Title: Come To Play
Author: Starla
Email: starla@buffymail.com
Disclaimer: These Characters belong to Joss Whedon, except Gorlock, Alana, Adrian Townsend, and anyone else you don't recognize.
Distribution: Take it, but let me know. If you have any of my other fics, go ahead.
Author's Notes: It *will* be B/A I promise. I realise this part is a little depressing. Sorry. Season 4 did happen, Fish Boy did date Buffy, Angel went to LA, etc.
Spoilers: I dunno. Anything is possible, be warned.
Summary: 150 years after the Scooby Gang die, they return to Earth to help out the current Slayer and her Slayerettes.

Part 18


Faith tumbled out of bed, siting up and looking around the room in a panic. She been dreaming of....

What had she been dreaming???

She concentrated hard, but was unable to recall even the smallest fragment of her nightmare. She groaned, collapsing against the stone floor, staring up at the ceiling, focusing on one of the cracks, trying to ignore the tiny ball of dread that had formed in her stomach, the aching sphere that she was sure had something to do with her nightmare.

She bit her lip, hating the feelings of anxiousness that washed over her.

What had she been dreaming???

Angel panicked when he awoke alone in his bed.

He propped himself up on one elbow, looking around the room before he heard her laugh in kitchen. He sighed in relief, flopping back down on the bed.

He'd thought she was gone already....

An irrational fear, considering he knew that she would wake him if the final battle with Faith were to begin.

They would fight side by side one last time before...

A strangled cry escaped his lips, and he rolled over, burying his face in his pillow.

"Don't leave me again, Beloved...." He whispered into the satin pillow slip, on which her scent still lingered. "Don't leave me...."

Willow slipped out of Oz's arms, smiling as she heard him growl softly in respone to the loss of contact. She giggled, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "I'll be back back soon, loup-garou." She whispered. She straightened, pulling on a jumper and a pair of sweat pants before padding out of the room.

She was worried about Angel. Buffy had told him about their imminent departure last night, and she was waiting for him to blow.

She sighed. It wasn't fair. None of it.

She came to a stop in front of his door, pausing before lifting her hand and knocking.

"Come in..." His voice was muffled by the solid wood.

She opened the door slowly, standing in the entrance for a moment, gazing at her old friend.

He sat in an armchair, legs crossed at the ankle, a large, dusty book resting on his knees.

She frowned. "How you doing, Angel?"

Buffy sat in the kitchen with Doyle, giggling over shared stories of their early days in the slaying game. Even as Buffy laughed, she felt the ever present sadness deep in her soul.

Already, she missed Angel, though she knew that he was only metres away, in their bedroom.

She smiled sadly, feeling tears well up inside her.

*Their* bedroom. She'd been sleeping there only a week, but already considered it *their* bedroom. Their bed. Their sheets. Their soft satin edged blankets.

And what killed her was...she knew Angel felt the same. It teared at her to know that he would have to sleep alone, day after day, in *their* bed.

It pained her to know that he would be sad when she was gone.

But there was nothing she could do. As always, their fate was uncontrollable.

She felt her tears flood from her eyes, felt her small frame rack with sobs.

She surrendered to the comfort of Doyle's arms around her, burying her head in her longtime friend's chest.

"I don't want to leave him, Doyle. Don't make me go..." She cried.

Doyle rested his hand on the back of her hair, smoothing down the golden tangles. "Ah, lass, you know the rules. " He said softly, hating to see her so...broken. for the first time, he cursed the Powers that Be. The beings that were so cruel to their greatest warriors.

He wished there was some way....

But he, perhaps more than most people, he knew that wishes were futile.

All you could do was sit back, enjoy the show, and try not to scream at the scary bits.




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