TITLE: Forever This Way

AUTHOR: Suja sujaraviraj@yahoo.com

SPOILERS: hmm...vague Angel spoilers....nothing much really. Maybe some Becoming spoilers in later parts.

SUMMARY: What happens when the scooby gang is decimated.

AUTHOR's NOTES: Set in the future. Buffy and Angel had re-united. Cordelia and Xander were back together. I convieniently forgot about Anya. If it doesn't make sense, let me know, cos I'm rushing to get all the parts done! The first scene (up until the flash back was written by Colonel Furry Palms, and this is infact a challenge answer. It's a rather long one, according to my plot outline, so i'll need encouragement to finish it!

DISCLAIMER: All the characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Co. The plot however, belongs to me!

DISTRIBUTION: woohoo! If you want it, its yours. I'd love to know where its going though.

FEEDBACK: Please, please please. This is my first attempt at a long-fic that actually has a plot! This is my first fic to some of the lists i'm posting to, so let me know if it goes against the grain.

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August 2001

"Arrggggh". A violent scream raced from his mouth and filled the hall.

Buffy looked down and just held his hand tighter. Her eyes welling with tears, there was nothing she could do. No way she could stop the pain. The wound was deep, deeper than any of them had first thought. The warm crimson liquor spewed forth. Little spirals of swirling steam rising from it like miniature clouds.

She removed the flimsy blouse she'd been wearing and forced it against the wound, trying desperately to staunch the flow. "Somebody call a paramedic", she yelled out to the spectators who had gathered.

Willow was groggy. Just coming around. She staggered as she attempted to get her bearings, unaware of the events which had transpired after she had been sent careering across the room. Nothing was quite yet in focus, and the world seemed to be doing that spinning thing with a little bit too much enthusiasm.

Buffy stared hard into his eyes. Life was seeping from them. They were dimming. "Don't you leave me. Don't you damn well leave me".

She kept gripping his hand more tightly, as if she was trying to force her own preternatural strength into him. But all she could feel was his hands got colder. His face turning white as his blood soaked into her bouse, it becoming ever more sodden.

Buffy rocked as she knelt still clasping his hand. She was the Slayer. She always took charge. This was not happening. "You listen to me. You can't die. Do you understand? It is not going to end like this. You are NOT gonna die. Are you listening? You can't die. You ca....."

She stopped rocking. She stopped talking. There was no point ... anymore.

<Flashback>

May 2001

"No, this isn't happening." Buffy turned, and walked away from Giles.

"I can't do this again."

"Buffy, I'm afraid, he's been banished to a demon dimension. There's nothing you or I or anyone can do until the Powers decided when and if he should return"

"But...he didn't _do_ anything. All we did was kill a demon."

"Buffy. Angel is gone. There's nothing we can do..." Giles reached out to catch the distraught Slayer as she slowly crumpled, red eyes filling with tears again.

<end flashback>

Her hands were stained red.

"You can't die, You can't die." she repeated the phrase to herself, over and over. She looked at his body, at the gaping hole in his chest. She knew it was pointless. She knew he was gone. Angel was gone, and now so was Xander.

Willow sat up, her head finally clearing. She glanced around her, and saw Xander's prone body lying, with Buffy sitting in just her underwear, clinging to a dripping red top. Her anguished cry alerted Cordelia.

Cordelia rushed over to where Buffy sat.

"Nooo." The tall brunette sank to her knees beside Xander. She looked into his eyes, and knew he was gone. She held his hand in hers, and brushed the hair back from his brow. There was a look of resignment on his face, and she looked in horror into his eyes. Normally eyes so full of laughter and love, they were now empty and vacant. She closed them gently with her hands, sobbing with grief. Those sobs became wails as the one-time May Queen lay with her fiance, her long dark hair becoming bloodstained from the knife wound that had taken him from her.

The Slayer and Willow were clinging to each other, both openly weeping for the man who had loved them both. A man who had laid down his life for his friends.

***

The paramedics had to remove Cordelia from Xander by force. She now sat in Giles' living room with the remaining Scooby Gang. How they had been decimated. All that remained were Buffy, Willow, Giles and Spike. How many more people could she lose before she lost it? First of all Doyle. Then Wesley, then Angel. And now Xander. Xander, who she'd only had back for months before he'd been ripped away from her. She sat, numb with grief. She had sobbed for hours initially, and now she felt there were no tears left. And she hadn't even been there with him in his last moments. He'd spent them in wide-eyed shock looking at the slayer. The slayer who he'd dived in front of, to save from the knife which was aimed at her. Who Willow was now hugging and who Giles was looking at with pity, and Cordelia felt the anger rise in her stomach.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Her voice, raw with grief, had a brutal tone.

Buffy looked up in surprise.

"You couldn't cope with losing Angel again could you? It didn't mean you had to abandon your post, did it?

"I didn't abandon my post" The slayer answered, angrily.

"You may as well have. YOU'RE supposed to be the one with the super senses and whatever. Instead, because you were too wrapped up in losing Angel, you let him take that knife for you. You're not the only one who misses Angel you know. He was my best friend, and he's gone. And now Xander is gone too. Because of your stupid mistake." The brunette's voice had started off low and angry, but by the end of her grief-fuelled rant it had cracked and was full of tears. She turned and ran from the room.

Buffy had shrank back against the accusations. She looked up at her Watcher with guilt-stricken eyes. Giles reassured her that Cordy had been speaking with grief, and hadn't meant what she'd said. Spike rose and left the room after Cordelia. Since Willow had re-cursed him, Spike and Xander had been good friends, their mutual hatred of Angel initially fuelling the friendship, and then after that hatred had died down when the trio had become friends, and after Angel's banishment to a demon-dimension, they'd found themselves relying on each other more. The tall, bleached vampire hoped to catch Cordelia before she locked down her defences, as he knew she would be inclined to do.

Part 2

Cordelia felt like she'd been living in a cocoon for the past two months. Ever since he died. She couldn't even say his name without crying yet. Cordelia Chase, who had vowed never to let anyone break through to her heart again after losing Doyle. Yet Xander had managed, with his goofy smile, and his gentle laugh. And now he was gone. Forever.

Buffy was pregnant. She and Cordelia had only began speaking again after she'd found out. That was why her powers were depleting. During a pregnancy, there was always a depletion of powers, but they came back twice as powerful after the child was born. However, no Slayer had ever carried to term before. Cordelia could barely look at Buffy though, knowing that she was alive, because Xander was dead. Even though she knew that Xander wouldn't want her to resent Buffy, she couldn't help it. He meant too much to her for her to be able to forgive and forget quickly.

She turned in her bed. The bed felt too large, and Cordy always felt most alone at night. She left the radio on for background noise, because she couldn't stomach the silence that was left without him. A song began on the radio, and to Cordelia's dismay, it was a slushy love song. More to the point, a slushy love song she'd hated, from a film she hadn't particularly liked.

"Every night in my dreams

I see you,

I feel you

That is how I know you go on"

She'd been to see Titanic with Xander. Or more to the point, she'd heard it with Xander, as they'd spent most of the film making out. She almost smiled at the memory. She hated Celine Dion, much preferring alternative rock, but surprisingly the words to this song struck a nerve.

"Far across the distance

And spaces between us

You have come to show you go on

Near, Far, where ever you are

I believe that the heart does go on"

She didn't care if she spent the rest of her life alone. If she couldn't spend it with him, she'd spend it with the memory of him. She wasn't letting a single soul in again.

"Once more, you open the door

And you're here in my heart and

my heart will go on, and on"

"Love can touch just one time

And last for a lifetime

And never let go til we're gone

Love was when i loved you

one true time, i hold you

in my life, we'll always go on"

In her junior year, she'd always envied the love Buffy and Angel had shared. She hadn't realised then, how much she did love Xander, and how important he was to her. How much she needed him.

"Near, Far, Where ever you are

I believe that the heart does go on.

Once more, you open the door

And you're here in my heart and

my heart will go on, and on"

She'd never stop loving him. This time, she wasn't letting go.

"You're here, there's nothing I fear

And I know, that my heart will go on

We'll stay, forever this way

You are safe in my heart

And my heart will go on and on."

If she could just convince herself he was gone, forever, maybe she could recover. But to do that, she'd have to accept he was dead, lost to her, and that was something she couldn't do. One thing she could do, however, would be to try and sort out her friendship with Buffy. She could identify with Buffy, no matter how jealous she was that Buffy, even though she'd lost Angel, had a tangible reminder of their love growing inside her. Cordelia didn't have anything except the memories.

Part 3

This was intense. Bright light. So this was it, this was the light. Xander opened his eyes properly, and squinted at the shadow behind the light.

"Finally, you woke up." The deep voice was kind of familiar. Xander rolled over. He could now see the light was a bright flashlight, and he was in...the library? He looked at the owner of the voice, and gasped in shock.

"Angel?!!"

"hey Xand."

"am I in hell? What? What the f...?"

Angel sat back on the table. Xander stood up, and demanded an explanation. Angel explained to Xander that this wasn't heaven, and it wasn't hell. It was kind of a limbo for misplaced souls. People who had something to make up for, and who had been snatched from their lives on earth before they could atone.

The fury was evident in Xander's eyes.

"But I haven't DONE anything"

Angel sighed. He explained that Xander had been killed heroically, but in the wrong time. So technically he had to atone for dying...and for a teensy lie he'd told a few years ago.

" So wait, Buffy was supposed to die?"

"No. Thank you" Angel knew he was pulling a cryptic guy act, but he also needed to thank the boy for saving Buffy.

"So, what, NOT telling Buffy about the curse would have what? Killed her? Stopped her sending you to hell?" Xander didn't care that Angel was thanking him. He was too mad. After all those years of fighting evil, it didn't matter. Jesus.

"No, Xander, you don't get it. You didn't DO anything. See, when you didn't tell her, you disrupted the timelines. Actually, thats something the PTB don't like about you. You've done it twice!"

"Huh?" Confusion was written all over Xander's face.

"Okay, let me fill you in. Remember when Buffy was 16, and she fought the Master, and died. And how you brought her back? She was supposed to stay dead. But, when you revived you set an alternate timeline into motion. The powers weren't actually all that mad at that point, actually, they were pretty grateful.

But, when you didn't tell Buffy about the curse, there was no choice in timelines. There were two which were written. Buffy held off, and I killed her. Then we all lived in a world of nightmares. Hell on earth, via Acathla. Or Buffy saved me. And we lived happily ever after. In a world of dreams. For all of us.

Anyway, the plan is, since you died, before you could set things into motion the way they should be, you have to see what each of these worlds would be like, and then make a choice, whether to stand by your decision or not."

Part 4

BUFFY

Xander's been dead for two months, and I can't get his last screams out of my head. Knowing there was nothing I could do for him, that was the worst kind of helplessness. He couldn't even say his final goodbyes, the pain was too bad. He wasn't supposed to die like this. It should have been. The knife was headed towards my neck, why didn't he let me die? At least then he'd be alive, Cordy would be happier and I would be with Angel. I hope.

Except, Xander wouldn't have been able to live with it, knowing that he could have saved me. The same way I can't live with it, knowing I could have saved him. I'm the Slayer. It's my duty. The only way I can keep going is because of this tiny life inside me. Angel's child. A physical embodiment of our love. I don't know if I can do this alone, but I'm going to try. If I gave up, Xander's sacrifice would be pointless, and I owe it to both of them to keep trying. Meanwhile, I need to find a way to make things right with Cordelia. We're speaking again, but when I see her I feel so guilty.

THE OTHER DIMENSION

Angel paced back and forth. He hated seeing Buffy in this much pain. He longed to comfort her, just to hold her and tell her everything would be okay, but he couldn't. He looked at Xander, who was sitting down, waiting for him to speak.

"This decision. It won't be easy Xander." The younger man nodded.

"You've gotta let me see then." Suddenly the two of them were transported to another room. Specifically, the gateway for lost souls. The oracles were standing, in all their golden glory. The female spoke.

"You must see. And you must choose whether to abide by your decision of May 1998. This is the first world which could have resulted from you telling her."

Suddenly, they were no longer in the Gateway. The world around them was dark, and the town seemed sinister. Sinister, yet familiar. Xander realised they were in Sunnydale. In front of the Bronze to be exact.

October 21st, 2001. There was a date above the Bronze, on the chalkboard. Xander and Angel were not of this world, so they were not visible to the inhabitants. They walked inside, and were astounded at the difference. Where there was once dancing teenagers, and lively bands, there was rock music, and vampires walking about all over, enjoying beer and blood. Standing in his position of power stood Angelus. Angel gasped at his evil counterpart, watching over the happenings of the Bronze. Xander stood open-mouthed in shock.

"I guess this is Sunnydale, post Acathla."

The two of them headed over to where Xander and company usually sat, to see where the remainder of the gang was. They were surprised, to say the least. Oz was nowhere to be seen, as was Cordelia. Giles was dressed in leather, leaning back, talking casually with Spike, and Willow and Xander were groping, heavily. Both of them were dressed in leather, although Willow wasn't wearing much, at all.

"I'm...They're...We're....VAMPIRES?" Xander babbled on.

"Let's go."

They left the Bronze, passing a couple of ugly demons on the way out. Both were sobered by what they had seen at the Bronze, and they wondered along in silence. Eventually, they passed Sunnydale High, which looked odd, derelict and unused. They arrived at the graveyard, where they stopped to imagine headstones. Angel sank down to his knees beside one.

"Buffy Summers

Beloved Friend and Protector

1981 - 1998"

"I did this. " Angel said quietly.

"No, Angelus did. Remember what our world is like, Angel. Nothing like this." Xander felt confident that he'd made the right decision in not telling Buffy, because if telling her had caused this mayhem. His elation dissipated as he caught sight of another grave, with a fancy headstone. Cordelia. and next to her, Oz. This only re-enforced what he had been feeling.

Suddenly they arrived back at The Gateway For Lost Souls.

The male oracle spoke this time.

"You may think you did the right thing. But what if you didn't? There is a reason that truth is important. There is no hell without heaven in the same decision. You'll see what I mean."

Part 5

I miss Xander. Angel too. It's so weird, I never expected life without Xander. I've never experienced life without Xander before. I mean, as far as I can remember we've been best friends. Back before his brother died. Back before his Dad closed off to him. From cradle to basement I've always had my best friend Xander. I mean, I was even in love with him for a few years, but god, I never realised what a hole he'd leave in me. I feel horrible, because I'm hurt by his death, and I miss him horrendously, but I've got Oz. I can just imagine how Buffy must feel about his death, I mean she feels guilty, she saw him die. I only wish I could have said goodbye. Buffy doesn't realise what a gift she got, hearing his last words. I've just realised that I don't know what they were, or if he even had any. And Buffy's alone, and pregnant, because Angel is as good as dead. And Cordelia, she's alone. The first person she ever let in is dead. Her best friend is gone, and his wife, who she originally hated, is pregnant with his child.

Oh my god, this is the first time I've admitted it. Xander is gone. Nothing is going to bring him back.

THE OTHER DIMENSION

There was another flash, and they weren't in the Gateway anymore. This place, with its bright sunshine and clear skies was a very familiar place to Xander. Not to Angel though, as he squinted in the sunlight, seeing in properly for the first time, in years. He wasn't completely vampiric anymore, but he still had to avoid the brightest sun, because he appeared allergic, and burned really badly, a side effect of no UV radiation for 244 years.

"This I understand, and recognise." Xander smiled. The two men walked around the town, taking in all the landmarks, the cheerful building housing Sunnydale High School, The Bronze, and even the cemetery had less gravestones than Xander was accustomed to seeing there. Xander felt drawn to a specific part of town, the better off area of dorms near UC Sunnydale.

He saw Buffy and Willow, smiling walking towards what look to a table. A table where he, Cordelia, Angel and Oz sat. He decided that he would call himself - the one at the table, H-Xander, for happy Xander, and the Angel at the table was H-Angel. Angel and Xander moved towards the table, attempting to listen in to the conversation.

"So, we Bronzing it tonight guys?" Cordelia asked.

"Of course" H-Xander answered her, pulling her into his lap. She kissed his nose affectionately.

"Uh, I won't be" H-Angel answered, looking serious.

"Huh?" Buffy asked him, concernedly.

"History paper" He answered. " I have to re-write it, because my facts aren't accurate. I mean, I think I'd know, I _lived_ it!"

"Yeah, but your accounts are not the ones in the books!"

"I lived it! I'm RIGHT!!"

"You're always right!" Buffy smacked him on the head, and he leaned in, laughing, for a kiss.

"I'm a human? I'm a human student?" Angel was surprised, to say the least. He supposed History and Art would have been his majors if he had been a student, so this seemed real to him.

"More to the point, Angel, my man, is that _I'm_ a student. I mean, you always had the academia thing going for you. Me, I never even got into College in our world."

Xander instinctively knew that he and Cordy were engaged. He took a moment to memorise her, her beautiful wide smile, and those gorgeous brown eyes. He didn't know if he would see them again, all that he'd seen of his Cordy, since his "death, was a bony shell of a woman, with lank hair, and a downturned mouth.

"So is this reality, if I told her?" Xander questioned.

There was another flash, and they were back at the gateway. The female oracle took Xander's hand, and told him, that this too was a possible outcome of him telling Buffy of Willow's attempt with the curse.

"The problem is, lower being, that you can't choose which outcome you will get. Is the slayer strong enough to want to defeat Angelus without killing him? We do not know. therefore, you must choose whether you stand by your lie, or not. You have, approximately three earth months to decide. With the birth of the Slayer's child, the timelines are fixed.

Part 6

Buffy's baby is due within three weeks now. She is the first Slayer to ever have survived a complete pregnancy. Touch wood, it doesn't help to be unsuperstitious in a town like Sunnydale. She is looking forward to the birth, and plans on having Willow and Cordelia there with her. However, more often than not, I see her eyes glaze over, lost in daydream, and it is only too easy to see that she wishes Angel to be with her. No great wonder there, the smiling, wisecracking girl of 8 months ago is gone, and in her place is a more serious, somber woman. I worried at first that she would hide her emotions, or worse, bury them, but she hasn't. She's coped amazingly well with losing Angel, and I think it helps that she has this pregnancy to concentrate on. Pregnant, and alone at 20 is what most girl fears but to Buffy, it is truly a blessing.

I worry about Cordelia though. No longer the tactless girl she once was, her eyes betray her voice. She proclaims she's happy, but every time Buffy is in the room, I see her eyes on Buffy's ever expanding belly, and the envy is clearly evident. I can see how much she misses Xander, and I feel for her, knowing exactly what she is going through. I've been in that position, when Jenny died, and it feels like the world is ending. And life without Xander is not good, there are awkward silences, where there used to be jokes. For all his annoying habits, Xander truly held the group together at times. Often, I expect a retort, and don't hear one and it surprises me.

I feel as though these adults are my children, and it makes me feel old when I see how mature they've all become. I wish I could prevent harm coming to them, and stop the heartbreak which seems to follow them at every turn.

THE OTHER DIMENSION

Xander sat, deep in thought, as he had for more than two months. He rarely spoke these days, preferring to think over his decision completely. Should he retract the lie, and risk the world of nightmares occuring, for the sake of his own peace, and for the chance for that bright Sunnydale, where all of them could be alive, and happy? Or should he stand by his original choice, and allow the world he knew to keep going? He knew that he could still be with Cordelia, knew that Buffy would be with Angel, but would they be able to overcome his death? Or had time, and death, seperated them? Was it worth standing by his decision, and spending time and energy researching how to make that world exist, from his own? He didn't know. He knew Angel's time here was ending, after the birth of the baby there was no way he could return to Earth. His time for a decision was nearing.

Angel, for his part, spent most of his time watching Buffy's pregnancy occur. He silently wept, as he watched her struggle through the day, and cry herself to sleep at night. He watched Cordy, envious of Buffy's gift, do her best to keep sane. He saw how she had closed herself off, knowing the risk each of them carried, of dying. He wished he'd kept away from Buffy to begin with. Then he would have never lost his soul, and attempted to bring forth Acathla...He would never regret loving Buffy, but the what-ifs always plagued him.

Eventually Xander stood up.

"Let's go Angel."

They thought hard, and found themselves back in The Gateway For Lost Souls.

"Lower being? What is it you wish for now?"

"I've made my decision" Xander voice was soft, yet confident.

Part 7

OTHER DIMENSION
"I've made my decision" Xander's voice was soft, yet confident.
The oracles looked at him in surprise.
"You still have two weeks to decide"
"Yeah, well, I've decided."
"Very well, lower being. What is your choice?" The male oracle looked
bored.

Xander looked at Angel, and asked him a relatively simple question.

"You were happy right? Before we ended up here."
Angel, knowing what his decision must have been, answered him truthfully.
"Yes."

"Okay. Then I want to stand by my choice. I mean, I know how happy we
could be, but I don't think I want to risk ending up in the bizzarro
nightmare world."

"Mortal, you do realise that now you must work to make the world right? You
have to make YOUR world into that dream world."

Xander nodded in agreement. Angel looked down, in an attempt to hide his
face. He was unable to disguise the disappointment at having to go back as
half-vampire, after getting used to the sun, but he knew Xander had made the
right choice. He was just glad he would see his child being born. Besides,
what was severe sunburn compared to being with Buffy?

There was a bright flash as they were ejected from the Gateway.

NORMAL WORLD,
CORDELIA AND XANDER'S APARTMENT.

Cordelia lay in her bed. Her bed, which felt way too big now, without
Xander. She wondered if she'd ever become accustomed to not waking up with him. She doubted it, and inhaled his smell on his shirt that she was
wearing. Even his smell was fading now. She cried silent tears into the
pillow, wishing and dreaming he would come back. She'd attempted everything to bring him back, even to the attempt of going to L.A to visit the oracles. Needless to say, she hadn't even got in, not being a warrior. Even the
visions had stopped, since Angel's apparent death. Cordelia wondered if
this was all part of her punishment, losing all the men she cared about.
Doyle. Angel. Xander. She knew deep down that this wasn't the case,
because losing Doyle had hurt Angel too, and losing Angel would have killed
Buffy, had she not been pregnant. She contemplated getting out of bed, and
decided to spend a few more minutes smelling Xander, before she had to leave behind her fantasy world, where he was still alive.

There was a bright flash, and Cordelia figured it was just another side
effect of the amount of alcohol she'd consumed last night with Spike, under
the pretense of a football game, but knowing they were both drowning their
sorrows. She squinted her eyes, and then gasped in astonishment at what she
saw...

part 8a.

"Aaarrghh" Buffy yelled. Willow winced in sympathy and held her hand tighter. Buffy had been having contractions for almost 14 hours and still the baby wasn't coming. Willow had stayed by her side, and Oz and Giles were in the waiting room. She hadn't been able to contact Cordelia, but Spike was out looking for them.

"Why....does...it...aargh!" Buffy panted.

"I don't know" Willow looked toward the mid-wife.

"Buffy, honey, if the baby doesn't come naturally soon, we'll...." The nurse spoke soothingly to Buffy but was cut off by her snarled answer.

"If it doesn't frigging come naturally, it isn't coming out at all"

Willow inwardly cringed. She didn't think she could handle _another_ fourteen hours of this....

MEANWHILE.

The light flashed, and Cordelia squinted her yes in surprise. Now she _knew_ she was imagining it. God, she'd have to remember what kind of alcohol she'd been drinking last night, if it meant she would wake up to Xander again.

"Cordelia" Xander looked at her. She was paler, with red-ringed eyes, and her hair was limp, but to him, she was the most beautiful sight in the earth. He stood up from the crumpled heap he had landed in, and walked towards her. She just sat there, blinking. He scooped her into his arms, and she buried her head into his shoulder. It was then he noticed the wet patch on his shirt, and gently pulled her face up to meet his.

"Don't cry." Two simple words.

"I can't stop. I know I'm going to wake up, and I'll be alone again. Forever." She sobbed into his arms.

"Cordy, I'm back. I'm alive." He proceeded to give her a very brief explanation of what had happened. Kissing her softly, they fell back onto their bed, pulling the phone cable out with them.

Part 8b

Spike walked up to Cordelia's door. The former cheerleader had become a good friend since Xander had died, and he was worried that she might have done something drastic. Last night, she'd drowned in alcohol, and he was worried her depression might have got the better of her. Pushing his hand up to knock, his enhanced hearing caught a male voice. Angered that some random guy had landed in her apartment, he began to break down the door until he listened again properly. He heard Xander explaining to Cordy what had transpired, and he sank to his knees in thankfulness. Eventually, he stood up again, and left, heading toward the hospital to let the mommy-to-be know what had happened.

He'd made it as far as the high school when he saw a very irate Angel running, apparently aimlessly. If he wasn't already dead, and he didn't know that Angel was back, he would have collapsed in shock, finding two of his supposedly dead friends alive. Angel noticed him standing there.

"Where is she? Spike, I can't find her." He yelled in Spike's ear.

Spike told him what was occuring right as they spoke, and Angel positively flew in the direction of the hospital.

***

"Aaaargh" Finally Buffy's labour had begun proper, and she screamed in agony. Willow mopped her brow,

"What...is...she....waiting....for?" Buffy panted. Willow was too surprised to answer, instead moving her mouth in a fishlike motion. She couldn't say anything, but simply motioned toward the door.

"Me." Buffy looked, startled.

"Angel" He rushed over, clasping her hand in his own. She promptly fainted.

***

After 22 hours of labour, Buffy finally gave birth to a 7lb baby girl. Angel cried tears of happiness at the birth of his daughter, and now everyone had joined them in Buffy's maternity ward.

"Hey." Buffy softly greeted them all, holding her new-born daughter.

"Meet Jenna McWilliams" Angel told them, all the while looking in wonder at the tiny miracle he'd helped to create.

As Cordelia entered the room, looking as good as she had before Xander's death, Buffy was somewhat startled. Her surprise at Cordelia's appearance was soon overshadowed with joy when she saw Xander standing beside her. Not caring about the reasons, she handed Jenna to Angel and embraced Xander, squeezing him tightly, never wanting to let go.

"Uh, Buff. Needing oxygen." He smiled at her, and Angel, wishing them both the best of luck, and sharing a look with Angel. A look that promised, "I'll make it how its supposed to be."

And the tiny baby slept through it all, never realising the magnitude of change and happiness that had gone on around her.