"Immortal Beloved..." XCII...

A shortie..

PG-13

Disclaimer: No, Joss, no...I make no claims, put that thing down!

It's all yours and ME's...(and of course, Cole'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...

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

This one is utterly my wife's fault...Helps to have seen the "Night and Day" duet in "De-Lovely..."

***

Rome, the courtyard of Buffy and Dawn's apartment building...Late evening...

Utter darkness...

"Ow!..." "Sorry, honey..." "It's ok, sweetie..." a kind tone, Nina's voice...

"Where's William?..." "Right here..." a resigned tone... "I have him..." Illyria's voice... "He's not going anywhere..."

A flashlight popped on...Vague faces briefly glimpsed in the darkness...The light focused on a hand hold a sheet... "Here it is...Take your copy, Will..."

"Here..." Illyria's firm voice...A hand grabbing the sheet away... "He has it...Over here..." The light briefly revealed the face of William...In rather nice tuxedo...Hair slicked back...The beam then running down his arm to where he held the sheet which had been grabbed...Another hand, with dress sleeve running to its wrist holding his hand firmly...

"Wish we'd done this part from the street...I can't see my hand in front of my face...Though thank God there's no moon tonight..." a sigh... "I'd really rather not test out my new restraining spell in public..."

"It will hold when you need it, honey..." Angel's voice, reassuring... "Have you got the CD player?...The guys ready in the street?..."

"Ready to roll...And the guys are standing by..."

"Ok, Mr. Walthrop...You're on..."

"I can't do this...Lets go back to LA..."

"Not a chance...You promised Nina and Illyria here before the Big One that if we made it, you'd go for broke and try..."

"You did, William...We bear witness to your solemn oath..." "Yeah...Angel, don't let him back out now..."

"She doesn't want me...She would've..." A pause...

"You didn't even let her know you were back..." Nina's voice, fuming...

"She knows...And could care less...Hell, she's practically Her Benevolence now if Andrew was telling the truth...Lets leave it be..."

"Not until you have fulfilled your solemn pledge..." Illyria's voice was stern... "A pledge made in the cause of Love must be fulfilled..."

"Wesley would want it that way..." A no excuses permitted tone...

"Will...You have the full resources of a somewhat depleted and disrupted, but still leading multinational behind you..."

Hell, man...Give it a shot...For both our...Ummn...

"Yeah?...You were sayin' babe...?" Nina's tone was somewhat curt...

"Uh...For the sake of Love...Like Illyria says..."

"William..." Harmony's voice cut in from behind..."Even my demon self told you to give her a chance...For her sake..And yours..."

After all...You guys took a chance on me...

"Hell, girl...We knew your demon'd do anything...Even go to Africa and get her soul...To get her job back..."

"Well then...For what you owe my soul...After takin' shameful advantage of me..."

Arrggh...

"Look...I can't sing this...Lets go back to LA and try selecting another tune, a few weeks or months of singing lessons...I could try writing some new poems..."

"No...!!..." Illyria, Nina, Harmony in chorus...

"Look, Will...This one is sure fire...You can sing this...You just have to remember who you're singing it for...The love of your life...My Angelus demon could win Buffy over with this one...Just remember she's the One...The love of your existence..."

"Especially if that thing we dug out of the W-H archives about that Cicely person and Buffy is true..." Illyria noted...

"All you have to do is think of the words...And of the one you love..." Angel urged...

"The one He loves..." Nina firmly noted... Uh, yeah...

"I'll sing with you...Here..." Angel's hand came into the beam of light still held on the sheet in William's hand...Holding its own copy.."Where are you?...Ok..."

Would you kindly move your hand off my face?...William fumed...

"Hit it, honey..." Sound of a CD player starting...

Angel, then William reluctantly joining in...

(Night and Day, Cole Porter...)

"Like the beat beat beat of the tom-tom

When the jungle shadows fall...

Like the tick tick tock of the stately clock

As it stands against the wall...

(Gotta admit it has that unrelenting, obsessive quality...Will noted...Cordy always loved that song, Harm sighed sadly...Nina patting her...)

Like the drip drip drip of the raindrops

When the summer shower is through...

So a voice within me keeps repeating you, you, you..."

(Lights go on in the Summers' apartment above...

"Ok, hit it guys...!!" Nina's voice into a microphone...Floodlights come on from the front and sides of the courtyard...An orchestra now is heard booming from the street outside...)

"Night and day, you are the one

Only you beneath the moon or under the sun..."

("Beautiful, guys..." Nina beams at the two...Angel with hand on William's chest...Illyria holding Will's arm...A slightly dreamy look on her now-visible Winifred face...Harmony likewise, standing to William's other side...)

"Whether near to me, or far

It's no matter darling where you are...

I think of you... Night and day..."

("What the ...?!!!" a call from the balcony above...)

Angel, William, Illyria...Harmony joining in...

("Illyria?...Harmony?...Better let the boys..." Nina begins...)

"Day and night, night and day, why is it so

That this longing for you follows wherever I go

In the roaring traffic's boom...

("Angel, honey?...I think Will can take it now..." "William?!!...You really are...?...William?...Hey?..." Buffy's voice now cutting in...

Angel and William staring at each other intently as they sing...Illyria looking rather adoringly into William's eyes...Harmony singing rather plaintively to the night...)

"In the silence of my lonely room

I think of you

Day and night, night and day ..."

("Uh, guys?...Illyria?...Buffy's here..." "William?...Angel?...")

"Under the hide of me

There's an oh such a hungry yearning, burning inside of me

And this torment won't be through

Until you let me spend my life making love to you

Day and night, night and day ..."

("Will?..." "Oh, hi Buffy...Nice to see you...Excuse us..."

"Where the hell are the three of them going?..." Buffy eyed Nina...Who stared after them...

Harmony still singing to the night sky...

"Hey, Will...Wait up!..." "Angel!?")

"Night and day, you are the one

Only you beneath the moon or under the sun

Whether near to me, or far

It's no matter darling where you are

I think of you...

Day and night, night and day, why is it so

That this longing for you follows wherever I go...

In the roaring traffic's boom

In the silence of my lonely room..."

(Will, Angel, Illyria's voices fading as they walked off, Buffy and Nina hurrying after...)

"I think of you

Day and night, night and day ...

(Cordy..." Harmony added as she stood alone, the orchestra's music behind her...

"Hey, Will, wait!..." Buffy's voice, calling...)

***