"Willow. Good to see you." Giles stepped into the doorway, smiling at her.

"Hey, Giles." She even managed to smile.

"I.... I never told you how sorry I was about Kennedy."

"It's fine," she shrugged. But it wasn't fine. She wasn't ready to work with Angel, not so soon after.... She didn't know how Giles could stand it--could stand Angel.

He put a hand on her shoulder, not certain how to handle the situation, then got to business. "We found the answer to our apocalyptic troubles."

"Do the others know yet?"

"No. We waited for you." She nodded mutely in response.

"They're all in here, if you'd care to come along." He walked a little ahead of her into the living room. She followed him.

Everyone from Rome was there--Riley, Buffy, Spike, Angel, Dawn, Xander, Connor, and Oz. Faith was there, which made sense, because she'd been living with Giles lately. Illyria was also there--Giles and the other Watchers had been doing research with her and about her. Rona, Vi, and some of the other Slayers were there, too.

"May I speak now?" Illyria looked pointedly at Giles.

"Yes, Illyria. Er--go ahead."

"Faith looked in the books. She looked over it. All humans would look over it unless they knew exactly what to look for. It's a spell of a certain kind, and affects all of us. The Senior Partners probably cast it. It affects the Slayers because Angel and Spike were of assistance in Sunnydale. They cast it after us in revenge. We must return to the site of our final battles, to face old foes, and others, before all hell will reign down."

"Would've thought you'd go in for that sort of thing," said Spike from his position on the couch. Illyria turned to cock her head towards him.

"It would destroy me, too. I do not wish to obey the rules of those who would destroy me; those who destroyed Wesley. I still feel grief."

"Right, then. So we all go back to our respective big battles, kill the oogly booglys again. Then we come back here to hide from the Senior Partners again. Sounds like fun. Let's go."

"Spike," said Giles reprovingly.

"What, Rupert? S'not like we can just sit here, and wait to fight with hell itself. Well, we could, but--"

"Spike's right," said Buffy. "We'll have to go back."

"Go back where?" asked Xander. "Sunnydale's gone, remember? Dead Boy Part II took care of it."

"Two things. One, don't be calling me part two of the poufster. Two, Sunnydale's still there, whelp. It's just a big pit instead of a big hellmouth." Spike smiled a little.

The dig at Angel was more for old times sake than anything else--getting off a shot at Xander was the real aim. That, and getting the message across.

"If we go back to L.A., the Senior Partners will kill us the minute they find out." Angel crossed his arms.

"I don't think so. This apocalypse, Angel, is real. It may be the final one, the one that you needed to fight."

"The one with the soddin' Shanshu prophecy," breathed Spike.

"Yeah." Angel hadn't told Spike yet about signing the prophecy away--then again, had Spike been right all along, it wouldn't matter, because it wouldn't have been his to give away.

"Well. Either the great brooder or yours truly can become human. Sounds like fun. All while kicking the collective arse of the Senior Partners. Let's go, then."

"Spike, it's a bit more complicated than that."

"Why?"

"Because you played a pivotal role in Sunnydale as well."

"Well, of course I did." He stared at Giles, not getting the point. "So what?"

"How are you going to accomplish being in two places at once?"

Spike kept eye contact, silently, for a minute longer, before turning around and throwing up his hands. "Bugger that."

He turned back. "I was more important in Sunnydale, no telling what you would've done without the Liz Taylor gem."

"Spike, I'll need you in L.A. You've got to be with us. We'll need you. There's no going around it. You were important there, too."

Spike looked at Angel, recognizing his point, then turned to look at Buffy and Dawn.

"They'll need me in Sunnydale," he said quietly.

Connor watched Spike argue with his father. He'd seen it happen a lot in Rome--it kind of made him wonder exactly how bad they'd been before that, since Angel had told him that the two of them had made up in L.A.

He could also figure out the main problem. He'd gotten to know Spike a little in Rome. Spike had feelings for both of the Summers girls, and would be damned if he'd let them go off somewhere without him looking after them. He'd heard about after Buffy's second death, and lots of other things that had apparently happened in Sunnydale....

Connor knew that Spike knew that neither one of the girls really needed protection anymore. It was more of a duty-thing.

"I can go to Sunnydale instead," he said quietly, causing Dawn to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Connor, I don't think--"

"Let the boy talk," said Spike, shooting one last glare at Angel.

"I didn't do a lot in Los Angeles, so it's not like you need me there."

"You did a lot," started Angel, then stopped.

"What did the boy do?" asked Spike. He knew as much about Connor as Illyria did, except for the original memories. He knew that Angel was Connor's father, and that Wolfram and Hart had fixed everybody's memories after Angel and buddies took over. He also knew that those fake, happy memories had been stopped after Angel, Spike, Illyria, and the rest of them left the law firm. What he didn't know was the real memories before that.

"Some stuff we shouldn't go into." Angel exchanged a look with his son.

"Many things," said Illyria. "He fathered Jasmine, and killed her. He also helped Angel kill the final liaison."

"Who's Jasmine, mate?" Spike looked back to Angel.

"Someone we should not talk about. Illyria," he started.

"Did you wish me to not speak of her?"

"Yes, I did," he grated.

"I am sorry." She didn't look all that sorry.

"Right," sighed Angel.

"Who's Jasmine?" asked Buffy curiously.

"She was evil," said Connor flatly.

"Evil as in what? Because, all of us have killed something evil," pointed out Faith.

"Evil as in a people-eating goddess," said Angel.

"You created that thing?" asked Faith. "So, we'd want you with us why?"

"It was an accident," said Angel. "He also killed her."

"Who was the mom?" Dawn crossed her arms. "There had to be a mother."

"There was," answered Connor quietly, avoiding looking at Angel.

"Someone who passed away," Angel told them. "End of story."

"Was she evil too?" pressed Dawn. "Because, you know, I'm not looking forward to being with the father of another evil goddess who sleeps around with evil goddess mothers."

"I don't--" started Connor, then smiled. "She wasn't evil. And I don't sleep around."

"Who was she?"

"It's not important." Buffy got between the two teenagers. "The point is that if you could create something evil, and do it again, we shouldn't have you with us."

"He won't do it again," said Angel, not looking at Buffy.

"But how do you know--"

"He won't." He met Buffy's eye. "That's all there is to it."

"Moving on? Buffy." Spike walked up to her. "I'm going to need to go with Angel, love."

"Why?"

"Because he'll need me. There's only him and Blue to help out each other, even if the Boy Wonder does go along." He'd taken to referring to Connor as that.

"We'll need you. I need you."

"Look. You have got an army full of slayers, a kick-ass wicca, and some watchers, and some extremely helpful.... Somethings," he concluded, waving a hand at Xander and Oz. "Point is, you don't need me. They do."

"We could send someone with Angel," she protested.

"You will. You're sending me. Look, I've seen the boy fight. He'll be fine."

"I need you."

"I know you do. And you'll need me with Angel. Remember? Second front and all that. I'll be fine. And I'll see you after the battle." He touched her cheek, tenderly, smoothing her hair.

Willow looked away from them. She thought it was sweet that Buffy and Spike were together again--and also vaguely wrong. She wondered how Riley felt, watching his ex and his former vampire enemy in love. But more than anything, she was jealous. Every time she had ever fallen in love it had ended badly. Xander--well, that was okay, since they were still best friends. Oz had left town. Tara had died, and Kennedy had died.

She needed Kennedy, needed her so bad.....

Riley watched Willow. This had to be awful for her. From what he'd heard and seen on his own, she had terrible luck in love.

Kind of like him, which made him more sympathetic to her. After all, he'd been in love with Buffy--big mistake. Sure, Buffy was a great girl, but she had never loved him. He'd known that a long time ago. Then he'd fallen in love--real love, where someone loves you back--with Sam. Drusilla killed her.

Which also made him pissed off at Angel. Angel was the one who'd made her, who'd created her, who had forced her into who she was now.

Spike? Spike was something else. He was evil. He'd tried to kill them all, tried to get them all killed when that failed, and finally settled for stalking Buffy. He didn't know why the two of them were still together, but from what Willow'd said, he actually did love her somehow. He'd gotten a soul for her, and done heroic things for her. In the end, he'd loved her.

Of course, he came back, and still loved her. Almost like a fairy tale, Riley thought to himself.

"So...." Buffy backed away. "You'll be going to Los Angeles with Angel, then."

"Exactly," agreed Spike.

Illyria looked at Connor. “You wish to go to Sunnydale. A place where you have never been, a place that you do not care about.�

“That about sums it up.�

“Why? You will be needed in the other city, the city where the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart are.�

“Well, yeah, I might be—but Spike’s needed there more. So I’ll help out by taking his place.�

“Yet you do not wish to leave your father behind.�

“He can do fine,� said Connor uncomfortably.

“Guilt reeks in the air around you.�

“Illyria,� started Angel, “this is not a good time.�

“This is not?�

“No, it isn’t.�

“I do not want to go back with you.�

“I know,� said Angel.

“I miss Wesley—the shell misses Wesley.�

“The shell? Wait, blue. You’re talking about Fred. Fred’s gone, remember?�

“I know. But there are fragments—the memories that made her Fred. The personality that made her Fred. That is all still here. The person that I was, that my shell was, mourns for Wesley. And I miss Wesley. I do not wish to return. But it’s what I must do.�

“That does about sum it up,� said Angel, giving her an odd look.

“When do we need to be there?� Buffy was all business; as long as she and Spike didn’t look at each other.

“In a few hours,� Giles told her.

“You know, for this last year, I haven’t missed these cryptic prophecies at all.� Buffy shook her head, a little saddened.