Chapter 107: I Will Remember You
Angel winds up an old clock and sets it on the desk in his office. He then checks the table's surface. Puts a pencil down at one end and watches it roll across his desk.
Cordelia and Doyle watch form the outer office.
"When did he get back?" Cordelia asks.
"Late last night." Doyle says
Cordelia nods, "And?"
"Ah, he seemed fine." Doyle says
Cordelia sighs, "He saw Buffy. He was in San Francisco for three days, tracking her and that thingymagiggy you saw in your vision." She looks at Angel trying to adjust his desk. "Where is the crabby scowl, the morbid gloom?" She turns to Doyle. "This just means that it cut deeper then usual. Batten down the hatches, here comes Hurricane Buffy."
"You think?" Doyle asks as Cordelia gives an exasperated sigh. "Maybe he's over her."
Cordelia pats Doyle on the shoulder, "You have so much to learn little Irish man." She turns and sees Angel take a stake out of his desk drawer testing its tip with his finger. "Oh, my God!" She runs into the office with Doyle right behind, "Don't do it, Angel!"
"Listen to me, man, it's not worth it." Doyle says.
"It's not?" Angel asks, slightly confused.
"No! You can't let her get to you like this. You'll meet someone else. Just give it some time." Cordelia says.
Doyle holds out a hand, "Why don't you let me have that?"
"Because I need it to level my desk." Angel says as he bends down to stick the tip of it under one of the table's legs. "The floor is uneven." He straightens up with a smirk. "You two thought.."
Cordelia nods, "Doyle did. You know how he jumps to conclusions, - 'cause you saw Buffy."
"It wasn't a social call. I was there to protect her. I stayed out of sight. She didn't even know I was there." Angel says.
Cordelia looks at Angel, shocked, "Really? " Angel nods. "So you avoided her."
"Look, Buffy is always going to be a part of me, and that's never going to change. But she's human and I'm –" Angel frowns and looks down "- not. And that's also never going to change. We said our good-byes, no need to stir any of this up again."
"You don't want to 'stir', but if my ex came to town and was all stalking me in the shadows and then left and then didn't even say 'hello' I'd be.." Cordelia says.
"A little upset." Buffy says from the door. Angel looks at her, his mouth dropping open. "Wouldn't you?"
"Buffy! - Buffy's here - in town. - What brings you to.." Cordelia says.
Buffy nods, deciding a lie is best, "I came to see my father." She looks over at Angel. "Thought I'd stop by."
"What a surprise!" Cordelia says with a fake laugh.
Buffy smiles, "Cordelia how are you?"
"Good. I'm good. You?" Cordelia says.
Buffy looks at Angel, "I've been better. Oh I've been meaning to say something to you Cordelia. I thought we were friends you know. That last little barb before we graduated, hurt."
"What barb?" Cordelia asks.
"The one about me never leaving San Francisco." Buffy says.
"Oh, sorry." Cordelia says. "Anyways, this is Doyle. And he gets visions of people in trouble. Much like you do I guess."
"Nice to make your.." Doyle says.
Cordrlia takes Doyle's arm and pulls him out of the office "And this is us leaving you two alone."
Buffy closes the door behind them then turns back to Angel, who's having trouble meeting her eyes.
"Well, umm, it's good to.. Can I get you anything?" Angel says.
Buffy frowns, "How about - an explanation? - Who do you think you are coming to my town and following me around behind my back?"
"I'm sorry." Angel says.
"What is this? Some new torment you cooked up just for me?" Buffy says.
Angel sighs, "No, I don't want to torment.."
Buffy shakes her head, "What is it? You can see me, but I can't see you? What are we playing here?"
"We're not. I'm not playing anything. I wrestled with this decision.." Angel says.
Buffy frowns, "Which you made without me."
Angel sighs, "I tried to do what I thought was right. It's complicated how this all happened, Buffy, you know? It's kind of a long story."
"You're new sidekick had a premonition, I was in it, you came to San Francisco?" Buffy says.
"Okay, maybe not that long." Angel says.
Buffy sighs, "You didn't feel that I was important enough to even tell me that you were there."
Angel looks at her for a moment, "I'm trying to explain. It's because I felt that you're important that I didn't tell you."
"I'm a big girl now, Angel. I'm not in High School anymore. A lot has happened in my life since you left." Buffy says.
"I know. I respect that." Angel says.
"And I don't need you skulking around, trying to protect me." Buffy says as Angel looks away. "Unless, of course, I'm in some gigantic fight to the death, which - I was last night. That was you, helping me, wasn't it?"
"I was in the neighborhood - skulking." Angel says. "I'm sorry if I handled this wrong. I mean, what else was I supposed to do?"
"I don't know. - I just know that when you're around, whether I see you or not, - I feel you - inside - and it throws me." Buffy says.
Angel sighs, "Throws me, too."
Buffy nods, "So let's just stick to the plan. We keep our distance until a lot of time has passed. Given enough time we should be able to.."
"Forget?" Angel asks.
"Yeah. - So, I'm gonna go - start forgetting." Buffy says.
As Buffy turns to go a green skinned Samurai demon with a curved sword and a red jewel in his forehead crashes through the window behind Angel and attacks him. Angel barely avoids the first stroke of his sword by rolling across his desk.
"Angel!" Buffy says as she kicks the demon back against the wall, Angel comes up and throws an ax at it.
Angel slides across the floor, picking up the demon's sword and stabs it in the gut while it is still wrestling with Buffy. Some of its fluorescent green blood runs down the sword onto Angel's hand. The demon jumps back causing Buffy to land on top of Angel, pulls the sword out and jumps out of the window.
Angel and Buffy stare at each other as they slowly untangle themselves and get up.
"Friend of yours?" Buffy asks.
"Never saw it before." Angel says.
"It was rude. We should go kill it." Buffy says.
Angel smiles, "I'm free."
"Got somewhere I can change?" Buffy asks.
Later in the sewers Angel and Buffy are tracking the demon.
"It's heading towards the ocean." Angel says.
"Are you sure?" Buffy asks
"It's wounded. I can smell its blood." Angel says.
Buffy nods, "Oh. Great. - Handy skill." Angel stops to look at her as she continues on. "Maybe if your crack staff hadn't run off at the first sign of trouble they could have helped us with some research. Find out what this thing is and why it wants to kill us."
Something rustles and Buffy spins around, powering up a fireball.
"It's just a rat. - So, you can put that down." Angel says as Buffy extinguishes the fireball. "It's not a vampire. I don't know why you did that anyway."
"Reflex." Buffy says. "Besides it's a lot handier then your fighting ax."
"Unless he chops it in two and maybe takes some of your hand with it." Angel says.
Buffy sighs, "Look can we just get on with the hunting? I'd like to get this over with before dark."
Angel nods, "I can handle this myself."
"You bailed me out last night. I'd like us to be even.' Buffy says.
Angel walks past her, "We're keeping score now."
Buffy looks around, "Are you getting anything? Because I sure smell sewer." Angel touches a green spot on the wall of a tunnel junction, smells his fingers, then heads down that tunnel. "Tunnel number one it is."
Moments later Angel is emerging out of the mouth of a tunnel. He's blinking his eyes, frowning.
"Angel? You okay?" Buffy asks.
Angel shakes his head, "I feel weird.'
Buffy sighs, "I know. I do, too. I mean, I only came to see you so I could tell you face-to-face not to see me - face-to-face anymore, - and I know there is a fly in the logic ointment here somewhere, but.. The next thing I knew we're being attacked by this mutant ninja demon thing, and then we're on the floor on top of each other, and it's just really confusing being around you."
Angel grimaces, "No, I meant I felt weird from the demons blood." He kooks down at his hand. "It's powerful."
Buffy looks away, "Oh. Okay." She turns to walk on quickly. "Let's just rewind Buffy's little outburst and pretend it never happened."
"No. I-It is confusing. And I.. When we're apart - it's easier." Angel says as Buffy stares at him. "It hurts - every day. But I live with it." He slowly steps closer to her. "And now you're - you're right here - and I can actually reach out.. and - it's more then confusing - it's unbearable."
Buffy inches closer to him, "But we have to bear it, right? I mean, what else can we do? It doesn't work with us. It can't."
"No, I-I can't give you a life, or a future or anything a real girl would want." Angel says.
Buffy inching closer, "No matter how much we miss each other."
"Or what we feel in the moment." Angel says.
"If we let something happen here - we'd want more. - And nothing's changed. We'd only end up having to leave each other again." Buffy says.
"And that's the best case scenario." Angel says.
Buffy sighs, "Oh, Goddess." She turns away. "I was really jonesing for another heartbreaking sewer talk."
"I'm sorry." Angel says.
Buffy turns back to him angry, "You know, I'm actually on the brink of something back home. I'm actually heading towards a pretty good life now that.."
"I'm out of the picture. - That's why I left. I want you to have it." Angel says.
"Could we just - find this thing and get this finished?" Buffy says as she sees rungs leading up. "What if it went up?"
Angel sighs, "Into the day, where it knows I can't follow."
Buffy gets ready to go up, "But I can."
"Uh, I.." Angel says and reaches out to touch her then balls his hand up into a fist and pulls it back. "I don't want you going after it alone."
"Look, it's best all around if we just split up. I can handle it." Buffy says.
"There's a dive on Second near Beach, The Lone Bar. Demons go there sometimes when they need to get patched up." Angel says.
Buffy starts to climb, "Got it."
"Be careful." Angel says then he turns and walks down the dark tunnels.
Two glowing green eyes watch him from behind. Suddenly the demon jumps out and attacks him from behind slicing across the palm of Angel's right hand as he spins around. Angel looks at the blood on his hand then vamps out and attacks. They fight.
The demon slices off the head of Angel's battle-ax, and Angel manages to knock the sword out of the demon's hand. The demon pulls his short sword and they continue fighting. In the end Angel manages to grab the demon's sword hand and turns its hand to stab it in the heart with its own sword. The demon falls back as Angel stares at the glowing green blood that covers his cut right hand.
The blood swirls around and sinks into his cut, which closes up in front of his eyes. A light races from his right hand through his whole body as Angel collapses with a strangled cry.
Angel comes back up gasping for air and he hears the sound of a heart beating. He stares at his hand in disbelief, "I'm alive."
Back at Angel's Office, Cordelia and Doyle are walking in.
Doyle sees the destruction in Angel's office, "Woah, when they fight.."
Cordy runs past him, "Oh, my God!"
"What?" Doyle asks.
"She killed him!" Cordelia says as she picks up a handful of dust. "Oops! My bad." Brushes off her hands. "It's just dust I forgot to sweep under the rug."
"What, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Doyle asks.
"Hey, don't blame me if he's too cheap to hire a Cleaning Lady!" Cordelia says. The door opens and Angel walks into the outer office a dazed expression on his face. "What's wrong? What happened? - Did you do it with Buffy?" Doyle steps closer to Angel staring at his chest. "Watch it, Doyle, don't get too close. - Hey, you walked in the front door - from the street! You got.."
Angel looks at Doyle, "Yeah."
"An umbrella!" Cordelia says.
Angel walks past them and stand in the sun streaming in through the window.
"He's alive, Cordelia." Doyle says.
"Alive?" Cordelia asks.
"Buffy and I were attacked by some kind of demon. I- I tracked it - and killed it." Angel says and holds out his right hand. "A-and some of its blood mixed with mine."
Doyle lays two fingers on Angel's wrist, "And you wound up with a pulse?"
Angel nods, "I want to find out what kind of a demon that was. Ow, my back. It hurts. Everything's.."
"More real, now that you're real?" Doyle asks.
Angel nods, "Yeah. I'm mortal now. I have a mortal body." He stares at where Cordelia is standing. "And I'm so - hungry!"
Cordelia jumps out of his way as he comes charging towards her, "Look out, he's gonna eat.." Angel grabs one of the donuts sitting on the little refrigerator behind where she was standing and stuffs it in his mouth. "everything in sight!"
Angel opens the fridge, takes a bite out of an apple, "Oh my God. Food." He takes a bite out of something else. "This is unbelievable. This is so.." He smells the apple. "You know, I forgot how good it all tastes when you're alive!"
"Yeah, and they didn't even have Cookie-dough-fudge-mint-chip when you were alive." Cordelia says.
"Mmm, I want some! Can you get that?" Angel says.
Cordelia shakes her head, "It'll go straight to your thighs."
Angel still trying bites of everything, "Uhm, chocolate! Oh, chocolate!"
"All right, all right, we need to focus here. We need to try and find out.." Doyle says.
Angel talks with his mouth full, "I love chocolate!" He drinks out of a yogurt container and makes a face. "Uh, but not, as it turns out, yogurt. Urgh!"
"Orsen! We're in a situation here." Doyle says.
Angel nods, "Right." He takes a deep breath and closes the fridge. "I know. You're right. Let me think - and now my stomach's killing me. - Cordelia, find Buffy. She' in Santa Monica near the Lone Star. Tell her I killed the demon."
Cordelia turns to go, "Okay."
"Oh, wait! Don't tell her what's happened to me. Not until I know what it means." Angel says.
Cordelia nods, "All right."
Several moments later Angel is looking at a woodcut of the demon in a book. "That's it."
"It's called a Mohra demon. They're pretty powerful assassins, soldiers of darkness kind of thing. They take out warriors for our side, like you and Buffy." Doyle says. "Needs vast amounts of salt to live."
"It was heading towards salt water." Angel says.
"Veins run with the blood of eternity. There it is. Its blood has regenerative properties." Doyle says.
Angel stares fascinated at his reflection in a window, "Which explains what happened to me. But it doesn't explain why."
Doyle closes the book, "Hey, what difference does it make, man? The demon's dead, you're alive! It's happy fun time."
Angel spins to confront Doyle, "What's going on here, Doyle?"
"I don't know. I thought the only way for you to be made mortal was if the Powers That Be or the Elders stepped in." Doyle says.
"What, they could have done this? How come I keep getting the feeling that you're not telling me everything." Angel says.
"Because I'm not. We're both on a need to know basis here." Doyle says.
Angel paces, "I need to know about this. Is this permanent? Am I - am I normal Joe now? Can I have a normal life? I want to speak to the Powers That Be or the Elders."
"Woah, woah, woah! That's easier said than done, bud. The Powers That Be don't live in our reality. You have to approach them through channels. Dangerous channels. And the Elders you have to have a Whitelighter to get a message to them."
"So the Elders are out then. You know what? Start approaching the Powers That Be!"
Doyle sighs, "All right. All right. Maybe we can try the Oracles. But hey, if they turn you into a toad - don't say I didn't warn you."
Later Angel and Doyle are in some underground chamber. There is a white stone arc in one wall.
Angel reads the foreign inscription above it, "The Gateway for Lost Souls." He turns to Doyle. "Is under the post office?"
"It makes sense if you think about it. Now listen, the Oracles are finicky and unpredictable. You do get in, don't dilly-dally. Ask your questions, get out." Doyle says.
"Aren't you coming?" Angel asks.
"Not allowed. I'm just a lowly messenger, you're a warrior.. if your heart is pure - and I do this right.." Doyle says as he puts some herbs in an urn. "We beseech access to the knowing ones.. We may just survive." He puts a lighter to the urn and it fills with high flames. The arc glows and fills with light. "You're in."
Angel steps through the light into a white marble chamber. Two glittery figures confront him.
"Come before us, lower being." Man says.
"What have you brought us?" Woman asks.
"Was I supposed to.." Angel says.
"You call us forth and bring us no offering?" Man asks.
Angel takes off his wristwatch, "I brought you this."
Woman holds out her hand and the watch flies to her, "I like Time. There is so little and so much of it."
"Well?" Man asks.
Angel nods, "What's happened to me?"
Woman steps to one side of Angel, "It's true then, brother."
Man steps to the other side of Angel, "He is no longer a warrior."
Angel nods, "It was the demon's blood. It wasn't the Powers That Be that did this? Or the Elders?"
"The Powers That Be? Did you save humanity? Avert the Apocalypse?" Man says. "Elders do not interfere with one not of their own, a witch or future Whitelighter. They would not do this."
"You faced a Mohra demon. Life goes on." Woman says.
Angel nods, "My life as a human. I'm not poisoned or under some spell?"
Woman looks up, after a beat, "The Auguries say no. If it has happened it was meant to be."
"From this day, you will live and die as any mortal man." Man says.
"Privy to all the attendant pains - and pleasures." Woman says.
Man nods, "That which we serve is no longer that which you serve. You are released from your fealty."
The woman and man walk away from him.
"That's it? I'm free?" Angel asks.
Man holds up his hand and Angel goes flying backwards out of the arc to land on top of Doyle.
Doyle helps him up, "Angel, it didn't work?"
"Yes, it did." Angel says.
"You just went in this instant." Doyle says.
Angel stares at the arc, "What?"
"Look at your watch." Doyle says.
"I can't do that, Doyle. Next time remind me to bring a gift?" Angel says.
"I knew I forgot something. So, what happened? What did they say?" Doyle says.
Angel sighs, "They're a little confusing, but.. - the gist of it is - it's real. - I'm free."
"I can't believe this." Doyle says.
Angel nods, "Me either. I mean, what do I do now? - I have this whole new life spread before me. I don't know where to begin."
"Right. It's overwhelming. You can pretty much do whatever you want now. The question is, what do you want?" Doyle says.
Later Buffy is walking in a park overlooking the beach. She feels something and turns around to see Angel stepping through a shadowed arch in a hedge. She watches as he walks out into the sun towards her and they kiss.
Later Angel and Buffy sit at opposite sides of his kitchen table.
Angel pours some tea, "Would you like some more?"
"No, thank you." Buffy says.
"I'm really sorry I kissed you like that." Angel says.
"You are?" Buffy asks.
"Well, not for the kiss itself.." Angel says.
Buffy sighs, "Good. I mean, 'cause - as far as kisses go I thought it was well above average."
Angel smiles, "It was incredible. I just - I-I think, maybe we'd be asking for trouble rushing back into things." Buffy looks at him. "Not that I don't want to - rush. Believe me, I do."
"Right. You spoke to the Oracles and they said you were cured for good. But how do we know that they really speak for the Powers? I mean they could be - pranksters." Buffy says. "I could call Leo and have him talk to the Elders…"
"Or there could be another loophole." Angel says.
Buffy nods, "Exactly. And then the two of us would be in even deeper and it's 'grr' all over again."
"It would be smart to wait a while. See if this mortal thing takes." Angel says.
"Exactly. And even if it does, it's still complicated." Buffy says.
Angel nods, "You're still the Slayer and a Charmed One. And I'm not sure what I am now. I don't know what my purpose is. I can't just wedge myself into your life back in San Francisco. It wouldn't be good for either of us. Not to mention the fact that you just started college. And what about slaying or your Charmed duties. I mean, if you had me to worry about, you might not be as focused."
"Are you going to pull out a pie chart on me now? Because I get it, it's not necessary." Buffy says.
Angel gets up with a sigh and moves to the chair next to her, "I'm not saying I don't want you. You know how much.. I'm just saying it's worth the wait to be sure this is right. I need to be sure you won't get hurt again."
Buffy gets up, "You know it's a good thing I didn't fantasize about you turning human only about 10 zillion times, because today would have been a real let down. - So how does the mature plan go? You call me? I call you? What?"
Angel gets up and steps over to her, "We stay in touch - just not.."
"Literally. - Funny." Buffy says as they stare at each other, then she walks past him. "Okay, I'd better.."
Angel turns to look after her, "Right. Remove the temptation."
Buffy spins back towards him, "So, we'll - talk soon."
Buffy puts her hand on top of his on the counter. They both stare down at their hands. Angel turns his hand to grab hers then reaches out and pulls her into a kiss. They stumble up against the fridge and Buffy jumps up to wrap her legs around his waist. Still kissing, Angel carries her over to the kitchen table, sweeps the stuff on it on the floor and lays her down on it.
Later Buffy yells, "Peanut butter, preferably crunchy!"
Angel's head pops up above the door of the fridge, "I got it." His arms piled with food he makes his way back to the bedroom with some strategically placed props all that's preserving his dignity. He dumps the stuff on the bed and slips under the sheet.
Buffy wearing a black robe smiles at him, "The perfect yum." Angel feeds her a spoon of ice cream. "Mmm, this is a dream. You're human for like a minute and already there is Cookie-dough-fudge-mint-chip in the fridge."
"God, I love food." Angel says.
Buffy feeds him some ice cream on a chocolate waffle, "Food is good."
Angel nods as he kisses her, "Why didn't you ever tell me about chocolate and peanut butter?"
"Well, I figured if your vamp taste buds couldn't really savor it, then it would only hurt you, you know? By the way, I'm over the whole needing to be mature thing. That time you just spent in the kitchen? That was enough time apart." Buffy says.
Angel smiles, "Too much." They kiss and some ice cream drips from his spoon on his chest. "Okay, mortal coordination leaving something to be desired."
"Wrong. It's just right." Buffy says.
Angel laughs as she licks up the ice cream then pulls her down into a kiss.
Later Angel and Buffy are lying peacefully in bed.
Buffy has her head on Angel's chest, "It's a good sound. Thump-thump. Thump-thump."
Angel smiles, "It feels pretty amazing."
Buffy nods, "I'm so glad we didn't logic ourselves out of this. We'll make it work, right?"
"We will." Angel says.
"Oh, I'm so sleepy, - but I still want.." Buffy says.
"What? You couldn't possibly.. Not that I wouldn't.." Angel says.
"No, no. I'm spent. Pleasantly numb even. You?" Buffy says.
Angel smiles, "For now."
"No, I - want to stay awake - so this day can keep happening." Buffy says.
Angel kisses her on the forehead, "Sleep. We'll make another one like it tomorrow."
"Angel? This is the first time I ever really felt this way." Buffy says.
"What way?" Angel asks.
"Just like I've always wanted to. Like a normal girl, falling asleep in the arms of her normal boyfriend. It's perfect." Buffy says.
Angel kisses the top of her head as she falls asleep.
Later Angel is watching Buffy sleep. He hears the door open and gets up, careful not to wake Buffy. He comes out of the bedroom shrugging into a robe as Doyle comes down the stairs.
"Hey, that." Doyle says as Angel holds up his hand for him to keep his voice down and Doyle continues more softly. "Mohra demon regenerated more than just you."
"What?" Angel asks.
"I had a vision. It regenerated itself." Doyle says.
"Where?" Angel asks.
"In the tunnel where you fought it. Then it was in some sort of factory. I thought I tasted salt. Could have been the margarita." Doyle says.
Angel paces, "No, it needs a lot of salt to live."
"Well, it was very much alive in this vision, and angry if I might mention." Doyle says.
Angel nods, "I'll have to kill it again."
"Yeah, but you're human now. They released you." Doyle says.
Angel pulls on some pants, "You want to let that thing roam free? You saw it in a factory. There is a saline plant in Redondo, We'll start there."
"Yeah, but if it can regenerate itself, how can you kill it?" Doyle asks.
"We'll figure it out. Just grab the book of Kelsor. You'll read, I'll drive." Angel says. "Doyle?"
Doyle looks at Buffy sleeping on Angel's bed, "I think we should bring someone a little - supernatural?" Angel pulls a sweater over his head and looks where Doyle is looking. "Don't you want to wake the girl?"
Angel shakes his head, "Not for the world."
At to the saline plant Doyle is reading from the book: "Okay. This is not good. It doesn't just come back - it comes back bigger and stronger. I think we should go back and get Buffy."
"I know what I'm doing." Angel says.
"This isn't your average demon we're fighting here. It nearly licked you before and now your mortal." Doyle says.
Angel nods, "If this thing with me and Buffy is going to work, I need to be able do this on my own. I can't keep risking her life every time some minion of hell.. Just tell me how to kill it."
Doyle reads from book, "Uh, It regenerates until the dark future it envisions is upon us. Oh, to kill the beast one must bring darkness to 1000 eyes."
"Funny, I only saw two." Angel says.
Doyle smiles, "Keep up the glib. It makes me feel like we have a chance." Angel sees two corpses and gags from the smell. "Take it easy, mate."
Angel coughs, "The blood."
"It's never an easy sight. It's part of being human now." Doyle says.
"I'm going to kill that thing." Angel says.
"Just remember that it's brutal, deadly, and here!" Doyle says as he looks up.
The Mohra jumps down on them from above and they start fighting it. They're clearly overmatched and Doyle gets knocked out pretty early. Angel keeps getting back up, but the thing is pretty much wiping the floor with him and he finally turns to run.
At the office Cordelia is putting sticky notes on things in the office.
"Angel? - Cordelia." Buffy says as she comes in.
Cordelia hold up and ornate ax, "Is this antique?"
"Byzantine." Buffy says.
"Mmm." Cordelia says.
"Where is Angel?" Buffy asks.
Cordy shrugs, "I've decided not to feel sorry for myself. I'm taking matters into my own hands, organizing a little 'going out of business' sale to subsidize the severance package Angel never bothered setting up for me."
"Did he leave a message about where he went?" Buffy asks.
"You know I'm in real pain here and all you can do is talk about Angel. Has it even occurred to you how this whole turning human thing might affect me?" Cordelia asks.
"Regrettably - no. Look, if you know where he is, just tell me?" Buffy says.
Cordelia sighs, "He told me not to tell you."
"Is he in trouble?" Buffy asks as Cordelia makes a face. "Cordelia, what are we, in second grade here? Tell me!"
Cordy shakes her head, "Oh, you want to talk about being mature? Maybe it's time that *you* grew up and realized that you can't have everything. You can't have Angel and save the world. And anyway, it's your fault that he went to fight that thing by himself without.."
"What thing?" Buffy asks.
Back at the saline plant Angel is just trying to stay alive as the Mohra demon keeps coming after him. Angel climbs on the lid of a salt silo and when the demon jumps up and hits him they both crash through.
Mohra puts a foot on Angel's neck, "The end of days has begun and can't be stopped. For anyone of us that falls, *ten* shall rise."
As the Mohra lifts his sword to stab Angel.
Buffy jumps down on it from above, knocking it off Angel. She's got the demon's sword, "You hurt my boyfriend."
"A great darkness is coming." Mohra says.
"You got that right." Buffy says.
They fight. Mohra manages to wrap its morgenstern around Buffy's sword and pull it from her hand.
Buffy kicks it into the wall. "Come on, this is the great warrior of darkness?"
They fight some more. Buffy manages to step on the chain of its morgenstern and kick the demon so it has to let go of it. It picks her up and throws her into the wall.
"Together you were powerful. Alone, you are dead." Mohra says and picks her up by her throat. "What do you think of the great warrior now?"
Buffy flames out just as Angel picks up a handful of salt
"Little bland." Angel says and throws it in the demon's eyes as Buffy flames back in. "Needs salt."
The Mohra grabs Angel and throws him across the silo. Buffy and the demon keep fighting.
Angel looks up at the demon, "The light of a thousand eyes.. The jewel in its forehead! You have to smash the jewel."
Buffy picks up the morgenstern and does just that.
"No!" Mohra says and vanishes in a bright light.
Buffy runs over to Angel and takes his head in her lap.
"Buffy, are you all.." Angel says.
"Shh, you're all right. That's all that matters. Shh, you're all right." Buffy says and she kisses the top of his head. "And it's over. And we're together."
Later Angel is back with the Oracles.
"You again." Man says.
"What have you brought me?" Woman asks.
Angel smiles, "Famille Rose vase." He throws her a black vase. "Ching dynasty. Circa 1811."
"Lovely." Woman says.
"Why are you here, lower being?" Man asks.
"The Mohra demon said the end of days had begun. That others were coming, soldiers of darkness. I need to know if he was telling the truth." Angel says.
"As far as such things can be told." Man says.
"What happens to the Slayer when these soldiers come?" Angel asks.
"What happens to all mortal beings. Albeit sooner in her case." Woman says.
Angel frowns, "She'll die? - Then I'm here to beg for her life."
The Oracles turn and walk away. "It is not our place to grant life or death." Man says.
"Then I ask you to take mine back." Angel says and the oracles stop walking and turn back to him. "Look I can't protect her or anyone this way, not as a man."
"You're asking to be what you were, a demon with a soul, because of the Slayer?" Woman asks.
Man turns to leave again, "Oh, this is a matter of love. It does not concern us."
"Yes, it does. The Mohra demon came to take a warrior from your cause - and it succeeded. I'm no good to you like this. I know you have it in your power to make this right. Please." Angel says.
"What is done cannot be undone." Man says.
"What is not yet done can be avoided." Woman says.
"Temporal folds are not to indulge at - the whims of lower beings." Man says.
"You are wrong. This one is willing to sacrifice every drop of human happiness and love he has ever known for another. He is not a lower being." Woman says.
"There is one way. But it is not to be undertaken lightly." Man says.
Woman nods, "We swallow this day, as though it had never happened. Twenty-four hours from the moment the demon first attacked you, we take it back."
Angel licks his lips, "Then none of this happened and Buffy and I.. What - what'll stop us from doing the exact same thing again?"
"You and her. You and her alone will carry the memory of this day. - Can you carry that burden? Can you ensure she can?" Woman says.
"Why would Buffy have to?" Angel asks.
"She is with child." Man says. "The child is destined. The daughter of a Charmed One. The child must survive."
"Child?" Angel asks. "She's having my child?"
"Yes," Woman says. "A child blessed by both the Elders and the Powers That Be. She and her cousin, the first born of the eldest Charmed One, will both be Champions unlike the world has ever seen. She is Dhampir. He is Twice Blessed."
Later back at Angel's office Buffy wearing a long flowery dress is pacing Angel's apartment. Angel comes down the steps to his apartment. "I'm guessing that expression isn't because they were all out of fresh OJ at the deli. - What happened?"
"Nothing happened. - I just.." Angel says.
"Where have you been?" Buffy asks.
"I went to see the Oracles. I asked them to turn me back." Angel says.
"What? - Why?" Buffy asks, shocked.
Angel sighs, "Because more than ever I know how much I love you."
Buffy backs away from him, "No. No, you didn't."
Angel follows her, "And if I stayed mortal one of us would wind up dead, maybe both of us. You heard what Mohra said."
"Mohra is dead. We killed him." Buffy says.
Angel nods, "He said others would come."
"They always come. And they always will. But that's my problem now, not yours, remember?" Buffy says.
"No, I won't just stand by and let you fight, maybe die, alone." Angel says.
"Then we fight together." Buffy says.
Angel sighs, "You saw what happened last night. If anything I'm a liability to you. You take chances to protect me, and that's not just bad for you, it's bad for the people we were meant to help."
"So what? You just took a whole 24 hours to weigh the ups and downs of being a regular Joe and decided it was more fun being a superhero?" Buffy says.
"You know that's not it. How can we be together if the cost is your life, or the lives of others?" Angel says as Buffy just stares at him and after a moment he takes her into his arms. "I know. I couldn't tell you. I wasn't sure - if I could do it if I woke up with you one more morning."
Buffy sniffles, "I understand. - So, what happens now?'
"The Oracles are giving us back the day, turning back time, so I can kill Mohra before his blood makes me mortal." Angel says.
"When?" Buffy asks.
Angel looks over at the clock, "Another minute."
Buffy begins to cry, "A minute? No. No, it's not enough time!"
"We don't have a choice. It's done." Angel says.
"How am I supposed to go on with my life knowing what we had? What we could have had?" Buffy says.
Angel nods, "You will have to. As I understand it. It would have been only me that would have remembered. None of it would have happened. Problem is I got you pregnant."
"What!" Buffy says.
Angel nods, "Your pregnant. It's the only reason you will remember the day."
Buffy touches her stomach as tears falls from her eyes, "I'm having a baby?"
Angel nods, "That will be the only thing that will still have happened from the day after its rewound."
Buffy smiles as she reaches up and touches his face, "Thank you, Angel. Thank you for such a wonderful gift."
Angel smiles, "Take care of our daughter, Buffy. I'll always love her. But you know why I can't be there for her."
Buffy nods, "I know. I'll make sure she knows about you. What a good and wonderful man you are."
They kiss and then Buffy looks over at the clock. The minute is almost up.
Buffy begins to cry not only for the child she carries but for the fact that the perfect day is about to be wiped away as if it never happened. The only reminder that it did would be her child.
There is a white flash and the day has been rewound.
Angel is leaning against his desk blinking, looking around. Buffy is standing next to the door, also blinking and looking around. And then their eyes meet and they know that they remember the day that no longer happened.
"Goodbye, Angel." Buffy says.
Angel nods, "Goodbye, Buffy. Take good care of her."
The Mohra crashes through the window behind Angel with a scream. Angel just turns, grabs the clock from his desk and coolly smashes the Mohra's jewel with it. The Mohra goes up in a flash of light.
Buffy nods and wipes a tear from her eye. "Goodbye, Angel." She flames out.