A/N: This is the final chapter. Thanks to everyone who left feedback. I appreciate you all for reading!


The newly mated pair was giggling as they descended the steps towards Spike’s basement apartment. Angel and the rest of his team were already inside and all conversation stopped as the door opened to let the newcomers in. Angel’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw Buffy follow Spike through the door.

“Buffy?” he asked, emotion evident in his voice. He inhaled deeply to capture her sweet scent, but was instead assaulted with the evidence of her recent coupling with Spike. His anger flared and the demon emerged of its own volition when he saw a fresh set of bite marks in her neck where his should have been. When he saw marks on Spike’s neck as well, he lunged for the blonde vamp in a burst of preternatural speed, wrapping the fingers of one hand around his poacher of a grand-childe’s throat.

The others could only watch in amazement as Spike grabbed Angel’s wrist and squeezed the pressure point, forcing the older vamp’s fingers to flex open. Spike continued to press while drawing Angel’s arm away from him. Angel’s knees started to buckle and he knew Spike could force him to his knees if he so desired. He was spared the indignity of that embarrassment when Spike abruptly released him. As much as it would have pleased him, Spike had no wish to demean Angel that way in front of his mates. It was not the time for it, and he knew the shock of his and Buffy’s mating was hurt enough for Angel.

Angel stood at his full height and shook off the demon as he realized the source of Spike’s strength. Slayer blood. Buffy must have let him feed from her during the mating. There’s no way he could hope to defeat Spike right now. And now he’d probably never again touch a platinum hair on the irritating vamp’s head, or else Buffy would have his. She’d made her choice, and he’d have to live with it.

His brooding was interrupted by the sound of her voice.

“Are you quite done yet?” she asked, crossing her arms with a petulant toss of her head.

“I’m sorry, Buffy…Spike.” He took a deep breath, as if to continue, but the Slayer had uncrossed her arms and lightly touched his forearm, letting him know they understood.

“Are you going to introduce me to your friends? They’re probably dying of curiosity by now.” She finally turned to get a good look at the others in the room and saw a familiar face. “Wes? Is that you?” She hardly recognized him from the nervous, tweed-wearing, pompous ass he’d been in Sunnydale. She’d seen him briefly, when they went to the Hyperion after Sunnydale collapsed, but he hadn’t looked as haggard and worn, as older and wiser as he did now.

“Hello, Buffy. It’s good to see you again.” Her former Watcher stood and held out his hand.

Buffy bypassed his outstretched hand and moved in for a hug. Wesley had an inkling of what was happening and looked at Spike for permission to hug his mate. Spike gave an imperceptible nod and Wes returned her embrace.

Angel cleared his throat and began making introductions. “Buffy, you remember Lorne and Gunn from last summer, when you stopped by after your battle with the First.” They murmured the appropriate “hellos” and “nice to see you’s.” He pointed at the blueish woman next. “Buffy, this is Illyria. Illyria, Buffy is the Slayer.” Buffy perused the God-king with an intense look.

“Hey…aren’t you…” but before she could complete her though, she saw Spike shaking his head and mouthing the word, ‘later,’ so she turned to the only person in the room who didn’t look familiar. Angel supplied the introduction. “And this is Lindsey. He used to work for Wolfram and Heart and wants to see them go down as much as the rest of us. Buffy nodded at Lindsey and turned towards Angel so he could continue.

With the exception of Wes, others were still a little rattled by the behavior of their boss towards Spike, although they all knew of the vampires’ history with Buffy. It was Illyria who finally shed some illumination on the situation.

“Interesting,” she said, looking at Buffy with a tilt of her head. “Your destiny is to slay vampires, yet you mate with one instead. And Angel is jealous. It is why he attacked Spike.”

There was a moment of silence before several of the group began talking at once. Angel hung his head, Buffy’s cheeks reddened, and Spike smirked, pleased that their mating was out in the open.

“Well which little fairy did you make a wish to in order to get this dream come true, you old tomcat?” Lorne quipped, trying to ease the tension in the small room.

“I don’t know,” Gunn replied. “But now Blondie Bear will be more insufferable than he already is. And what the hell did you do to Angel just now? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you got super-strength on top of your super-strength.”

“It is common knowledge that the blood of a Slayer has enhancing effects on vampires,” Illyria stated. This started a new round of talking all at once until Spike whistled loudly.

“Alright, everyone listen up. Yes, Buffy and I are mated. Yes, Angel’s not happy about that. And no, the details are none of your business. Now I believe the big pouf has some assignments for us.”

There was protesting by three voices when Angel wanted to send Buffy with Gunn to the Senator’s campaign headquarters. Gunn wanted to prove that he could still take on a vamp or two after spending a year behind a desk, and Buffy and Spike did not want to be separated so quickly after their mating. But their protestations were half-hearted because they knew Angel was right. Gunn was, after all, still human and the most fragile of them all, save Wesley, who at least had magic on his side.

Everyone started leaving, heading off to complete their missions. Buffy asked Gunn to wait outside so she and Spike could face the onerous task of talking to Angel. But at first, no one said anything. Predictably, it was Spike who broke the silence.

“Bet you’re surprised, eh?”

“Surprise doesn’t begin to cover it,” he said, voice dangerously calm. “Do I want to even ask what happened?”

“I overheard the Immortal talking about your trip to Rome,” supplied Buffy. “I dumped him on the spot and caught the first plane out here. I…I found Spike first and things moved kinda fast, I guess…” Buffy moved closer to her mate and took his hand. “After what I told you in Sunnydale, well, I’m sure you didn’t expect this.”

“You led me to believe that Spike was a passing fancy. That you and I would have a future someday. For chrissakes, you told me you were cookie dough!” Buffy and Spike were slightly taken aback. The dark-haired vampire rarely raised his voice and nearly never swore.

“Leave her be!” Spike took a step toward his grandsire, ready to defend his girl. “She had a right to change her mind!”

“Change her mind, yes, but she just tied herself to you for eternity!”

“Hey! Cave-Vamps!” Buffy interjected. The two men stopped bickering and stared at her. “I’m sorry, Angel, okay? I meant what I said, but when Spike died in the Hellmouth, I had to deal with my feelings for him.” She looked at her love and he held up her hand and kissed her fingers, smiling softly at her. Turning back to Angel, she continued. “So I realized too late that I loved him, and when I heard that he was back…”

“Don’t forget the apocalypse, luv,” Spike added.

“Right. Can’t really have one of those without a Slayer, so I wanted to come for that, too!”

Angel gave her a sarcastic smile. “What if I said I needed you to hold the second front and sent you away?”

“Too late. You know, you could have called us. I get the idea that none of you expected to make it out of this.”

“It was made clear to me that I wasn’t trusted anymore.”

“Yeah, but…”

Spike interrupted. “Listen, children, we can point fingers and play the second-guessing game after we defeat Evil, Inc. I’m ready to rescue a baby, and Charlie-boy has probably gnawed off his own arm by now.” Angel watched with sick fascination as the lovers shared a tender but fierce kiss before Spike strode from the apartment. Buffy began to follow but stopped when Angel softly called her name.

“Are you happy with him?”

“Yeah, Angel, I really am.”

“I have a girlfriend now,” he said petulantly.

“You do?”

“Spike didn’t tell you?”

“No, he didn’t.”

“She’s a werewolf.”

“That’s good.”

“And I’m happy. But not too happy, because…you know.”

“I know.”

“Listen, Angel. I’ll always care about you. But we’re not the same people we were five years ago, and now I love Spike.”

“Enough to be with him forever? Did he tell you that you’re mated for life?”

“He did. He asked me several times if I wanted to go through with it. But I wanted it. It was my idea, after all.”

“You asked for it?”

“I did.”

“Oh. I guess this means we’re over for good.”

“We’ve been over for a while now, but neither of us wanted to admit it.”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

Gunn knocked and stuck his head through the door. “C’mon, Blondie-two. What’s the hold up in here? If you’re causing Angel trouble I’m sure Blondie-one wouldn’t want to miss it.”

“I’m coming. Are we okay Angel?”

“Yeah. We’re okay. I’m not sure we’re gonna be okay in a few hours, but we’ll give the Senior Partners the fight of their lives, won’t we?”

Buffy smiled, anticipating the look on Angel’s face when her surprise showed up. “We will,” she answered, and they were off to save the world, again.


^^^^^^^^^

Angel looked around at what was left of his team and saw Gunn, Illyria, with blue-tinged tears running down her cheeks, Buffy, and Spike. Illyria had brought the news of Wesley’s death and vowed to avenge him. Lorne had warned him that his mission to kill Lindsey would be his last, so Angel knew this group was it. He was going to fight a demon horde with two vampires, a God with reduced powers, a Slayer and a human.
Determination showed in their faces as they turned to face the sounds of footsteps coming around the corner.

“I guess this is the cavalry,” Angel quipped as they assessed each other. Gunn was bleeding, but Buffy had deflected the vamp who was attacking him and he’d sustained only a flesh wound. Spike and Angel looked battered, but both were ready to continue the fight.

“You’re wrong, Angel.” Buffy spoke after planting a soft kiss on Spike’s lips. She waved her hand at the others. “We’re not the cavalry; they are.” She pointed down the alley and they witnessed an incredible sight. Wave after wave of people flowed from the opening of a shimmering portal at the mouth of the alley. Angel recognized Giles and Xander at the front, gripping lethal-looking weapons, followed by Willow and what he could only assume were dozens of the newly minted Slayers and Wiccans.

“Haven’t you figured out by now that the good guys always win?” Buffy quipped, a wide smile spreading across her face. Angel almost shed tears when he saw Connor drop down from the fire escape. Father and son shared a quick embrace and a look of understanding before readying for the fight. Spike could see that the portal had closed, and almost did a double-take when he noticed a group of heavily armed, black-clad humans, recognizing Riley Finn at the front. Riley threw Spike a smart salute and turned to his men, issuing last minute orders no doubt.

The white hats could see the enemy at the other end of the alley. Dozens of demons were bearing down on them, but they were ready now. Spike and Buffy clasped hands and shared another quick kiss, mouthing “I love you’s;” unsaid promises written in their expressions. There would be time for talking and loving later. Right now they had another apocalypse to avert, then they could begin their life anew, vampire and slayer, together against all odds.

finis