"Immortal Beloved..." LXIX...

A shortie...

PG-13

Disclaimer: No, Joss, no...I make no claims, put that thing down! It's all yours and ME's...

Spoilers for Angel to the bitter end...Flee at once!...

Summary: Various outcomes following "Girl In Question" and /or "Not Fade Away" on Angel...(A series of potential outcomes rather than a single multi-part story...)

Ok, I lied about stopping at 50...But me poor ole mum would just say, "so long as I like it, it's ok..."

Archived at the 'normal' Buffyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, https://www.angelfire.com/zine2/buffyrebecca/index.html, scroll down to the IB series...

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The new offices of Angel, Burkle-Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop at the old Wolfram-Hart Tower...Two weeks after the defeat of the Senior Partners...

Friday...

"So..." William, looking a bit uncomfortable in his new suit...(Thank God it's only for meeting clients...he noted)...Smiled at Harmony at her desk in the outer reception area as she gave up trying to look busy, noting it wasn't Angel or Gunn coming up on her...

"How's the soul treating ya, Ms. Kendall...?"

"Great..." she beamed... "Just great...And thanks again for arranging it with the Prophecy guy..."

Uh-huh...he smiled sardonically... "Thanks as in... 'Drop dead, you sodden bastards for stickin' me with this nightmare?'..."

Ummn...No...I...

"Harm...I've been there...It's a freakin' horror the first week...Then it gets worse..."

She stared at him...Worse?...

"Then..." she was quiet... "You and Angel did it to punish me?..."

And poor Dru?...

"No..." he shook his head... "We did it to save you...Both...But it's ridiculous for you to pretend that it's just a nice little bonus of working with us and that everything is hunky-dory...Recovering the soul after one's vamp frolic's the worst thing in the world and not something I for one am quite sure I can say I'm glad I did..."

"I...It...Hasn't been that bad for me...I mean, yeah..." she shuddered a bit... "Finding out I'd killed my own grandmother and brother...Along with a lot of other folks...That was a little hard to deal with...And the daylight thing and not being able to stop drinkin' blood and all..."

"And my family hating me...Wishin' I was in Hell, burnin'...That wasn't much fun...But hey..."

Least I got my job back...she smiled feebly...

"I am sorry...For the downside...I wish we coulda got you and Dru the Humanity brass ring, but to do both of you and free Angel from the curse's darker side...We had to give on the physical end..."

"Yeah...I understand..." Harm sighed...Then to her own surprise, started crying...Rather violently...

Ummn...He stared...Looking round for...Ah...He grabbed at the tissue box on her desk...There...

"There we go..." he patted her cheek with one and handed several more to her... "I'm soo...rry..." Harm gasped... "It's just...My own mother and father wish I was back in my grave...My friends who know about me hate me, or are gone or dead..."

I know I should be grateful for losing the demon but...I don't understand...she looked at him...

"Why?..."

"Why?...God knows, sweetheart...I stopped askin' after spending six weeks in a basement, insane and moaning to myself with only the First herself for company...But, in my humble...It's God who owes you, girl...Not vice versa...Never forget that, no matter how many times a day our beloved poof leader broods off about his guilt and need to redeem himself... You are not guilty..."

She sighed and nodded... "Thanks..." Then perked up a bit... "Tonight's the big night, huh?...You must be on the edge of your seat..."

"No, not really..." he was quiet...

In fact...

"I've been thinking I might go away for the weekend..."

What?...she stared at him...

"William?...What are you talkin' about?...They're all coming, at last..."

She's comin'...she eyed him...

"Not to see me...And I think it'd be best if I didn't see her..."

"Of course she's coming to see you..." she paused... "She specifically asked..."

"Just tell her I had an emergency..."

"An emergency?...What, like a death in the family?...You expect her to believe that?..."

No...he shook his head...But she'll get the message and I think she'll understand...

"But William...What's she gonna think...?"

"She damned well knows how I feel...And if she chooses to make a heartrending scene over it...That's her business...I can't stay...That's how it is..."

"Will, you can't do that to her...C'mon...Why don't you just stay and..."

"I do not want to see her again..." he said carefully and firmly...

"William...If my being here?..." she began...

No...he waved a hand, shaking his head... "It's nothing to do with you, Harmony..."

"I don't understand...Hell, even my demon didn't understand...You loved her, but you didn't...Won't...Even try..."

He sighed...Then rose and began walking about the room...

"You may as well know the whole story..." he said, not pausing...And not looking at her...

"The day I corporealized...After I left and you lot thought I was headed for Rome...After I'd decided it wasn't quite the best thing to do...I rang her place up..."

I figured she'd hear eventually...And I wanted it to be me telling her, even if I wasn't going to try and start things up again...

"Dawn took my call...And told me Buffy knew I was back...Courtesy Council intelligence...And did not want to talk to me..."

Being an utter fool when the road I didn't wish to take in the first place gets blocked, I insisted...And she told me that Buf had been through hell after I died...And more...

"Three weeks after Sunnydale caved in...She found out she was pregnant..."

Harmony blinked...Preg...?

"We'd been together just before...That day...It had been...I thought...It had meant something...To both of us..."

Anyway...

"It seems that those wives' tales about vamp/human intercourse are just that...Though it is difficult..."

"She did consider having it, Dawn told me...But in the end, the thought of it being mine, an undead thing, perhaps, inside her, was too horrible and she had an abortion...Which, of course, was her choice..."

It was human, naturally...Dawn claimed they'd had no idea of the sex...I imagine it was a girl...he sighed...

"After three more calls, Dawn having done her best to put me off...Buffy took the phone and told me how sorry she was...But...She could not bear the idea of facing me..."

So...I told her I was sorry, too...And that...He gave a wan smile... "Was that..."

William...

"I told Andrew not to tell her I was back when he dropped in on us...But that was just to cover for her with Angel and the rest of you..."

"But..." Harmony stared at him... "You went to Rome with Angel...To..."

"I love her...I wanted to be sure she was alright...But I made sure I didn't get in her way...And she never knew..."

"She knew..." Harmony shook her head... "She told me and Angel when she called that she knew you'd been in Rome...Andrew told her..."

Ah... "Well...The intention was well-meant..."

"She wants to see you...She told me that..."

"Maybe...Maybe things have changed now that the Immortal's around and she's started feeling the guilts or whatever...But I don't want to see her...And it all can't be about her, Harm...I am, more or less, where it counts...Almost human again...And I don't deserve to suffer...So...Tell her...I'm sorry...And sorry I wasn't allowed to be there for her..."

She'll understand...he paused...But if she doesn't...All the more reason for me not to see her...

"So tell the grand exulted Poof-boy I'm sorry to miss the company picnic but my personal time is just that...See ya Monday...Probably..." he patted her arm and headed for the door...Pausing...

And tell her...If she does come...

"I do, too..."

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