PART 16

As soon as darkness fell Angel was on his way to the manor, the streets were unnaturally quiet and the stench of death hung over the air. He quickened his pace, hoping to reach the gang and Emma before the actual battle reached them. When he arrived at the manor, he barged in and said, "It has begun."

"What?" Giles asked.

"The battle... they've already started their campaign" Angel told them.

Everyone exchanged looks and there was a mad rush of everyone hugging their loved ones. Emma rushed over to Angel; she had the exact same feeling he had that something bad was going to happen, only to him. As he held her in his arms, Emma endeavoured to shove all of her feelings away... she knew that they would only do her a disservice in the battle, be used against her to hurt the ones that she loved.

Piper looked over at her daughter and the vampire and tried not to smile, they just looked so right together... like her and Leo. Leo looked over at what his wife was looking at and scowled, just because he knew they were inevitable didn't mean he had to like it. But as he saw his daughter look up at Angel and smile, he saw the love shining in her eyes and softened slightly towards the vampire, after all Piper's father hadn't liked him either and he'd still married Piper anyway.

Everyone let go of each other and moved into the teams they'd devised earlier. Splitting apart the couples, so that no one would be tempted to put their loved ones safety above the safety of the group. A good theory that Giles helped in the actual battle, he had only been apart from Jenny for thirty seconds and all ready she was consuming his every thought. He was surprised to find he was on Emma's team and not Angel's, he'd thought that she'd have wanted her white lighter close at hand, but it seemed she preferred him... it reminded him of something that Buffy would've done. He watched Emma's eyes meet Angel's once and then turn back to her charges, Giles, Cole, Willow, Xander, Dawn, Cordy and her mother. Giles noted that each team had three witches, but Angel had two white lighters on his side and surmised this was Emma's way of giving Angel some extra protection.

They agreed on a meeting place and the teams split off in opposite directions, figuring that they could dispose of more of the threats that way. The meeting place was a park halfway between the two groups for anyone to go whether they were simply lost or they had to retreat. Emma's group had been wandering around since they left the manor and hadn't met any hostile forces; the only sign that anything was wrong was that the streets were quiet. "This sucks" Cordy muttered from the middle of the group, "Where are the damn baddies?"

"Shut up" Piper told the ex-may queen, "Don't jinx us." She had absolutely no desire to fight more demons than she had too.

"Fine" Cordy grumbled. She was worried about Wes. She figured that if their group was not fighting any, then Angel's group must have hit the jackpot.

Emma overheard the conversation and was having similar thoughts. "Let's head towards the rendezvous, maybe we'll get some action for Cordy there" Emma said trying to keep the worry out of her voice not only because of Angel, but also her two aunts and her father.

The group agreed and they headed towards the meeting area, hoping to find out what exactly was going on with this battle.

**

Angel's group was facing a similar dilemma, they'd only run into one demon and this one had been escaping from the scourge not a member. "What is going on?" Angel muttered. He was worried, something major was up if this group was hiding... maybe it was another of those light things that had killed Doyle.

"Maybe we should head to the rendezvous point... maybe the others are having the same trouble" Leo suggested. He felt something was off, as did Angel, he just didn't know what it was and it was driving him crazy.

"Good idea" Angel said noticing how nervous everyone was getting, "We should regroup."

"Maybe as we approach, we'll run into the demons..." Wes added hoping that his beloved Cordelia was nowhere near any fighting.

"...And maybe we'll find the slaughtered bodies of our spouses and loved ones littering the ground" Anya said totally unaware of how everyone was feeling. All she cared about was she and Xander surviving the battle, not caring if the world went to hell or not. Anya didn't really understand (even after hours of explanations) that if the scourge won all of humanity was doomed.

Angel broke the tension that was between Anya and the others, "Let's go... maybe the others had the same idea."

They all headed off to the rendezvous point praying that they'd meet the others there and that everyone was okay, because the feeling was something big, nasty and deadly was going to occur.

PART 17

When Angel's group arrived at the rendezvous point they found Emma's group waiting for them, it took all of his self control not to just run into her arms and be comforted. This situation was barely tolerable... where were the damn demons? As he surveyed the other group he noticed something was wrong. "Where's Spike?" he asked Emma worried about his grand-childe, Spike might be a total pain in the ass but he was a part of his family.

"I thought he went with you... I haven't seen him," Emma answered truthfully.

"What is he up too? He's probably working for the other side," Angel muttered.

"Nice to know what ya think of me, Peaches" a voice called from behind them. They all turned around and saw Spike casually strolling towards them, like he didn't have a care in the world. When he noticed the staring he smirked and replied, "I never agreed to the poofy team plan... I'm me own demon."

"Only because no wants to claim you with that hair" Emma muttered, knowing that Spike could hear her.

"Very funny, Fluffy" Spike said, "At least I didn't shag the poof."

"Em... evil vampire" Piper called, "Behave." Piper was glad to be doing something as normal as yelling at her daughter, instead of all this demon hunting; she hated demon hunting and vanquishing.

Emma was about to answer her mother when an over whelming feeling washed over her, she looked at Angel and knew that he'd felt the same thing. Looking around she noticed that everyone including Spike and her family were oblivious to it. She moved closer to Angel and whispered; "I think we're meant to do this on our own."

"I know, but how can we get past them?" Angel replied softly. He didn't want anyone else hurt, he and Emma were the warriors and the others weren't. They might know how to fight but they'd never survive whatever he and Emma were to face.

"I'm a champion at sneaking out... it shouldn't be that hard" Emma said. She turned back and looked at the others, "Let's just slowly move away and then run."

"Real clever" Angel muttered sarcastically. Emma shot him a dirty looked as she grabbed his hand and backed away slowly, when they got to the edge of the park they ran towards the area where the strange feeling was coming from.

Spike watched as Emma and Angel left the group, the evil part of himself urged him to follow them just be annoying, but the somewhat non-evil part knew that they were leaving for a reason and whatever it was they had to do it alone. However that didn't mean he couldn't tell everyone else that their champions had abandoned them. He walked over to where Fluffy's new parents were talking to Giles and said, "Any of ya seen Fluffy and the poof?"

***

Emma and Angel had only made it a few blocks when they saw the first of the scourge's soldiers heading towards them and they ducked into an abandoned building. They watched in silence as the army marched past them, heading straight for the park where the others were still. Emma's first reaction was to run and warn her family, but she knew that she couldn't she just had to hope that everyone would be okay until she and Angel did in the big evil that was calling them. Once the army had past them, they slowly exited the building and continued on towards whatever it was that awaited them. They were almost there when Emma felt the presence of that demon... the one that had attacked her the other night and caused the death of her former self. She turned around and saw it standing about ten meters away with a smug look on its face.

"Slayer... it's time for our rematch and your second death" it shouted to her.

Angel heard it and turned around to help her fight it, but she stopped him. "This is my fight... go on. I'll be there soon," she told him.

"Promise?" he asked.

"I promise" she told him praying that it was the truth. Angel kissed her quickly and moved on without looking back, Emma turned around and faced her one time killer. "Look butt-head, you may have killed me once but I was out of my head and you surprised me. This time I all here and I'm looking for revenge... meaning you are one ugly, dead demon."

"We'll see" the demon said, just before it lunged at her.

PART 18

Leaving Emma was the hardest thing he'd ever done, even though he knew it was something she had to do and she had to do it alone, he wanted to turn back and help her. The truth was he didn't think she'd be able to keep her promise, some morbid part of him was already gearing up for her leaving him all over again and he was disgusted with himself. Still he pressed on, he knew that he had to reach the end of this journey and win or all of humanity was doomed. He blanked his mind of thoughts of his friends and loved ones and concentrated on his mission, walking until the strange feeling was the strongest. Looking around he couldn't see anything extraordinary, and then out of the corner of his eye he saw something move and he slowly moved towards the target. It looked like a typical suburban home, but Angel felt that something other than the typical all-American family dwelled within these walls, he went around the back looking for a way to gain entry. Angel found an open window and stared at it, he was suspicious because no way would this army make a stupid mistake like that, and it had to be some sort of trap. He knew he had to find some other point of entry and when he checked out the other possibilities he found them all block, lending truth to the theory of a trap being set for him and Emma. He stepped back and decided that since there wasn't any movement at the moment, he'd wait a few minutes and see what happened.

***

Meanwhile Emma was being thrown about by the demon. After the latest bout of rolling around on the ground trying to swipe at her face and she fending it off, it had retreated as if trying to gain time for something. It was then she realised why this demon was here, it was to distract her... split her and Angel apart. Two phrases from the prophecy came to mind, ‘ Together they are strong, apart they shall fall' and ‘Joining of the warriors'. She'd totally misunderstood the prophecy, she had thought it meant the demon would bring hell to earth, but it wasn't the demon itself but rather the motive behind it... EVIL. She knew she had to get rid of this pest quickly and hotfoot it to Angel, because if she was right he was going to be in a whole lot of trouble. The scourge she knew he could handle, but this was something more, something worse... the first evil. The demon didn't seem to be in any hurry, so Emma charged it catching it slightly of guard, but even then it was only a matter of seconds before she was on the ground feeling some sort of sharp pain shudder through her body. She looked up with anger burning in her deep brown eyes and spotted something over the demon's shoulder, she dropped her gaze so the demon didn't see what she'd been looking at and she stood. She was shaky and in pain, but she had to pretend she wasn't, she had to continue no matter what the cost. She did a spinning judo kick and knock the shocked demon into Leo and the sword he was holding, the look on the demon's face as it died was almost comical as if he couldn't quite believe that he'd been bested by a mere girl.

***

Leo looked up from the demon and saw his daughter falling and rushed over to her. "Em... Em?" he said worriedly.

"Hey dad, think you do the whole healing thing... it's not over yet," Emma told him.

"Sure" Leo replied tending to her wounds. "What do you mean it's not over? Isn't that the demon?"

"Yeah, but not the ultimate baddie" Emma said, "Angel's in big trouble."

"All done" Leo told her a moment later.

Emma got up and was relieved not to be feeling any pain. She turned to her dad and said, "How did you get past that army?"

"We hid. Shouldn't you be rescuing your... boy... Angel" Leo said.

Emma kissed him on the cheek quickly, "Get everyone to safety." And then she was gone, using her power to orb, to reach Angel as quickly as possible.

Leo stared at the place his daughter had just stood and whispered "Good luck."

PART 19

If Angel's heart had been beating it would've stopped when Emma appeared next to him a moment later. "Do you have to do that?" he asked annoyed at being scared by her appearance.

"Look who's talking stealth-guy" Emma replied. She looked at the house that they were standing near and shook her head, "That's the house of the big evil?"

"Yeah" Angel answered, "Evil has bad taste in houses." He relaxed slightly, Emma was here and when they went in to face whatever lay ahead, trap or not they'd do it together. "So ready to go inside?" he asked her.

Emma looked up at her lover, "As ready as I'm ever gonna be." She turned towards the house and grabbed Angel's hand and together they headed towards that open window and their destinies.

Angel climbed in first and then helped Emma through, they then looked around and found that they were in a small room with only one way into the rest of the house. Angel looked at Emma, who nodded signally that she was ready to move farther forward into the house. Angel grabbed her hand, more to keep her close than for any sort of comfort and headed to the door where he laid his head. When he didn't hear anything he used his free hand to turn the knob and open the door, stepping through it and bringing Emma with him. They quickly surveyed the hallway and found that it too was devoid of all life and they stood for a moment unsure of where to go. Suddenly they were assaulted by the feeling of unease again and knew where they were to go... down to the basement.

Emma turned to Angel and whispered, "Why do evil things hang out in basements? Can't they live in some fancy penthouse or something?"

"Basements are dark, damp and underground... evil likes that" Angel replied moving them towards the basement and the final battle.

A few moments later they reached the basement door and a feeling of dread washed over her, Emma looked up at Angel and said, "Be careful okay?"

"You too, my love" he answered kissing her quickly. Then he turned the knob and they descended into the darkness below.

**

Back at the manor everyone was going stir crazy, they wanted to be out there with Emma and Angel and not trapped in the house worrying. To make matters worse Leo and Jenny had been called away to the powers and that made everyone else jumpy, like something really terrible was going to happen. Piper stood up, "I can't take this. My baby is out there and I'm a freaking charmed one and am of no help whatsoever... why can't I do something."

Phoebe, Prue, Willow and Tara felt the same way. Willow suddenly came up with an idea, "Couldn't we do some sort of protection spell for them... kinda give them the edge over the baddies."

"Yeah, if you give me a second I can write one" Phoebe joined in. She knew that this would provide a distraction; even if it didn't work it would give everyone something else to focus on for a few minutes.

A few minutes later they were completing the spell Phoebe had whipped up, hoping that it would work. They were sitting around staring at the remnants when Leo and Jenny returned, looking glum. "What is it?" Piper demanded, "What did they say?"

Leo took a deep breath, "Only one of them will return."

Piper looked her husband in the eyes and saw something that she didn't want to believe. "Emma? You think its Emma who won't come back," she asked.

"Why else would they call both Jenny and I there. If it were Angel, they wouldn't have needed me," Leo said trying to control his emotions, he didn't want to breakdown in front of everyone.

Piper didn't care about that she threw herself into Leo's arms and cried. Leo held onto his wife and hoped that they were wrong and that they both came waltzing back through that door and that no one would have to suffer, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. He knew that for some of them... maybe all of them were going to have tragedy visit.

PART 20

Emma and Angel descended the staircase into the dark basement. Angel used his vampire vision to look around and was just about to tell Emma there was nothing there when a loud rumbling noise started and the building began to shake. Angel grabbed Emma and held her close until the rumbling and shaking stopped and a light appeared. They both turned towards it and Emma gave a startled gasp at the sight. There was a hidden room, one that had a red light coming out of it making the basement look as though it had been bathed in blood. Also coming from the room was the sound of laughter, the kind that comes from getting exactly what you want so that it's all you can do to express your joy. A feeling of danger and disaster flowed over Emma and Angel as they stepped forward towards the laughter.

As she stepped into the once hidden chamber she didn't see much of anything, shapes seemed to be indistinguishable under the blood red lighting. She strained to see what lay ahead more out of necessity for not tripping over something gross before she died in battle, than for the big nasty evil itself. Emma gripped Angel's hand tighter as she tried to control her fear... she didn't want to deal with it once more, last time it had almost taken Angel from her and this time she feared it would succeed... if not turning him evil then in killing him. They reached the back of the room and found nothing there, but when they turned around they saw something waiting for them... something that shocked them both.

***

Piper finally let go of Leo and sat down, unable to stand. "Did the spell work?" she asked the others, praying that it had.

"I don't know" Phoebe and Willow chorused.

An uncomfortable silence overtook the room and everyone kept looking at each other not knowing what to say to help the situation. Anya took it upon herself to comfort the room, "Well at least which ever one of them dies... they'll go out happy." Everyone's eyes focused on the ex-vengeance demon that went on un-noticing, "You know since they had sex..."

Xander clamped his hand over his wife's mouth and said, "Sorry... she can't help herself."

Leo looked at Anya and shook his head, wishing that he could laugh at the absurdity of the situation and not be worried that his daughter... his little girl... his and Piper's only child would perish in this battle. He knew all the others in the room felt bad over this turn of events, but only the family and maybe... Angel would and could understand what they'd be going through if anything did happen to her. He felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder and turned to see Cole standing there, throughout the years they had banded together and he was telling Leo that he was not alone in this... Emma belonged to them all.

***

Emma finally regained her speech, leaning in close to Angel she said, "Why does the first evil look like the freakin' Master?" She tried to make light of the situation, but it was freaking her out. She'd always had issues over the Master and the first evil was trying to use it to its advantage.

Angel remembered how Buffy had been distraught over the whole thing with the master and inside he seethed with anger. Last time it had tried to use his guilt over Jenny to drive him over the edge and back to the arms of evil and now it was trying to remove Emma from the equation by dredging up and painful thing from Buffy's past. "Just remember he can't hurt you if you don't let him" he told her.

Emma nodded, she knew that he was right, she just had to get past her emotional turmoil and that was not an easy thing to do. She tried to push all of the pain aside and forget it was there, when she remembered something her aunt Prue had told her once... ‘Pain makes us stronger. If we didn't have to deal with pain, we wouldn't be who we are and we wouldn't be able to fight the good fight', Emma decided to test the theory. "Back off buzzard breath, you don't scare me," she yelled at the master's image.

All she heard in reply was laughter.

Part 21

Angel didn't like the fact that it was laughing at them; to him it meant that it had some trick up his sleeve... something to tear them apart or to wear them down. Since it had almost won last time...he wasn't going to kid himself, if it hadn't been for Buffy (with a little help from the PTB) he'd have been dust long ago, so he figured whatever it was going to do it was going to do to Emma. Angel stepped in front of his beloved putting himself in the firing line, if it was going to try and kill his lover; it wasn't going to have to get rid of him first.

Emma didn't like the fact that Angel felt the need to protect her from this thing, after all she was not only a slayer but a witch... a daughter of one of the charmed ones, she was much more powerful than he. Also her senses were telling her that something was off, the first evil had, had years when she wasn't around to make a play for Angel... so why do it now when she was here to protect him... unless he wasn't what it wanted. What if it wanted to turn a direct descendant of the charmed ones evil? No one had ever managed to do that... her mother and aunts had foiled that plot once themselves, she had to be wrong, but what if she wasn't? Before she could tell Angel what she thought, it spoke.

"Foolish vampire. Do you think that after your failure last time I would through all of this trouble to get to you?"

Angel looked at Emma and grasped her hand even tighter; there was no way he was letting this thing get to her. She was too good and pure of heart to live through this evil's training in the dark arts, even if it cost him his very existence he would make sure she was safe.




"Ooh, I can't stand it. Why do Peaches and Fluffy get all the fun? Why can't I go pound something?" Spike whined. He hated being cooped up in the manor with all of these depressed white hats, he wanted... no he needed to be out there helping or even just out there pounding some demons face in. Spike didn't want to admit it but he was worried about them, after all Angel was his grand-sire and Emma... well, she was the reincarnation of the woman he had been in love with and stood absolutely no chance with.

"Then go" Giles told him, "Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will stake you and we'll finally get some peace and quiet."

Jenny lifted her head from Giles' shoulder and said, "We're worried too, Spike. However bitching about pounding things isn't going to help... all we can do is wait."

Cole looked out of the window and saw a whole bunch of the scourge's army on their lawn. He moved away from the window and said, "I think Spike has a point."

"Why because he's evil?" Prue asked sarcastically.

"No. Because there's a whole bunch of those scourge guys on the lawn" he replied terrified.

Everyone was shocked, but quickly got up and went for the weapons that they had earlier discarded. They stood waiting and after a few minutes Leo asked confused, "Why aren't they attacking?"

Phoebe looked out of the window, "They're just staring at the manor... like they're waiting for something."

"What could they be waiting for?" Piper asked.



Part 22


"Give me the girl and you can reign beside her" the first evil told Angel. It was confident that Angel would rather have her evil, than not at all.

"Over my dead body" Angel replied.

Emma looked at Angel strangely and whispered, "You're already dead."

"It's just an expression," Angel hissed back.

The first evil grew impatient and threw some sort of bolt of electricity at Angel. "Give her up now or die trying to defend her... it's all the same to me, but she will be my tool and she will bring forth hell."

Angel let go of Emma's hand and said, "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"What is a mere vampire going to do? Nothing can kill me... I exist because they exist" it calmly told him.

"Actually I can do this" Angel said.

Without warning he charged the first evil catching off guard for a moment, but only for a moment. All it did was laugh at Angel's infantile attempt to stop it. It simply threw off another bolt of electricity and this time caught Angel directly in the chest, causing him to fall to the floor.

"Now to get to my plan," it told Emma moving towards her.




"Well... what are we gonna do?" Xander asked panicked. He'd thought that all of the danger was over and that they were safe and sound.

"I don't know" Leo replied. He looked out at them and wondered why they were just standing around, they were an army and army's were supposed to attack and not stand around. Not unless they had orders to do just that. But he couldn't just sit and wait for them to come at them either; he stood up and addressed the room. "Look I know at the moment that we're all nice and safe here, but if they decide to attack we won't be and I say we take the fight to them. There's no shame in us fighting and getting our butts kicked, but there is in not fighting at all. I don't know about the rest of you but I'm going out fighting."

The others watched Leo walk out of the living room and head towards the door and surprisingly most followed, and then the rest left did. They had all decided that if they were going to die, they were going to take as many of them with them as possible. The group stood on the manor's front steps and surveyed the enemy, huddled in and listened to Leo and Spike's suggestions and moved into position, ready for the fight of their lives.




"Your plan? Does it involve a facial...because you need one, badly" Emma quipped. She really wanted to tear it limb from limb for what it had done to Angel, but she'd just seen him move and knew that he was okay all she had to do was keep the first evil distracted long enough for Angel to get up and things would be okay. At least that's what she kept telling herself.

"Little girl you have no idea of the power you truly hold. You think that the power of the slayer and the power of manipulation are your greatest assets, but you are so much more and soon you will be my servant," it told her stepping forward.

Emma took a corresponding step backwards, "Great power... you have to be kidding. The ones I've got are all ready pains enough."

"Don't fight it... I always win."



Part 23


"That is so not true" Emma objected, "Angel beat you."

"If I'd wanted him to win he would have... I wanted her to save him" it replied.

"Oh please, cut the crap. You lost and therefore you lied," Emma said. She knew it probably wasn't a good idea to torment the first evil, but it was all she could think of doing. Emma knew that brute force wasn't going to work against this thing, it was ageless and immortal... she needed a plan and she needed one quick before she became evil charmed one-slayer girl.

"It doesn't matter, you will be my servant" it insisted, "No one can save you now."

"Oh I don't know about that" Angel replied standing behind the first's form. "I think I can."




The scoobies, charmed ones and assorted others stood there holding their ground and staring at their opponents, it all would've looked spectacular except for the fact Xander's legs were shaking and he looked like he was about to pass out. "Ready?" Leo asked everyone, but was staring at Xander.

"Yes"-replied most of the voices.

Xander thought about it for an instant, "No, but I deal."

"Then let's do it" Leo said nodding his head, "ATTACK!"




The first evil whirled around in shock; it hadn't expected Angel to recover. "You... haven't you given up enough for this lousy mortal."

"It can never be too much when it comes to her" Angel replied as he moved into a fighting stance.

"Then you are as stupid as I thought and your mortal will become mine," the first evil told Angel confident that this mere vampire could not do anything to it.

With that comment Angel saw red, his anger bubbled within him and all he think about was marching around town with its head stuck on a pole. He dodged its first attack and kicked in the side of its head, where it laughed as though it thought Angel was just one big joke. Angel on the other hand was deadly serious he was going to see that thing dead... or at least this form of its dead before it got anywhere near Emma. He was kicking and pounding on it with all his might and wasn't making a dent, even when Emma joined in the only thing they seemed to accomplish was tiring themselves out.

"Foolish" was all it said looking directly at them. "I must make an example of you... pity." With a flash of light Angel was struck down and this time there would be no return since all that remained was a pile of dust.

Emma couldn't believe her eyes; she didn't want to believe them. She knelt down beside what was once her lover... her soulmate and stared at his ashes. The first evil laughed and Emma's eyes shot up burning with anger and the first evil stopped laughing.



Leo dodged another sword that one of the army had swung at him and had a quick glance at the rest of his ‘troops'. Piper, Prue and Phoebe were cornering three of the scourges newest demon recruits, Xander was dodging swords and making sarcastic remarks to them, Anya seemed to be hiding behind a bush waiting to ambush one of them, Cole and Spike were working as a team taking down more than their fair share of the demons, Cordy, Wes, Jenny and Giles were working as a group and taking out a number of them. He turned back in time to see another charge him, to which he simply orbed out of the way confusing the demon and allowing Leo to simply and swiftly dispose of it. As he faced another demon, one of an endlessly seeming supply he wondered how Emma and Angel were holding up.



PART 24


Emma slowly stood up never taking her eyes from it, she started to move towards it determined to exact revenge. The first evil was the one to step back this time, but before it could do anything else Emma froze it. Then she stalked it, making it nervous. Gone was the somewhat timid little witch-slayer it had wanted to turn evil and in it's place was one very cheesed off witch, who wanted revenge and it was nervous, no creature had ever made it nervous before but now this witch had. It became more nervous when she didn't speak; she just kept circling it like a hunter circles its prey. Suddenly she stopped in front of it and stared into its eyes, "You say you can't die, right? Well, can you feel pain?"

The first evil tried to break free but this witches magick was more powerful than it had imagined, she wasn't as skilled with it as she should be but it didn't matter. In less than a second the first evil found itself slammed against a wall, shaking the foundation of the house above but when it tried to move it found that it was still frozen. Emma came towards it, but stopped a few feet away and closed her eyes, when she opened them again she just stood there. "I can't do it... I wanna cause you untold agony, but then I'd be no better than you and I am just so much better than you are" Emma told it. She released the freeze and walked away and the first evil thought it had a chance to destroy her; it raised itself up and shot a bolt at her more powerful than the one that had killed the vampire. Emma shocked it by stopping the bolt mid-air and sending it right back at it striking it directly in the chest, "Okay... now it's self-defence." She closed her eyes and concentrated, suddenly the first evil blew apart into a million pieces and Emma walked away towards home.



Leo was shocked when the remaining army ran away; he stared after their retreating figures and wondered what in the hell had happened. The others weren't so picky, Xander was whirling Anya around the lawn, Tara and Willow were kissing, and Spike and Cole high fiving each other, Prue, Piper and Phoebe were hugging and Dawn and Joyce had come outside from the manor. To Leo the battle seemed to be over and that meant that they had to await the result of Emma and Angel's battle. It was if they all suddenly remembered the high price that the battle was going to cost and they all calmed down and the mood turned mournful. They all just stood there not knowing what to do, when Piper suddenly turned around and moved away from the group, they in turn stared off into the distance to see a lone figure walking slowly towards them... from that distance they couldn't see whether it was Emma or Angel. But somehow Piper knew, "Emma" she whispered.

"I'm sure she's okay" Leo choked out, putting his arm around his wife.

"Of course she's okay, that's her," Piper told him.

"It is?" Prue asked squinting trying to see.

"Yeah...I know what my own daughter looks like" Piper said rudely. Then she took off towards the figure and Leo followed.

A few minutes later they returned with Emma, Leo was carrying her. "Where's Angel?" Willow asked carefully.

"I don't know and I can't ask her she passed out," Leo said carrying his daughter into the manor and up to her room.



Part 25


Three days later


"How is she?" Willow asked when she arrived. Willow had stayed while the others went on home, back to their lives and their responsibilities.

"The same" Prue answered. She was worried, after Emma had regained consciousness she'd simply told them Angel was gone, shooed them from her room and played this one song over and over while she stared out of the window... she wasn't even eating, it was like she was thinking ‘now he's gone it's my turn next'. Prue showed Willow into the living room where they were having a family meeting to discuss the Emma situation. Once they were seated the discussion began again.

"I say we get rid of the disc that, that damn song is on" Cole said, "It's in my head. I've been singing it."

"This isn't about you, it's about her and if that stupid song helps let her listen" Prue replied.

"Maybe one of you should talk to her?" Willow suggested.

"We've tried" Leo said.

Piper looked at Willow and said, "Not all of us have. Willow would you please try?"

Willow looked shocked. "Are you sure? I mean you're her family and I..."

"And you are an old friend" Phoebe told her. "Plus you knew Angel and we didn't, maybe she needs that."

"Okay, I'll try" Willow offered carefully. She didn't want to do anything to upset Emma anymore than she was already, but her family had a point.




As Willow climbed the stairs she could hear the music they were talking about, but only faintly until you reached her door. When she went inside she was almost knocked over by the volume of the music and she teared up when she saw the heartbroken young girl sitting in the same position she had the day before and the day before that. She went to turn off the music and Emma spoke for the first time in days, "Don't."

"Why not?" Willow asked her finger hovering over the stop button.

"Wils..."

"Wils is not an answer," Willow told her. She turned off the music and walked over to the bed and sat next to her. "Do you think Angel would want this?"

"Do you think Angel would want to be a pile of ashes?" Emma countered, "We don't always get what we want."

"No we don't. You know I had my life planned out in high school, before I met Buffy. I'd go to college, come home and marry Xander and have four kids. Then I met Buffy... you and my life totally changed..."

"Yeah, you decided to change Xander for Oz" Emma said.

"Okay it didn't change drastically" Willow admitted, "But I still wanted my best friend in my life. Then when we got to college, Oz left and you died, leaving me alone and I had to rebuild. That's what you have to do...not immediately, but someday. It doesn't mean you have to go out and fall in love or anything... it just means that you live the life Angel would've wanted you to have."

"What if I don't want my life without him in it?" Emma asked tearing up.

"Well, you die and possibly get reincarnated again and then it will start all over. Do you really want that?" Willow said.

"No."

"Good. Come downstairs, everyone's worried" Willow told her.

"Give me a few minutes... I wanna clean up."

"Okay" Willow said leaving. "See you in a little while."

"Yeah."




Everyone was anxiously awaiting Willow's return and she was mobbed the second she descended the stairs. "Is she okay?" Piper asked worriedly.

"She'll be down in a few minutes. She wanted to clean up" Willow told them.

"Thank whatever powers are out there" Prue mumbled sitting down.

Then they heard the music start up again. "Oh no" Phoebe cried.

Cole just smiled.

"What?" Prue asked him.

"It's a different song" Cole answered, "I think I like this one better."

Everyone was breathing a sigh of relief when Leo looked funny. "Got to go... they want me" Leo told everyone as he orbed away.

"I'm never going to get used to that," Willow said.

"Try being married to a guy that can do that and having a daughter that inherited it" Piper said leading Willow over to the sofa. "So what was Emma like as Buffy?"

Willow sighed and hoped that she could fudge over some of the rough spots in the history of Buffy.




As soon as Willow was gone, Emma walked over and put on a new disc, pressing play she wandered into her bathroom to shower and change. As she stepped under the warm spray the lyrics floated over to her.

//If I'd've known the way that this would end
If I'd've read the last page first
If I'd've had the strength to walk away
If I'd've known how this would hurt/
//I would've loved you anyway
I'd do it all the same
Not a second I would change
Not a touch that I would trade
Had I known my heart would break
I would've loved you anyway//

Emma stepped out of the shower and dried herself off, thinking about how much this song reminded her of her relationship with Angel... both times and wondering why she had one of her mother's music discs in her room. She walked out of her bathroom and drew in a sharp breath. She could hardly believe her eyes, "Angel?"

Part 26

Leo returned to the living room to find them all listening to Willow talk about Buffy, with commentary from the family when they discovered some similarity. He walked over and sat next to Piper, deciding his news and visitor could wait for a while. A few minutes later they finally noticed his return.

"Hi" Piper said, "What did they want?"

"Just some news and a gift for Emma" Leo told them, "I already dropped the gift off."

"What kind of gift?" Prue asked suspiciously.

"The kind that died a few days ago" Leo said.

Willow jumped up, "Angel?"

Leo nodded and a gasp ran through the room.

"I gotta call everyone," Willow said excusing herself.

"Well, she can't say you never got her anything she wanted" Cole told Leo.

Leo laughed and everyone began to talk excitedly as they awaited the arrival of the happy couple

**

"Hi" he said to her.

"You can't be real" Emma whispered. He couldn't be, three days ago she'd watched him turn to ashes before her very eyes, and it was just impossible for him to be standing there in front of her.

"Well it's a shock for me too. I was expecting to go to the next world and I get taken into this big room where I'm forced to watch you fight the first evil. Then when you win, these weird voices tell me that I have to go back... that I earned another chance," Angel told her.

Before he'd even gotten the last word out, Emma was in his arms hugging him like if she let go he'd disappear. She kissed him quickly and said, "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too," Angel said relishing the feeling of holding her close to him once again. He kissed her and said, "Your dad was the one who came and got me.

"My dad? Leo Wyatt? No way, he hates you" Emma said.

"Yeah, but he hates you being sad and lonely more" Angel told her. They held each other for a few minutes and then Angel spoke, "There's still so much between us... my business, your schooling..."

Emma shut him up with a kiss, "You came back from the dead to nag. We'll work it out." She laid her head on his chest and heard a familiar thump, "You're alive!"

"Didn't I mention that?"

"No you didn't," she said punching him in the arm.

"But what about..."

"Angel, I am the queen of orbing, wherever you are then I am too. Besides school isn't an issue," she told him.

"WHAT? You're going to school," he told her.

"Yeah, I just happen to be going to UCLA" she said, "You're never going to get rid of me."

"I don't want to."

He kissed her and started to pull her over towards the bed, when she stopped him. "Honey, my dad is downstairs and if you want to experience humanity and not die sometime today..."

"Got it."

Emma grabbed his hand, "Let's go downstairs." Angel followed her out of the room and towards their future.

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