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 23


Alana gasped at the black, empty depths of his eyes that she was unaccustomed to seeing.

"Hello Alana." He said, smiling lazily. "I've heard so much about you."

She slowly, shakily got to her feet. "You're....You are....You aren't...."

"Half a hottie?" Angelus smirked, stretching his legs out before him, cocking his head to the side, leaning back on his elbows as if preening slightly. "Well, it's nice of you to say so. I have been working out."

"B-Buffy." Alana called. "He's..."

"What?" Buffy asked, quickly dispensing the demon she was battling and joining Alana, sensing the other Slayer's tension, fear growing in her stomach when she saw the way Alana was gazing at Angel.

Buffy swallowed when she looked into his eyes. "Angelus."

"What, Buff? No Welcome Home Party???" Angelus asked with a lazy grin as he leapt to his feet. "Well, I cna't say I'm surprised. I suppose you want to go some place private, huh?" He pursed his lips, then looked Alana up and down suggestively. "Of Course, *you* are *welcome* to join us."

"Really not interested, Angelus." Alana said, her voice quivering.

"Oh well. Faith seemed pretty eager to earlier. Maybe we can take her up on her offer."

"Never gonna happen." Buffy said, her lips set in a grim line, her sadness only evident by the tears that welled in her eyes.

By now the group had formed a semi-circle around her, and she took minor comfort in their presence.

She knew that they wouldn't make her kill him. She knew that they'd take care of it.

She turned her back, and pushed through the crowd behind her.

She gave Angelus one last look. "You shouldn't have come back again, lover. It'll go badly for you."

"Oh, and it will be just wonderful for you, I suppose." Angelus said cruelly, raising one eyebrow, his perfect lips curved in a cold smile.

She smiled, then, a soft, content, rainbow. "He'll be waiting for me."

Angelus narrowed his eyes, knowing that he had lost, before the fight had even begun. He would not get a chance to destroy her, and his presence actually solved one of the problems she'd been facing. Now she and the Soul would be together again, for always.

And he would spend an endless eternity in hell, without her.

Buffy looked at Alana and friends. "It was nice meeting you all, but if you don't need me, I'll be on my way."

Alana looked uneasily between Buffy and Angelus. "Buffy...I don't know if I can fight him."

"You won't have to. They'll take care of it." Buffy said, then glanced at her friends. "Don't be too hard on him. He's an old bastard, but he loves me in his way."

She looked at Alana. "I guess this is it, kid."

Alana frowned. She would miss Buffy. "Will you ever be back?"

"I'll be around." She laughed a little. "Gotta make sure that you are taking care of *my* town."

"It's mine and you know it." Alana shot back.

On impulse, Buffy leaned forward and gave Alana a quick hug. "Take care of yourself, kid."

She shimmered, and then was gone.

Angelus knew without a doubt that he would never see her again.

The thought depressed him more than he cared to admit, to himself, or others. She was right. He did love her. And he always would. Every time he closed his eyes, she would be burned into the backs of his eyelids. Every unneeded breath he took would carry her scent, and every sound he heard would magically turn into her voice.

What could he say. She was a little brat, but she was his brat. Or she had been. It seemed, over the years, his Buff had grown some. She no longer quivered in fear before him.

"My little girl is all grown up." He drawled, staring at the spot where his lover had been.

"Yeah. " Xander said. "You'll find we all have." He narrowed his eyes. "And I'm still the White Knight."

"I bet you are." Angelus said. There was several minutes silence. "You know I'm not gonna go without a fight."

"It's your cremation." Cordelia said, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"Seriously, man." Doyle said. "You don't wanna be fighting us."

"I will not carry myself down to die, when I go to my grave my head will be high." Angelus quoted.

"Bob Dylan." Giles recognized.

"Let's do this, people." Willow said, raising her hands. "Let's get it done."

Angelus put up a hell of a fight. The gang left the mansion several hours later, nursing open wounds and limping.

Ross had not survived.

"He's gone." Kelly whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. "He was our friend and now he's gone." She thought of Angel, then. "They both are."

"Not gone." Oz said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Just relocated."

"Look after him for us?" Alana murmured.

"Of course." Giles said, removing his glasses. "He'll be fine. Heaven...well, it's paradise."

"It doesn't make it easier to accept." Lee said softly. "We're two down, now. Our team is being torn apart."

"And it be built up again. You just gotta go with the flow, sometimes." Doyle said.

"We're never gonna see you again, are we?" Alana said. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Not in this lifetime." Xander said. "Look after yourselves."

"Always have." Alana whispered. "Thank you guys." Her gaze wandered to Faith. "What's going to happen to you?"

"I'll live out my life til I die again." Faith said.

"You should stick around." Alana said casually. "Our reserves are depleted. We could use another able body."

Slightly shocked, Faith could only nod.

"Cya, guys." Willow said with a wave.

"I'm so sorry, guys. I never wanted to..." Faith whispered. "Ross is dead because of me."

"Faith...there is nothing we can say right now to diminish your guilt. The coming months, years, maybe even decades, if you live that long, will be hard. But please, don't surrender to the darkness once more. We're looking forward to seeing you again." Giles said, his voice paternal. "And we won't if you go back to hell."

"Okay, G."

"Goodbye." Wesley said. "It was wonderful to make your acquaintance."

"We'll be waiting." Doyle said, as they faded, and then disappeared from view.

"That was *so* weird." Lee muttered. "Can't they just use a door, like normal people?"

Angel opened his eyes slowly, his eyes adjusting to the dim light.

His heart was beating.

That was the first thing he noticed as he eased himself up into a sitting position.

"Where am I?" He whispered, looking around the room he was in. He didn't recognize the bed he lay on. He didn't recognize the paintings on the walls, or the large, comfortable looking armchairs scattered with soft cushions.

"Paradise. The other side. The Great Nightclub in the Sky. Up there. The Blissful Existance."

"Heaven. I get it." Angel said softly, remembering his encounter with Gorlock. He turned around to face the speaker. "Hello."

"Hello." The young man said.

"I have to get back to my body. My friends...."

"Are our finest warriors. They are doing quite fine."

"Angelus is a monster. They shouldn't have to fight him."

"Everything happens for a reason, young one. A lonely warrior is as good as dead, anyway."

"You- You did this on purpose. So that Buffy and I could be together."

"You catch on quickly."

"Why?"

"You had fulfilled your duty to us. You destroyed the monster Gorlock. He is currently trapped in the deepest pits of hell, screaming his innards out." A lazy smile crept across the angel's face. "Ain't life grand?"

"I don't want Buffy to have to fight Angelus again." Angel said stubbornly. "She shouldn't have to."

"She isn't. Fighting him, I mean. She has returned to her home, and her friends will follow shortly."

"She's...She's here."

"Well, not here, but close by. You can go find her, if you would like."

"Are you sure...Are you sure that this isn't some kind of trick...or dream???"

"The Powers do not trick, Angel. This is entirely real. Go."

Angel looked at the man before him for several moments before standing, moving to the door that had appeared. He pulled it open, pausing a moment. "You never told me your name."

The angel smiled. "Bernard serves me in this realm."

"And in the other?"

"I was known as Riley. Surely you recognize me."

"Riley...."

"I hold no ill will towards you, Angel. She never really loved me. It was always you. I was not born for her, as you are. I knew I was merely a distraction."

"I'm sorry."

"Do not be. I found my own love. I refuse to deny you of yours."

Angel gave a small nod of thanks, and then quickly exited the room.

< All I see is you...All I want is you... >

He searched for her.




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