"Immortal Beloved..." LXVII...

A shortie...

PG-13

Disclaimer: 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: Various outcomes following "Girl In Question" and /or "Not Fade Away" on Angel...

Ok, I lied about stopping at 50...But me poor ole mum would just say,

"so long as I like it, it's ok..."

***

Rome...The eve of the day of the final battle with the Senior Partners...

The very thought of you...

She frowned at a rather agitated Andrew as he paced the apartment nervously...True, the news from New Council Chairman Giles was not too cheery regards Angel and his group...Though he'd cautioned them that the rumors of an impending power struggle in LA should not be taken as proof that the Brooding One had abandoned his alliance with Wolfram-Hart...It might even be a deception by an Angel who'd completely given himself over...No action was to be taken unless and until the situation cleared...

Naturally one felt concerned...But a little much considering he'd only known Angel slightly...

"Andrew...What's the deal?...Giles is monitoring the situation best he can...And Angel made his decision...He has to..."

Andrew halted and stared at her... "This isn't about Angel..."

She blinked at him...

"There's something I haven't told you..." he began... "But I was pledged..." he hastily added as she stared...

And I forget to do...The little ordinary things everyone ought to do...

***

The mere idea of you...The longing here for you...

You'll never know how slow the moments go til I'm near to you...

She dragged him out of the cab...Scanning the signs...Ok, that way...she grabbed him and set off...

"Where..." Andrew tried as she pulled him along... "Where do you think?..." she glared at him...Here...She pushed the terminal door and made for the departures desk...

"I called in...For two tickets to LA, first available?..." she handed over id and credit card...

"Here..." she turned back to Andrew, still firmly in her grip...Pulling out a cell phone and handing it to him... "See if you can reach any of the Slayers on that list..." she tapped the screen...

"They're locals...They might be able to reach them in time..."

Well?...She glared again... He took the phone and began selecting numbers...

"Don't you think we oughta...?..." he looked at her a moment, waiting for a number to go through as she nervously tapped on the counter in front of her... "No, but go back if you want...Thanks..." she nodded at the returned attendant, grabbing the offered tickets... "Gate 14..." the attendant called to her.. "Right...C'mon, Andrew, if you're comin'...We've only got fifteen minutes!...Use the phone on the plane!..."

***

I see your face in every flower...Your eyes in stars above...

Downtown LA...Thirty minutes before the battle...

"So...?" she eyed him... Andrew shook his head... "I still can only reach four in the area...Gilda and Phebe are the only ones who can get here in less than two hours...If we can pick Gilda up..."

"You..." her glare was near killing range... "If you'd only told me..." He blanched a little... "Spike made me promise..." he repeated again for the fortieth time...

All right...she sighed... Damn, why did Willow have to be off on that astral plane trip now?...Well... "You grab a cab and go get her and meet up with Phebe...Bring them over as soon as you can but don't let 'em get into it unless I tell ya...Probably all we can do is..." she paused... "We'll find him and get him out..."

"You're not going over there alone..." he eyed her, frowning... "I'm just gonna look things over and see if I can get them to wait for help...And I'll see if I can reach anybody else..."

"No...Not even the Greatest Slayer could do anything for them, alone...I won't..." he went down as she socked him in the jaw...Dragging him to a hidden alley corner...

"You're right, Andy...Even four Slayers won't make much difference here...Goodbye..." she kissed his unconscious face and headed out to the street...

***

It's just the thought of you...The very thought of you...

The alley where Angel's band was struggling, poor Gunn down and the rest isolated from each other as the hordes continued to pour in from their hell portal...

"William!..." she cried, seeing him in his tiny zone, surrounded completely now...Barely holding a few of the braver ones off with thrusts of a sword he'd picked up from one of them...He stared at her quickly, shocked...

Too late, I'll never reach him now...she realized...As a group from the mass moved on her, a bit uncertain as to what they might be dealing with...She grabbed a stick from the ground, making threatening motions, surrounded herself now...And cried to him one last time...

"She's coming, she'll be here in a minute!!..." Dawn lied...

My love...She did not say...As the respective circles of demons closed in on them...

***