Disclaimer: Premise and characters borrowed from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
Summary: After Buffy's death the Slayerette try to carry on. Story is post 3rd season.

Year: 2020

Time was supposed to heal all wounds, Xander thought bitterly looking down at the darkly handsome vampire huddled against the headstone. The years might have healed Angel's body, but they hadn't done much for his sanity.

"Angel, it's time to go home," Xander said, gently he rested his hands on his old rival's shoulders.

"I don't want to go. I shouldn't leave her," Angel's voice was plaintive, childlike.

"Buffy wouldn't like this," Xander said quietly.

"No," Angel protested. "It's been so long. She didn't know it would be so long."

Sixteen years, Xander thought, since the world stopped making sense.

"Please," Angel begged, rising to his knees as he turned to Xander.

Xander stared over Angel's head at the headstone.

Elizabeth Anne Summers
1981-2004

"Today the sun rose, Buffy we thank you."

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Year: 2004

"Oz how is Willow doing?" Buffy asked, kicking her heels against the tombstone.

"The doc said she and the baby are doing great. Still after that scare, he wants her to stay in the hospital till the delivery," Oz replied. "Which grave is it?"

"That one," Buffy said pointing to a patch of unnaturally green grass. "So have you two picked a name?"

Oz carefully selected a seat at a safe distance from the fresh grave. "You know we won't let the doctors tell whether the baby will be a girl or a boy."

"So? You've still got to have been talking about it. What are the front runners?" Buffy asked.

"We wanted to meet the baby first, see what fit," Oz replied. "So what's on the schedule for tonight?"

"We take care of our friend down there, then a quick patrol, then we go home. Giles doesn't' expect anything big for awhile," Buffy said.

"Has Giles talked to Xander recently?" Oz asked.

"Yeah, the council doesn't like it but Xander's still coming home. There's no way a set of stuffed shirts like the council are going to keep him from personally congratulating two of his closest friends on the birth of their first child."

The ground in front of Buffy erupted as the newly risen vampire clawed his way to the surface.

"Back to work," Buffy sighed, hopping from her perch.

As the vampire freed his upper body from the grave, Buffy leaned over and staked him. For a second the startled vamp just stared at her, then with a shriek it crumbled to dust.

"I think the council ought to pay me," Buffy said conversationally. "I mean this whole saving the world and holding down a job is just tedious."

"You overslept again?" Oz asked.

"Yep, and bosses don't understand saving the world from vampires anymore than teachers did."

"Bummer," Oz commented.

"Definitely, and since I can't quit the slaying gig, I think it should be a paid position. Do you think Giles will buy it?" Buffy asked. Oz considered her question, "Well, it's not up to just him."

"And the council would consider it a change, and we all know how the council feels about change," Buffy finished. "So I guess I'll just have to be thankful for a quiet night every now and then, like tonight."

"Or not," Oz replied, directing Buffy's attention to a small grove of trees near the cemetery gates. And to the fiery hole in reality forming there.

"There goes the neighborhood," Buffy sighed.

The demon that came through the portal was predictably ugly and big too; about eight feet tall and covered with heavy gray-green scales.

"I think this looks like a knife type demon," Buffy commented.

Oz nodded digging into the duffel bag slung over his shoulder. "Trade?" he asked offering her an ornate knife about the size of a machete.

"Thanks," Buffy replied handing him her stake as she took the knife. "Okay appearance challenged guy," Buffy addressed the demon. "We have plenty of evil in Sunnydale without you. So why don't you just hop back through your nice little portal there or I'm going to have to hurt you."

The demon sneered, "Go home little girl, every Slayer who has ever dared stand against me has died."

"You talk big," Buffy replied. "But I'm not buying."

With that Buffy attacked. Several of her best kicks left the demon completely unmoved. In fact he was laughing.

Okay, Buffy thought, it's time to change tactics. This time she attacked with the knife. Her first cut bounced off the demon's scales. When she tried for a second the demon reached up and caught her hand. It twisted her wrist squeezing down like a vise.

Buffy dropped to her knees as the knife clattered to the pavement.

"Goodbye Slayer," the demon said, seconds before Oz's mass crashed into its knees throwing it off balance.

Startled the demon released Buffy.

"Run!" She yelled.

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Year: 2020

Xander walked through Willow and Oz's front entrance. The door itself was half off its hinges, standing wide open a bad omen in any town. In Sunnydale it was a license to panic.

He'd stumbled across Angel's most recent suicide attempt pretty much by accident while patrolling the cemetery. It had never occurred to him that something might have happened to Willow or her family.

Angrily he glared at the vampire standing silently at his side. Willow gets attacked and he just wanders off. Xander thought. Xander shook his head slightly taking his anger out on Angel was stupid. True there'd been a time when Angel could have protected Willow from most anything Sunnydale tossed at them, but that had been before Buffy's death. Things were different now.

Other than the front door the house was undamaged, still Willow Oz and their daughter Beth were gone.

Hopefully Xander dialed Willow's cell phone number. Two rings later Xander remembered to breathe as the phone was answered.

"Hello?" Willow's voice wavered.

"Will, thank God you're all right!" Xander exclaimed. "I saw your door and well you know how things are."

"Xander, it's Beth," Willow stammered. "We're at the hospital. My baby.the doctors won't say anything. Angel just." Willow broke down sobbing.

Xander listened in shock slowly turning to face Angel, who was still standing where Xander had left him.

"She'll be all right, Will," Xander promised hanging up the phone.

____________________________________________

Year: 2004

"So what are we up against?" Angel asked as soon as Buffy and Giles met him at the Sunnydale bus depot.

"Big, strong, armored and ugly about sums it up," Buffy replied.

"Also I can't find anything about it in my books, Willow hasn't had any luck with the Internet." Giles added.

"How is Willow doing?" Angel asked seriously.

"She almost miscarried," Buffy answered. "The doctors are keeping her at the hospital until the baby's born. Still the doctors said that the baby might make it even if it were born now, but the longer they wait the better it's chances will be."

Angel nodded, relieved, he liked Willow, other than Buffy she was the only person he could really count as a friend. Xander and Cordelia would both prefer him dead; Giles and Oz simply tolerated him for Buffy's sake. Willow treated him like a person; she had invited him to her wedding and called him about the pregnancy just like she had done with the rest of her friends. She'd even had the wedding late enough that he'd actually been able to attend.

When Willow had called about the baby she'd been so happy and excited... Then Angel heard about the problems. He'd been horrified, in his time complicated pregnancies usually killed either the mother or the child, more often that not both died. Angel knew medicine had advance considerably in the centuries since his birth, still he had followed the progression of Willow's pregnancy with a quiet sense of dread.

"About the demon," Giles said. "We were hoping you would be able to identify it."

"And if you can't I'll probably need some heavy duty back-up when we try the guess and check method of slayage," Buffy added.

Angel smiled at her, "Thanks for calling me. I know it's hard for you to have me here, but if anything happened to you I'd die."

Buffy bit her lip looking very uncomfortable. "You've got your own life now, you'd deal." Buffy's statement wasn't an expression of hope or belief, it was a command.

Tactfully Angel dropped a subject he and Buffy would never agree on. Angel knew when Buffy died he would either already be dead himself or he would find whatever, whoever, killed her and destroy it, or die trying. After that he'd have no more reason to live. Until then he would continue trying to create a life Buffy would approve of.

"Let's go find our new friend," Angel said. "The less time he has to accomplish whatever he came to the Hellmouth to do the better."

Buffy grinned, relieved at the change of topic. "That's us, a pair of workaholics," she said, leading Angel back to her car.

__________________________________

Year: 2004

"Sorry Buffy," Angel said. "I don't recognize it."

"Oh dang, I hate guess and check," Buffy replied.

"Before we rush into this let's talk to Giles." Angel said. "I mean rushing in blindly is always dangerous, at the very least we should be well armed."

"Oh yeah, heavy artillery," Buffy sighed.

"I've always been a firm believer in overkill," Angel replied. "Especially if it keeps you safer."

"Come on Angel you know the rules," Buffy said. "No being sweet or romantic, it's hard enough being around you without additional reminders of what we're not."

Angel grimaced, the last thing he had ever wanted to do was hurt Buffy, a fact which never seemed to stop him form doing exactly that.

_______________________________________________________

Year: 2020

Xander stared at Angel, all the hatred he'd ever felt toward the other man building in his mind.

He'd never liked Angel, never trusted him. For almost two decades Xander had put his personal feeling about Angel aside. It had seemed pretty pointless, pathetic even, to hold a grudge against someone as screwed up as Angel had become.

"Shows what I know," Xander muttered. "Everything would have been a lot better if Buffy had just staked you when we first found out you were a vampire."

Angel had to have heard Xander's comments, but he didn't respond he was lost in the past. Trying desperately to piece together the piece of the puzzle that his memories had become.

Xander continued his monologue, walking to the closet where Willow kept her weapons. "All you've ever done is screw up our lives and now you hurt Willow's daughter."

He selected a heavy bat and a stake from the armory Willow and Oz maintained.

"I should have done this years ago,"Xander continued.

In the split second before the bat connected with his skull Angel finally seemed to realize his situation. In a futile gesture Angel raised his hand to block Xander's blow. He was much too late, a second blow and consciousness fled.

Leaning over his fallen adversary, Xander raised his stake.

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