Black Hole Sun:
Black Hole Sun
by Axis Harris

Part One

"What was that?" Cordelia asked as she struggled to get Wesley to his feet.

"I'm not sure. Whatever it is, its sure as hell dangerous." Angel said as he paced around the room. Wesley had taken a nasty gash to the head, and the demon had only clipped him. If he had taken a harder bump he would most likely be dead.

"Well, we cant just leave it out there to kill and destroy."

"You're right. I'll go after it."

"Hello? Did you see how fast that thing was? Its probably half way out of town by now."

"So I'll have to hunt it. You stay here with Wes, if you dont hear from me within, say, 3 weeks, you wont."

"What? You are so not going after that thing alone."

"Its not your decision Cordelia."

"Cordelia is right," Wesley managed to groan out. "You cant possibly face it alone."

"Look, guys, I appreciate your concern. But you cant help me fight this. If you dont hear from me in three weeks you have to assume that I'm dead. If that happens I have a trust for you both set up that Giles will tell you how to access--"

"No! Angel this is insane!"

"--and also, if I dont...I want you to give this to Buffy." Angel reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, silver claddagh ring. He looked at it a moment then handed it to Cordelia. "Give this to her and...tell her I love her."

"Angel, please would you just--" Cordelia stopped herself when she realised that arguing with him would be useless. She held the ring in her hand and fought to remain calm. "All right," she said quietly. She looked up at Angel and gave him a long hug, knowing it was quite possibly a final goodbye. Wesley groggily shook his head, then held his hand out for a handshake. The three friends stood in silence for a moment before Angel left, gathering weapons, as quietly determined as he'd ever been.

****5 weeks later****

"No, Wesley he still might come back," Cordelia said desperately as she stood outside the door of Giles' apartment.

"Cordelia, you know he said three weeks. Its been five. I think its time we just accepted that he is gone."

"He's not gone! We dont know!" Wesley gave her a sad look, understanding fully her inability to accept what had happened. But Angel had given his instructions, and they had promised to follow them. After a moments hesitation, he knocked on the door.

"Just a minute!" Giles voice called out. After a few seconds waiting he finally answered the door. "Cordelia, Wesley. Come in. Is something wrong? Do you need help?" They followed him to the lounge. Buffy, Willow, Xander and Anya were all there. Cordelia thought as she looked around the room. She and Wesley had planned on telling Giles about what had happened, and were going to ask him to tell Buffy. It seemed right that it should come from Giles. That and neither Wes or Cordy had wanted to be the one to tell her.

"Whats going on?" Buffy asked as she eyed them suspiciously. She instantly didn't like that they had come all the way down to Sunnydale. The first thought that had flashed through her mind upon seeing them was that something had happened to Angel. But she wouldn't allow herself to think like that. She couldn't.

"Um, hey guys," Cordy said as she looked down at her fidgeting hands. <God, I don't want to have to tell her> she thought.

Buffy didn't like the way she was hesitating. It wasn't like Cordelia to show any tact, so the fact that she was starting now had her very worried. She couldn't even think that something had happened to Angel. She still loved him, even though she was with Riley. "Cordelia," she said slowly, "whats wrong?"

Cordy opened her mouth to speak but found that she didn't have the words to tell her that Angel was gone. She just stood, mouth opened, for once at a loss for words. Thankfully, Wesley moved past her until he was standing directly in front of Buffy.

"I'm afraid we have some bad news," he said in a soft voice. Buffy had been sitting on the couch the entire time, and was now looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. She was staring at him, fearing the words she knew were coming, wanting to deny them to the end.

The others in the room had all grown very uncomfortable, not really wanting to witness what was sure to come. Willow would be there to comfort her friend but she had no real wish to see the pain Buffy was going to go through.

"You see, five weeks ago we were attacked by a demon. Angel decided it best if he go after it on his own. He left us with instructions...he wanted us to tell you that he loved you, and..." Wesley turned to Cordelia and took the small box from her hand. He looked down at Buffy and saw that her face was covered in tears. Taking a deep breath, he went on. "He wanted us to give you this." He handed her the box. Buffy lifted a shaky hand to take it form him and almost dropped it. She opened the box and saw the claddagh ring Angel had given her more than two years before. A choked sob escaped and she began to clutch her stomach.

"No..."she managed to groan out. "No!" This time it sounded more like an anguished cry. She began to cry hysterically, clutching the ring and her side. Willow ran over to put her arms around her best friend, and Buffy started to cry even harder. Xander came next and put a hand on her shoulder, offering his support. Buffy was crying so hard that she was coughing and hiccuping, while gasping for air.

"Buffy..." Xander said as he stroked her shoulder, "Buffy please, you'll make yourself sick."

Her sobs started to subside after a few minutes and she stood, silent tears streaming down her face. "I...Willow take me home."

"Sure." The two girls stood and left, leaving for their dorm. Quietly, Willow closed the door behind her.

Buffy and Willow walked in to their dorm silently. Lost in pain, Buffy went over to her bed and sat down, head hung low, as all energy seemed to be lost from her. She had a lump in her throat and her eyes were puffy and red from her crying.

"Can I...do you want something? Something to drink?" Buffy could only shake her head. Willow sat beside her again and pulled her into a hug. Buffy whimpered and started sobbing again, though not like she had

before."He'll never know..." she breathed out after a time.

"Know what?" Willow asked.

"How much I still loved...love him."

"Oh, Buffy. He knew. Trust me, he knew."

"I cant believe this Will. I know he was gone but...at least he was out there."

"He still is. He always will be." Willow noticed that the only reason Buffy was still sitting up was because she was using her shoulder as support. "Get some sleep, Buff. Try to get some sleep."

Buffy did as she was told, but ended up wishing she hadn't. All she dreamt of that night was Angel.

Part Two

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