The next day the gang was piled into the van and heading down to San Francisco. Oz and Willow sat in the front seat, talking quietly. Xander and Cordelia were cuddled up in the middle and Giles and Angel stared out their respective windows, exchanging few words.

'I wonder if she'll forgive me. Maybe we can start over, now that there are no more risks. I've missed her so much,' Angel thought as the towns zoomed by. 'Are we there yet?'

Oz navigated the busy streets and came to stop outside the building in which the events would take place. They had a few hours until the events started, so Cordelia dragged Xander off to go shopping and Willow and Oz wandered around. Giles trailed after them. Angel opted to stay in the van and worry. He tried to plan out exactly what he would say to the woman he loved. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to try to drive you insane. It wasn't my fault, really. Now let's get back together.' Angel shook his head in frustration. 'Why did I even come? She'll never forgive me for what I've done.'

It was beginning to get dark so the group came back and retrieved Angel from the van, and they all went to buy their tickets. They entered the building along with burly men and young exited kids and every kind of person imaginable. Giles had a sudden flash of embarrassment being the only one in the whole place wearing a tweed suit. They passed two of the skaters on Buffy's team on their way to find seats. The skaters saw Angel and stared at him, lust in their eyes. Angel was too preoccupied with his thoughts to notice.

Buffy laced up her roller skates in the locker room. Her slayer sense was tingling, but not from evil. Just a familiar...presence. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was different. Two of the women from her team came into the locker room gushing.

"Wow! A hottie in our audience!" the first exclaimed.

"Tall, dark, and extremely gorgeous!" the second said. Buffy perked up at that. 'Could it be?' she thought fleetingly, then shook it off. Of course not. There were plenty of guys who were tall, dark, and extremely gorgeous. Not just Angel.

"Shanna, you're married!" the first scolded.

Buffy ignored where her thoughts were leading her and headed toward the rink.

The group sat high up in the bleachers in a little group. Their eyes desperately searched for Buffy in the crowd of skaters entering the rink. Willow spotted her first. She stood up and pointed.

"There she is!" Willow said triumphantly. The rest of the group rose from the bench to look. They were about to go to her, but Giles stopped them.

"Let's wait until after this is done," he told them. They were disappointed, but sat down to watch the show. Angel couldn't keep his eyes off her. She looked very fit in the extremely short shorts and tights, and even the shoulder pads, kneepads, and helmet didn't inhibit.

The team formed their pack and began to circle the track. Buffy waited for her chance to break away, and when it came she glided fast and smooth over the rink past the other skaters. She knew Glinda, a very violent player for the other team, was right behind her. Buffy let Glinda catch up to her, and when she was near enough, knocked her on the back of the head, causing Glinda's helmet to fall off. Glinda was mad now, and Buffy broke down the rink and tore through the pack once again. The crowd's yells of 'watch out' told her that Glinda was right behind her. Buffy grabbed the arm Glinda was about to use to hit her, and flipped the older woman over her head so she landed on her back on the rink.

Giles watched his slayer win points for her team, covering his ears to block out the incessant cheering of the crowd around him and the incoherent babble of the announcer.

Glinda pursued Buffy around the rink and finally caught up to her. With a swipe of her leg, Buffy fell to the rink. The Slayerettes got up from their bench and yelled warnings to Buffy. Glinda wasn't finished yet. She kicked Buffy in the stomach and legs. Buffy decided to lie there for a while and let Glinda have her fun. Glinda got on top of Buffy and violently punched her in the head. The referees came to drag Glinda off Buffy, but she refused to be budged. She continued to beat on Buffy. The crowd was going crazy. They loved this.

Angel had watched up to this point rather nervously, but he couldn't stand the fact that she was getting beat up by a woman decades older than her. What if she was getting hurt? He jumped up and leaped over people and obstacles in his way and got into the rink where Buffy was under attack. 'Please let her be okay,' he thought. He reached her and hurled Glinda across the rink. The referees tried to intervene, but Angel knocked them away with just a swat of his hand. He reached down, grabbed Buffy's hand and pulled her to her feet. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," she replied. Then she looked up to see who had stopped the fight. "Angel?" she asked, shocked to see him standing in front of her. "But you're, I mean, I sent you to...what?" she stuttered, before flinging her arms around him. They held each other tightly, tears flowing from both their eyes. "How?" Buffy managed to ask between sobs.

"Willow," Angel answered simply.

"Angel, I am so sorry," Buffy cried into his shoulder. "It was all my fault."

"Nothing was your fault," Angel soothed. "It was all mine. I'm so sorry for what I did to you."

"It was too my fault," Buffy protested. "I made you loose your soul in the first place, and then I sent you to hell..."

Angel broke the embrace and took her shoulders and looked straight into her teary eyes. "You made me happier than anyone had ever made me before, and that's nothing to be sorry about," he told her softly and intensely. "And then you had to save the world."

Again, Buffy threw herself into Angel's embrace. They hugged each other fiercely, completely oblivious to the world around them.

Up in the bleachers, there were people yelling all over the place. Giles sat, trying to protect himself from the strident screaming. Right next to him a woman stood on the bench and was yelling loudly.

Giles felt like his eardrums were popping. "Would you shut up!" he yelled to the woman, very annoyed. She sat down and looked straight at him.

"Sorry, Rupert," she said.

Giles was puzzled and looked over at her. "Jenny?" he asked incredulously.

"Hi."

"But you're dead!" Giles exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, it happens." she said off-handedly.

"What are you doing here?"

"You know I'm a sports fan," then changing the subject she said, "So how does Angel like his present?"

"What?"

"Immortality. Hey, it was the least I could do."

"You, you did that?"

"Yup. No demon, no curses, just a super human who'll live forever," Jenny said.

"You know, Cordelia said exactly the same thing. How unsettling." Giles said.

"I let him keep his strength. A guy's gotta be tough to be Buffy's boyfriend."

"That's wonderful! I...I'm sure he'll be very grateful," Giles said.

"Actually, I'd like to do the same for Buffy," Jenny said, scrutinizing Giles for his reaction.

He leaned closer to her. "You want to make Buffy immortal?" he verified.

"Only if she wants it. Ask her. If she does, she'll become immortal on her 18th birthday," she said.

"Well, okay, I'll, um, ask her."

"Great," Ms. Calendar said. "You know Rupert, I'm really sorry for everything."

"I've missed you," Giles said. "Never got to..."

"Never got to see you squirm," she said with a coy smile.

"Yes, no, no, that's too bad," he said.

"I've got to get going. Tell them what's going on. Ask Buffy." Jenny instructed him.

"I will," he said. Jenny leaned closer and kissed him firmly on the lips. They parted and Jenny began to fade. "Goodbye, Jenny. I...I love you," Giles managed to say before his love's image disappeared completely.

"I love you, too," she whispered as she faded into thin air. Giles sat facing where her image was before turning back to the others to find them staring at him with strange expressions on their faces.

"No, I was not hallucinating," he said sharply. "I think it's our turn." He nodded to Buffy and Angel. The Slayerettes nodded and rose from their seats, and headed to the rink.

Buffy and Angel broke away from their hug just enough so they could see each other. They kissed softly.

"I love you," Angel said.

"I love you," Buffy said, kissing him again.

Willow, Oz, Xander, Cordelia, and Giles approached the pair and stood beside them. Xander coughed. Angel and Buffy broke apart and looked at the little group surrounding them. What ensued was a flurry of greetings. Buffy hugged everyone, even Cordelia and Oz. When they were all done with that Buffy said goodbye to her teammates and got her stuff from the hotel, and they all climbed into Oz's van and headed back to Sunnydale.

"Angel, I know the cause of your condition," Giles said.

"Condition?" Buffy asked, puzzled.

"Jenny made you immortal as a way of apologizing, and let you keep your strength." Giles told them.

"You're immortal?" Buffy shrieked. "Like a super human who'll live forever?"

"That phrase is being used too much. It's uncanny," Giles muttered under his breath.

"Yup. No more vampire," Angel said.

"There's more," Giles said. "She offered to make you immortal also, Buffy."

"Me? Immortal?" Buffy queried. She glanced at Angel. "Okay."

"Forever is a really long time Buffy," Angel warned her.

"Forever with you isn't enough," Buffy told him. He swept her up into a kiss.

"Gag me with a fork," Xander said, disgusted.

When they got back to Sunnydale Buffy confronted her mother and apologized. She got re-enrolled in school after Mr. Snyder was in an unfortunate accident involving a mob of Star Trek fans.

One More to go...

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