apokálypsis (revelation)

Fanart by chosenfire

Fanmix by hateable

A town in America was menaced by the undead on Halloween. Giles frowned at the reports. It was the norm for demons and vampires to take that day off, so to speak. He reached for the phone to call his assistant for more information.

Then shook his head in momentary confusion, put down the phone, and closed the folder. Opening another one he scanned through notes on the increase of ghouls in Germany and ran through the available Slayers in his head.

*****

Samhain's return, even for only a brief time, was enough for the seal to break. Dean had stopped most of the zombies from killing those teenagers, but still, too many had died in that town. The guilt weighed heavily on him for weeks afterwards.

*****

"What's this about a town where no one is dying? Isn't that weird?" Dawn asked Xander over breakfast, passing him a copy of the Enquirer.

"Huh. Dunno. Does sound kind of weird. You should probably ask Giles."

By the end of breakfast, Dawn and Xander had both forgotten about the article, moving on to discuss the rise in Yeti attacks in Tibet and Dawn's class on pre-Hellenic culture.

*****

Sam and Dean stood over Pamela's grave, all their regrets adding to their burdens.

"If..."

"Had to be done, Sam. Pamela understood that. You can't stop death," Dean replied, his voice rough from sorrow.

"At least we stopped the seal from breaking."

It wasn't worth Pamela's life though, not at all.

*****

"Demonic energy is spiking in Maryland," one of his under-Watchers informed Giles.

"It seems to be on the rise across America," added another, shoving reports in front of the head of the International Watcher's Council. "Why haven't we noticed this?"

The three men frowned at each other, then at a young woman who came in carrying a pile of files.

"These are just in from Greece. It's possible the Titans are stirring."

Maryland was forgotten.

*****

Lucifer rose. The apocalypse began. Dean and Sam were saved by an unknown entity and Sam was unknowingly prevented from becoming Lucifer's vessel.

Events quickly began to steam roll and with their one supernatural ally cut off from most of his power and their greatest human ally hospitalized, the bond between the brothers fractured.

*****

"How did this happen without us seeing the signs?" Giles muttered to himself, reading the article again. An entire town in Missouri wiped out by several category five tornadoes, leaving no survivors but, oddly enough, most of the structures standing with little damage. The government was calling it a localized weather event but Giles had less official reports pointing to something entirely different and entirely demonic. "These things don't simply happen out of the blue." Slapping the newspaper down in frustration, he glanced at his watch to calculate the time in Cleveland and...

Frowned.

What was he going to do?

"Enough."

Giles' head jerked up and he stared in surprise at the rather unassuming man standing in his locked office. He wore a rumpled trench coat over a plain navy suit and needed a shave. "Who...?"

Before he could form a coherent thought the man gestured with his hand and suddenly too many thoughts were crowding into Giles' head.

Everything he'd missed for the last sixteen months. The plagues and the wiping out of entire towns, the hurricanes and wars and financial collapses he had blindly ascribed to humanity but were really demonic in origin. Demonic and something much worse. All of it centered on the United States while his focus had been the rest of the world.

"The veil must be lifted. I'm only sorry I couldn't do it sooner but you are being watched and controlled."

Giles rose, his face florid with anger and a growing, helpless frustration. "By whom?"

"Angels," the man replied flatly. "I finally managed to sneak in under their radar, so to speak, and bring you the truth they have hidden from you."

"But...why? All these signs my mind is assimilating, putting pieces together, they lead to one thing. Why was this hidden from me, from my Slayers?"

"Because the Host doesn't want your interference. They don't want you to stop it."

"Pardon my French, but fuck that," Giles snarled.

A small smile crossed the man's face. "Gather your forces, but keep the number small for now. The angels will try to stop you so you must be vigilant." He held out a small amulet which Giles took--a copper disk on a leather cord. "I believe you can replicate these. They will prevent you and your companions' minds from becoming fogged again. When you are ready, travel to Singer Salvage Yard outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota."

"This is really it? The biblical apocalypse?" His mind clear, he could see all the signs revealing the freeing of Lucifer, and he was growing more and more angry. "We could have stopped that!"

"As I said, the Host doesn't want it stopped. They want the final battle."

"That'll destroy the world."

"Exactly."

"Buffy's stopped that from happening before."

Again, a tiny smile, this time accompanied by a nod. "Exactly."

There was the soft sound of feathers shifting and the man was gone. Giles realized he hadn't gotten his name, but he didn't have time to worry about that. He had forces to marshal and an apocalypse to stop.

So...angels were real.

*****

"So, angels are real?"

Giles nodded at Dawn's question and handed her one of his dusty, ancient books. "There are references in there to the Four Horsemen."

"Wait, like in the Bible?" Xander asked, blinking his one eye rapidly at all of Giles' revelations. He felt like scrubbing his brain for a bit. He didn't like someone invading it and keeping him in the dark.

"Yes."

"The Bible Bible?"

Giles shot him an exasperated look. "You need to track down Willow. We need her."

"I can't believe anybody fogged her mind, too."

"Apparently they're angels, Xander," Dawn said with an impressive eye role. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"Does that mean there's really a God?"

All three stopped going through books to ponder that for a moment, then Giles shook his head. "We can't worry about that. We have to worry about the fact that the Lucifer of the Bible is real and leading a war we've been blind to."

Dawn suddenly reddened and pointed to something in the book she was looking through. "Um, does that mean Jesus is reborn and that rapture thing is going to happen because I so don't want to see a bunch of naked people floating up in the sky."

Xander shrugged and grinned. "Well, if they're hot..."

Dawn smacked him. Giles sighed and rubbed his temples. "Can we concentrate, please? Xander, look up the Battle of Carthage from the Civil War and try to figure out why the town of twelve thousand was wiped out a few days ago. I have a very bad feeling about that. And, Dawn, call your sister."

"Um...really?"

"She'll come out of retirement for this," Giles said with complete conviction. "And, Xander, call Willow first, then get on Carthage. It's morning now in Cleveland. I'll call Faith."

*****

"Do you really think an army of Slayers can help?"

Standing on the highest peak of Everest, watching the sun rise in the East, Castiel spun around at the familiar voice, and hesitantly spoke his name, "Gabriel."

"Don't worry, little brother. I'm not going to interfere. Good for you getting past their watchdogs, though."

Castiel bowed his head slightly. "It was...difficult."

"Yeah, they really didn't want the Slayers involved."

"Which causes me to believe that they will be able to help."

Shrugging, Gabriel looked past his brother to the sunrise. "Pretty."

"Do you really want beauty such as this destroyed?"

"There's other beauty."

"Do you think you'll be welcome back in Heaven or in any paradise our brothers and sisters create? Or what if Lucifer wins? Do you think he'll give you a place in whatever hell he turns this world into?"

Turning serious eyes on Castiel, Gabriel replied with absolute honesty, "No, to all of that. I think when it's over, when either Heaven or Hell wins, there'll be nothing for me but an ending." His eyes narrowed. "You'll be lucky if you get that."

"I know the punishments I face. My choice, to side with humanity, is still the right one."

Gabriel laughed harshly. "Oh, come on, brother. You didn't side with humanity. Out of all the six billion humans crying and shitting and puking on the earth, you chose Dean Winchester. You chose him."

Startled, Castiel frowned. "I...Yes, but...His cause is righteous. His belief that humanity can prevent both Heaven and Hell from winning and survive is admirable."

"And he has such pretty green eyes." With his trademark smirk back on his face, Gabriel snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving Castiel frowning even more, this time in confusion.

*****

As she packed a duffle bag full of weapons and a couple changes of clothes, Faith swore vividly, using every curse word she knew in English and several demon languages. She cursed the angels she'd never believed in and the God she still didn't believe in, the Hellmouth she was leaving, the Hell that apparently really existed, and Buffy for good measure for dying and making Kendra a Slayer that led to her becoming one. Robin listened, nodded occasionally, made hmming noises, and made sure she had deodorant and a toothbrush.

When she was finally out of curses and breath, she collapsed on their bed and glowered. "This fucking sucks."

He nodded in agreement and handed her a medallion. "Dawn emailed me the instructions on turning this into an amulet to protect you from having your mind fogged again. Don't take it off."

Slipping it over her head, she tucked it between her breasts with the gold cross he'd given her for her birthday. "You know the demons and vamps will take advantage of me being away."

"And your band of Slayerettes are perfectly capable of handling anything the Hellmouth throws at them. You go kick Lucifer's ass."

Grinning up at him, she snagged his arm with her hand, hooked one foot behind his leg, and pulled him onto the bed with her. "You know it, babe."

*****

Hanging up the phone, Buffy stared at it for several minutes, then sank slowly onto the sofa in her loft in Rome. An apocalypse was happening and they'd been kept from it by angels of all things. Who was fighting it, then? Anyone? Fear gripped her, fear that they were too late, and she put aside all reservations of coming out of retirement.

There was no question.

Spike tossed her Mr. Pointy and she caught the stake without even seeing it coming. The wood felt so familiar in her hand and she turned it over between her fingers slowly, then looked at her lover as he crouched in front of her. "We going?"

"I told Dawn we would."

"You sure?"

Determination filled her, erasing any lingering doubts, and she nodded strongly. "Yes. Dawn said that Giles believes it'll be safer if we come in separately and not on the IWC jet. Can you make the arrangements to get us to Sioux Falls as fast as possible while I call Sofia and let her know I need to take off work for a while?"

"Guess I'll be the corpse in the coffin." There was no heat in his words and she nodded in distraction, her mind whirling through all that needed to be done. Spike's next question startled her, though. "Want me to call Angel?"

"Um...not yet. Giles wants us to keep it small for now. The core group." Buffy rolled her eyes at the smug joy that crossed Spike's face as he rose to find a phone book, and silently wondered if he'd ever be completely secure in her choice of him over Angel.

*****

Red-eyed from both grief and lack of sleep, Bobby blinked blearily at the Latin inscriptions spread across his desk and picked up a pen to begin translating. When the words began to blur, he took a sip of his coffee and grimaced at the cold bitter brew in his mouth. Glancing at the clock over the mantel, he saw that it was nearly three in the morning. He'd been up since five the previous morning, unable to sleep without being haunted by their recent losses.

As he debated between trying to get a few hours of sleep or making fresh coffee, the stairs creaked and he wheeled over to see Sam coming down. He looked as bad as Bobby felt.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Sam shook his head shortly and headed for the kitchen, Bobby following him. Spying the empty coffee pot, he began to make more. "You either?"

"Too much to do."

"Yeah."

Glancing up at the ceiling, Bobby hesitantly asked, "Dean?"

"Dead to the world." Sam yawned and rubbed his tired eyes, then reached for the can of coffee.

"Drunk, you mean," Bobby grumbled. He'd spent more than a few recent nights sleeping off his own benders, but he was worried about that boy.

Sam shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the sink as the coffee began to brew. "I've tried to talk to him about it, but he gets really pissed off."

Nodding but not saying anything, Bobby rolled to the fridge and took out the milk he knew Sam preferred in his coffee. Quite understandably, alcoholism rates were abnormally high amongst hunters. Dean had been drinking since he was fourteen when he'd snuck a beer from Bobby's fridge as if the older hunter hadn't known, but since Hell, he'd been drinking more and more, and drinking the hard stuff more often than not.

He hadn't been sober since Jo and Ellen's deaths a week ago. It was so bad that Sam had driven them in the day before.

"We're not anywhere close to winning or even pulling even," Sam said softly as he poured two cups of coffee and then slumped at the kitchen table to doctor his with sugar and milk. "I don't know how we can win."

"We may not," Bobby said honestly, "But I'll be damned if we don't go down swinging."

Sam stared down into his cup, almost folding himself over it as he murmured, "Dean's losing hope. If he doesn't have it, I don't know...I just don't know, Bobby."

"Well, you ain't becoming Lucifer's bitch, boy. We aren't going to let that happen."

"I wish I knew how we could prevent it."

"Don't you say that, don't you give into that despair, dammit Sam."

Startled, Sam looked up into the anger on the older man's face. "Sorry."

Bobby rolled his eyes and felt like smacking the boy. "Have some faith."

The rustle of wings alerted them to the arrival of the only angel who could bypass the wards with ease and they both turned to find Castiel frowning at the ceiling above which Dean slept in a drunken stupor, then he turned his gaze on them, looking from one to the other.

"I can't stay long. The Host is trying to find me and if they find me with you, your wards won't hold for long. I have attained help for you. It is coming." Another look at the ceiling. "He needs to be sober."

"Cas, wait, I..." He was gone again before Sam could finish his thought. "Help?"

Shrugging, Bobby pushed his coffee away. "I think I'll try to get some sleep."

"Oh, okay. Anything I should work on?"

"Trying to sleep."

As Bobby wheeled out of the kitchen towards the room they'd converted into a bedroom for him, Sam sighed and drank his coffee. Sleep wasn't going to come tonight and not much of it anytime soon.

When he slept too deeply, allowing himself to dream, Lucifer waited for him.

*****

Faith arrived first. Exiting the cab and shouldering her duffel bag, she passed beneath the open gates under the sign Singer Salvage and felt a tingle go through her. Stopping, she glanced back at the sign and focused in on the inscriptions burned into the metal. She couldn't read them but she instinctively recognized them.

"Huh."

Turning back she walked up the long drive between rows and stacks of cars and car parts towards the large house. It looked ramshackle but, as she took the steps up to the porch, she saw more of the carvings in the wood of the columns and around the door. Protection spells of some kind. They'd let her through, though.

Opening the screen door, she knocked loudly and waited. A few minutes later the door was opened by a very tall man who looked like he hadn't slept in a week. Faith ran her eyes down his long body in appreciation and smirked at the toe peeking through one worn sock.

"Can I help you?"

"Dunno, stretch. I was told to come here. Name's Faith."

"Um..." Obviously confused, he looked from her then over his shoulder into the dimly lit hall, then back at her. "Okay, just a second." As he backed up, she stepped inside and he frowned at her and glanced at her feet. "Wait here, please." He disappeared for a minute and Faith glanced in the room to her right, a living room containing more books than Giles' library, if that was possible, stacked on every flat surface, including the floor.

The guy came back carrying a glass of water and he held it out to her. It had a silver band around the lip. Faith frowned but took the glass. "Some kind of weird Dakota custom?"

"Please drink it." He was frowning at her, and when he crossed his arms over his chest, she saw his shirt rise high enough for her to see the gun tucked into the front of his jeans.

"Good way to shoot off your dick," she pointed out then drank. "Yum, water."

He seemed relieved and took the glass back, then gestured for her to precede him down the hall. "Cas said help was coming. I can't say I was expecting a girl." She caught a glimpse of him laying the gun down on a table they passed.

"Don't know a Cas and I ain't your average girl, stretch. You got a name or can I just call you that?"

He coughed a laugh and they entered another book filled room, what once may have been a dining room but seemed to have been converted to an office. "I'm Sam. This is Bobby."

"Hey. Name's Faith." She dropped her bag and glanced around the room before focusing on both men. "So, there's an apocalypse and no one fucking bothered to tell us."

A noise came from behind her and she spun around, fist raised, to find another man blinking wearily at her.

"Whoa, sister." He took a quick step back, then winced and rubbed his forehead. "Shit, what did I miss?"

"Dean, this is Faith. Cas sent her to help."

"Cas was here?"

"Who the hell is Cas?" Faith interjected, "And can we get back to the apocalypse? Apparently these pussy angels have spent the last year or so keeping us in the dark."

"Us who?" Dean glared at her. "Who are you?"

"I'm a Slayer, cutie. Who the hell are you?"

Sam looked startled. Bobby looked pensive. Dean looked confused.

"What's a Slayer?" "The Slayer's a myth," the brothers said at the same time, Dean asking the question.

Faith smirked at the taller one. "Do I look like a myth?" then she turned back to the other one. "Vampire Slayer, though I'm not picky."

"Girl Hunter? Cool. Sam, is there coffee?"

"They're not Hunters, Dean, and no. It's nearly three in the afternoon."

"Whatever. We can use all the help we can get," Dean muttered as he headed for the kitchen. "And next time, wake me up when Cas shows up."

"He was only here for about a minute," Sam snapped back, then added loudly and nastily, "And he said you need to sober your ass up."

Bobby snickered, "Well, not in so many words."

Dean flipped them both off as he disappeared into the kitchen.

"So, who's Cas?"

"Castiel's an angel, but one of the good ones. You're really the Slayer?" Sam asked as he cleared off the couch so they could sit.

"One of them."

"But, isn't there only supposed to be one?"

Faith sat and Sam joined her, Bobby parking his chair in front of the coffee table across from them. "Used to be. Well, there was one, Buffy, and she died for a minute and that activated another one who when she bought the farm activated me. Then back during the last apocalypse, or two apocalypses ago, I think the last one was all Angel's problem, anyway, we needed more power and did a spell to activate all the potential Slayers. There are a couple hundred now."

"Wait, previous apocalypses?"

Frowning, Faith shrugged her shoulders. "I ain't so good with the explanations. Giles should be here tonight and he'll give you all the lowdown. All I know is that the angels, which we didn't believe in, by the way, didn't want us in this fight and did something to our minds or something."

"Sounds about right," Dean snarled from the doorway, a cup of microwaved coffee in his hands. "So what's so special about Vampire Slayers?" "Speed, strength, healing ability," she ticked off her fingers. "Takes a lot to put us down for good."

"And there's an army of you coming?"

She shook her head. "Just me and B, Buffy," she explained, "and her entourage. Small group for now to stay under angel radar."

"They trained fighters?" Dean asked skeptically.

"Yeah. A couple of them have been fighting alongside Buffy since high school, and her sister's no slouch with a sword and crossbow. Plus, where Buffy goes these days, Spike follows, and he's as hard to kill as we are."

Bobby was digging around on the book-covered coffee table and finally pulled out a crumpled email. "Did you say Giles, as in Rupert Giles?"

"Uh huh. Know him?"

"I've corresponded with him a bit over the last decade. I thought he was one of us, a Hunter. Well, more a researcher. But, he's connected to the Slayer?"

"He was Buffy's Watcher. Every Slayer gets a Watcher, usually a stodgy British guy, who does all the research and trains the Slayer. Now he's head of the International Watcher's Council and oversees, well, everything."

"Huh, the guy is brilliant."

"Yeah."

Sam interrupted. "So, how many are we expecting? And should I run into town for more groceries?"

"Five or six."

"We're out of beer."

Sam rolled his eyes.

"You two are related, aren't you. You act just like Buffy and Dawn."

"The idjits are brothers."

Faith grinned and the brothers scowled.

*****

The flight from Rome arrived in Chicago an hour before the one from London, and Buffy spent the time wandering around the massive terminal, bored, hoping Spike was okay in his casket--that the airline didn't lose him--and wondering what was in South Dakota besides the Badlands and Mount Rushmore. She was flipping through the latest People when she heard Dawn's squeal and rose in time to be nearly barreled over. While the sisters spoke and emailed and texted almost daily, they hadn't seen each other in six months, since Dawn had gone to Cambridge for her first year of college.

"Stop hogging her, Dawnie," Xander teased and hugged Buffy when Dawn finally released her. "Hey, Buff."

"Hey, Xan."

He stepped aside and Buffy moved to wrap her arms around her former Watcher who, as he always did, acted startled, then hugged her back.

"It's good to see you, Buffy," he said softly. "I wish..."

"We don't do that, remember," she replied lightly, stepping back from him and taking his bag to set it with hers. "It's okay. I told you I'd be around for the big stuff and this sounds like it's the biggest of the big." They sat down, Giles next to Buffy, and Xander and Dawn across from them.

Giles opened his bag and pulled out a small amulet. "This should protect you from future attempts at interfering with our thoughts and memories. We're all wearing them. I've sent the spell to all the Houses. Robin was making one for Faith and I'm confident Willow has made one of her own."

"When are they joining us?"

"Faith should already be there." He glanced over at Xander.

"Willow's ETA is still estimated. She was really, really pissed and wanted to go angel hunting. Plus she was in Thailand."

"I think we convinced her to come straight here," Giles added soothingly.

"Our flight's in about a half hour. Any clue what's waiting for us in South Dakota?"

"Actually, I believe so. I looked into Singer Salvage and discovered I know the owner. Or, rather, I've communicated with him through email. He is a researcher into the supernatural, and a very gifted one. He's also a Hunter."

"He kills bambi?" Dawn frowned.

"Not that kind of hunter." Giles sighed, took off his glasses to polish them, which made the other three smile and patiently wait for his explanation. "There are people, mostly Americans for some reason, who learn about the supernatural world one way or another, and train themselves to kill the monsters, as they often call them. Although normal humans, they are often useful. Whereas the Slayer deals with vampires and demonic threats of the first order, they tend to clean up ghosts, minor possessions, and some of the more evil of witches. Most Hunters don't believe the Slayer exists and have no clue about some of the near world endings that they have halted over the years. There have always been Hunters, but over the last few decades their numbers have grown, probably in correlation with the increase in supernatural activity."

Buffy processed all that for a minute. "Huh. So why haven't I ever run into any of these Hunters?"

"Well, for one they seem instinctively to avoid the Hellmouths. I'm not quite sure why. Most don't stay in one place for long. They go to wherever they're needed. And I do believe you've met at least one. That disturbing gentleman who tried to kill Oz on discovery that he was a werewolf."

"Oh."

"And, as he's human, Xander could be classified as a Hunter. Robin as well."

"Cool," Xander exclaimed. "Though I'll stick to hunting up missing Slayers, thanks."

"So, do you think this Singer guy is trying to stop the apocalypse?" Dawn asked.

"I have no idea. That's my assumption. If it's true that the angels want the world to end and they have kept that from the IWC and Slayers for over a year, perhaps the Hunters are all that the world has had to rely on."

"Well, not anymore. And we're passing these nifty necklaces out to all the girls?"

Giles nodded at Buffy. "As well as sending the spell to Los Angeles."

"Yeah, um, should I call him?"

"I spoke to him before we left London and he and his forces are waiting as are the rest of the Watchers and their charges. Let's feel out the lay of the land first."

"Good, so not looking forward to the inevitable rumble between my ex and my current," Buffy mumbled, then sighed in relief as their flight was called.

*****

Sam went to get groceries and Bobby retired to his room to do some research on Slayers, leaving Dean to entertain Faith. Forcing down three painkillers with his coffee, Dean eyed her carefully as she checked out some of the books, her hands tucked casually into the back pockets of her tight jeans.

"So, who are you and what's a Hunter?" she asked over her shoulder. "I mean, I can guess. You're amateur demon hunters, right?"

Dean bristled. "Nothing amateur about us, sweetheart. I've been doing this since I was a kid."

She turned, eyebrows raised skeptically. "How'd you find out about demons and everything?"

"One killed my mom when I was four," he responded baldly, leaning back against the couch and lifting his feet to the coffee table, trying to relax. "Dad took us on the road to try to find it."

He scowled at her stare.

"Wow, that sucks."

"No fucking kidding," he muttered and winced at the throb in his temples.

"So, Bobby ain't your dad? Did you find the thing?"

"Yeah, blew it back to Hell, and, no, Bobby's not our dad. Dad's...he died on the hunt." He could feel his shoulders shrugging in harsh acceptance. "Hunters don't live long."

"Yeah, neither do Slayers."

He was still skeptical about that. "You don't look any older than Sammy. How long you been doing this?"

"I was called when I was seventeen. Buffy was fifteen." Her response was so matter-of-fact, it startled him. Sure, he'd been hunting since he was a kid, but that was highly unusual, and his dad hadn't let him go on more than a handful of solo hunts before he was eighteen.

"Shit, that's young."

"Buffy's the longest living Slayer ever. I'm the second. Until us, Slayers lived hard, died fast. Most didn't see twenty-one. Hell, most didn't reach eighteen."

"That doesn't make any sense. I mean, sure there's a lot of deadly shit out there, but I've been hunting solo or with my brother for twelve years and I'm still kicking."

"Bet you haven't faced what Slayers face alone and usually every single night."

Again with that matter-of-fact tone. Dean grabbed his boots and pulled them on. "Yeah, you ever face Lucifer and survive?"

Her eyes widened. "Nope, but I helped stop the First Evil and its army of uber vamps, and I've kept the secondary Hellmouth from opening for the last two years."

"What's a Hellmouth? You mean, a gate to Hell?"

"Yep. Magnet for everything nasty, too, especially vampires."

As he rose and grabbed his jacket off a chair, Dean wondered if the Slayers were why there were so few vampires left, if they tended to concentrate mostly on them, though, he wasn't sure why since there were a lot nastier things in the world.

But, maybe that's what Hunters were for.

"We going somewhere cutie?"

He smirked. "Want to see this enhanced strength etcetera in action."

She smirked back. "You want to spar with me?"

"If you want to call it that."

Laughing, Faith followed him outside. It was an oddly warm day for November in South Dakota and most of the snow had melted from the hard packed ground in front of the house. Faith shrugged out of her jacket, leaving her in a skimpy red tank top, and bounced on the balls of her feet. "Give me your best shot, cutie."

Despite his headache, Dean grinned and began to circle her. She couldn't weigh more than one hundred and ten. This was going to be easy.

*****

Buffy paced in the small room off the baggage area in the small Sioux Falls airport. It was still daylight so Giles had arranged for two SUVs, one that was long enough and with folding seats to hold the casket. He and Xander were getting the cars while Dawn stayed with the luggage and she waited for her dead boyfriend, trying to look grief-stricken.

Ten more minutes and a couple of handlers finally wheeled in the casket. She signed for it and they pushed it out to a loading area where Xander pulled up with one of the SUVs. Once Spike was loaded and the handlers were gone, Buffy climbed into the passenger seat and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Y'know, if you dated a human..."

Buffy socked Xander in the arm making him grunt out an "ow", then chuckled. "Let's find Giles and Dawn and find this Singer Salvage place because if I don't find out how we can stop the world ending soon I may just end it myself." There was a thump from the casket and Buffy reached back and patted it. "Kidding!"

"How long to sunset?" came a muffled question from the wooden box.

"Less than an hour. About the time we arrive, if Giles' estimates are right. Of course with his usual twenty miles below the speed limit we'll be lucky to get there by midnight."

Xander snorted and started the engine.

*****

Confident he'd lost his current pursuers, Castiel arrived at the salvage yard in time to see a young woman flip Dean over her shoulder. As Dean lay on the ground groaning, sweaty, and disheveled, she smirked down at him, looking very cool and confident.

"You are only human, Dean. You cannot defeat a Slayer."

"Hey Cas," he groaned, still on his back staring up at the young woman who'd thrown him over her shoulder three times and pretty much avoided all his attempts to land a blow.

"He didn't believe me." Hands fisted but held loosely she turned to face Castiel. "So, you're the angel, huh? Bet you'd give me a fight."

"I have no desire to fight you, Faith."

She frowned. "How'd you know my name?"

"Angel," Dean gasped as he pushed himself up to his knees. "So, you hanging around for a while this time?"

"It is safe for now."

"Okay, if you're an angel, how come you look like an ordinary schlub?"

"This is a vessel, a human who offered to contain my essence."

"Kinky."

Castiel frowned in confusion and Dean snorted a laugh as he finally got to his feet.

"So, we done sparring, cutie?"

"Okay, I believe the super strength bit."

Grinning, Faith slapped Dean on the shoulder and nearly knocked him over again.

"You're kind of a bitch, aren't you," he muttered, rubbing his sore shoulder.

"Hell, yes. Buffy's the good one." She winked at him and he leered back.

"Good thing I like bad girls, then."

"Got a boyfriend. He'd kick your ass, too." Bending down, she snatched up her jacket and Dean groaned at the sight of her ass in those jeans.

Castiel frowned even more. "We have much more important things to do, Dean, then for you to get beaten up by a Slayer and then lust after her."

"Dude," Dean blushed as Faith laughed.

"Don't worry. If I wasn't hooked up with Robin, we'd be doing it cowgirl style."

"Reverse?" he asked a bit wistfully.

She grinned and swung her hips as she walked up the stairs and into the house.

"How come I never heard of these Slayers?"

"They work in a different way from Hunters and, until recently, there was only one at a time."

"Yeah, that doesn't sound very efficient."

"Which is why they are gifted with enhanced strength and other abilities," Castiel explained, then looked at Dean closely. "Are you injured?"

"Just my pride." Though he rubbed his ass and popped his back.

"And your head?"

The slightly critical tone in Castiel's voice made Dean grunt in displeasure. "Leave off, Cas."

"I understand the need to grieve, but we need you to be sober."

"I am sober."

"Now."

Dean turned, glaring down at Castiel, who glared right back, and they were only interrupted by the return of Sam in the Impala.

*****

"So, how many wrong turns was that Giles made?" Buffy yawned and Xander snorted.

"I knew I should have led. You should see him trying to navigate through London. You'd think he hadn't spent half his life there."

"So we're there now?" came the muffled question from the casket.

Buffy looked up at the sign Giles passed under and tried to read the words in the growing dark. "Looks like ACK!" Their SUV came to a screeching halt, the rear tires actually coming off the ground.

"What the hell?" The SUV was stuck half-way under the sign. Xander pushed on the gas, and nothing happened but the tires spinning on gravel.

"Something's tingling."

"Something's blood well irritating. Get me out of this box."

"Turn off the engine, Xander." Buffy noted that up ahead Giles had stopped, probably realizing they were no longer following, and she slid out the door. As she walked to the back of the SUV, she noticed the tingle in her belly disappeared. Lifting the hatch, she crawled in and quickly unlocked the casket and pushed the lid aside.

Spike crawled out, grumbling about confined spaces, and they both went out the back door.

Walking back towards them, Dawn called out, "What's up?"

Looking up at the sign with preternatural vision, Spike frowned. "Place is warded."

"Well, that's not very friendly."

He grinned down at Buffy, then pulled her against his side and kissed her.

"My eye, my eye!"

Dawn rolled hers and opened the front passenger door to climb in. "See if you can go through now."

A moment later the SUV passed safely through and Dawn called back to her sister, "We'll get someone down here to let you in."

"Take your time, 'bit. I've been locked in a box for nearly twenty-four hours."

"Poor baby," Buffy said with a grin, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down for another kiss. "So, are these wards specific to vampires?"

"Don't think so. This place is heavily guarded."

"I wonder if that's why I felt tingly when I went under the sign."

"Probably that bit of demon in you." He turned a leer on her. "Think we have time to get a bit more demon in you?"

Laughing, Buffy smacked him on the shoulder, then started to jump back and forth across the invisible barrier, until he grabbed her and kissed her again.

*****

At the sound of automobile engines approaching, Faith was the first one out the door. The others followed but stayed on the porch. As the SUVs stopped and only three people emerged, she frowned. "Where's B?"

Dawn pointed back down the lane. "Had a bit of a problem getting through the wards."

"They're very powerful," Giles added thoughtfully.

"I got through."

"Not Buffy's problem."

Faith snorted at Dawn's eye roll. "Ah hah, bleached wonder's stuck, huh?" She glanced over her shoulder. "Can someone go break the wards and let him in?"

Castiel stepped down off the porch, a frown on his face. "I placed those wards myself to bolster those on the house. Nothing demonic or angelic can get through them."

"You can."

"I'm the exception."

Faith nodded down the long drive. "Go make another exception."

"Wait a minute, lady. This is my house, my property. I got some say on what comes across that boundary."

Giles shot Faith a frown as he passed her to mount one step and hold out his hand. "You must be Robert Singer. It's an honor to meet you in person at last. I'm Rupert Giles."

Bobby hesitated but shook his hand. "Same here. What's at my gate that you want in here?"

Now it was Giles' turn to hesitate and he glanced at the two young men flanking Bobby, then back at Dawn, Faith and Xander who were standing just behind him on the ground. "That would be Spike. He's a vampire."

"No way in Hell," growled the shorter of the two men.

"Dean, let him explain," the other said softly.

"We're not letting a vamp in here to kill us in our sleep."

"Oh please," Faith snorted. "I'm a Vampire Slayer. Do you see me worrying about him?"

"Spike has a soul," Giles tried to explain.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Dean snapped, and both groups stared at the other for a moment until Castiel broke the uncomfortable silence.

"William Addington."

Giles nodded.

"It is said he fought for the return of his soul all for the love of the Slayer."

"Cas, did it change him that much?"

"Sam, not every vampire is like Lenore," Dean protested, one hand clenching on the back of Bobby's chair.

"The vampires you've faced are not the same as the ones faced by the Slayers. Yours are violent, constantly hungry, changed humans. They are not even considered vampires by those that truly are."

Sam seemed startled then he asked, "Is that why there are legends about stakes and crosses? Things that don't kill the vampires we've dealt with?"

"Precisely. True vampires are humans reanimated by demons through the ingesting of vampire blood. They have no souls and that is what makes them incredibly dangerous."

"Spike's soul restrains his demon," Giles continued. "He's helped save the world twice already. I think we'll need his help again."

Castiel turned back towards the three on the porch. "You have my word he is no danger to any of you."

"He used to babysit me," Dawn chimed in.

"And lived in my basement, then my closet." "I fucked him." Everyone turned to look at Faith who gave them an innocent look. "What? Buffy wasn't giving it to him back then and the world was about to end...again."

Dawn snickered and Giles took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Go let him in, Cas," Bobby directed, ignoring Dean's protests, and Castiel disappeared. "These two are Dean and Sam Winchester. Them and a bunch of unorganized Hunters are all that's standing between humans and the angels and demons' war we got going."

Dawn bounced up on the steps and shook hands. "Dawn Summers, sister of the Slayer and Watcher in training when it doesn't interfere with my studies of ancient languages at Cambridge."

"You're at Cambridge? I went to Stanford, pre-law," Sam said wistfully.

Xander came up behind her and reached over her shoulder to shake hands with the three men. "Xander Harris, carpenter. Replacing windows broken by things getting thrown through them is my speciality."

"Let's hope nothing gets thrown through any of mine," Bobby said with a hard look at Dean who grunted. "Dinner's nearly ready. Ain't nothing fancy. Stew and cornbread." He pointedly didn't invite anyone in, but they all followed behind him. "Got a few empty bedrooms upstairs and we can make up some bedrolls down here. You'll have to double and triple up, probably."

"We can stay at a hotel in town."

"Nah, once the angels figure out you're in the know, it's safer here, and we got a lot of planning to do if we want to stop this mess."

Giles nodded in agreement and followed Bobby into the kitchen.

"Anyone want a beer?" Dean offered. "I could use a beer. Not really looking forward to bunking with a vampire."

"He's really not that bad."

Dawn smiled at Xander's admittance.

*****

The sound of a bird's wings caused Buffy to break the clinch and kiss she was in and she turned, startled to see a man standing beneath the sign looking at them, or through them. She shivered beneath his penetrating gaze.

"Huh, haven't seen one of you in a while."

"Columbo?" Buffy mumbled.

"An angel."

"Cool."

The angel cocked his head. "And you are William Addington, one of two vampires with a soul, a champion of the humanity you fed upon for two centuries."

Spike shuffled his feet and dipped his head, the cockiness gone. "Yeah, well, I'm trying to make up for all that."

"Yes." The angel waved one hand above his head. "I have changed the wards here and at the house to allow you to pass. You'll still need permission from the owner to enter the house. That's not a ward of my making."

"Will he let me in?"

They began walking up the long drive. "I believe your companions can convince him."

"So, are you the angel that came to Giles? I mean, he didn't know for sure if you were one, but he was pretty sure, and he said you looked like an insurance salesman."

Buffy could have sworn the angel's lips twitched. "Dean sometimes refers to me as the holy tax accountant, but, yes, I am that angel. Castiel."

"Wow, I mean, I've met tons of demons, but never an angel."

"Until recently we rarely interfered in the affairs of men. Mostly we remained invisible, watching."

"Why?"

Castiel glanced down at her. "We never questioned."

"Sounds boring."

"It...often was."

They mounted the steps and Castiel opened the door. Bobby was waiting.

"Giles told me I needed to invite him in, so...you're invited in." Spinning his chair around, he wheeled back down the hallway.

"They are understandably concerned."

"Guess my actions will have to be proof I'm one of the good guys," Spike said as he led Buffy across the threshold.

"Or I can kick their butts."

"You sure about that?" a voice came from a room on the left and Buffy looked up to find a man standing in the entryway, drinking from a beer bottle. "You're even smaller than Faith and I was holding my own against her."

"She kicked your ass, Dean."

"Way to be brotherly, there, Sam." Dean flipped him off, then stepped back to let the others in. "We got beer."

"Which you better not be giving to my underage sister."

"Geez, Buffy, take a pill. This isn't even real beer." Ignoring her sister's scowl, Dawn took a swig from her bottle.

Dean was affronted. "What do you mean it's not real beer?"

"I've been living in England where there's real beer and it's legal at eighteen."

Buffy turned her dismay on Xander who was sitting between Sam and Faith on the couch, all of them drinking beers as well. "Xander, you're supposed to be looking out for her."

He shrugged helplessly. "She pinches."

Snorting, Dawn passed Spike a beer from the open case on the coffee table, then sat cross legged on the floor.

"Fine, whatever," Buffy huffed, snagging her own beer and joining her sister, then sighed heavily as Dean got in Spike's face.

"You're kind of short for a vampire."

Spike started to quip back at him, then caught a whiff of his scent and frowned, all humor vanishing from his expression. "And you're older than you look." At Dean's startled look, he turned to Sam and narrowed his eyes. "And you're not quite human. This is interesting."

Faith looked at Sam who was trying to shrink into the couch and then frowned at Spike. "Looks human to me."

"He's human like you're human, Slayer."

Dean snarled, "Don't call my brother inhuman, vampire."

Buffy sighed, "Great way to make friends, honey."

"Great, I'm the token human again."

Everyone stared at Xander who grinned cheerily and broke the tension.

"Giles is human. Is your old guy human, too?"

Sam looked down at Dawn and nodded, then realized something and asked, "What does that make you?"

"Um, well I used to be an inter-dimensional key but some crusty old monks made me human so that's what I am now that my keyness doesn't work any more."

"Key to what?"

"A hell dimension."

Dean paled. "You can open a gate to Hell?"

"Well, we were never sure if it was the real Hell or something just, you know, hellish. We're not even sure there is a real Hell."

"There's a real Hell," Dean muttered and drained his beer before reaching for another one.

Dawn frowned a bit but continued, "Anyway, as I said, I can't open anything any more."

"Too bad. We could use you to open a gate and shove Lucifer back inside."

"So, he's really real, too?" Looking down at Buffy, Dean nodded. "I can't believe we've been sidelined for all this!"

"There's a lot you need to know. Faith says you have a small army of Slayers. We need that, and whomever else you have. There are too few of us and we're only human." Looking pensive, Sam leaned forward and grabbed another beer.

"So, why is it you two and the guy in the chair that we're here to help?"

From behind Buffy Bobby's gruff voice sounded. "Why doesn't everyone get some stew and bread and find a comfy spot. We've got a long night ahead of us."

*****

As everyone traipsed into the kitchen, Dean hung back, leaning one shoulder against the mantel and sipping his beer, his eyes locked on the vampire sitting casually in an old rocking chair, one leg crossed over the other, foot jiggling slightly. "So, you're a real vampire."

"Demon Hunter and you've never seen one?"

"Not like you. Apparently the ones we've met have been something else calling themselves vampires."

Spike snorted. "Oh, yeah, those. With the sharky teeth and the orgies. Well, we had orgies, too," he added a bit wistfully then mentally shook himself. "Thought those were all wiped out."

"I think they're nearing extinction."

"Good, give us real vampires a bad name." Leaning back, he rocked slightly. "So, you've been to Hell."

Dean wasn't startled and wasn't surprised it was a statement and not a question. "How'd you know?"

Spike tapped his nose with the neck of the beer bottle. "Can smell it on you. How'd you get out?"

"Castiel."

"What about your brother?"

Taking another sip before answering, Dean said, his voice empty, "Drank demon blood."

"Well, that's pretty stupid."

"No fucking kidding."

Castiel slipped into the room and up to Dean, bringing an end to the disclosures. "I must leave."

"Don't you want to be here for the big story?" Dean frowned.

"It's not necessary. I must continue the search. I'll check in with you tomorrow." He disappeared.

"Well, that's got to be annoying."

Snorting in frustration and agreement, Dean finished his beer and moved to grab another one as Buffy and Dawn came in with bowls of stew and sat back down in front of the empty fireplace.

When they were all back in the living room with food and drink and reasonably comfortable, Bobby began the tale.

*****

An hour or so later and after many interruptions and questions, Buffy succinctly put it as "I fucking hate prophecies." Dean clinked his bottle against hers in agreement.

Giles rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "How long do you suppose we have before the angels figure out we know what's going on?"

A half-snort, half-sigh came from Bobby whose voice was even more gravelly than normal from an hour of talking. "They probably already know. They can't get in here, at least not right away, but if they surround the place, I'm not sure how you can get out. And all those girls out there now are in danger."

"Which is why I believe our best bet is to keep them out of it and bring this to a premature conclusion."

Everyone stared at Giles but Buffy was the one to go "Huh?"

He sighed. "We can't let this apocalypse drag out any longer. It needs to be stopped before the world is even more ravaged. Lucifer has raised two of the Four Horsemen already and I'm not sure how we're going to be able to contain Death, but I believe we must focus our attention on Lucifer for the moment."

"I've been doing some thinking on that," Bobby interposed. "He's burning out his vessel and in that body, his plan B, he's weaker than he should be. Angels can't really exist on Earth without a vessel. They're just power but unfocused after an initial burst." "That beam of light that nearly hit the plane we were blinked onto."

Bobby nodded at Dean. "An instant of destruction and then just...not much else. If we can force him out of that body, maybe we can contain him or destroy him before he can take another. There can't be that many potential vessels out there for him."

Nodding in understanding but also looking serious, Sam asked, "So, if we manage to destroy Lucifer and avert the apocalypse, what do we do with the horde of pissed off angels?"

"I'd say, let's cross that bridge, but I don't think we have the luxury. You're right. It's possible that they'll turn against humanity, especially all of us.

"Great," Dean grunted. "So we'll all probably die anyway."

Dawn gave him a look. "Are you always this pessimistic?"

"If Cas finds God..."

"He's been looking for months, dude," Dean interrupted his brother. "We can't count on that."

"What about Gabriel?"

"We're not counting on that douche for anything. No, Sammy. N-O."

Sam rolled his eyes at his older brother's harshness. "I can spell, Dean."

"Who's Gabriel?" Faith asked.

"The archangel. He's kind of not on either side."

"Which means he's not on ours and he's not to be trusted. Again with the N-O."

"Wow, you just know all the big players, don't you," Spike said a bit sarcastically, but then grew serious. "If it's God you're looking for, we might be able to help."

Bobby jumped on that. "How?" and Giles sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"I was hoping to keep them out of it."

"Come on, Giles. You know Wolfram & Hart have to be pissed that the apocalypse has been stolen out from under them," Buffy crowed.

Faith high fived her. "What you get for running the long con."

"Will someone explain what the hell you're on about?" Bobby interrupted. "Who are Wolfram & Hart?"

"They're a law firm. They have a branch in San Francisco. They were on my list of possible internships if I got into Stanford Law."

"Big mistake," Dawn said, patting Sam's knee in sympathy.

Giles took over the explanation. "Wolfram & Hart is an inter-dimensional demonic law firm with branches across this world and many others."

"You're right, big mistake," Sam muttered, wide-eyed.

"For decades their headquarters on Earth were in Los Angeles but a couple of years ago they gave that branch over to the other side in hopes of corrupting the other vampire with a soul, Angel, into leading the charge of the apocalypse they believe has been on-going for several decades. The long con, as Faith put it. Angel remained incorruptible." He ignored Spike's snort. "And Wolfram & Hart was forced permanently to surrender their holdings in L.A. which includes all their employees, living and dead, as well as a vast library of resources and contacts in every part of this world and others, and, most importantly, with contacts still in the other branches. If anyone knows where God is, Wolfram & Hart does, and therefore Angel has the resources to discover His location."

"Dead employees?" Dean asked, eyebrows arched.

"They made them sign contracts with perpetuity clauses. Apparently Hell needs lawyers, too, but they can be brought back pretty easily, just not quite alive."

"Zombies?"

Buffy chuckled. "No brain eating."

"I dunno, Lilah's pretty kinky."

Lashing out with one foot, she kicked Spike in the ankle, then scowled. "I think it's Lindsey we have to worry about."

"You're just annoyed because Angel had him shot and killed then brought him back as his boy toy."

"I can kick you, too, Faith."

Faith laughed.

"Children!" The librarian tone made them all shut up and Giles sighed again and rubbed his nose again before continuing, "I'll contact Angel when we're done here and get him started on this. He and his people are safe in that building."

"You can trust this guy, another vampire?"

Giles and the whole gang nodded. "We've worked together for many years."

"He's my Sire. Don't like the ponce that much, but he's on the side of humans, that's for sure."

Dean ticked off points on his fingers. "So you have vampires with souls, a demonic law firm with dead lawyers, an English Bobby, a former inter-dimensional key, an army of girl warriors, and a carpenter on your side. Anything else?"

There was a knock on the door.

Dean was closest so he went to answer it and flipped on the charm and a smile when he saw the cute redhead standing on the doorstep.

"Hi. I'm here to help stop the apocalypse," she waved.

"You're in the right place," he flirted. "I'm Dean."

"Willow."

"You're not another vampire are you?"

She waggled a hand over the threshold. "Nope."

Backing up, Dean let her in and followed her into the living room where everyone seemed to be talking at once.

Buffy was the first to jump up and, squealing, hugged the redhead. Dean admired their bouncing and smiled even more when Dawn joined in. Faith did not bounce, but Xander picked up Willow and squeezed her tight.

"Sheesh, you take a couple extra days sightseeing the Buddha after stopping a couple mummies in Bangkok and people go all squeeing with the missage."

"It was two weeks," Xander protested, "and, anyway, we didn't expect you till tomorrow."

"Wiggled my nose a bit to speed things up. Did I miss the big reveal?"

"Yep."

"Well, pooh." Turning, Willow smiled at Giles. "Hi, Giles. So, this is the big one, huh? Can I say, angels messing with my head, not a brilliant idea on their part?"

He smiled tightly in return.

"So, Lucifer's real and walking around trying to bring the Book of Revelations to life, right? Can I also say that it's not fair a Christian apocalypse ropes us all in?"

"It's not really following the Book all that much. No hint of the rebirth of Jesus. I'm Bobby Singer, by the way." He held out her hand and she shook it.

"Willow Rosenberg." Turning back to the others, she put her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. "So, Hunters, huh? Let's get this straight right off the bat. Anyone who tries to kill me is in for a butt kicking."

"Wills?" Buffy looked confused.

"They have a thing against witches."

Dean's relaxed pose vanished and Sam jumped to his feet, eyes widening.

"They like to kill them."

"There will be no killing of my best friend," Buffy protested, instinctively moving in front of Willow.

"Witches are evil," Dean said flatly.

"Then you're not meeting the right ones."

Spike moved to Willow's other side, his eyes tinged with yellow and Faith grabbed Sam's wrist.

"Calm down," Bobby yelled and everyone shut up, though the tension remained. "You one of those harmless Wiccans?"

Willow carefully moved to put her back to Giles, who sat next to Bobby, then looked down at the man in the wheelchair. "Um, not really. I mean, I respect the Goddess and the Earth and everything but my power doesn't come from them alone. We're not really sure where it comes from."

"Hell," Dean snapped.

"No, I'm really sure it doesn't," Willow snapped back. "I use my powers for good, regardless. I got past the darkside of the force."

Xander moved in to wrap one arm around her shoulder, smiling calmly. "Yellow crayons help. Look, I don't know what kind of power you guys have but of our entire side, outside of Illyria..." He glanced at Spike. "Think she'll help?" Spike shrugged. "Anyway, she's the most powerful person we've got."

"In other words, don't piss her off," Dawn added.

Scowling, Dean shook his head and plunked down on a chair. "Vampires, witches, demonic law firms, Dad's spinning in his grave."

"Dad doesn't have a grave."

"Bitch."

"Jerk." Sam snickered and Dean forced himself to relax. When he did, the tension seeped from the room.

"Okay, so, someone fill me in on all the deets and then I have to crash."

"Angels are real and one of them is really cute and looks like Columbo," Buffy said with a grin as she and Xander, arms around Willow, guided her to the kitchen for food and talk.

"He's not cute. No trying to seduce the angel," Dean protested.

"Dude," Sam rolled his eyes and muttered, "Be more obvious?"

Dean blinked blankly at his brother.

*****

Angel leaned back in his desk chair and brooded over the information he'd received from Giles the day before. He'd immediately put the Research Department on it, then brooded awhile before going out and killing demons all night. Now Giles had provided him with more details and it wasn't looking good for humanity, so he was back to brooding.

So, God was real. Angels and Lucifer and the Hell of the Bible was real. He shouldn't really be surprised, but he always suspected that the hells he'd seen had really been other dimensions. They even referred to them as hell dimensions. It was also possible that the hell where Wolfram & Hart employees went wasn't the real one. Lindsey had never mentioned Lucifer.

Lucifer. The Book of Revelations. The end of the world. Somehow just thinking about it, even after facing a couple apocalypses, made it seem more real. More...final.

Maybe that was the lingering Christian in him.

He heard the almost silent sound of the elevator door opening behind him but didn't turn. There was only one person ever allowed in his private quarters these days, and Angel had left him an hour ago, bruised and sleeping.

It gave him oddly dark amusement that the dead could still sleep.

"Brooding."

It wasn't a question. "I thought I wore you out, McDonald."

Lindsey snorted and perched on the edge of the desk, facing Angel. He wore only a pair of low-slung, worn jeans, and his hair was loose around his shoulders. His chest bore new bruises and bite marks, and an old bullet scar over his heart. "So, an apocalypse. That's been done before." They hadn't really talked about it. Angel had mentioned it then shoved him onto the bed.

"Not this way. Heaven and Hell going to war with us in the middle."

"Wolfram & Hart can't be happy about having their plans hijacked by God." The glee in his voice made Angel smile darkly.

"It's not God, though. Apparently He's left Heaven. It's our job to find Him because Giles isn't sure anything else can stop Lucifer."

Frowning, Lindsey drew one foot up to the desk, leaning his chin on his knee. "What about Michael like they did it the first time, if I remember Sunday School lessons correctly?"

"The first war happened in Heaven. This one's on Earth and apparently angels have to take human hosts and they have to get their permission to do it. The vessels, as they're called, groomed for Lucifer and Michael, aren't saying yes."

"But Lucifer's walking around, right?"

"Yeah, but not in his chosen vessel. He's in one he's burning through. Giles said that archangels, and that's what Lucifer was when he was Samael, can only be contained by a handful of people and usually not for long. They also leave their hosts vegetables, if they leave them alive at all, which is why these Winchester boys are saying no."

"Wait, Winchester? Why is that familiar?"

"Family of Hunters. They spent over twenty years chasing down a fallen angel turned higher level demon named Azazel who killed the boys' mother when they were kids."

Lindsey snapped his fingers. "Right, and the youngest was looking to intern here when he went to law school. I met him on a recruiting trip up North. He was pre-law at Stanford, I think, then, in his final year, he dropped out and off the grid. I remember because my boss was pissed."

"There was this whole convoluted plan, Giles explained, about getting him back out hunting in order to turn him into a vessel that could contain Lucifer."

"So, the older brother's meant for Michael? Well, that's kind of on the nose. Brother versus brother."

"If it gets that far, humanity and the Earth are doomed."

"Cheery. So, we get Wolfram & Hart on finding God? Oh, they'll love that," Lindsey laughed.

"They'll balk, but you know they want to be the ones to win and right now they're not even in this fight. We stop this apocalypse and they can go back to dragging out their own, forever as far as I care."

"Want me to call in Lilah and Wes?"

"Yeah, get them out of bed and tell them to bunk here. I want the whole team staying here. It's safer." Angel dug on his desk for one of the amulets and he handed it to Lindsey. "Wear this. It should keep the angels from screwing with your mind again."

"Surprising they could affect the dead." Lindsey slipped it over his neck and it came to rest in the slight dent between his pectoral muscles. Looking up he saw Angel's eyes focused on that spot and he smirked. "God search, remember?"

Grunting, Angel grabbed the phone. "Get Wes and Lilah here and fill them in on the search. I'm calling Connor and Gunn." He stopped dialing to shoot a penetrating look Lindsey's way. "Then get your ass back in bed."

Hopping off the desk, Lindsey headed for the door. "So, if the world ends you plan to go down screwing me?"

"Works for me."

*****

"I don't think dad's hiding at the bottom of the Mariana Trench."

Turning at the sound of the impossible voice hundreds of feet beneath the surface of the ocean, Castiel eyed his brother in the dim light of his leaking grace.

"You should be brighter than that." Gabriel was, shining like a star, contained to a few feet, but very bright, so that all that could be seen was his shape.

"It's not your concern."

"That you're losing your grace? Yeah, you're probably right, but for some reason you've become a splinter in the tip of my pinkie."

Castiel frowned. "You left us over two millennia ago. Why is your grace so strong?"

"Well, one, I'm an archangel. Two, I cut myself off from the Host and didn't have it done to me. Third, little brother, I haven't fallen."

"You have doubted, refused your orders, sinned."

"Yet I wasn't cast out and I didn't take the big leap. If I returned to Heaven now they'd welcome me, and, you know why? Because I'm an archangel and we're down to four, if you count me. After the war they'd disown me, but not now. The war isn't going to be won by the foot soldiers. They don't need you, Castiel."

"I know this," Castiel gritted out, feeling a flash of anger despite the truth of his brother's words. "I have kept faith with our Father. How has the Host become so powerful as to make me fall?"

"Dunno. Not all that interested in finding out as I still prefer to keep out of this whole mess, but, Cas, you chose to fall. You do realize that, right."

Castiel's jaw tightened. "I chose to refuse the Host's orders, to disobey Zachariah. I doubted the orders came from our Father and I was right."

Gabriel shook his head in disbelief at his younger brother's obtuseness. "What you chose was a human."

"Dean's way is the right way. I told you that before."

"Look into your heart, bro. Dean's righteousness had nothing to do with your decision."

"He is my friend," Castiel maintained stubbornly.

"Uh huh, and those oh so kissable lips weren't at all persuasive."

"I don't harbor lust for Dean Winchester, Gabriel."

No, it's worse than that, little brother. You harbor love."

The light blinked out and Gabriel was gone, leaving Castiel more bewildered and beginning to get wet.

*****

Sam slept because his body finally gave in and forced it upon him. Knowing the nightmares that were coming he'd commandeered one of the three bedrooms upstairs. Giles had the smallest of the bedrooms and Bobby's old room held Faith, Willow and Dawn. Xander was crashed on the couch downstairs, and Buffy and Spike were in the basement. Apparently the old 'sun kills vampires' adage was true for the real ones. Dean was curled on a bedroll on the floor next to the single bed that Sam was sprawled across. For the first night since Carthage he hadn't passed out.

No one slept easily--too much to think about, worry about--but for the first hour Sam slept like the dead.

And then the dream began.

Simple, at first. A meadow, the sun shining down on knee high grasses and wild flowers. A bee buzzed around a primrose bush and a pair of cardinals flew low over the grass.

Shielding his eyes, Sam looked up at the sun. When he returned his gaze to the ground, Jessica was sprawled on a picnic blanket wearing a pair of shorts and a cropped t-shirt and holding out a beer to him.

"I'm not that gullible."

She sighed and faded into Lucifer. Sam noted that, in his dream, the vessel he was in was in perfect condition, but he knew better.

"Just a picnic with your girl, Sam."

"Jess hasn't been my girl for over four years."

The devil took a drink and replied calmly, "She's waiting for you in Heaven, Sam. All you have to do is say yes to me and you'll be with her."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Sam snorted in derision. "You think I believe that I'm going to Heaven? Chances are good if you get inside me you'll burn out my soul and I'll go nowhere but I know I'm bound for Hell if you don't."

"But wouldn't even oblivion be preferable to the pain of this life?"

"No."

Tossing the empty bottle aside, Lucifer rose and tucked his hands into his jeans' pockets, still appearing casual, but Sam stepped back warily. "Do you think your army of little girls can stop the angels and I? You've pitted yourself against all of us. Humans are doomed regardless of how the war ends. This planet will burn. Whoever wins, the ones who side with you will go to Hell. The angels won't let you in, and my first stop is the Silver City to take the Throne, and I won't let you in, either."

"You underestimate us humans."

Lucifer laughed darkly and reached out to cup Sam's chin in a tight grasp. Their eyes locked, the devil's burning with conviction and Sam was the first to falter, trying and failing to pull away. "I will have you, Sam. I know your weakness." Leaning forward he hissed, "Dean won't say yes to Michael. He's human and pathetic. When I find him, I'll rip his heart out and make you watch as my demons eat it. You'll agree to be mine just to drive that image from your mind."

"You can't find us," Sam swore with more conviction than he felt.

Laughing again, Lucifer let him go and the devil and the meadow disappeared.

Gasping for air, Sam woke and found himself thrashing in the tangled sheets.

Dean mumbled from the floor, "Okay Sammy?" and Sam swallowed out a "Yes," but he didn't feel okay and he didn't go back to sleep.

*****

The aroma of coffee awakened Buffy and she rolled stiffly off the cot and to her feet. Stretching and popping various muscles, she smiled down at her sleeping vampire then made use of the toilet in the panic room--which only she could enter which was why she'd dragged a cot into a windowless storage room--then wandered up the stairs dressed in a pair of Spike's boxer shorts and a UC Sunnydale t-shirt she thought maybe had belonged to Riley, one of the few things that had made it out of Sunnydale before the collapse.

Most of her California wardrobe was in Hell or wherever. She really hoped her current designer clothes didn't end up there, too.

Snorting at that odd thought, she entered the kitchen to find Sam sitting at the table nursing a cup of coffee and looking like Hell, literally. "'Morning."

He grunted something, and she grinned and went to get herself some coffee and a donut from the box on the counter.

"It's barely dawn. How long you been up?"

"Couple hours. I don't sleep."

"Nightmares?" she asked sympathetically. "I get them, too. All Slayers do. Visions of the future, mostly."

He looked up, startled. "Really? I...used to get visions. The demon blood thing." He shrugged, trying to project the appearance that it didn't matter. "I haven't had them in a while. These are just...nightmares with Lucifer trying to convince me to say 'yes'."

"Does Dean get nightmares of Michael doing the same thing?"

"Don't think so. He just dreams of Hell."

"Dying and coming back, regardless of where you ended up, is hard to deal with. At least I wasn't aware of time passing." While the night before had mostly been about discussing the current apocalypse, Buffy had mentioned her death and resurrection and how that had caused the First Evil to gain strength on Earth. "Dean seems like the kind of guy who just bottles it all up, too, right?"

"Yeah. It took him months to even admit that he remembered what happened there." Sam sighed and drained his coffee before rising to get more. "He can't forgive himself for starting this mess, but then neither can I."

"You really can't dwell on that. Take it from one who's been there a couple times. And you've been manipulated by angels. Angels are supposed to be good guys!"

"I was manipulated by a demon, if it was manipulation and not just weakness," Sam muttered, returning to the table. Buffy smacked him. "Ow!"

"Yeah, and you're not the first person to trust a demon, either. They're made to manipulate."

"Rationally I know all that, but..."

Willow stumbled into the kitchen and straight to the coffee. "I know for you it's like afternoon, Buffy, but it's, I dunno, yesterday? Tomorrow? for me." She chugged the coffee and blinked blearily in the morning light. "Got a text from Kennedy. She made it to Cleveland."

"I'm kind of surprised Lucifer hasn't made a move on the Hellmouth."

"Well he told me last night that your army of Slayers isn't going to do any good but I'm guessing he doesn't want your interference any more than the angels."

"You dreamed of him again? You know, I might be able to do something to block him out."

Sam looked hopeful for a moment, then his face fell and he shook his head. "Dean won't go for it."

Buffy cocked an eyebrow. "And he's the boss of you why?"

"The same reason you're the boss of Dawn."

"I resent that," Dawn growled from the doorway. "Keep it down. You wake up Faith before she wants to and she'll go slayery on your asses. Ooh, donuts."

Buffy realized something as she looked at the donut crumbs in front of her. "You went out? Was that safe?"

"I checked first," Sam replied, snagging a jelly donut from the box Dawn brought to the table. "No one hanging around. They know where Bobby lives so we don't tend to spend much time here. We were actually planning to head out this evening but then got the news help was coming. I'm actually surprised they aren't here. If they do know you're aware, you'd think they'd track you here."

"Gift horse mouth thingie," Willow warned.

"Maybe we should try to get out of here while we can," Buffy said.

"And go where?" Dawn asked.

They all contemplated that for a few minutes until Sam groaned, "We are screwed."

*****

Dean woke slowly, lingering images from Hell mingling with the aches of sleeping on a hard floor and the tickle of a dust bunny in his nose. Sneezing, he blinked open his eyes and found Castiel crouched down next to him, staring at him. "Dude." He pushed himself up on one elbow and sneezed again.

"Bless you."

"Yeah, don't think that's gonna happen," Dean muttered. "Why are you hovering over me watching me sleep? I thought we had this talk."

"Gabriel intimated something."

The sleepy look vanished from Dean's face and he sat up fully. "What the Hell are you doing talking to that dick?"

"He keeps finding me. I don't seek him out." Castiel rose so Dean could as well and watched as the other man dressed.

"So, what's he intimating?" Dean yawned again and arched his stiff back.

"That I fell for you."

All movement stopped until Dean swung his head around and stared at the angel. "You fell?"

"I thought I told you this when Bobby was hospitalized."

"No, I think I would have fucking remembered you telling me you fell!"

"I am cut off from the Host. I have rebelled against my orders, killed my brothers. My grace is diminished more and more every day."

"But it's still there," Dean said frantically, feeling the guilt overwhelming him. He'd caused a freaking angel to fall.

"For now, which is why it is imperative we find my Father soon."

"God, I'm so going back to Hell when I die."

Castiel frowned. "Not if we win. You're not in the Host's good graces right now but I believe you're in God's. And, anyway, Dean, it was my choice to rebel. I knew I would fall. I did not see what Gabriel saw, though."

In his panic, Dean had forgotten all about Gabriel. "What?"

"That I fell for you."

"Right, because of me. My fault. Not seeing the difference, Cas." Dean was literally pulling out his hair until Castiel stepped towards him and reached for his hands.

"Gabriel believes I fell for love of you."

Dean stopped tugging on his hair and stared as Castiel brought their joined hands down between them. A new panic settled in.

"Um..."

A knock on the door interrupted the uncomfortable moment and Faith's voice sounded through the wood. "Anyone still in there, wake up. War council number two is about to start."

*****

Everyone was back in the living room, this time with coffee and tea instead of beer, all in casual clothes. Spike had joined them, staying well out of any natural light sources, and Castiel remained as well, looking awkward in the doorway to the hall as if he was about to bolt.

Giles began the conversation. "I spoke to Angel last night and he'll begin looking for God with Wolfram & Hart's resources. I believe our next move should be to get to L.A. as quickly as possible."

"You want us to leave here?" Dean asked. "We're safe here."

"And we'll be cut off. Wolfram & Hart's office building is nigh on to impregnable to begin with and Angel's reinforcing the wards and spells on the place. From there we can use dimensional hopping if we have to. And it's a twenty-story building which affords much more room. They have enough food for a year, and their own water recycling and power plants. He's bringing all his people in for safety."

"Giles, what about all the other Slayers?" Buffy asked, concern wrinkling her brow. "Will they be in danger from the angels?"

Instead of answering, he looked at Castiel, who was frowning but nodded his understanding that he was expected to reply. "I don't know. I would hope that my brothers wouldn't kill innocents to punish us. Our duty was to watch over humanity, to punish the wicked only when ordered by God. That duty has been corrupted by their wrongful actions, but so far I don't believe they have killed humans. They won't stop others from doing so, won't prevent the demons or Lucifer from ravaging the world. I don't know if they will continue this pattern, and, it's possible they'll see the Slayers as rebelling against them and in need of punishment. My hope there is that the Host is holding to traditional roles. The Angel of Judgment is on the sidelines and he was the one to smite and punish people at our Father's order."

"I'm a little fuzzy on my angels, here, which one is that?" Xander asked.

Sam answered. "Gabriel. Cas, are you sure we can't persuade him to join us?"

"I...It is possible. I have seen him now twice in as many days. He keeps appearing to me."

"Work on that," Sam ordered, ignoring Dean's automatic protests.

"While I have that hope, my fear is that they will use the Slayers as hostages to force Dean to accede to Michael."

"Then they don't get captured." Buffy's voice was hard, the general making its appearance for the first time since the fall of Sunnydale. "We're Slayers. Even with hundreds of us, our lives are short and given in service to the world. We protect this planet and we'll do so against angels as well as demons." She turned to look at Spike for a moment before focusing on Giles. "Give the orders, Giles. No one gets taken by angels or demons, because Lucifer could do the same thing."

Dean jumped to his feet. "Jesus woman. How cold are you?"

"As cold as I need to be. And here are my orders to you and Sam. You don't say 'yes'. No matter who they torture or kill in front of you. Some anonymous Slayer, a baby, me, your brother. Our only chance of winning is if Lucifer stays weak and Michael never enters the battle. Even one of you giving in will mean the end of the world."

Into the stunned silence, Sam asked quietly, "Willow, you said earlier that you might be able to keep Lucifer from my dreams?"

"Sammy."

"Dean, if she can do a spell to keep him out, I'm letting her. I'm no good in this battle unless I can sleep." Sam tightened his jaw and glared at his older brother.

Dean glared back, then turned his glare on Willow. "White magic only, you hear me? You don't fuck around with black magic and my brother."

"I don't mess around with black magic anymore. I learned that lesson the hard way."

"...Fine."

"Back to the problem at hand..." Giles redirected them, "How soon can we leave for Los Angeles?"

"We can leave pretty much anytime, but it's a three day drive. We can't go through the mountains in Winter."

Everyone but Sam, Bobby and Castiel stared at Dean.

"We're not going to drive," Dawn finally protested. "It's a four or five hour flight from Minneapolis and we can probably get a flight out tonight."

Faith added, "Even faster, we can get the council jet here in a couple of hours. I took it as far as Chi Town."

"I don't fly."

"We'll drug you," Bobby snapped. "We're flying. They could pick us off at anytime on the road."

"I'm not going without my car!"

"Jeez, Angel has like a dozen cars, and we won't be going anywhere in L.A. anyway," Buffy said with an eye roll.

"Cas can zap us there and my car, too." Dean was beginning to panic again. He hated flying. Sam had to half carry him off the plane God had dumped them on.

"You said that my zapping you makes you constipated."

"Nice over share there, Cas. I don't care."

Castiel gave everyone an apologetic look but it wasn't for the constipation comment. "It's a moot point. I can no longer teleport more than myself."

"Shit."

"Stop mumbling to yourself, Dean. Planes are safe."

"Both planes we've been on, Sam, nearly crashed."

"I'll call the jet and get it here," Faith volunteered and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. Before she could dial there was a horrendous screeching noise that shook the house, rattled the windows, and had everyone but Castiel covering their ears.

"What the Hell was that?" Xander asked, finally finding his voice as the sound began to die down.

"We have been discovered." Castiel gave them all another apologetic look. "And by enough of the Host to surround us. We can't get out on the jet."

"Shit, shit, shit!" Dean yelled.

"And they are summoning you."

"Can they get in?"

"Not yet."

Dean's face and lips tightened in anger and his eyes flashed. "Good. I have some things to say to that prick, Zachariah." Grabbing his boots, he jammed his feet into them.

"Wait, you're not going alone," Buffy protested, reaching for her own shoes. "I have some things to say to these asses, too."

"Do you think provoking the angels is a wise move, Buffy?"

She looked at Giles and gave him a hard smile. "I want them to know who they're fucking with." Jumping to her feet she started for the hallway and was stopped by Spike's hand on her arm.

Murmuring, "Be careful," he kissed her softly and she smiled reassuringly at him.

Willow joined her best friend. "I'm going to check the strength of the wards, see if I can add anything to them, see how long they're going to last."

"Well, heck, let's all go," Dawn chuckled darkly and grabbed her jacket.

"Know they enemies and all that," Xander added with a shrug.

Giles sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Be careful."

"Yeah, all you idjits be careful. These are angels, remember."

"Dicks with wings. Sorry, Cas."

"No, you are quite correct, Dean." An almost savage smile crossed the angel's face and he reached into his coat over his left breast and removed a dagger, handing it to Dean. "You know what this and what it does. It's possible that, as a vessel, it will work for you or at least damage them. After I check the strength of the wards with Willow, I'm going to find us a way out of here."

Staring down at the angel-killing dagger in his hand, Dean swallowed hard as his throat tightened with emotion, making his voice gruff. "Be careful.

Castiel nodded and followed Willow outside.

"Okay, let's go meet the enemy." Clapping her hands together, Faith led the confrontational contingent out the door.

Giles rose and turned to Spike. "Let's gather everyone's belongings in case we have to make a quick escape. Essentials only. We can always get more clothes."

"So, Buffy's scythe before her Prada boots. Yeah, that's going to go over well." Chuckling, Spike took the stairs two at a time, grateful that the sun was directly overhead and not coming in many of the windows.

Bobby wheeled towards his library. "There are a few books I'm not going anywhere without. Giles, in the boys' room there'll be a brown leather journal stuffed with lots of clippings, with a snap closure. They'll want that."

Nodding, Giles followed Spike up the stairs.

*****

The group of humans approached the now closed gates with varying levels of trepidation and the outward appearance of nonchalance. Dean and Buffy were in the middle, Sam by Dean's side, Dawn by Buffy's, flanked by Faith and Xander. Dean had a shotgun slung over one shoulder but it was for show. Shotgun shells, no matter what they were loaded with, wouldn't hurt an angel.

Outside the gates stood Zachariah in his usual suit, looking smug as always. Raphael was with him, which made Dean worried more than he already was. The twenty other angels he didn't recognize. Foot soldiers, like Cas had been, he hoped.

As they stopped, Zachariah reached back and dragged a familiar body forward.

Anna.

She looked...broken.

Wearing a thin white dress, her feet bare, her hair tangled around her shoulders, she stared at the ground, trembling.

Automatically Dean took a step forward, barking, "What did you do to her?"

Zachariah grinned, all teeth, and tightened his hold on Anna's bare arm. "She's been, how do you put it? Re-educated. You nearly ruined her, you know. You're good at that." He glanced past the group, still grinning. "Where's Castiel?"

"Leave him alone."

Sam laid a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder and murmured, "Dean."

"I see the Slayers have finally been brought into the game. You know we worked very hard to prevent that." The grin turned instantly to a scowling snarl. "But if you think they'll be of any help, you're very wrong, boy."

"You haven't seen me in action," Buffy snapped. "I don't put up with crap from demons and I'm not putting up with it from angels either."

"You should have stayed dead."

Buffy grinned, equally toothy. "I don't do that very well. So, which one are you?"

"I'm Zachariah."

Buffy replied, "I thought this fight was led by the big boys. From what I hear, that isn't you."

Dean shot Buffy an approving grin, then looked back at the angels. "So, I see old ninja turtle there. You got any other archangels or are they all hanging around on a cloud somewhere?"

"They are in waiting."

Sam stepped up next to his brother. "Do they need special vessels, too?"

"Sam, I hear Lucifer's been visiting your dreams every night. Getting closer to caving?"

"No."

"Pity. Well, now that we've found you maybe we can help move that along."

"How did you find us?" Dean asked, his eyes returning to Anna who seemed to be trembling even harder.

"We knew you'd return here sooner or later. You're very predictable, Dean. We simply put our most useless angel here to spy for us while we prepared for the coming war." Zachariah released Anna who fell to her knees, whimpering.

Moving closer, until only a few feet remained between him and the gate, Dean crouched down, his attention all on his former lover. "Anna? What did they do?"

Slowly she looked up and her eyes were so empty he flinched back. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't want to die."

"It's okay, Anna. They would have come here soon enough." He rose back to his feet, his face tight with anger, all directed at Zachariah. "Well, we're not coming out, you can't get in, guess you might as well give up and leave."

Zachariah snorted and gestured to the angels behind him who began to spread out around the junkyard. "It may take a bit of work but we'll break through these wards. It's not like we need to sleep or eat. Oh, but you do, don't you, and how soon will you run out of food?" Sneering, he added, "Or alcohol?"

Faith strolled forward. "I'm really good at breaking out of places. I think we'll be just fine, and you don't impress me."

"Ah, the murdering Slayer. Yes, Dean, you have such moral and righteous companions. A vampire's trollop, a brother who drinks demon blood, and a fallen angel. You have no hope."

"Don't need it. I have my own stubborn will." Turning his back on the angels, Dean waved towards the house. "I've heard enough."

Buffy gave Zachariah one last hard look. "You shouldn't have tried to spring an apocalypse on me. I've won every time I've faced one."

"This is God's will, girl."

"Never met the man. I've been told you haven't either." With a hard laugh, she turned and followed the others back to the house.

Once inside, Dean collapsed on the couch, face suddenly pale. "Jesus." Dawn fell next to him, wrapping her arms around herself.

"They are scary." Xander sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug, rubbing her arms as she shivered.

"'We've faced worse."

Buffy frowned at Faith. "I'm not sure we have. Evil is easy to defeat. Angels are supposed to be the good guys!"

Rolling into the living room, Bobby asked, "Well?"

Sam straightened up from where he was leaning weakly against a wall. "Zach, Raphael, and twenty or so foot soldiers. They've spread around the fence line.

There was a boom and the house shook.

"And I think they're trying to break in."

"What the hell was that?" Spike yelled from upstairs as the front door banged open and Willow dashed in before anyone could grab a weapon.

"Not good," she panted. "They're so strong."

Dean jumped up. "Where's Cas?"

"He disappeared."

"He said he was going to figure out a way for us to get out," Dawn reminded him as he looked worried.

Giles and Spike came in carrying several bags. "We've packed what we need."

Taking his bag, Sam glanced through it, smiling grimly at the sight of more weapons than clothing. "Dad's journal?"

"In Dean's bag." Giles handed a tattered duffel to the elder Winchester while Spike tossed Buffy her scythe.

"Neat," Dean whistled.

Buffy twirled it carefully in her hand. "I wonder if this can kill an angel?"

"Why?"

Turning to answer Sam's question, Giles replied, "It's imbued with the very essence of the Slayer and was created to kill the last true demons that walked the Earth."

"Wouldn't hurt to try it out," Faith said with a shrug, running one finger over the stake end.

Dean slipped the knife from inside his jacket. "Well, I know this kills angels. Don't know if it'll work for me."

Another boom sounded and several books fell from shelves and pictures from the mantel.

Looking grim, Bobby said, "We may find out soon."

Apprehensively, they all sat down to wait.

*****

Blinking into existence in a Ben & Jerry's in Alexandria, Virginia, Castiel slid into the booth across from his older brother who frowned at him over his very large sundae.

"You're freaking out the natives." With a snap of his fingers Gabriel wiped the human customers' minds of the memory of Castiel just appearing, and the gasping and questions ceased.

"I need your help."

Gabriel smirked and sucked down a spoonful of chocolate syrup. "And why would I help you, little brother?"

"Because the Host is cheating. Because they're not following our Father but themselves. They are corrupted."

An eyebrow arched. "Are you sure it's not you that's been corrupted?"

Castiel frowned, thought for a minute, as Gabriel added sprinkles and red hots to his sundae and continued to eat, then shook his head. "It's not corruption to love."

"Ah ha, so you finally admit it."

"I love all of God's creations."

Rolling his eyes, Gabriel huffed, "Stop being obtuse."

"Why do you wish me to admit to something I've already acknowledged?"

"There's a difference between loving mankind, little puppies, and ice cream, which you really should, by the way, and loving one specific person."

Castiel shifted uncomfortably and continued to frown, though his eyes widened thoughtfully. "It doesn't matter. We don't have time for that right now."

"Wrongo. It's what you need the most to win." Gabriel pointed his spoon at him, then sucked it back into his mouth before the ice cream could drip off of it. "See, our brothers have forgotten what it is to truly love. Did you ever know? Before now?"

"I..."

"Uh huh. Something to think about. So, why again do you think I'll help you?"

"Because you love this world and all its inhabitants, all of our Father's creation," Castiel slowly replied, thinking it through.

"And ice cream, don't forget the ice cream." Gabriel held out the loaded spoon and, realizing his older brother was capitulating, although still not totally understanding why, Castiel took it and tasted the frozen treat.

With a snap of fingers they were both gone.

*****

"Gah!" Xander nearly jumped a foot when two angels appeared in the middle of the room where tensions were high after three hours of noisy attacks on the wards.

"How the Hell did he get in here?" Dean demanded, getting in Gabriel's face.

Castiel quietly drew his attention as Gabriel began to smirk. "I changed the wards in the hopes..."

Sam jumped on that, moving over to the angels and his brother. "That he'll help us. Will you?"

"We don't need his help, Sammy."

Gabriel turned that smirk on the snarling man. "Dean, Dean, you still holding grudges? I only killed you, what, a hundred times or so? Sam was the one to really suffer." He gave the younger brother a semi-sympathetic look. "Sorry about the ball crusher."

As Sam turned red, Buffy and Faith joined them in the middle of the room, everyone else having fallen silent and waiting. "So, which one are you?"

"Gabriel. And you're Buffy. Kind of a legend in your own time."

"Won't matter if we don't win this thing," Faith spoke up. "You really here to help?"

There was another boom and this time the window shattered, sending glass flying and everyone, except the angels, to the floor.

"Told you I'd end up fixing a window."

Dawn snorted at Xander and hesitantly peeked over the couch and out past the blowing curtains. Her eyes widened in shock.

Willow joined her in peeking and gasped out, "They're through. Too fast, way too fast!"

Castiel turned intense eyes on his brother. "I can't get them out of here. You can. Will you?"

Slowly Gabriel sighed into the tension filled silence that fell after Castiel's question. "I wouldn't have come here if I hadn't planned to help. But, Dean has to ask me."

"You son of a..."

"Ah ah ah." The grin remained as he wagged a finger in Dean's face. "It won't kill you. They won't kill you." He nodded his head towards the window. "But they'll kill pretty much everyone else here. And what they'll do to Cas..."

Dean gritted his teeth.

"Stop being a macho idjit," Bobby yelled, grabbing a bag of books and setting it on his lap.

"Dean."

Looking at his younger brother, the hope and the fear mingling on his face, Dean let his shoulders slump. "Okay, okay." Looking like he was going to his execution, he turned to Gabriel. "Help us."

"Is that a question?"

"Will you help us?" he bit out each word.

"All you had to do was ask," Gabriel laughed. "So, where to?"

Everyone grabbed a bag, some a favorite weapon, and moved to the middle of the floor

"The lobby of Wolfram & Hart in Los Angeles."

Gabriel cocked one eyebrow in Buffy's direction, but it was one of interest and with a nod he snapped his fingers.

*****

The siren going off brought Harmony's head out of her romance novel and she reached for the phone to call security before she saw who was standing in her lobby, and, instead, hit the off button. As the siren died, she yelled towards her boss who was charging out of his office, "It's just Spike and the Slayer--ers and, oh look, nerdy Willow and Xander the Pirate."

Plopping back down in her chair, she resumed reading as Angel, Lindsey and Gunn all skidded to halts in front of the large group that was swaying a bit and clutching duffels and backpacks. Buffy had a rolling suitcase with pink flowers on it.

Buffy.

"Hey."

She smiled up at her former lover, then gave him a hug. "We're in deep shit."

Hugging her tightly he looked around the group, recognizing only half of them. "We've been there before."

Spike came up behind Buffy. "Angel."

"Spike."

Lindsey and Buffy rolled their eyes and she pulled away from Angel.

"We just escaped from a ravaging band of angels."

"They broke the wards too easily," Willow said, worried. "How strong are yours?"

"Well, you got in with no problem but that may be because several of you have free passes. We got white magic, black magic, and a bit of demonic thrown in," Lindsey answered her.

Sam's eyes widened. "Demonic?"

"Demonic law firm." Everyone turned to look at Gunn, who shrugged. "Well, not so demony anymore, but the wards work, so why mess with them?"

"Because they're demonic," Dean snapped sarcastically.

"Oh get your panties out of a twist, Dean. I'll go overlay them with angelic wards; that'll keep everything out."

"Those didn't help at Bobby's."

Castiel twitched and dropped his eyes at Dean's unthinking rebuke, and Gabriel frowned. "Stop kicking my baby brother, Winchester. I can always kill you again."

Before an uproar could start, Lindsey asked, curiously, "Wait, did you say angelic? Does that mean...?"

Spreading his arms wide, Gabriel gave a bow. "Angel, yes. Archangel, actually. Here to help you pathetic humans and..." He looked from side to side. "Others." Cocking his head he eyed Lindsey. "Dead, huh?"

"Still pretty."

Giles interrupted before anyone else could go off on another tangent. "We need to get organized. Possibly out of the lobby."

Looking chagrined, Angel turned to Harmony. "Find rooms for everyone and have their things taken there, then order Chinese, Chinese okay with everyone? and get us set up in the large conference room." Swiveling back around he nodded towards Willow. "Willow, I'll show you and..." He looked at Gabriel who gave him his name. "Gabriel to the security control room." Finally he addressed the whole group. "I'm Angel, by the way."

*****

As Angel, Willow and Gabriel headed for security, the others followed Harmony into a well- appointed conference room where they broke into smaller groups, all finally relaxing a tiny bit.

Castiel stood at one window, his back to the room, and Dead approached him hesitantly.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I know without you bolstering Bobby's wards they would have marched right in. I'm just..."

"Frustrated. Yes, I know. You're not the only one." There was a hard tone in Castiel's voice that made Dean wince. "I'm becoming more and more useless."

"Don't say that. Don't ever say that." Gripping the angel's shoulder, he turned him, knowing full well that if Castiel hadn't want to turn, nothing could have moved him. "Look at Bobby. Is he useless?"

"Of course not."

"He's family. So are you."

Slowly a smile began to creep across Castiel's face.

"So, another apocalypse, huh?"

Spike kicked his feet up on the table and leaned back in his chair. "Yep, Gunn. We seem to attract the damn things like flies."

"Wolfram & Hart aren't happy, but, they can't seem to do anything. That kind of freaks me out, man. They've been the big bad in our lives for so long. We figured they'd be the ones ending the world and, instead, we got the biblical end. My gran was a believer. Dragged us to Sunday School for years. It's a scary end."

"I was always too rational to believe, but, really, should we be surprised?" Giles joined them, pushing Spike's feet off the once-pristine table and making the vampire grunt in annoyance. "After all we've seen, done and defeated?"

"But, the real Hell?" Spike turned to Lindsey who was talking quietly to Buffy and Dawn. "McDonald, that where you were?"

Lindsey frowned and shrugged. "Seemed pretty damn hellish. I don't know. I was in an office, chained to a desk. It was pretty much like working here."

Confused, Sam came over to Lindsey, speaking softly, "My brother was in Hell. He hasn't told me much, but I know he suffered a lot. The demons tore him to shreds every day, inflicted eternal pain on him."

"Yeah, that exists. That wasn't where I was condemned, though. I think Dante may have had some of it right."

"Different levels, circles."

Lindsey looked over at Dean who was still in deep conversation with the angel. "How did he get out? He's not dead."

"Castiel, the angel. He pulled Dean out on God's command. Or, at least, we thought it was God."

"There's this big prophecy," Buffy interjected.

"Oh great."

Sam looked even more curiously at Lindsey. "Are you really dead?"

"As a doornail," was the lighthearted reply. "No heartbeat, no breathing."

"But you're not a zombie or a demon or a vampire."

"Nope. Angel got three of us back from Wolfram & Hart's section of Hell. He never has told me what he did, what he gave up to do it, and I've never figured out why I was one of the three."

"Because he likes the way you suck his cock," came a sultry drawl from the doorway.

"Lilah, behave," Wesley murmured affectionately as he guided her into the room.

"Those would be the other two," Buffy pointed out helpfully.

"I'm pretty sure you were on your knees in these offices more than me, Lilah."

Her answer was a snort which was interrupted by a young man bounding into the room. "Dawn!"

"Connor."

As the two youngest members of the group hugged, Buffy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Now I know how much Giles suffered."

Bobby, Xander and Faith sat at the far end of the table, Bobby taking notes.

"So, who's that?"

"Angel's son, Connor," Faith supplied helpfully.

"Vampires can have kids?"

"He's...special. You know, how your two guys have all this destiny and prophecy stuff about them? So does pretty much everyone else in here."

"Except me," Xander exclaimed cheerfully.

"His mom was a vamp, too. Dusted herself to give birth to him. Mystical pregnancy and all, and then raised in a hell dimension that aged him quickly. Then he had his memories wiped but they're back now."

Taking off his cap, Bobby rubbed his aching head.

"Oy, Angel brat, get your mitts and your mouth off the little bit!"

Connor flipped Spike off behind Dawn's back and pressed another kiss to her lips.

"Okay, okay, let's get started. Someone can fill in the others later," Giles called the group to order. "Introductions first, then history, then the prophecies."

"Prophecies?" Wesley perked up.

"Has anyone seen Ilyria?" Spike asked as the group gathered around the table.

"She's communing with the plants on the rooftop garden," Harmony replied as she directed a couple of the interns to distribute the large amount of food she'd ordered. "If you want her, you go fetch her. The last time I went up there to get her, she threatened to rip off my arm and beat me to my second death with it." Not getting any kind of sympathetic response, she flounced out and everyone dug into Chinese food cartons.

*****

It was early evening by the time the meeting broke up. There had been introductions, discussions of abilities, histories, and weapon's expertise. Angel had returned quickly, followed at a later point by Gabriel and Willow. The wards were strengthened exponentially and should hold for several days of continuous pounding. Plans were introduced, discussed, discarded or accepted. Angel had sent all non-essential personnel home--including Harmony, to her relief--leaving a skeleton crew to run the power and water plants and maintain security. Of the departments, only Research remained running at normal capacity.

It was a long meeting and everyone, even the supernatural beings, was tired at the end of it.

Right before they broke up, Illyria made an appearance. Upon seeing the angels, her only comment was, 'At last, someone worthy of my attention', and then she, in a complete lack of irony, turned her attention to Spike.

As they were leaving, Gabriel, who seemed to have bonded with Willow during the spell work, murmured to her, "The name didn't register; it should have. Why is a demon god helping us?"

Willow glanced a bit sadly over her shoulder at Illyria. "The body she's in, it used to be a friend. One of Angel's colleagues. A woman named Fred. So, when she was brought back to this plane, she ended up here and, well, I don't know all the details, but they bound her in that body and reduced her abilities somewhat. She was burning it out. For some reason she decided that their fight against Wolfram & Hart was worth joining. And she likes Spike."

Gabriel snorted lightly in amusement. "Buffy doesn't seem too happy with that."

"Oh goddess, the tangled webby things here are ridiculous. Angel was Buffy's first love but then he went all soul losey and then got it back but they couldn't work it out and he moved here, and Spike showed up in Sunnydale and got chipped so he couldn't hurt any humans and then fell in love with Buffy and got his soul, and he's Angel's childe, and you probably know what that means, so the tension is just well tense. Don't even get me going on the Wesley, Lilah, Fred, Illyria quadrangle."

Chuckling, they both made their way upstairs.

*****

Dean paced the bedroom he'd been shown to. There was a whole floor of bedrooms, like a hotel. It made him uncomfortable in ways he couldn't quite understand.

It was a siege mentality.

He was never one for holing up somewhere and riding out the storm. He was a fighter, a warrior, and he'd almost hoped the plan would be to bring in all the Slayers and what Hunters they could and go into battle and just get this over with.

All the information that had come out in the last couple of days rolled around his head, too much, too wild. There was another world out there, a whole level of supernatural he'd never known about. And he was twitchy about teaming up with vampires and dead people and demonic law firms. Bobby had seemed on a pretty even keel about it, wary but willing. Sam, though...

During the discussions he'd kept quiet most of the time, watching his brother in his element. The kid was brilliant. Dean had always known that, but he'd shown in this situation, in this place.

This was what his life might have been like, minus the demonic part of the law firm.

At heart, Dean was a brawler. By benefit of being first born, he'd been the leader of their family of two for nearly five years, but Sam was the true leader. He was the planner, the thinker.

That's what was needed now.

As he neared the window again, Castiel turned from it, his usual solemn look on his face. "You are needed as well, Dean."

Dean grunted. "Stop reading my mind." But there was no heat in his words. Letting his shoulders slump, he sat down on the end of the bed and rubbed his hands over his face. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

It was a rhetorical question, but his angel was particularly obtuse concerning them. "The final battle, fought our way, the only way we have that can possibly benefit humanity."

That made him chuckle softly, and he looked up at Castiel, a smile crinkling the corners of his eyes, "Your hope never fades, does it?"

"I can't let it."

Dean simply nodded.

*****

Connor's room wasn't as generic as the rest. As he visited often from Stanford, he kept some of his things there and it was a typical messy boy's room. Sprawled across the bed on her stomach, Dawn watched her sort of boyfriend polish a set of daggers. He was wearing baggy jeans, a t-shirt with a well-worn plaid cotton shirt over it, the look of the typical college student, and yet she could see the hunter in him. The killer.

It made her tingle and flush. She guessed attraction to dangerous guys was genetic.

"Does polish make the knife more deadly?"

Connor looked up, puzzled, and Dawn rose to her knees and tugged her sweater over her head. "Because it's the end of the world and there are so many more important things we should be doing."

Grinning, he tossed the dagger into the dartboard over the desk and sprang on her like a cat.

*****

Perched on the edge of the desk, Lilah leaned back on her hands, one leg over the other, and jiggled her ankle, watching Wesley work. His nose was in one of the special volumes, researching possible God sightings.

God.

He actually existed.

Lilah pretty much doubted he was an old man with a long beard in a robe.

"Did you believe in God?"

Wesley blinked up at her. "When I was a child, I suppose, in a generic sense, but Watchers aren't raised to believe in the Christian God. There are too many other possibilities and too many gods and demons for which we have empiric proof of their existence."

"I stopped believing when my mother got sick. It's hard to have a rational, scientific mind and believe in something you can't see. But, now we have angels and proof of the Christian Heaven and Hell, so I guess..."

"I'm not sure I'm happy to have that proof."

"Ignorance is bliss?" Lilah smiled but it didn't reach her eyes.

"I suppose."

"So, what can I do to help?"

"Could you take these requests to the Research Department?" He held out several handwritten slips of paper.

Lilah took the pages and hopped off the desk then leaned down to kiss him. "Only for you will I beard that den of horror."

*****

And, so it went through the night and into the next morning--research and talking in small pairings and groups, then sleep, or coffee to stay awake, sharing of knowledge and plans, until whatever wariness that still existed was gone.

In time for the angels to attack.

Buffy was awakened around noon by a boom and she jerked up, tangled hair flying. Spike joined her at the window--the necrotempered glass protecting him--and they looked down the six floors to the plaza in front of the building. It was full of men and women, standing in orderly lines, all looking up.

"Great," she groused, running a hand over her face.

"Wards are holding."

The building shook slightly as a wave of energy hit it. "Geez, they aren't very subtle, are they?"

"I guess with the apocalypse and everything they don't care to hide anymore."

A knock came on the door followed by Dawn's scared voice. "Buffy? You up?"

"Come in, Dawnie."

The door opened and Dawn, still in her pajamas--and Buffy wasn't blind that they were actually Connor's boxer shorts and t-shirt--hurried in and over to the window. "What are we going to do?"

"Have breakfast or more precisely, brunch. And maybe go to the roof and drop water balloons on 'em."

Dawn shot her an exasperated look but Buffy was glad to see the fear was gone.

*****

Sam was reading the instructions to the complicated one-cup coffee maker with little pod cups of coffee when Lindsey strolled into the full kitchen on the guest floor. He went to the refrigerator and opened it, leaning in to inspect the contents. Sam noticed the purple bruises on one hip showing above the low-slung jeans, and reddened on realizing their origin, then turned his attention back to the coffee maker.

"Want some eggs?"

"Uh, sure." Mastering the machine, he chose a breakfast blend, despite it being noon, then turned to watch Lindsey at the stove. "I didn't mention this last night but were you one of the lawyers that pitched Wolfram & Hart at Stanford five years ago?"

"That was me." Lindsey glanced over his shoulder then turned back to the eggs. "Want to start some toast?" He didn't wait to see if Sam did as he asked. "The firm really wanted you to intern with the hopes that would seduce you into joining once you were through law school. I thought it was because of your grades and that they saw your potential, but it's obvious now that they knew the prophecies and were trying to derail them. They like doing that."

"So, they didn't really want me for me?"

Sam sounded dejected and Lindsey quickly shook his head, then shrugged. "Maybe, but probably not. There were hundreds we interviewed across the country, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't have had a real job here. I could see your potential. Saw it even more last night. You would have made a very tough, very smart attorney."

"No chance of that now, even if we survive and win," Sam sighed and stuffed bread into the four slot toaster.

"I'm guessing the world will be more in need of people to rebuild it than for people to sue over the destruction."

Snorting softly, Sam poured sugar and creamer into his coffee and waited for the toast to pop.

*****

Standing in the main atrium of the building looking out at his gathered family, Gabriel mentally debated with himself. Should he stay? Should he go? Should he reveal himself? Should he hide? As the building shook again, he made an annoyed sound, then startled at the voice coming from his side.

"Will you go speak to them?"

Gabriel aimed his rolling eyes at his odd little brother. "Oh yeah, sure, I'm suicidal. Wait, of course I'm suicidal; I signed up with you idiots."

Castiel frowned. "You chose the correct side.

"Me going out there isn't going to make them leave. It's not going to make them go all 'oh no, they have Gabriel on their side; let's give up and go home'."

"I've never understood sarcasm."

"Hey, but you're recognizing it. Good for you."

Willow joined them, arms crossed over her chest, lower lip caught between her teeth. "They're masking their presence. I hacked a feed from the bank across the street's cameras and the courtyard appears empty."

"Huh. My first thought would have been that they just no longer care. Wonder if we can use that."

"Maybe it means that the angels aren't ready for the war," Xander suggested, sipping from a cup of coffee. "Lindsey's making breakfast or brunch, if anyone's interested."

Castiel turned to look at him, his head tilted in confusion. "You don't seem concerned."

Shrugging, Xander replied, "I've faced unbeatable odds before and we're safe here, right? And I'm hungry."

Willow laughed softly. "We're not just puny humans. We do know what we're doing."

"I didn't mean to imply..."

"No, no, it's okay. We're still just learning about each other." She frowned slightly. "We need to do some more of that so we can trust each other's strengths and weaknesses in a fight."

"Training sessions," Xander suggested. "I can organize those. Over food."

Turning back to the four glass doors leading to the outside, Gabriel took a deep, not very happy breath. "You all go. I'm going outside."

Not questioning his change of mind, Castiel nodded. "I'll go with you."

"No. I need to do this alone."

A moment of silent communication passed between the two angels, then the younger agreed with a bow of his head.

"Remember the wards only extend twenty feet from the building, roof and lowest level of sewers. You should feel them as you get close," Willow said over her shoulder as she and Xander headed for the elevators.

When the atrium was empty, Gabriel took the proverbial deep breath, straightened his shoulders, heard the soft sound of his wings, and walked out the far right door, stopping only when he felt the pressure of the wards in front of him. Zachariah stood front and center of the rank of forty or so angels, Raphael on one side and Anna, looking broken, on the other. Gabriel wondered where the other archangels were, not that there were many left with Lucifer and Rumiel fallen, Uriel demoted then dead and Michael futzing around in Heaven--why he didn't just take a temporary vessel was beyond Gabriel, even if he would burn it out in a day or two if it wasn't a Winchester. Actually that only left Phanuel, which was a depressing thought. Three of his closest brothers lost to him, Phanuel who knew where, and Raphael and Michael being douches.

As Zachariah stepped forward, smug look on his face wiped out at the realization of whom he was facing, Gabriel wondered, as he had many times since learning of it, how a middle- manager had come to lead the Host. What was Michael up to?

"Gabriel."

"Hey, Zach."

"You...you were lost."

Gabriel arched an eyebrow, the patented smirk settling on his face. "I knew just where I was."

"But...that means you hid from us. Why?" Zachariah seemed genuinely puzzled.

"My business and I've made the Winchesters my business as well, so I suggest you take your little band of automatons home."

Face tightening and flushing with sudden anger, Zachariah stepped back into the ranks. "If you side with them, you are against Heaven and our Father's wishes."

"Oh please, Dad is long gone. This is your doing. How you've tricked all the others into following you and starting this clusterfuck is beyond me."

"The Winchesters will say yes and this will end in paradise. It's prophesied. No matter what pathetic allies you find, you can't stop it."

"Try me," Gabriel snorted into the face of Zachariah's anger.

"You've forgotten what you are, brother."

"Yeah, I did, but I've remembered now. I'm an archangel, but also so much more. I don't think you want to tangle with what I've become after two thousand years on Earth. It's not time for the world to end. You've started it all prematurely to suit your own purposes. You're coveting, Zach. That's a no-no."

"Like you haven't committed every sin imaginable."

Gabriel flashed a toothy grin. "I never claimed to be perfect."

"Sam and Dean Winchester are the prophesied ones."

"Maybe, or maybe you just made them fit the prophecies. I fell into the same trap, but everything's been manipulated, all the way back to their parents' love. How can something you maneuver into place be true?" He was pleased that seemed to shut Zachariah up. "Now, you just think about that because, unless you give up, you're going to be here for a while. These wards are mine."

"Combined with demonic ones," Zachariah sneered in disgust.

"You do what you gotta do. Speaking of..." Gabriel snapped his fingers and crossed his arms over his chest.

Feeling the displacement of air at his side, Zachariah turned and gaped.

Anna was gone.

"Impossible!"

"No, no, just highly improbable." When he got no response, he rolled his eyes again.

Raphael spoke for the first time. "You used your grace to aid in the creation of her new body. I thought she felt familiar."

"Which bound her to me, which means I can snatch her out from under your supercilious noses."

With a growl of frustration and fury, Zachariah flung his power at the invisible shield in front of Gabriel to absolutely no effect. Still grinning toothily, Gabriel turned and went back inside.

Anna was collapsed in a heap just inside the doors and he crouched next to her.

"Oh kiddo, you got yourself in quite a pickle there."

The only response from the fallen angel was a hard shudder and Gabriel gently picked her up to carry her to the elevators. The wards seriously impeded his ability to teleport--Castiel probably couldn't do it at all--and getting Anna inside had taken a lot of his energy. Nothing a pile of Belgian waffles with whipped cream and strawberries wouldn't take care of, though.

He wondered if Anna liked strawberries.

*****

A day passed. The angels continued their bombardment, breaking their power against the wards that held with no sign of weakening. It was ironic that the most powerful beings in existence, outside of their missing Father, couldn't offensively bring down the protection wards of one single archangel. For Gabriel it was more proof that not fighting was the correct path.

The warriors trapped inside, though, quickly became stir-crazy. They migrated to the inner rooms of the building where the shaking wasn't as noticeable--the gyms and pool and libraries. They sparred and worked out, studied and planned, and tried not to worry.

In the early hours of the morning Castiel sat beside Anna's bed, watching her. Despite her eyes being closed, she wasn't asleep. Leaning forward, elbows on his knees, chin resting on his clasped fists he wondered at what he was feeling.

Was this guilt?

Anna remained silent, broken.

Unable to sleep and not needing sleep, Buffy and Lindsey sparred, neither speaking, both covered in sweat and blossoming bruises that would fade by dawn.

Dreamlessly, Sam slept. Unable to block Lucifer from his dreams, Willow had simply removed them. It was short term fix but hopefully they would only need short term. As he slept, Gabriel stood physical guard, watching through the window as his brothers and sisters relentlessly attacked. He could feel the pressure against the wards but was confident they would last.

For a while, at least.

Wesley spent the night on conference calls to other Wolfram & Hart facilities in Europe and the Middle East, trying to track down any hint of God's location. When Giles entered the office shortly after six, bearing an insulated carafe of coffee, he was wrapping up a conversation with his Russian equivalent and he beckoned Giles to sit and pour.

Hanging up the phone, he took the cup of coffee and breathed in the aroma of the steaming brew.

"Any luck?"

"Well, we've gone from most refusing to acknowledge that God even exists to two confirmed sightings in the last three months."

"That's something." Giles sipped his coffee and bit back a yawn. "I'm getting too old to go without sleep," he said apologetically.

"Tell me about it." Bobby rolled into the office and gestured at the coffee. "Any more of that?"

Giles poured a third cup. "Couldn't sleep either?"

"Between the damn angels and Dean pacing the damn hall half the night..."

In Angel's office, two vampires sipped otter's blood and reminisced about better times and other apocalypses, each one protesting that they'd saved the world more times than the other, but the animosity between them of years past now gone.

Ilyria stood in the center of the rooftop garden communing with the plants. They had grown at her command, blossomed at her word, and now opened thirstily for her. Localized above them, spilling over onto the surrounding plaza, clouds began to gather. Ilyria raised her hands to the sky and clapped once.

And rain began to fall.

Moving to stand on the parapet she stared down at the gathered angels and watched them turn their eyes upwards as one.

Reveling in their frustrated anger she used that emotion to send back one thought.

Water balloon.

*****

On the second day of the siege, at nine o'clock in the morning on the dot, Lucifer and his demons attacked.

Not the gathered angels, but the wards, spreading themselves around the other three sides of the building. Windows on the lower floors rattled and the top of the building swayed a good six feet. Inside, pictures fell off the walls, a few vases tumbled to the floor, and most of Harmony's unicorn collection was damaged, but no one was hurt.

Everyone gathered in the conference room, some just awakened and in their pajamas, others with dark circles beneath their eyes from lack of sleep.

Hesitantly Sam went to the window that looked over the back of the building. Two floors down Lucifer looked up at him and smiled. There was a burned hole in his cheek revealing teeth and bone and his skin was yellow and flaking from his body. Instinctively Sam drew back and bumped into Gabriel who steadied him with a hand on his shoulder before moving to look down at his long lost brother.

Lucifer quirked his eyebrow and gave him a salute and a small smile.

"So, that's the devil?" Buffy asked as she joined Gabriel.

"That's one of his names."

"What do we do?"

"We wait," Gabriel replied grimly, turning his back on the window to look over the worried humans and various supernatural beings. "We wait."

*****

Three days later they were still waiting. The wards were holding but the rattling, booming and banging had worn on everyone's nerves. There had been fights, hurt feelings, and a lot of drinking.

Early on that second siege day they watched from the atrium as Lucifer approached Zachariah. A spell of Willow's allowed them to listen in and the battle they'd hoped for didn't occur. Both angels agreed to concentrate their attention on the wards and that the war couldn't begin until the proper vessels agreed. They were both holding to the prophecies. Gabriel believed that as soon as Lucifer had Sam he'd attack regardless of whether or not Michael had Dean, while the angels would wait for both parts of the prophecy to play out. For now both sides had a common enemy.

There was still no concrete sign of God, though there was an unconfirmed report of a sighting in the Hebrides ten days before.

The one thing the group did was figure out a way to deal with Lucifer's essence once he was free from his vessel. Bolstered by Willow's spells and Gabriel's Trickster abilities Illyria had the power again to open a portal to her home dimension where she could bind Lucifer. She agreed on the condition that they give her access on occasion, as angels were one of the few beings that could withstand her true form and it had been a long time since she had a mate.

Gabriel was darkly amused at the idea of his fastidious, particular brother becoming the plaything of a demon god. Castiel was horrified on general purposes, but Dean agreed it was a fate the bastard deserved.

At lunch on the third day since Lucifer's arrival everyone sat around the conference room table picking at sandwiches, a sense of exhaustion hanging over them. Only Illyria and Gabriel seemed untouched. Even Castiel looked worn thin by worry and he was actually nibbling on a carrot stick.

"Dude, if you're going to eat, don't make it rabbit food," Dean said without any heat and very little amusement.

As Castiel frowned at him, Sam pushed away his sandwich and rubbed his hands over his face. "This has to end."

Everyone stopped eating and talking and turned to stare at him.

Sam rose and went to the window to look down on Lucifer. "He's not wearing himself out. He's not doing anything, letting the demons attack the wards. The war isn't happening. They want us." He turned back to the group.

Dean scowled. "Tell us something we don't know."

A grim smile crossed his brother's face. "I have a plan."

*****

"I'm going on record as saying this is the stupidest plan ever."

"Yes, you've mentioned that, Dean, like a dozen times. You got a better idea?" Sam shot him a knowing look and Dean glared back. Everyone knew Dean didn't plan or at least didn't plan wisely.

Instead Dean turned to Castiel as he stood with his two charges before the doors leading outside. Everyone else was ranged behind them, looking apprehensive, except for Illyria who was patrolling the roof. "Are you sure they can't get to him?"

"The wards will hold. Just because Sam goes outside doesn't mean they'll weaken or that Lucifer can reach him."

"Okay, okay, just asking."

Bobby came forward into Sam's line of sight. "I'm going to ask this again. You sure you want to do this?"

"We have to get Lucifer to burn out that body. He has to fight."

Bobby nodded and Sam slapped him lightly on the shoulder before straightening his shoulders and walking out the door.

It was warm out, the sun shining high over head, and the sounds of traffic on the street reached his ears along with the aroma of too many cars and people. On the other side of the plaza the world went on, oblivious to the armies gathered around this one building.

Zachariah stepped forward to the edge of the wards and the right flank of the angels parted to let Lucifer approach.

"Sam," Lucifer said, stopping a few feet from the leader of the angels as they both looked quizzically at the human. "Are you giving up?"

Sam snorted. "No, but I have a proposition."

Lucifer looked intrigued. Zachariah, for the first time in a long while, looked worried.

"You guys have this big plan. Get me and Dean to say 'yes' and then go to war and either get hell on earth or paradise. Lucifer, you should have had me when you broke out, right? And, Zach, you were planning to hold on to Dean until after that happened and hope that in his grief he'd agree to Michael. Just nod if I'm right." As they both did nod, Sam tried not to smile and soldiered on. "But things went wrong and the war that should be over already hasn't even started. Dean and I are safe behind wards that could last for a very long time and meanwhile the world is suffering a slow death."

He took a deep breath. "I don't want that. I want the war to start now, get over with, therefore saving as much of the earth and humanity as possible."

"That will only happen if you and Dean say yes to your obligations."

"Did you not get the part where Dean and I are safe behind those wards, Zach? Here's the deal." He turned to Lucifer. "I know these are only a fraction of both your forces but I want you to fight. I want you to fight for me. Lucifer, if you beat these angels, drive them away or kill them, I'll agree to be your vessel, and the war will start in earnest."

Lucifer looked intrigued. Zachariah's face was turning a sickly shade.

"What if we win?"

"Nothing. Dean's not a part of this. You can either send Lucifer back to Hell on your own or go back to this futile attack on the wards here."

"But, if Lucifer takes his true vessel and Michael can't..."

"Not my problem," Sam replied sharply, turning his attention back to the devil. "So?"

"Very interesting, Samuel. How do I know you'll keep your word?"

"I swear on my mother's soul, but you can't just rely on your demons, Lucifer. They're not strong enough to beat these angels, even though they outnumber them three to one. You'll have to get your hands dirty."

"You have ulterior motives."

"Maybe, but all you have to do is win and it won't matter."

"This body will burn out."

Sam wasn't surprised he'd figured it out, but he kept his cool. "Then I suggest you win quickly."

Lucifer stood silently for a minute as Zachariah sputtered at his side. "All right."

As the devil returned to his forces, Sam spoke one last thing to the angel in charge, "You don't want him to win, do you? I mean, really, your egos can't take that. So, stop him."

"We aren't ready for this battle," Zachariah hissed.

"Tough shit." Sam gave him a dark grin and turned to go back inside.

Willow's spell had again allowed them to listen, but no one looked happy.

"This is a really stupid plan," Dean reiterated.

"Lucifer will burn out before his demons win. The angels don't want him winning any battle, but they especially know that if he gets me, they're doomed."

"You're putting a lot of faith in a group of beings you don't trust," Faith said as they all started up the stairs to watch the battle from the mezzanine.

"They're much stronger than any demon," Castiel said. "All the angels here are blooded warriors. They simply have to battle long enough for Lucifer's vessel to break."

"And if he doesn't?" Buffy demanded, turning to Sam with concern on her face. "Will you say 'yes' if he wins and doesn't burn out?"

Sam's shoulders sagged but he nodded even as Dean said 'no'.

"Sammy!"

"You heard me, I swore on mom's soul."

"I don't give a shit. You're not saying 'yes'."

Sam rounded on Dean, frustration turning swiftly to anger. "We both know if we don't beat Lucifer now, it's inevitable, Dean. You'll never agree to Michael, but I'm not as strong as you."

"Bullshit."

"Cut the crap, both of you," Bobby growled, rolling between the two brothers.

"We agreed on this course of action," Angel added, looking down as the forces below began to turn from the building and to each other. "We have to trust it."

"What we need to concentrate on now is what happens next." Everyone looked at Giles who had his serious Librarian face on. "We still haven't found God. We'll have tricked the angels and put a major crimp in their prophecy. Once Illyria drags Lucifer's essence to her home dimension and binds him there," he nodded at Wesley for suggesting that cause of action, "The angels will turn on us again, and, worse, they may turn on the innocents of this world. We have maybe a day to find God."

Dawn clutched at Connor's hand, worry evident on her face, "Maybe we should have waited to send them to war until we did that."

"I'm pretty sure I suggested that," Dean groused.

Angel shook his head. "No, this siege needs to end now. If the angels turn on the world, we'll stop them. We'll save whatever we can, because that's what we do. We can't fight two armies. We have to get rid of the one that has no honor. We can deal with the other one."

"Angel's right, though it kills me to agree with the poof."

Buffy rolled her eyes at her lover and wrapped her arm around his waist to lean against him as she looked down at the two armies that weren't doing anything but standing there, facing each other. "Any clue what they're waiting for?"

"Want me to reinstate the speaker phone spell?"

At Willow's question, Gabriel moved to Buffy's other side and listened. "Not a good idea unless you want your heads exploding. They're using their real voices now. 'We're holier than you. We're tougher than you. You're a bad son. You're a dick. Yada yada ad infinitum.' First the taunts and posturing, then someone will shoot first..."

"I think that's Two Towers," Xander snickered.

"Great movie, all three of them," Gabriel agreed. "Zach's not exactly Gandolf, though Lucifer makes a good Balrog."

"Zach's more like Wormtongue. Such a suck up little weasel," came a soft, tired voice from behind them.

"Anna," Gabriel exclaimed, going to hug her. She hadn't moved or spoken since he'd brought her inside, and she still looked very pale, but there was some life in her eyes. "Want some pancakes? Pie? Ice cream?"

She smiled sadly at him then looked at Castiel, who dropped his eyes, and Sam, then Dean.

"Hey, Anna, how you doing?" Dean asked softly as Gabriel guided her forward, one steadying arm around her.

"Better. I...I need to talk to Cas." She pulled away from Gabriel and took a step towards the third angel in the group.

Who dropped to his knees, head bowed, whispering, "Forgive me."

Anna knelt as well, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Oh, Cas."

Seeing the awkward embarrassment spreading through the mezzanine, Gabriel zapped both of them away. "Okay, let's give those two crazy kids some privacy."

"What's going on?" Dean asked, suspicious.

"He's the one who turned her over to Zach," Gabriel replied shortly. "It was back when he was toeing the company line after his own re-education."

"They could have killed her," Sam exclaimed as Dean's face went hard.

"Why didn't he tell us?"

"Do you tell him everything you regret doing?" Gabriel snapped back, then turned to the group at large. "I don't recommend anyone human go out on the balconies if you want to survive in one piece, and maybe you with the brains can get back to the God search." With a snap of his fingers he disappeared.

"Well, he's pissy all of a sudden," Faith said before looking back out the floor to ceiling windows. The mezzanine ran for a good hundred feet with a large bow of twenty feet. On either side were doors leading out to smaller balconies. The glass was necrotempered and sound proof but they could all hear a growing, low toned buzz.

"Is that their real voices?" Willow asked the rhetorical question. "Wow, you can almost feel the sound."

"Start fighting already," Connor encouraged them. "Talking never wins wars."

"You're young." Angel ruffled his son's hair until he growled.

"Gabriel's right," Wesley said. "We need to continue the search for God. Let us know if anything interesting happens out there." Joined by Giles, Gunn, Lilah, Bobby, and Lindsey, he returned to the library that had become an extension of his office.

"I'm going to join them. Let me know when it starts to happen," Sam said before following.

Dean shrugged and moved to look out the window. "Boy there's a lot of hot air out there," he muttered.

"Anyone want popcorn?" Xander suggested.

*****

They had popcorn and chips and candy. Willow figured out a spell to prevent their heads from exploding so they went out on the balconies, snagged chairs and leaned on the railings to watch.

The posturing and talking went on for nearly two hours until some demon launched the first attack.

"See, he couldn't hold it in any longer," Xander pointed out.

Even Buffy winced at some of the clashes, the extreme violence was off-putting, but she watched and waited. Everyone's eyes trailed Lucifer, watching him fight, waiting to see some sign he was breaking.

Dawn and Connor played messenger, taking status reports to those on the God search, and returning with their continued failure. Gabriel returned to take a seat on one wide railing, nibbling on a Snickers bar. After an hour or so, Castiel and Anna returned, each looking stronger. They took seats on either side of Dean.

"Is it wrong that the Slayer in me wants to be down there in the middle of that?" Buffy glanced over at Faith who was leaning over the railing, one booted foot tapping impatiently. "No, I'm right there with you."

"Lucifer's fighting," Gabriel murmured, actually surprised.

"You didn't think he would?"

He glanced at Dean and shrugged. "He's the Prince of Lies for a reason."

"So many dying and dead," Anna said softly, wrapping her arms around her slender body. "So many of our brothers and sisters."

"You okay, Anna?"

"Better. Stronger."

Dean jerked his head towards Castiel. "You forgive him?" and felt the angel stiffen.

Anna smiled. "Forgiveness is our Father's gift. Of course. He didn't need to ask."

"Yes, I did." Castiel both leaned forward and kept his back straight as he watched the battle.

Dean sighed. The stick was back up his ass.

On the battlefield, both sides retreated, leaving behind a few angels and a couple dozen demons dead and dying, and the growing scent of ozone in the air.

"Wish we could order pizza," Xander sighed. "We're going to be here a while."

"The longer the better, Xan, both for finding God and for burning out Lucifer."

He nodded at Buffy but still wanted pizza.

When night fell and the battle resumed, Spike joined Buffy, grousing about the stupid sun, and Connor and Dawn brought out large pots of spaghetti and cans of pop. Willow lit up the battlefield and they turned on heat lamps and regular lamps on the balcony.

Sam came out to grab a plate and watch for a while. As he sat, he rubbed eyes sore from reading too many computer reports.

Nearing midnight, the rest of the researchers joined them.

"Any luck?" Buffy asked Giles.

He shook his head tiredly. "Any progress here?"

"More demons are dying than angels but the armies have been at a standstill for a couple of hours, just trading blows."

"The only ones who need to be here are Gabriel, Willow and Illyria," Angel pointed out. "Everyone else should try to get some sleep."

"I need to stay," Sam protested softly.

Dean jumped to his feet to confront his brother. "What, so you can throw yourself at Lucifer if he wins?"

Wincing at the sarcasm, Sam shook his head but knew he was lying. "I just need to watch."

"Dammit, Sammy."

Reaching out, Castiel gently took Dean's arm and pulled him out of his brother's face. "Dean."

"I hate this," Dean growled and stomped back into the building. Giving Sam an apologetic look, Castiel followed him.

As some of the others began to vacate the balcony, Gabriel snapped his fingers and a lounge chair with blankets appeared. "You can stay, but you need to rest. I'll wake you if anything major happens."

Sam settled down on the lounge to the distant clash of swords.

*****

No one got much sleep that night. Neither the angels nor the dead needed sleep. The vampires were nocturnal. The Slayers were on edge.

Dean was terrified.

He didn't like being trapped in this building. He didn't like teaming up with vampires and witches and dead people, not to mention Gabriel. He didn't like wearing borrowed clothes. He didn't like being away from his car.

He really didn't like that Castiel kept taking away his beer.

"Dammit, Cas," he exploded, "I'm thirty one years old. I can drink a fucking beer to relax if I want!"

Castiel glared coldly into Dean's frustrated fury. "The problem is that it's never simply one fucking beer." Making it vanish with a twist of his fingers, he stepped into Dean's personal space, which made him back up, and kept doing it until the back of Dean's knees hit the bed and he flailed and fell on this ass. They stared at each other in the quiet for a few minutes, then Dean's eyes dropped and his chin fell and a shiver of more than cold went through him.

"He's going to say 'yes'," he finally whispered, so incredibly painfully.

"The battle is stalemated, but it is impacting Lucifer's vessel. We have to have faith he'll burn out."

Dean laughed harshly. "You know I don't have faith in anything any more."

Carefully Castiel sat next to Dean on the end of the bed and placed his hands flat on his thighs as he stared at their reflections in the black screen of the television across from them. "I have enough for both of us."

"I don't deserve you. You've given up everything for me and I don't deserve..."

Castiel's fingers on his lips quieted Dean's broken protest and their eyes met. "You continue to say that, but I'll never believe it." Slowly he pulled his fingers back but their eyes remained locked.

*****

Giles and Bobby sat in a quiet, interior room, playing chess and drinking twelve year old single malt Scotch.

"I got a bad feeling about this," Bobby muttered, scratching his chin as he pondered his next move.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't come up with a better plan." Giles took a sip of Scotch, savoring it.

"Whole world's halfway to Hell in that handbasket already. Are we helping it along?"

Giles had no answer for that.

*****

Fresh from a vicious bout of sparring with Faith followed by a shower, Buffy climbed into bed with her lover, curling up next to him all warm and damp. Spike set aside the book he'd been attempting to read for the last hour and wrapped one arm around her shoulders.

"Did that help?"

"Not really." Her eyes gleamed when she looked up at him and she had him on his back, her slender body straddling him, before he could respond. "Fighting didn't do it for me. Think you can fuck me unconscious?"

"I've done it before," he bragged and dragged her into a heated kiss.

*****

Lilah slipped into Wesley's office carrying two glasses of cognac and wearing something barely in existence. She watched his eyes light up but then fall in resignation back to the book he was perusing. Sighing, she set down the glasses and moved behind him to begin to massage his neck and shoulders. "If you haven't found Him yet, I don't think you're going to. Come to bed."

"We don't need sleep, Lilah," he grumbled but arched his neck into her steady fingers.

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't find something more pleasurable to do while everyone else is snoring away."

Slowly he pushed the book aside and picked up one glass, swirling its contents before sipping it. "You have very decadent fingers."

"I'm always good at what I do."

A tug had her in his lap and she pressed a soft kiss to his stubbled neck. "Shall I make you scream, Lilah?"

"You can try," she smirked, then squealed as he pinched her thigh hard.

One of the benefits of him dying was that his memories came back. All his memories. His true self.

The Wesley she loved.

*****

Gunn and Xander fell asleep on a couch watching Die Hard after a long and light-hearted discussion of which was the better action hero, Bruce Willis or Arnold Schwartzenegger, which had, not surprisingly, turned to which was the hotter action heroine. Gunn argued for Lara Croft while Xander went with Sarah Connor from T2. They both agreed that Princess Leia in her metal bikini rocked.

*****

Faith spent an hour after her sparring session with Buffy putting icepacks on various bruises and having tired phone sex with Robin.

*****

Connor and Dawn did what most teenagers do when faced with the end of the world--that thing that their parent and sibling, respectively, want to pretend they don't do even though they were both doing it, too.

*****

Lindsey bounced on the bed where Angel flung him, a lazy grin spreading across his face as he scooted up to the pillows. "I seem to recall you promising me to screw me into the bed while the world ended."

"I always keep my promises," Angel growled and stripped his shirt over his head.

"Cheesy lines are such a turn-on." An eye roll accompanied that snarky statement and Angel glared at his lover, who remarked with all innocence, "What?"

"I could put on some Manilow."

"God no!"

Snorting, Angel finished undressing, watching as Lindsey wriggled out of his clothes, revealing tan, unblemished skin. His hands clenched at the sudden desire to raise bruises and welts on it, even though they would heal by the next day.

Luckily for him, Lindsey not only tolerated his need for violence, but got off on it.

*****

And, Anna, unable to bear the sight of her brethren fighting, locked herself in an inner room and meditated.

*****

The sky in the East was turning a subtle shade of pink when the humming sound of the battle grew to a sudden shriek. Sam woke with a gasp of pain, flailing to cover his ears, and opened his eyes to see Willow huddled on a lounge next to him, her arms wrapped around her head.

When the noise began to fade, Sam pulled himself to his feet, his body feeling lethargic and heavy, his mind still foggy from sleep, but he knew something was big was happening. He watched as Illyria climbed onto the railing and jumped straight down, then saw Gabriel tug Willow to her feet.

"Is it happening?" Willow asked groggily, shaking her head to get the ringing out of her ears.

"Looks like it." Gabriel glanced over the railing, then back at Sam. "You," he pointed, "Stay here." With a snap of his fingers, he and Willow vanished, and Sam stumbled over to the railing to look down.

The armies were still fighting, corpses littered the ground, and the air was heavy with the smell of ozone, burnt flesh and blood. The sound still reverberated in his head and he shook it slightly, then focused his attention on the pair in the middle of the battle. Lucifer and Raphael. The archangel was covered in soot and blood, but Lucifer was in much worse condition. Half of his skin was gone, revealing bloody sinew and muscles and gleaming bone. His hair was charred from his head and his eyes had burst, blood long dried on his cheeks.

Through the holes in his body light was beginning to escape.

Sam held his breath.

Illyria stood at the edge of the wards, one hand placed gently against the invisible energy. She was completely still, waiting. Gabriel, also still, stood on one side of her, Willow, fidgeting, on the other. They each had a hand raised as well.

Sam could feel the energy building between the three and it sent a shiver through him. Suddenly Castiel and Dean were with him, both looking down with concern.

"I felt it happening," Castiel said in explanation.

"You okay, Sammy?"

Sam grunted an affirmative response, his eyes locked on Lucifer's vessel as he traded blows with Raphael. His attention was focused solely on them, but he knew the battle was continuing violently on the periphery of his awareness.

"Come on, you bastard," Dean muttered, hands clenching along the edge of the stone railing.

More of their group joined them on the balcony and when Buffy came to his side, Sam half- noticed she was on her phone, but he tuned her out.

On the battlefield below, Lucifer sent Raphael reeling with a vicious blow, then looked up, meeting Sam's eyes. There was nothing of triumph or anticipation left on the fallen angel's face, only fury and betrayal. Sam felt like waving bye to him but figured that was a bit much.

Dean did it for him.

And Lucifer exploded.

On the balcony, everyone reeled back, shielding their eyes. The demons cried out in horror. The angels cried out in victory.

Zachariah screamed in fury.

Gabriel, Willow and Illyria stepped through the wards. Sam's vision cleared enough to see them open a portal, watch as Illyria stepped over the fallen, shoved aside the still fighting, and wrapped herself around the beam of light before falling into the glowing, shimmering circle.

The portal winked out and Willow sagged against Gabriel, who fell to his knees, unable to support the two of them.

"Now, Robin," Buffy shouted into her phone

And the wards fell with a crash of energy that knocked most of them off their feet.

"What the Hell?" Dean managed to ask, sprawled on top of Castiel.

"We were afraid of this," Giles said grimly, trying to regain his feet. "Gabriel and Willow had to draw on the energy they'd put into the wards. They don't have enough power left to sustain them."

Sam dragged himself to the railing and looked down in fear. The angels and demons had stopped fighting, were turning toward the building's entrance where Gabriel and Willow slumped helpless. Castiel appeared in front of them, sword raised to defend them, and then everything was chaos on the balcony.

Dean grabbed Sam's arm. "We gotta get down there," even as Buffy and Faith were already appearing in the courtyard below, having run down the stairs before anyone could think to send them. As the brothers headed inside, Giles stopped them, a hard look on his face. "You're only human. You can't do anything."

"Fuck that," Dean yelled in frustration. "The stupid prophecy says I'm the one who's supposed to end all this anyway."

"There are many interpretations, Dean. Getting yourself killed is not the way."

"He's right," Bobby added as Dean and Sam both practically vibrated with the need to fight.

"Dammit!" Dean stormed back over to look down in time to see the first angel cross the line where the wards had been. Lindsey and Connor had joined the Slayers, each one armed with knives and swords, but none of the purely humans were there. The sun was too high for the vampires to take part and he could hear their frustration from just inside the door behind him. Willow was on her feet again and her shaking hands were weaving spells.

Gabriel was still on his knees but he now held a shining sword.

"They'll be slaughtered," Sam mourned from Dean's side.

Dawn took his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "We have a secret weapon."

"Huh?"

*****

"I was afraid this would happen," Gabriel groaned, his vision wavering and his body shaking. He'd not only had to supercharge Illyria so she could open the portal, but also give her enough power to bind Lucifer. He needed about twelve hours to recover.

He didn't even have twelve minutes.

"You," Zachariah demanded, "What did you do?"

"He's gone. Armageddon's averted. Sorry, no paradise for you."

Furious, Zachariah reached down for Gabriel, only to find Castiel's sword at his throat.

"No."

Twirling her scythe in her hands, Buffy stepped up next to Castiel. Her eyes glittered with anger as she stared down the now still Zachariah. "I told you we'd win."

"It's not over, girl."

She smiled in the face of his frustrated snarl and glanced out over the gathering angels. There were about thirty left, all of them bearing some wounds. On the other hand, the demons, who still outnumbered them, had mostly vanished. Without a leader they knew they had no chance of winning and, really, no reason to fight.

Gabriel finally regained his feet, swaying a little until Faith steadied him with one hand on his back. "Go away, Zach. Don't make us kill you." There was almost a pleading tone to his voice. He didn't want to kill his siblings.

Stepping back from Castiel's sword, Zachariah's snarl turned to a sneer. "A couple of nearly powerless angels, a dead lawyer, a witch who should have been burned at a stake years ago, and a handful of demon spawn. You don't even dare bring the humans into this. Some army, Gabriel."

"What's the point of fighting?" Castiel asked. "Lucifer is gone. There can be no final battle."

"There's such a thing as retribution, you rebellious little dick." He raised his arm to gesture for his brethren to charge forward, but stopped as the sound of a hundred women yelling battle cries in dozens of languages came from the rear.

"That would be our army," Buffy crowed, pointing behind the angels at the Slayers.

"Tricky, tricky, Slayer," Gabriel managed to smile weakly at her. "Why didn't you share?"

"Well, angels can read minds. We thought keeping it to just a few of us was for the best, and..." She turned to Faith, a grin blazoned across her face. "Come on, Faith!"

Gabriel couldn't help but chuckle as the angels were attacked on two fronts, Lindsey and Connor joining the two eldest Slayers while Willow leaned against a convenient pillar and turned any approaching angel into a frog--sadly the spells didn't last more than a couple of minutes, but it was amusing to the former Trickster.

He noticed Castiel hadn't joined the fight, though, and turning his tired head saw him standing a few feet from him, sword still raised in defense. "I can protect myself, little brother," he said, though lightly enough so the rebuke was barely noticeable.

Slowly the younger angel turned his head to look at his older brother and there was such sorrow on his face. "I don't want to kill any more of them."

Gabriel had known all along how far Castiel had gone for Dean Winchester, but to have it confirmed nearly broke his heart. Even he, for all his sins, had never committed fratricide. Reaching out, he took Castiel's hand and pulled him into a loose embrace. Castiel stood stiffly for a moment, then half-collapsed against Gabriel and they both went down on their knees, clutching each other tightly.

Up on the balcony, Dean stared at the tableau before him, growing more and more frustrated. When he saw the two angels fall, he pushed away from the railing and past the other simply humans, and ran for the stairs, ignoring their calls for him to come back. He burst outside just as Raphael sent Faith flying and swung his sword at Castiel's neck.

Terror flooded him, not for himself, not really for Castiel, but for what the loss of this angel would do to him, and he flung himself at Raphael with a defiant scream of "No!"

The sword cut into his right shoulder, nearly severing his arm. Pain exploded in him, hot and blinding, and he heard himself scream, and then everything went black.

One floor up, Sam froze, voice and breath choked in his throat, then he ran for the stairs.

What he found when he reached the courtyard brought him to a stuttering stop.

Dean was cradled in Castiel's arms, a white light bathing both of them. It was coming from the angel. The battle continued to rage around them--both Faith and Connor had gone for Raphael, driving him away from his fallen brother, and Zachariah was shouting orders to advance even as Willow was knocking him off his feet with a spell.

Gabriel stood over Castiel and Dean, protecting them, his eyes wide with genuine surprise.

Sam was aware of the others behind him, even Bobby in his wheelchair, all ready to fight if needed. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lilah carrying a very deadly looking Glock. On his other side, Gunn was wielding an axe that looked like it was made out of hubcaps. Anna had joined them as well, unable to stay away any longer. Managing finally to breathe, and knowing he had back up, he took the few steps toward his brother.

The light began to spread and, as he dropped to his knees next to Dean, noting how pale and still his brother was, how tightly Castiel was holding him, as he heard the murmured prayers in a language he only dimly recognized, he felt a warmth pass over him.

Warmth and peace and love.

He took Dean's limp hand, felt for a pulse that was there, but so shallow.

And for the first time in years, Sam Winchester prayed.

The battle ground to a halt. The light continued to circle outward, slowly encompassing the combatants. And, as it touched them, the angels fell to their knees.

Zachariah was the last to drop, a stunned look of contrition on his face, and Buffy barely managed to stop herself from lopping off his head.

As the light filled the courtyard battlefield, everyone stopped, all sound died except breathing, and all eyes were locked on Castiel and Dean.

A loud gasp broke from Dean and his eyes flew open. He clutched at Castiel's arm with his own that moments before had been hanging by bloody tendons and now was completely healed. Slowly the angel lowered his eyes to his charge, and a smile of wonder broke across his face.

"He was here all along."

The light remained, blanketing everyone, and the Slayers slowly put down their weapons and the angels began to murmur, one word over and over, spoken in a language unrecognizable to any of the humans or former humans.

Movement next to him drew Sam's attention and he jerked himself from the feeling of such peace and wonder and saw Gabriel and Anna pass, walking slowly, unarmed and hands up as if they could touch the light. Maybe they could.

Always the impatient one, Buffy shouldered her scythe and walked over to them. "What's going on?"

The archangel looked down at her, one eyebrow cocked, but the wonder remaining on his face. "What do you feel?"

"Um...good. I feel good, calm and peaceful. I don't want to fight anymore."

"That's dad for you." Just a hint of his usual flippant self couldn't help but leak through and it broke the spell over the Hunters, Slayers and their companions. They started to talk, question, but broke off when Castiel rose, holding his hand up for silence. Sam helped his brother stand, then hugged him tightly.

It said a lot that Dean allowed the embrace to continue much longer than normal.

"Our Father is here with us. He has always been with us. We forgot how to find Him." Reaching beneath his collar, Castiel drew out the amulet he wore, removed it and handed it back to Dean, who slipped it over his head. "It never burned because God is everywhere. He is the good and the bad, the haunted and broken, the happy and loved. He is love." He turned to the angels, an almost other-worldly look on his face. "We have forgotten that. I forgot that." He turned to Gabriel, "Until you reminded me. Love was the only path that would win."

"Wait a sec, so all we need is love?" Dean asked facetiously, making a face at Sam as he groaned.

"Yes."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It makes perfect sense," Castiel argued. "Your love of humanity, of your world, was the only true path to saving them. As the Slayers fought, they fought for the same reason." He turned back to the angels, who were looking decidedly uncomfortable. "My brothers and sisters have forgotten how to love. They started this apocalypse out of despair and loss. Lucifer fought for greed and hunger. Our Father waited until someone would fight for love. You showed us the way, Dean. You are the righteous man. You are the man with a heart overflowing with love."

By the end of Castiel's speech, Dean was bright red and shuffling his feet in embarrassment, and Sam couldn't help but snicker.

Anna was the next to move, walking towards Zachariah. He knelt, head bowed so far his chin touched his chest. He was shaking and there were tears on his cheeks. Crouching, she cupped his chin and lifted his eyes to hers. "I forgive you, brother, and I love you."

He collapsed into her, sobbing, and she embraced him. Around them the other angels broke down as well. Gabriel moved to Raphael and drew him into his arms, and the archangel of healing began to heal himself.

Sam and Dean watched in wonder as the angels' grace began to manifest as soft light, muted beneath the light of God, but still powerful. It reached out, wrapping around the grace of the other angels, until they were all connected by light and a feeling of such complete love.

Gabriel's grace reached back for Castiel, who looked hesitantly at Dean.

Dean smiled reassuringly, "Go on, join your family's love fest."

Sam smacked the back of his brother's head and Castiel moved into the middle of the angels, welcome again in the Host. "His grace healed you. It's back."

"Looks like."

"And...that's really...God."

Sighing, Dean shrugged, "I dunno, Sam. I trust Cas. If he says it is, it is."

"This is all a little too Woodstock for me, boys," Bobby grumbled, wheeling his chair around to go back inside. Several others, uncomfortable with the emotions pouring off the angels, joined him, though Buffy and Faith skirted around the Host to speak to Robin and the hundred or so Slayers.

As they did, the dozen that had died came back to life.

"Shit, B. I don't know about this."

"It's giving me the wiggins, too," Buffy muttered, warily eying the hovering light while she hugged recently dead Slayers and surreptitiously checked for heart beats.

Giles and Wesley remained watching, both taking mental notes and each, separately planning a quiet bout of drunkenness.

"So...we won because you love everybody," Sam said lightly.

"Bite me, bitch."

"Ditto, jerk."

The brothers hugged again, this time in a more manly fashion and waited for the world not to end.

*****

By noon the courtyard was empty. God had disappeared back into every atom on Earth again, the angels--contrite and reasonable--returned to Heaven, and the Slayers took over the entire Ritz-Carlton and had a pizza and ice cream sundae party to celebrate surviving the near apocalypse.

The group at Wolfram & Hart settled down to lunch in the conference room with a lot of questions remaining.

"So, what were those supposed God sightings?" Xander asked.

"Is that really it? Lucifer's locked away again and the angels are back in heaven?" Dawn asked.

"What about War and Death?" Sam remembered to ask.

"And what about Michael?" Dean wondered.

"Is it really this easy?" Buffy asked, having suffered through too many apocalypses to count.

The answer to that one came from her Watcher, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"I didn't get to kill anything," Spike complained and everyone ignored him.

And so the questions and the discussions went.

Half-way through lunch, Dean walked over to where Castiel was looking out the window at the sunny day. "Why did you stay?"

"The Host welcomed me back, but..." Castiel turned and they were both in each other's personal space. "I'm comfortable here. I can be of use here." Looking down at himself, he nodded as if in decision, and slipped off the trench coat and then the jacket. "And I think I'd like some new clothes."

Chuckling, Dean tugged his tie free and tossed it aside. "I think we can manage that."

"So, I can stay with you?"

"There are still plenty of nasties out there, all those demons that ran off, and we do have Death and War to deal with, and Michael could still be a loose cannon."

"I don't think we have to worry about Michael. Our Father's message carried to all my brothers and sisters. He will obey. Some day the end will come, but I don't believe it will be in your lifetime."

"Good to know."

At the table, Giles, Bobby and most of the research team were discussing networking the Slayers, Hunters, and this branch of Wolfram & Hart, making all three more efficient in hunting, slaying and research.

"I still dislike the things, but I must admit that computers can be useful."

Wesley chuckled at Giles' comment and patted one of his reliable tomes. "I, too, prefer the old ways."

"Just don't trust wikipedia for demon research," Dawn chimed in. "Learned that lesson the hard way."

"I rescued you from the not fifty inch tall but fifty feet tall Gandark didn't I?" Connor wrapped one arm around her neck and tugged her into a kiss. "Sure I can't convince you to transfer to Stanford?"

"You could always transfer to Cambridge."

Lindsey turned to Angel as the head of Wolfram & Hart came back into the room with a cup of blood. "This really does seem too easy."

"We forget that sometimes the good guys don't lose everything to win." Gently Angel pressed the palm of one hand to the scar on Lindsey's chest and their eyes met.

"So, I'm a good guy?"

"You always were. I was the idiot."

Grinning, Lindsey cupped the back of Angel's head and pulled him into a heated kiss.

"YUCK!" Spike complained.

Faith and Buffy looked at each other, then at the two men kissing, then grinned and grabbed their significant others to go celebrate the win in their own way.

Plucking a bottle of beer from the case on the table, Sam slouched into a chair next to Gabriel and across from Anna. "You two hanging around Earth?"

"I've always liked it here," Anna said, "and while I forgive them, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable in Heaven yet."

Gabriel added, "They want me back, but I know I wouldn't fit in. Earth's been my home since I gave Mary the good news. It's more a part of me than Heaven."

"So you really didn't want the world to end after all."

He shrugged and sipped his own beer. "I bought into the story Zach was spreading, the one we all believed for centuries that led to you two, or so we thought. I can admit I was wrong, and there are a lot of great things about humans." Smirking, he nodded at the two men still kissing. "Like sex."

"Yeah, no sex in Heaven," Anna said with a flippant grin.

Sam blushed, caught a glimpse of how close his brother was standing to Castiel and blushed some more.

"You ever been with a guy, Sammy?"

At Gabriel's not-so innocent question, Sam choked on his beer and Anna giggled.

Xander sat behind Willow, massaging her neck. "No more lounge chair sleeping for you, missy."

"Hopefully no more apocalypses for me or any of us. It would be nice to go a year without the world trying to end on us."

Gunn nodded and scratched lightly at the scars from his own near death experience during the previous apocalypse. "Wolfram & Hart's is still going on, if you believe them."

"They seem to be letting it drag forever. Fine with me," Willow said with a moan as Xander hit a tender spot.

"The Wolf, the Ram and the Hart are as ants to me. I shall stop them when the time is right," Illyria pronounced as she strode into the room, hair crackling around her head with static electricity. Wesley jumped to his feet.

"Is he...?"

"Trapped, bound and broken, just as I promised." The look of satisfaction on her face made half the men cup their groins instinctively.

Sam smiled darkly, though. "Good."

"I always did like that bloodthirsty side of you, Winchester," Gabriel murmured and tipped his bottle towards him in salute.

"He wanted me to destroy the world. Like you, I kind of like this place the way it is."

Lilah followed Illyria in and pronounced, "Okay, we won, it's time to go shoe shopping, and you, little angel girl, you can't go around wearing Eve's castoffs forever. For one thing, you've got tits and you're about to spill out of that shirt."

Anna looked down at herself in consternation while Lindsey and Dean snorted in laughter.

"You always did have a thing for girls with tiny tits," Lindsey whispered in Angel's ear.

"You were the first to climb on Eve."

"Hey, I was just using her to get to you." Eyes sparkling, Lindsey watched the desire cross his lover's face, judged it correctly, and took off running, Angel hot on his heels.

"Geez, I have the horniest parents," Connor complained, palm covering his face.

"I think they're hot," Dawn snickered.

"Hey, can we go somewhere that has men's clothes?" Dean asked as he helped Castiel roll up the sleeves of his shirt. "Cas wants something new."

"Wolfram & Hart has expense accounts at all the best stores." Lilah ran her eyes up and down the angel. "Damn, that coat did nothing for you, sweetie. I'm thinking a nice pair of linen trousers in gray, and bright colored shirts, maybe collarless. Henleys in jewel tones for casual with black jeans."

"Um, I was thinking Wal-mart."

Lilah gave Dean a look of pure horror and hooked an arm through his and Castiel's elbows. "Come on Anna, anyone else who wants to shop."

"Me," Dawn popped up and reached down to grab Willow. "Come on, you can help me get something for Buffy because she's going to be pissed she missed Rodeo Drive."

"I like shoes," Illyria proclaimed as she morphed into Fred, which no longer bothered anyone.

The room emptied of all the women--or those in female form--and Dean and Castiel.

Gunn picked up the remote control and turned on the television. CNN was giving a report about the sudden collapse of a tidal wave that had been heading for Japan and instead died a hundred miles out. He nodded in approval and turned to a re-run of the previous night's UCLA basketball game.

*****

And so the world didn't end. There was no bang, no whimper. Life won out after all.

Because, in the end, all you do need is love.

And some Hunters, Slayers, fallen and falling angels, and their friends who are just too stubborn to quit.

End

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