"Immortal Beloved..." CXXIX...

PG-13

Disclaimer: If ya are fan-fic writers, where's your disclaimers? Disclaimers? We ain't got no disclaimers...I don' need to show you no stinkin'...No, Joss, no...I make no claims, put that thing down!

It's all yours and ME's...

Spoilers for Angel to the bitter end...Flee at once!...

Summary: Though the standard IB format, one of (129) versions of events following the end of Angel S5 episodes from "Girl in Question" through to "Not Fade Away" and beyond... (Not a continuous story, though some are multipart...)

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"Yes...This is the former corporate global headquarters of Wolfram-Hart, Inc...But we're now Angel, Burkle-Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop...Inc... "

"No...He's retired...Permanently...Yes, the same for Mr. Joseph and the rest of the Senior Partners...Would you like me to...?"

"No...We don't carry out assassinations...No, I'm afraid not even if the target is 'kind of evil himself'...Though we do protect the...Why, yes, this is Ms. Kendall, Mr. Angel's..."

Pause... "Sure I do...You still owe me for the movie tickets...No, I wouldn't...No...Look, I have a soul again...And I'm working...Now do you want me to put you through to Mr. Angel or...? I just told you we don't do that...No, the Partners lost and good...er, Good...Prevailed...Didn't you get the memo from Hell?..."

"I tole you I'm at work now...And I wouldn't...At least not with you...And I should tell you we're tracing all calls from former clients...Hello?...Heeelllo?..."

Hmmn...William was right...Harmony reflected, hanging up...It does work...

"Hello...?" she caught the next in series... "Oh, hello...Yes, I'll try and put you through again...Yeah..." curt tone... "It is me...And can I say, thanks for all the help you gave me back in Sunnydale...Just a minute..." she pressed a button...

Dum...dum...dee...da...dum...She eyed the blinking light on her console...

Dum...dum...She observed her nails carefully...Dee...da...

Still...I am a professional...With soul...

She sighed and pressed another button...

"Angel?...She's back on line 3...You want me to tell her to get lost again?..."

I'm so sorry...Mr. Angel is so very busy what with the reorganization and all...she mentally rehearsed...

"Oh?...You sure?...Oookkk...Will do..." she frowned at the phone but pressed the button on line 3...Then held the other lines...

"Mr. Angel..." she told the mouthpiece...

Hmmn...She eyed the phone in her hand...

Just because I have a soul doesn't mean I can't have a little fun...She plugged in her headset and putting phone down in cradle, pressed a button...

"Well, Buffy..." Angel's voice... "I'm really sorry but it's true... I am very busy with the reorganization..."

Thanks, Boss...Harmony grinned...

Always great to have back-up from one's superior...

"And I've already told Giles...I can't..."

"Angel..." Buffy's voice, plaintative...

"Buffy, you have 20,000 plus Slayers available...What do you need me for?...And you've got His Benevolence on your dance card...Hmmn?...Really?...Well, ok...On your side...Just a minute...Harmony, get the hell off this line..."

Shoot...She pressed the line button and the light went out, unplugged the headset, and glancing around out at the hall before her office...Only workmen moving about on reconstruction tasks...Carefully slid her chair closer to the door to Angel's office...Putting her blood glass to the door, ear pressed against the bottom of the glass...

"Well, tell him I'll look forward to reading his latest..." Angel's faint voice... "Buffy, I understand that but I have responsibilities, too...Even if my books aren't vital to restoring the world's spirit, I have a major business to rebuild and redirect toward the Light side...People depending on me for their livelihoods..."

"That's not fair, Buffy...Most of these folks didn't even know what the firm was up to on the darker side of the balance sheet...And some of them were victims whom we've restored or are rescuing..."

Damn tootin'...Harmony glared...

"Hell, Wolfram-Hart ran hospitals and charitable institutions too, you know...And on top of that I have a son and a fiancee..."

Nina will appreciate the upgrade...Harmony thought...

"Yes, fiancee...No, it doesn't bother her...As a matter of fact she's very understanding, mainly 'cause she has her own troubles...Yes, Willow told you right, a werewolf...Pardon me?..." cold tone...

Whoops...Harmony listened intently...Always suspected Summers had an intolerant streak...

"That's not very nice, Buffy...Why is it you Slayers and your Watchers have this habit of always blaming the victim?..." Colder tone...

Long pause...

"Ok..Fine, forgotten...Yes, she is a wonderful person...In fact right now she's pouring through the old records we secured, looking to see if there's a way to keep Angelus away forever...And find herself and maybe Oz a cure...You and Willow do remember Oz?..."

"Well, he'd love to hear from you two... Anyway, Buffy...I don't see...No, I didn't mean anything...I know you were busy saving the world...Of course I did find time to see you after your mom died...Not to mention coming to Rome when I thought the Immortal was bad news..."

"All right, fair enough...I wasn't much help after you resurrected...Look, I wasn't meaning to reproach you either...Buffy, the bottom line is that my precious ass is at least as precious to me and some folks here as His Benevolence's and your Slayers'...Plus they need my signature on the paychecks...But I would be happy to see if any of my people would be willing...What?..."

"Oh?...Yes, it would be really nice if some Champion were at hand to help you out in this crisis..." he said, drily... "Yeah, it's a pity William's gone for good..."

Oh, please...Harmony frowned...

"Rumors?....What 'rumors'...?"

"Well, Buffy...As head of a major corporation I have to tell you as one CEO to another...You can't gamble on 'rumors'...What?..."

"Oh...Andrew said that, did he?...Well, you know Andrew...He always struck me as kind of...Say, just when did Andrew say that?..."

"Really?...And you've waited all this time to try and confirm this wild story...?"

"Now, Buffy...Say, would you like to hear another wild rumor?...I've heard the craziest story that those cyborgs sent to kidnap me a while back...The ones who used poor Wes' dad's face and personality for their leader...Were working for your Council?...Crazy, isn't it?..."

"Oh did he?...And you just kinda went along with it, eh?...Thanks for that show of support, Ms. Summers..."

"Fine..." curt tone... "I understand you nearly let the world be destroyed for your little girl's sake...?"

Huh?...Harmony blinked...

"Well, to me, Dawn doesn't exist as your sister...I had all spell traces removed from me years ago for my protection...I don't remember her outside meeting her after I left Sunnydale...For me, she's your daughter...Well, if I ever meet her socially I'll try to do that..."

Dawn?...Oh, right the artificial sister/energy key...

"It's nice you're taking an interest in him, Buffy...He'd've been pleased..."

Long pause...

Oooh...Angel...Harmony sighed a bit...

"Buffy?...I'm sorry...That was a little mean...No, no...Buffy, c'mon...You know he's a survivor...He's fine...Yeah...I wouldn't lie to you about that...He's just fine..."

"Well sure...He's not a monk, Summers...But no one serious that I know of..." he paused...

"Did you get that, Harmony?!..." he called...

She moved away from the wall...For a moment...

Then cautiously eyeing the still-closed door moved back...

"Of course she's still listening...Harmony, don't forget the notes for my meeting at 3..." he called...

She managed to repress the urge to "Yeah, boss..."

"He's not going to consider it...'Cause I'm not telling him..."

"No, I won't...Buffy, he doesn't deserve this...He's got a soul...He's not vamp fodder for the grist mill...Plus he has his own responsibilities these days..."

"No, not Dru...Though he did help me rescue her...By the way, please don't let your people kill her when she comes to Rome, I already told Giles she has a soul again and she's just trying to get permission from the Vatican to rejoin her order...Thanks...No, actually...He has a son..."

Long pause...Harmony frowning after a bit...

Boss...That was a little...

"Buffy?...No...Adopted...Yes, adopted...He saved a baby from some demons after his parents offered to sacrifice him...Actually, he does look a lot like him...And he's just a toddler...Will can't just run off and throw his life..."

"Of course he would...He already did...Who do you think came with me to Rome, as if you didn't already know?..."

"Oh?...So now you'll get Willow to do a spell?...He might have appreciated that back when he materialized here..."

"No, I didn't...But I didn't know William then...And I did know Spike..."

"Fair enough...Yes, I was a little jealous..."

"Fine...A lot jealous...But why didn't you come when Andrew found him here?...Buffy, he lay in our hospital for a week with his hands stitched on, because he'd tried to save that crazy woman Dana for your sake as much as his redemption...Why didn't you come then?...Or at least after he came to Rome with me for you..."

"Well, I can tell you why...He was afraid you'd say you were 'glad to see him...But'...And then after Andrew told us you'd moved on..."

"Well, so do we...He, most of all...Anyway, I'll inform my people and if any of them..."

"Some are...Though your Council would have to pay them...They're not in it for the joy of protecting Humanity...Of course some might do it free just to suck up to me or your Council..."

"I told you, no...You want to see him, come over and track him down...It wouldn't be that hard, he's a partner in a multinational corporation that's on the front page of quite a few magazines and newspapers..."

"Yeah...He still writes poetry..."

Long pause...

Sigh...

"Yeah...Of course he does...He always will...But it's not fair of you to..."

"No, I told you...No one else...Seriously, anyway...So, about this crisis..."

"What do ya mean, it's nothing?...Yes, he still writes poetry...Much to my horror..."

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