did not feel real yet to Buffy that Angel was gone. It actually strangely felt to her as though he was still alive and his energy was still on earth. Buffy chucked up that feeling to the passing of Angel still being so fresh and the grief surrounding it causing her to have strange thoughts.

As she started to walk down the beach, Buffy began to wonder what she might miss the most about Angel. She knew that she would miss his hugs, as they were so warm and always made her feel safe. She knew that she would miss his snarkiness, which always made her smile even when she wanted to kill him. She knew that she would miss his kisses, which were always so hot and full of passion and would leave her breathless. Most of all, Buffy knew that she would miss her Angel.

Buffy couldn't really place where it was coming from but somewhere on the beach, someone was playing "Officially Missing You" by Tamia and as she stopped walking and listened to the song for a second, the lyrics of it hit her extremely pretty hard.

From the way that Angel looked when he walked into a room to how his touch would send shivers down Buffy's spine to how his lips felt pressed up against hers, Buffy knew that she would miss her baby forever and that no other man would be able to replace him in her heart or her mind and she wasn't even going to give anyone else a chance to try it.

Even though she had been apart from Angel for what seemed like years and it seemed like their relationship was fractured beyond belief at times, she was indeed proud of him. Proud that he had found a purpose in the world and was trying to do the right thing. Proud that her ex-honey went out fighting on the side of good.

"The world lost a champion and they don't even know it." Buffy sadly thought to herself.

As she continued walking down the beach, she stopped for a second and peeked down at the claddagh ring that was situated on her ring finger. The ring was given to her that night when she married Angel in Las Vegas, as a way to replace the one that she had lost so many moons ago.

The ring was supposed to symbolize love, loyalty, and the sanctity of marriage. Buffy scoffed while looking at the Irish wedding band because she knew that loyalty was one thing that she hadn't shown to Angel within the last year.

Between leaving him in Los Angeles because of his association with Wolfram and Hart and literally inadverently leaving him to die in an alley behind a hotel of all places, she truly wondered where her loyalty to Angel was? He needed her and she was off in her own world, opening her legs up to the highest bidder.

"Why didn't you come to me? Why didn't you let me help you, baby?" she screamed to the wind, hoping that Angel could somehow hear her.

Buffy knew in her heart why Angel didn't come to her regarding helping with the battle in the alley. She knew that her behaviour in Rome when it came to getting the capo's head mixed with the fact that her former team fucked him over royally several times during the year more than likely made Angel feel as though reaching out for help was impossible.

The pain that seared through Buffy's core when she envisioned what Angel's actual last moments on earth must have been like was a pain that was metaphorically excruciating. It was a pain that cut her so deep and she knew no drink or fuck or even a drug was going to be able to completely numb it.

Buffy wondered if Angel cried out for her in his last moments like she had done for him when she died in the battle with Glory. The thought of envisioning such a thing was too much to bear.

As she reached the edge of the beach, Buffy began to cry even harder because it was slowly beginning to sink in that Angel was indeed really gone.

Buffy contemplated taking off her claddagh ring and just throwing it in the ocean. She figured that she wasn't worthy of such a beautiful gift, so why have it anymore? It didn't make any sense to her.

She ultimately decided to not throw her claddagh ring in the ocean but she did bend down on her knees, slip her ring off of her finger, and place it in some sand.

Buffy then traced the now sandy ring with the edge of her index finger and softly whispered "Goodbye Angel." in a very pained sounding voice.

Buffy then placed her face in her hands and silently bawled for a few seconds and then slicked back her hair, before standing up from the sand.

Buffy took one last glance down at the claddagh ring and then started to walk away from it and in the midst of doing so, she suddenly heard what appeared to be someone screaming from what was clearly the far distance of the beach.

The screaming was constantly becoming louder by the second and for a split second during it, Buffy was convinced that someone was actually screaming her name. Buffy thought that theory was kind of weird and a little bit silly and immediately tried to brush it off but then she heard the yelling again and knew that the theory was a valid one.

As the unknown voice started to sound a bit louder and clearer and seemingly was coming closer to her, she felt as though she recognized who the voice belonged to but in her heart, she knew that it wasn't possible.

As she turned around to possibly see where the mysterious voice was coming from, Buffy could see that there was a figure running towards her. Buffy wasn't able to make out who the mysterious figure was at first but as he started to get closer to her and she started to realize who he was, her heart skipped several beats and she suddenly found it hard to breathe.

The mysterious figure was one that haunted Buffy's dreams and that managed to take up a great deal of space in her heart. The mysterious figure was someone that Buffy loved wholeheartedly and unconditionally. The mysterious figure was a man who she controlled her body and her soul and that she would have gladly devoted herself to for the rest of her life, if given the chance. The mysterious figure on that beach on that cold December day was Angel, her Angel.

At the mere sight of someone who looked like Angel standing right in front of her, Buffy became metaphorically frozen and quite unsure of what to do at that moment. In her heart, she wanted to believe that this was real and not some hallucination that she was making up in her mind in order to deal with the grief of losing Angel.

Buffy was scarily afraid to touch the being in front of her that carried her great love's face because she was terrified that touching it might make it go away.

Angel, sensing that Buffy was clearly in shock at his unexpected resurrection and that there was a bit of trepidation on her end when it came to realizing that he was indeed real and not an apparition, stepped forward to grab her left hand and then raised it up to his cheek and then rubbed the edge of her fist against it adoringly. Buffy caught a lump in her throat by the gesture and started to sob.

"Angel! Are you really here! Is this really happening" Buffy said softly, as she continued to caress the side of his face and as her voice began to crack.

"Hi baby." Angel said sweetly, as he gave her a smile. Angel then dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms tightly around the lower part of Buffy's torso.

"I love you so much! Oh my god I love you." Buffy shouted, as tears started to greatly glisten her eyes and she reached down to softly run her hands through Angel's hair. She then said a silent thank you to whoever brought her love back to her, whether it was a higher power or Willow or whatever was out there in the universe.

"I love you, my ioniun. God, you have no idea how much I love you." Angel said earnestly, as he lifted himself up off the ground to face Buffy. Once Angel was at eye-level with Buffy, he instantly pulled her into a heated kiss that was hungry and full of need.

"Angel, I don't understand this. How in the world are you alive?" Buffy asked, while tears were still running rapidly down in her face and she was still very confused about this new development.

"Baby, I don't really know how and I really don't really care. All I know right now is that I have never been happier to see you in my life." Angel replied, while gleaming at her.

Angel then raised his hand to his forehead, because his headache had returned with a vengeance and the pain from it was becoming more unbearable by the second.

"Angel, what's wrong?" Buffy asked concerningly, as she watched his face wince in pain.

"Buffy, I am perfectly fine." Angel reassured her, just before he started to stumble around and also began to feel lightheaded.

"It doesn't look like you are fine. Angel, you are clearly not okay." Buffy stressed, with her eyes becoming enlarged.

"Honey, I just woke up from a coma and it's taking me a while to just get my laurels together again, that's all." Angel said, as he leaned down to touch his knees and his breathing started to become labored again. Running down the beach to reach Buffy had taken a real toll on Angel's body and in addition to his searing headache and lightheadedness, the pain in Angel's legs was now returning as well.

"Angel, you are NOT okay." Buffy reiterated loudly. "We are getting you to a damn hospital."

"Ioniun" was the only word that Angel was able to muster before his eyes rolled back and he then fell down into the sand and passed out.

The end of Part 6

AN: Let the games begin!