DISCLAIMER:OBJ - Owned By Joss. Song by Crowded House.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, I've started yet another series haha and yet another songfic.

Angel burst into Giles' house, rushing past the broken door, hanging on its hinges to the frame.

He quickly surveyed the scene before him. Obviously a quarrel had occured here.

Swearing under his breath, he dashed from the scene in search of his warrior.

And so when he found her huddled behind the couch, he let go of everything else and rushed to her, overwhelmed with relief. He gathered her in his arms and peppered her face with desperate kisses.

"Oh God, Buffy, I was so worried. I've been looking everywhere for you."

"I remembered this place was heavily fortified."

Angel nodded, "Didn't want any company, not after Darla..."

Angel heard a whimper in the corner and turned to see Willow, her head in Xander's lap, holding onto her bloody side.

"Mohra demons...." Buffy offered as explanation.

"They said they'd come looking for you..." Angel returned.

"They wanted the other warrior...." Buffy collaborated.

"Would you stop! All this back and forth, finishing-each-other's-sentences is giving me a headache!" Spike whined.

Buffy ignored him, "We need to get these guys to a hospital. Willow and Riley are wounded and Anya's got a concussion."

"Xander can get them there." Giles spoke up, "The rest of us need to figure out what these demons are here for."

"I've um, met a Mohra demon before, though what he said was a little less impressive. Uh, something like 'The end of days has begun. For anyone of us that falls, *ten* shall rise.'"

"Well from the sounds of it then, when he said that, the prophecy was activated. I suppose that's it then, I can't think of any other way to stop this-"

"I can." Angel said in confidence, "We prevent him from ever saying it."

Giles let out a short laugh, "Wonderful as that would be Angel, don't you think it a little-"

Angel shook his head, cutting Giles off, "It's possible. We go through the Oracles."

Buffy who had been turning her head from one to the other finally spoke up, "The who?"

"They actually exist? The channel to the Powers that Be?" Giles asked in awe.

"Who actually exist?"

Angel affirmed, "I think they'll help us. This new prophecy, this whole 'millions warriors of darkness thing', well I think it definitely constitutes for a throw in the balance. I'll leave now. Though it still doesn't entirely make sense."

"What doesn't?" Buffy continued.

"Well, the day he actually said it, it kinda never happened."

"Huh?" Buffy and Giles looked stumped.

"Well, uh, the Oracles. They've turned back time before, such that the day never happened."

Buffy suddenly found her mind barraged with images like a slideshow. A broken kitchen table. Dripping ice cream falling onto Angel's chest. Kisses with Angel in the sun.......

Buffy burst, "It did! It did! I know it did!"

"What? Buffy what are you talking about?" Giles asked, completely perplexed.

Buffy walked past Giles to place her hand exactly where it was on that day, tears shimmering in her eyes, "I felt your heartbeat."

"No....." Angel took a step back.

"I'll never forget......" Buffy advanced.

"You weren't supposed to remember." Angel whimpered, with tears of his own.

"So we have to go through it again? Just to make sure I know what we're giving up? 'Cause God knows it wasn't painful enough the first time...." Buffy's breath hitched as the dam within her broke, her body so suddenly flooded with all the pain and grief that had been caused with the acknowledgement of her sacrifice.

Angel's resolve faltered as he moved towards her and tenderly kissed her, "I'm sorry, baby, I'm so sorry."

"And so we meet, Warrior."

Buffy stepped forward warily towards the Oracles, "So you would be the ones who decided to make my life hell. Nice to meet you."

The Female Oracle laughed at the girl's sarcastic defenses. "We have no intention of harming you, Slayer." She took on a new tone at Buffy's body language in response to that statement, "We understand the sacrifices you have made. They have not been made in vain."

Buffy let the latter revelation sink in as Angel spoke up. "We have come-""

"Regarding the Mohra demons, yes we understand your intentions," the Male Oracle intercepted. "we also understand your confusion. The First, it seems is more powerful.... and impatient than we first anticipated. We believe the motions for Armaggedon were already set up regardless of the time fold."

"So what will stop it from doing the same this time?" Buffy asked, slowly grasping this whole crazy idea of time folds.

"We will bind this one with stronger magicks. We must warn you, however, that upon the completion of your task, you will be returned to this reality, we cannot sustain the temporal fold for so long, the results could come beyond our control. The magicks alone may also affect the reality you return to, so the disappearance of the Mohra demons may not be the only deviation."

"Fine, we'll deal with the consequences." Angel added hastily, "When can we get this over with?"

"Now. We give you 24 hours, we expect that will be sufficient."

"Well what about-"

~~~FLASH~~~

In a flash of light, their surroundings disintegrated to leave them in Angel's kitchen.

"Well," Buffy started, disorientated, "they certainly aren't ones for chit chat."

Angel rose from his new seat across the table from Buffy, "We should get going."

"Oh really, cos as I recall, and that's not very well I might add, we were about to have yet another hearbreaking talk."

Angel winced and hesitated, "I agree. We do need to talk, but we should take care of business first."

Buffy nodded reluctantly. "So we headed to the salt factory?"

The two left the car wordlessly, he armed with his battle axe and she with her trusty cross-bow.

They stalked the shadows of the factory, the saline aroma tinged with that of death as they passed the bodies Angel had before.

He abruptly stopped, looking directly above them as Buffy took her cue and aimed her weapon to where the demon hid, cleanly smashing the jewel, both warriors turning towards the car before they could watch the Mohra demon shatter into nothing more than the energy of light.

//No time, no place to talk about the weather//

He gestured awkwardly towards the table before they were both seated, facing each other's mask, carefully constructed over months of endurance, of sacrifice.

"So, how's.... things."

//The promise of love is hard to ignore//

"Things are.... " after a long silence of contemplation, Buffy dropped the cheerful facade she had so well perfected, "well things are hard, Angel, things are hard. It hurts now that you're not around, and it's worse when I haven't been given time to grieve. They... they want so many things for me, Angel, and I know that's just because they love me..... but it's so hard, and it's every day. I feel like I can't shout, I can't yell, I can't cry, cos that's not what they want me to be. I don't know, maybe I used up my moment of weakness when I ran away, but all I know is that's all I am..."

"Buffy.."

"No. I'm weak to you and I'm weak to them. I let you walk away, let you decide my life for me and they're doing the same. I've had to make room for someone when my heart is already brimming with you..."

//You said the chance wasn't getting any better//

"And mine with you. But nothing's changed, Buffy. I'm of no use to you now-"

"What about Riley? We hunt, we patrol, he's human."

"And I won't be when we go back. And besides, the other thing about Riley? Well, you know..."

//The labour of love is our's to endure//

"So that's it? That's the end? We just give up 'cos it's too hard? 'Cos I don't buy that."

"Buffy," he pleaded, "don't make this harder."

"Harder than what? Than it already is? 'Cos I didn't think that was possible. I love you, Angel. All my life, nothing will ever touch that. And you just want to throw that all away cos it's too hard?"

Angel was yelling now, "You know that's not it. Don't Buffy. Don't make me say it."

//The highest branch on the apple tree
Was my favourite place to be//

"Say what? That you love me? Is that such a sin?"

"Apparently. Cos I'd say that we're pretty much being punished right now."

"That's not true. What about what the Oracle said. That the sacrifices were not made in vain?" Buffy's voice softened, "All I ever wanted was you, Angel. All that I ever asked for."

"But that's not enough." Angel whispered as tears made matching tracks down their cheeks, "Just know that there isn't a minute that goes by when I don't think of you and that I will always, always hold you in my heart."

//I will run for shelter//

The silence that ensued was filled with a heartbreaking empathy that the two shared so intimately.

"So what do we do now?" Buffy asked in a small tone.

"We wait..."

"Until we can go back to our lives and never see each other again?"

Angel looked down, unable to lie to her, unable to make that recognition, but she knew anyway.

"Then let me touch you one last time. Just one." she whispered through her tears.

//Endless summer, lift the curse//

They both stood, knowing the complete lie to those words: Just one. There would never be just one between them, there would never be that level of simplicity, no matter how much they would try for it.

They slowly, tentatively gravitated towards each other before they stood with only inches of air seperating their bodies.

Buffy reached out hesitatingly as if fearing the burn of the feel of his skin, both anticipating as her hand descended and finally made contact with his cheek.

Angel closed his eyes instantaneously, unconsciously leaning into her touch as Buffy took care to memorise every curve, every line to the face that she knew would haunt her thoughts for the rest of her life.

//It feels like nothing matters in our private universe//

She brought her other hand into play, gently caressing the back of his head with questing fingers through the spikes of his hair.

Angel, unable to remain a passive participant any longer, grasped her waist with both hands, Buffy gasping as he pulled her slowly closer, closer, until they were flush against one another, her fingers holding still as his brushed up and down her torso. She closed her eyes as she let the shock of his touch after so many months fill her. She breathed in his breath raggedly, savouring their mixed essence as her neck tilted, her whole body yearned towards his mouth. He leaned down in kind before their lips brushed, once, twice, before both succumbed and opened themselves up to the chance of love.

//I have all I want is that simple enough?
A whole lot more I'm thinking of//

They kissed tenderly, each reacquainting themselves to feelings they had thought they had lost forever. They became bolder, pushed harder, as Buffy's hands threaded through his hair once more and pressed him more firmly against her, his arms wrapped around her waist. They kissed more desperately, more passionately, the intense fire that was always kindled burning so brightly now to the outside world. Angel could feel himself getting swept up in the heat of her, catching himself as he tore his lips away.

"Buffy-"

"Please," she said, their lower bodies seperating even as she held his face securely between her hands, forehead pressed against his. "don't. Just one more."

She drew away slowly, lingeringly, before taking his hand and walking in the direction of his bedroom. He followed, staggered by the thoughts of consequences of the heart, but ultimately could not deny her.

They stood at the foot of his bed, face to face, her large, opaque eyes staring deeper into him than anyone had. Her fingers fouund their way under his shirt as she explored the flesh she found there, drawing ever widening circles, never losing eye contact, before lifting the hem and drawing the shirt over his head.

Angel traced his fingers along the bare skin beyond her shirt before lifting it away from her body.

She moved forward, touching the button to his trousers before looking up at him through her lashes from this closer proximity. She held his gaze and she unbottuned and then unzipped his pants lettimg them fall to the floor before he kicked them off.

She allowed him to reach behind her, unzipping the skirt which fell to her feet and then undoing the clasp to her bra, she aiding him in the slow, careful removal of both.

And finally, when all physical barriers were overcome, they stood in complete nudity to the other, unabashedly showing not only their bodies, but their souls to the other as they locked gazes.

//Every night around six o'clock
Birds come back to the pond to talk
They talk to me, birds talk to me
If I go down on my knees//

He took her hand and climbed onto the bed, her following his lead with one limb at a time before facing each other, kneelingn in the centre.

//I will run for shelter, endless summer, lift the curse. It feels like nothing matters in our private universe//

They lips came together like gentle waves to a shore, each finally giving in completely to the sensations that surrounded them. Their passion grew as each clung onto one another, his hands nursing her head as hers trailed the contours of his back.

They both fell slowly to the pillows waiting below as tongues probed and hands memorised every detail of the other's body.

They twisted and turned on the bed, everything giving way to that synchronisity that had been so deeply established between the two of them. Their hearts beat as one as he gasped in the breath of her, falling into the cradle of her sweet, yielding body as there spirits touched and intertwined with each other, becoming a living, breathing entity that co-existed in both their bodies.

//And it's a pleasure that I have known//

Angel lifted his lower body from hers as his arms, placed around her head, bore the weight of him as he hovered above her.

He broke the kiss once more as they both stared each other in the eye, both breathed in together before he drew back and gently slid into her.

//And it's a treasure that I have gained//

They gasped simultaneously at that familiar feeling of belonging, emanating from deep within their souls, their very existence.

He withdrew to the tip before pushing further this time, Buffy emitting a shuddering breath as the feelings began to overwhelm her.

//And it's a pleasure that I have known//

There was a slow and sweet tenderness to that first coupling that thread through to the rest that they shared that night, a deep vein that ran parallel and perhaps even drew from that of their pulsing passion.

//It's a tight sqeeze, but I won't let go//

They both lay in the comfortable peace of one another's arms as Buffy buried her head that little bit further into the crook of his neck and he held her just that little bit tighter.

//Time is on the table and the dinner's cold//

"It's time isn't it?"

The first words that had been spoken since they arrived in the bedroom hung in the air like a stale reminder of the life they had to return to, of the reality they had to face.

"It is." Angel replied, just as softly.

They both rolled out on opposite sides of the bed, slowly and silently resigning themselves to the fate that lay before them as they made the motions of getting dressed, returning to all the things that could possibly stand between them.

//And I will run for shelter//

They stood, fully clothed, in the exact same positions as they had on the day.

//Endless summer, lift the curse//

"How much longer?"

"Another minute."

"Deja vu."

//It feels like nothing matters in our private universe//

"I love you." he confessed.

"Then kiss me." she replied in those last moments.

They kissed, drawing desperately on one another's strength.

She broke the kiss as the tears coursed down her face, slipping her hand between their bodies and placing it over his heartbeat.

She hid her face into his shirt as his chin rested above her head, even in those last moments, trying to meld into one another's essence.

The sound of his heartbeat filled her senses as the sure flash of light came and enveloped them.

~~~FLASH~~~

She looked up from the comfort of her lover's arms as the others formed a lose circle surrounding them.

Their words blurred into the background as she centred on Angel and marvelled at the one thing that still dominated her being.

*thumpthump*thumpthump*

They both broke into huge, blinding grins, as their lips met together joyously, a glorious prayer in itself as the Scoobies milled around them, waiting for an explanation.

END.