Angel sat at the desk, correcting a stack of papers, but not really. He was staring off into space, thinking about his wife. The students were all scribbling down the last of the notes he'd put on an overhead.

He couldn't really care less.

He'd put the overhead on upside down and backwards, and hadn't even realized it until one of the students had been brave enough to correct it.

When the cell phone rang, breaking the silence, everyone looked up. Angel grabbed it quickly. "Yeah?"

"Angel?"

Buffy. It was Buffy. "Buffy," he said, verbalizing his thoughts. "Is everything..."

"We got found," Buffy said calmly as Willow entered the room. "We're moving again."

"Is Kathy okay? And the baby?" Angel questioned quietly as he moved into the office that connected to the room he taught in. He didn't bother to close the door. He did have a class to teach, no matter what the circumstances were in the rest of his life.

"We're all fine. Will came in and killed it before it could even touch any of us."

"Where are you headed?"

A long silence. Buffy sighed. "You know I can't tell you."

He sighed back at her. "It doesn't feel right."

She looked at their daughter who was half asleep on the bed. Willow was starting to pick her up, and she motioned out the door towards the car. Buffy nodded, indicating that she'd follow her down in a moment. "I know."

"You have enough money and everything?"

She tried to laugh. "That's all you're worried about?"

He sighed over the phone. "You know better than that."

"We should be set for a while. I hit an ATM before we left Ve-that place where we were."

Vegas, he thought, sighing in frustration. On one hand it was good that she liked sharing things with him. On the other hand... The whole purpose of the trip away was so that no one, including him, would know. "Yeah. Careful you don't hit it to many more times though. They can track it."

"Uh-huh." She fell silent for a moment, looking out the window. "I love you."

"I love you," he returned quietly.

She smiled faintly and closed her eyes. "I'll talk to you later then. Probably in two days or so. Maybe three." She closed her eyes. "Love you,"

"Bye love." Angel said, his voice still quiet.

"Bye."

Buffy hung up quickly and shoved the phone into Willow's lap. The redhead shot her a nervous look, and took the phone and put it on the side of the seat, out of Buffy's reach. "I'm sure everything's fine," Willow said nervously.

Buffy nodded a little. "Yeah. I'm sure too."

She wondered if it sounded as false as she thought it was.

*-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-*

Quentin Travers was regretting the decision to return to Sunnydale with the Council. He stood in the library along with several others, and tried to be invisible. It wasn't working.

Angel's gaze never left him, and the Hunter looked furious to see him. William wasn't helping matters. He'd look at his grandson, then at Quentin, and he'd make some comment that would make the situation even more tense. Usually about how much of a jerk Quentin had been when he had held Buffy almost a year ago.

Rupert looked furious as well. He was better at hiding it though, and managed to keep calm, despite the presence of the Council.

Faith was clearly upset too. There was no doubt that she sided with Angel on the matter of the Council.

Quentin silently prayed that it would be over quickly.

*-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-*

Faith glared at the Council jerks that were scattered over the back of the library. When they'd first entered, she'd nearly dove at them to get to Quentin.

Angel had too.

It had taken almost all of the Scooby Gang to hold them back, and even then, it was only because Giles had requested that they stay calm.

The Council had stayed away from them, but kept their cocky attitudes. Even that had faded quickly once they realized that William was there, and he was supporting Angel. And their sense of loss was intensified when they realized Buffy Summers O'Connor and her daughter were not there to submit to their protection.

Quentin and his superiors had been furious when they'd been informed of Buffy's absence. But since William was the highest ranking officer present, no one would dare argue with him.

Even when he'd ordered the Council members to share the books that contained the prophecy.

Giles was looking over it now. He finally sighed and looked up.

The Scooby Gang knew what that meant and they quieted.

"The prophecy is fairly clear," Giles said slowly. "If we can assume that it is Angel and Buffy involved, then it is their child that is mentioned, there is little doubt about it."

"What's it say?" Xander asked

Giles looked down at the book. "They will not know each other, but the world shall know them. They shall save the lives of all, unwittingly, by existing together. For they are the balance of good versus the world of evil. But if their differences create a separation that will last for long, the world will be doomed and there shall be no hope." He looked up. "We're assuming that this is Buffy and Angel. There is other evidence pointing towards this same conclusion, but-"

"Just finish reading it," Angel requested, crossing his arms and leaning against a bookshelf. He stayed on the upper portion of the library, where he could watch the group easily, and keep an intimidation factor over the Council.

Giles nodded. "A child shall be born from these Chosen Ones. There shall be two paths it may follow. One of darkness that leads to the night, and one of light, that leads to the day. If the child is not lead to the day, Hell shall overcome the earth. And it shall be the End of the World."

"The child's Kathy?" Faith asked.

Quentin nodded, a little bit cocky because he knew this better than the others. "We've assumed that."

"I wasn't asking you." Faith said flatly.

Angel smirked slightly, and Giles hid his own smile. "Yes, we're assuming that the child is Kathy. There have not been any other Hunters and Slayers joining together, so we're assuming that this means Buffy and Angel."

"With this and another prophecy we've uncovered, this is the only conclusion that seems reasonable," one of the Watcher's said, sounding as if they though little of Giles's opinion. "Therefore, we need to protect the Slayer and her child."

"You don't need to go near *my* wife and *my* child." Angel corrected. "As a matter of fact, you should go back to England and forget about it."

"Since that is unrealistic, you may as well begin to think of us as allies." The Council Member looked directly at him, not amused. "We've all faced vampires of some kind, in a one-on-one situation, and we've defeated them. We should be able to handle a vampire or two on our own."

"Pfft." William snorted, standing up. He looked over at his grandson's group, then at the Council. "The Council isn't leaving. However, they are under orders to stay out of the way and help." He smirked. "And Quentin is to do exactly what Angel says."

Quentin Travers didn't like that. "Sir, I don't think that's a good idea. With all due respect, you do happen to be very close to Angel, seeing as he is your grandson. Perhaps that's coloring your judgment. But it is absolutely ridiculous to think that members of this council should be controlled by a twenty year old with no respect for authority."

A moment passed. Faith and Angel exchanged a look. Then the younger Slayer looked at Giles. "I'm still all for kickin' their asses back to England."

"I'm for it," Spike agreed, smirking.

Giles sighed. "Enough, children," he said patiently. "Despite the fact that you are having so much fun at the moment, we do need to concentrate on research." 

Xander groaned. "I call Fredrick's," he announced unhappily. It was the easiest book to understand in the library.

"I don't care what I get as long as it's not the beet guy," Cordelia told them, flipping her hair a bit.

Giles sighed. And to think he'd believed they'd make a good impression on the Council.

Hrmpf.

*-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-*

Willow and Buffy had been driving for several hours. Both women were tired, and Kathy was crabby. It was nine o'clock at night when they finally stopped.

The hotel the picked was only moderately run down, and they both went up to bed immediately after Willow checked them in.

Buffy didn't fall asleep for a long time.

Her thoughts were filled with Angel, their children, and everything else that was going on with the Council and the prophecies.

And how she was supposed to stay safe when her husband could be in danger.

*-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-*

Patrolling that night was an adventure. The Council insisted upon sending several of their men with Angel and Faith, and the rest of the Scooby Gang.

They agreed to meet at two o'clock in the park across from the old high school. Angel was waiting for them. The rest of the group had already left to go with Faith.

They had decided to force the Council to go with Angel, as he was the most unhappy about the situation, and not afraid to show it.

They arrived all dressed in black, armed with stakes, holy water, crosses, and several of them carried notepads and pens.

Angel wore his traditional clothing. Black with his favorite leather duster over it. He raised an eyebrow at the men who wore black scull caps, but resisted the urge to comment. Barely.

Quentin had chosen himself to be the leader. "Well, I suppose we should go to the south end of Sunnydale."

"I've already checked that end." Angel said flatly. One of the other men opened their mouth to say something, and Angel sent him a cold look. "And unless you really want to get your ass bit by a vampire, you'll do what I say and stay quiet."

After he had set the pace for the evening, Angel began moving into the darkness of the cemetery, where he knew several vampires waited to be staked.

*-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-*

"How'd it go with our lovely guests?" Faith asked as she joined Angel and Giles in the library.

Angel scowled. "Xander's better at staking vampires than they are."

Spike let out a hoot of laughter.

Xander frowned. "What's that supposed to mean."

Angel's scowl darkened. "It means that, not only did they manage to get lost, but then they managed to almost get killed by a fledgling."

"Got attacked by the underbelly of Sunnyhell, eh?" Spike said, smirking. "You let any of them get eaten."

"I really should have," Angel sighed.

Giles took off his glasses. "I trust they all went home then?"

Angel nodded. "They're at the hotel near the Bronze."

Drusilla looked surprised. "I wouldn't have thought they'd stay there... They're normally a bit too uppity to stay in a normal place..."

Spike smirked. "That's okay, they're right where they belong."

"With the rest of the Sunnydale trash?" Faith said, scowling. "I had to live there for a while, Peroxide Boy."

"Point taken," Xander said with a smirk.

Faith looked at Cordelia, who stood next to him. The cheerleader smirked and elbowed her boyfriend. "That was from Faith," she informed him.

"You enjoyed that way too much," Xander accused, frowning as he took a large step away from them.

Angel rolled his eyes and glanced at the clock. He sighed. "I've got a class at ten."

"What time-oh my," Giles murmured, seeing the clock. "I hadn't realized it was so late."

"We'll meet again after lunch tomorrow," Angel said. He glanced at the group. "Who's where?" he asked.

"Since Kath isn't there, we'll go with you," Spike said cheerfully.

"Sleepover then," Faith said with a smirk. "Make B jealous she missed it," she murmured, sending Angel a seductive look. Which she knew he would ignore.

It was just something she did with all guys, no matter how happily married they were. And it drove Buffy nuts, which of course was her biggest reason behind doing it.

Too bad B's not here to see it, she thought sourly.

And she followed Angel out the door.

*-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-*   Oz followed Spike, Dru, and Faith to the mansion. Behind him and his van, Cordelia and Xander followed in Cordelia's corvette. Angel led the pack by quite a ways, having sped home in his and Buffy's convertible.

Angel was halfway inside before Oz had even stopped his van.

Dru sighed softly as she watched Angel go to the front door and open it, barely even looking back to see if they were on their way or not. "He's not taking this whole, apart from Buffy thing very well, is h-"

A huge explosion boomed from the mansion, and Drusilla was cut off as she fell to the ground in the aftershock. Faith and Spike landed next to her, as stunned as she was.

Flames danced around them, the explosion having started several of the trees in the yard on fire.

Car alarms went off, in the driveway of the mansion, and at the neighbors, who were a good distance away.

Faith rolled to her feet. "Angel," she muttered, and started to run towards the entrance.

Spike grabbed her arm, and stopped her, caught somewhere between confused and stunned. "You can't go in that friggin' inferno," he said, his voice firm, but almost trembling. 

"Oh god, we have to find Angel," Dru whispered, using Spike to pull herself up. Her eyes filled with tears as she watched in numb shock as the mansion burned. "Where's Angel? We have to find him," she whimpered.

Faith jerked free of Spike and took a few steps towards the mansion. She stopped before she got more than three feet, and stared at the fire, watching in numb silence as it ravaged the place her best friend called home. And most likely her best friend's husband along with it.

*-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-*

The police informed them that it was a low tech bomb with a big reaction.

They told Giles that anyone could have made it, very easily, and it would have the power to destroy that much of the mansion. No, they did not have any suspects. No, they had not found a body. No, Angel O'Connor was not believed to have survived the explosion. 

Sorry for you loss, but have you seen Mrs. O'Connor? We need to question her as to her possible involvement with the incident.

Sorry sirs and mams, we'll be on our way now.  No, we didn't know that he had a child. No, we didn't know that he had another child on the way.

No, we did not see another man in the back of the house, going by the name of William. He must be dead too.

Sorry for your loss, we must be going now.

And they left, as simple as that.

The mansion wasn't as bad as it had first seemed to those that had seen the explosion. The back portion of it was in fairly decent shape. Which meant that Angel and Buffy's bedroom, Kathy's bedroom, and one of the bathrooms had gone untouched. 

The great hall, kitchen, and the garden were a different story. 

Giles walked through the remainders of the house and felt ill. 

He stopped in the center of the front room, looking at the blackened walls and brick floors. He could see clearly where the explosion's center had been. It almost looked like a portal from hell had opened in the room.

Except if that had happened, there would have been demons escaping, Giles thought bitterly. They would have seen them, and known that was what happened.

He turned and made his way towards the back door, as the front was covered by debris and impossible to open.

As he stepped outside into the sun, he saw something coming towards him. Startled, he turned, then jerked back as he saw a six foot tall purple demon before him, snarling through slobber covered fangs. "Oh bloody hell," Giles muttered, and ducked back in the mansion, shoving the door shut behind him. He bolted it and ran for the bedrooms, where he knew there was a window low to the ground he could escape from.

The door crashed open behind him, and Giles knew that he didn't have enough time.

He reached the bedroom and threw open the door, going over to the closet. He pushed back some of the clothes and things and smiled grimly. 

As he'd expected-and hoped-he found a box of weapons.

He threw it open and grabbed the small axe on top, whirling around only to find that the demon was already there, it's knife on the way down.

He dove to the side, and the knife narrowly missed him. He was about to start praying-and running-for his life, when Faith appeared and threw her arms around the demon, choking it. "Little help please!" she requested, grunting as the demon backed into the wall, with her still on it's back.

Giles grabbed his axe and swung at the demon, hitting it in the stomach.

It screeched with pain and threw Faith off it's back, then ran towards the door.

Faith grabbed the axe from Giles and ran after it.

Giles, after taking a moment to grab another axe, followed.

*-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-*

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Faith asked as she and Giles walked out to his car. The Slayer didn't look at him as she sat down in the passenger seat. She looked out the window, at the remains of the mansion. "I thought you were supposed to be at home, in case B calls."

So you can tell her that her husband's dead.

Faith felt sick and looked down at her feet.

Giles sat for a moment, then started the car. "I...I needed to see this," he said after a pause. "And I needed a chance to clear my head."

"So you went where he died."

Giles pressed the gas of the car and they jerked forward, following the curving driveway down to Crawford Street. "I did," he said quietly. He stared straight ahead while he drove, and for a long time, they were both very quiet. "I can't pretend that he and I were that close. I knew him, but not as much as you did."

Faith shrugged. "Dead now. Doesn't matter much, I guess."

Giles was silent for a moment as he turned down Main Street to go to Faith's apartment. "Do you really think I believe that?"

"You should," Faith told him flatly.

"Fine. Then you can be the one who will tell Buffy that her husband has died."

Faith jerked and stared at him. "I can't."

"Then don't lie to me." Giles said simply. He stopped his car in front of Faith's apartment. "I know how difficult this is. I've been around too long in this business to not know." He studied her for a long moment. "I've lost several friends over the years, many of them very close to me. Like it or not, I do understand what you're going through."

Faith smiled thinly. "Yeah. Sorry 'bout that and all, but I don't need any touchy feely crap. Save that for B. She's gonna need that a hell of a lot more than I do."

Giles was silent as she got out of the car.

*-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-*

The phone rang during the middle of a Scooby meeting. It startled everyone, but they knew who it was. The meeting had started just fifteen minutes before, with a solemn discussion of what to tell Buffy when she called.

Even Xander was solemn, not once cracking a joke, or even smiling.

The Council Members, who had tried to come in earlier, had been forcibly removed from the room by Xander, Spike, and Faith.

It was the quietest meeting they had ever had, as they all mourned for Angel.

The first of them to die.

Dru's eyes were puffy and red, and she wouldn't let go of Spike. Spike stared straight ahead, and a smile never crossed his lips. Faith's expression was blank, but she stood stiffly, her arms crossed.

Giles picked up the phone, not daring to look at the Caller ID. He knew that if he recognized the phone number, he wouldn't be able to answer. "Rupert Giles speaking."

"Giles," Buffy said immediately. "Where's Angel? I need to talk with him."

Such an innocent question.

Asked by an unsuspecting woman, who had no idea that everything she'd dreamt of for the past year had been destroyed. Asked by a woman who had no idea that her world was about to fall to pieces in front of her very eyes.

Giles closed his eyes. How was he supposed to tell the girl he thought of as his daughter that her husband was dead? Killed in an explosion that was meant for her and their children. "Buffy," he said quietly. The rest of the group looked at him, watching him as he closed his eyes and sat down at the table and braced himself to tell the Slayer the terrible news. "I'm afraid there's been an accident." Jenny patted his hand, her eyes filled with sympathy.

Buffy fell silent for a long moment, and Giles knew she was starting to worry.

She has no idea, he thought bitterly. Giles opened his eyes again, staring at the library table in front of him. "Last night, there was... some kind of explosion. At the mansion. Angel was inside."

"No."

Giles flinched and rubbed his eyes. "Buffy, I'm sorry."

"No," she said, this time a bit louder, more firmly. "I'd know it, he's fine, he's not-"

"Buffy, he was at the center of the blast. There's no way..."

Dru's eyes filled up again and she began weeping once more, her shoulders shaking with grief. Giles looked away from the group. "Buffy, Angel's-"

"He's not. I would know, Giles, he's not dead." Despite her insisting, a note of panic he was unused to was in her voice. "He's not dead."

"Buffy," he said firmly, and Jenny went over to him, her eyes full of sympathy. Such a wonderful woman, he realized. She always knew when he needed support. Staring into her eyes, he couldn't imagine how it would be to be in Buffy's position. "I'm sorry, Buffy," he said finally.

For the longest time there was silence. "Buffy?" he questioned, more than a little concerned.

"Giles?" It was Willow. "What's going on? What happened, what'd you say?"

"Willow," he said quietly. "There was an accident. Angel was killed in an explosion." She gasped. Giles continued, finally looking away from Jenny and at the rest of the group. "I think it would be for the best if you and Buffy returned."

"Giles," Willow whispered, her mind still caught on the fact that Angel-Buffy's Angel-was dead.

"Take care of Buffy," Giles said quietly. "Get her somewhere where she can sit for a while, and call me then."

Willow hung up the phone without another word.

And the Scooby gang fell into a long silence.

*-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-*

It took until seven o'clock that evening for Buffy and Willow to return to Sunnydale. There was no stopping them from returning, and Giles couldn't argue. Despite the fact that it would be far more dangerous, he knew Buffy had to see that Angel was gone.  Otherwise who knew what could happen?

By the time they returned to Sunnydale, the gang had gathered at the library again. Willow had been dropped off at the library, and, against her wishes, Buffy took Kathy and they went to the mansion.

Willow ran into the library and announced what Buffy was doing.

And then they all went after Buffy.

*-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-* *-._.-

She pulled the car in front of the mansion and climbed out, holding Kathy close to her as she looked over the damage. She walked to the door, and her fingers traced over what used to be the door frame. Now it was naught but shredded wood and ashes.

She shifted Kathy in her arms and stepped over the rubble and into the remains of her house. In the light from the setting sun, she looked over the foyer of her home and wanted to weep. Kathy whimpered a little, and Buffy bounced her a little. "Shh," she murmured, stepping further inside. It was probably one of the stupidest things she'd ever done, she knew, but she needed to see their house. She needed to see everything that had happened. 

Amazing, she thought distantly. Almost exactly half of the house had been destroyed. It simply looked like there had been a minor earthquake in the other rooms, with a few pictures on the floor. She stared into their bedroom and found that the only thing wrong with it, besides the outside of the door being a bit blackened, was that the mirror she'd placed above the dresser was crooked.

"Angel?" she called.

He would answer her, like he always did. He'd come out of where ever he was with that goofy grin that she loved so much and he'd kiss her and take Kathy and kiss her again.  Then he'd pull her over to the bed and they'd lay down with their baby.

And he'd do it because that's what they did, Because he had to, because she couldn't accept that he was dead.

Not when she had their baby on it's way and their little girl in her arms. He couldn't be dead.

She realized with a start that tears were making their way down her face, and one splashed down on Kathy's face.  The girl whimpered again, and her eyes welled up. "Shh," Buffy said again, rocking her.  "It's okay darling," she said as Kathy began crying a little more. Her whimper turned into a wail, and Buffy was crying with her.

"Shh, baby," Buffy said, her voice quivering.  "Come on, Kath,"

She cradled her in her arms, trying to soothe her, even as her own tears fell, faster and faster until she wanted to fall over and die right there.

"Buffy?"Willow said softly. The Slayer looked up, broken, and watched through teary eyes as her friend went over to her and hugged her. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

The others slowly gathered in the broken doorway. No one knew what to say. Except Giles, of course. And he knew no one would like it. "Buffy, this isn't the best place to be right now," he told her in the calmest voice he could manage. "There was a demon here before. There could be more."

Jenny stepped in between Buffy and Giles when she saw the girl about to leap at him. "He's right, Buffy. You have to think about Kathy right now." The gypsy stared at the Slayer, he dark eyes filled with sympathy and grim acceptance.

Buffy nodded mutely, trying to get control of herself and her feelings.

She didn't have much luck. Xander went over to her and crouched next to her. He took Kathy and stepped back as Willow helped Buffy up. "Come on, Buff," Xander said quietly. "Let's get-"

"Duck!"

Faith fell on Giles, who fell on Xander. An arrow stuck into the wall, right where Giles head would have been.

She jumped to her feet and dove for the vampire in the door.

Only to have a dozen more vampires and demons run in after him.

Buffy swore as Xander shoved Kathy into her arms, and she ducked back away from the fight. Between her size and her child, she couldn't fight.

It didn't stop the demons from going towards her.

Faith and Xander worked to protect her, while Buffy searched for a weapon.

Willow began chanting something, and suddenly threw her arms back.

All of the demons in the room were thrown back against the wall.

"Go!" she ordered Buffy, her eyes glowing.

"Get her out!" Giles ordered Faith at the same time.

Faith grabbed Buffy's arm and pulled her out of the room.

The two ran down the hallway and ducked into the closet.

Buffy cast a look back in time to see more demons running in. "Oh no," she breathed.

Faith was watching too.

She wanted to help. She really did. But she knew her first priority had to be to get Buffy-Kathy more specifically-to safety.

Where ever that was. So she abandoned her friends to save her sister Slayer.

The two girls darted down the stairs and out the door.

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