The Incredible Story of Mari Mallone
***
Sunnydale, 2038
Mari sat alone, fuming. Buffy didn't have to put up with this kind of thing, surely? She didn't know the battles that Buffy had fought against Giles in her quest for a normal life, she didn't know the number of times Angel and Buffy had been forced to change their plans due to unscheduled slaying or apocalypse averting.
She realised how little she knew about, well, anything. She didn't know what it was like to be a slayer yet. By the time Buffy was Mari's age, she had seen so much, yet Mari was still in her safe cocoon provided by Angel. She felt constricted.
"What do you want for dinner?" Angel put his head around her bedroom door.
"Nothing." Mari said glumly, her eyes not leaving the TV screen she wasn't really watching.
"What's the matter?" Angel was immediately concerned and he came into the room.
"Nothing, I'm just not hungry." She told him. He sat down on the edge of her bed.
"What's the matter Mari? Just tell me."
"Nothing's wrong."
"Is it the whole slayer thing? Tell me."
"No."
"You liar. What's the problem?"
"I told you. Nothing."
"It's like trying to get blood out of a stone." he joked "Let me try and guess, OK? You feel hemmed in, constricted? You feel like you have no life, and surely Buffy didn't have to put up with all this?" Mari stared at him. How did he guess all that?
"I knew Buffy for a very long time. You get to learn these things. It does get easier. You'll get used to it and saving the world becomes such a regular occurrence that you barely even notice. Oh, one last thing."
"Yeah?" she said with the faintest hint of a smile.
"Learn the plural of apocalypse." He smiled at her before leaving the room.
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Sunnydale, California. 2020.
"Congratulations!" Everybody shouted as Mr and Mrs Jason Mallone came down the stairs in their going-away outfits.
Paloma positively glowed with happiness as they descended. She closed her eyes and threw the bouquet, straight into the waiting hands of Helene Osbourne. Then she went over to her father, waiting a little way from the large group of people. His deep brown eyes looked into her green eyes.
"Hello Daddy." she said softly. Angel just looked at her, wondering if all fathers think their daughters are so beautiful. Silently, he pulled her into a hug.
"I love you Paloma." he whispered into her ear. He may have given her away officially a few hours previously, but now he was truly accepting that his little girl was all grown up.
"I love you too daddy." she told him, kissing him on the cheek. She then went to say goodbye to her mother, Cordelia, Willow, Xander and Oz before taking Jason's hand. The two of them set off into the night and into their future.
"Angel," Buffy said, wrapping her arm around his waist.
"Hmm?" he asked, distractedly.
"You feel old, don't you?"
"Never older. She's all grown up Buffy." he said. Buffy smiled at him.
"I know. I never thought I'd see the day..."
"Stop it." he commanded
"Well, slayers don't usually live long enough to have children, never mind see they grow up and get married." She said in a matter-of-fact voice. Angel frowned at her.
"Don't talk like that." But in his heart he couldn't argue with her. Since India, there had been seven other slayers. And, at the grand old age of 39, Buffy was by far the oldest ever slayer. Nobody had truly expected her to live beyond 25. But that was a sober thought for another time. So Angel just took her into his arms and hugged her tightly, kissing her softly.
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Mari was feeling better. She'd been slaying for five months now and it had already become boringly routine. Xander, Cordelia and Willow had been more than willing to resurrect the old Scooby Gang for her. Except it wasn't really the same.
There was no Buffy, no Oz and it was Donald Giles, not Rupert. But they would research every demon which came Mari's way and she would then stop it. Already she had stopped the Hellmouth opening. In fact, they had sealed it up in perpetuity. But what concerned Mari most of all was how little she really knew about her family.
Although she hadn't noticed as a child, she now realised that she didn't know about her grandmother's death or even the deaths of her parents. She didn't know what had happened that caused Angel to be raising Mari on his own. She didn't know much about her family except for what Angel had told her. She knew, for instance, that Buffy and Angel had been completely in love with each other, and so had Jason and Paloma. Becoming the slayer had thrown up so many questions for her, and Angel was renowned for his reticence.
"Angel?" she ventured. He looked up from his book and smiled at his granddaughter.
"Yes?" She sat down beside him.
"I want to know the things you never told me." She said. He looked confused.
"What things?"
"Like how Buffy died. How my mom and dad died. Stuff like that." she managed to say, unsure of his reaction. But Angel wasn't angry, for he'd been anticipating this moment.
"You want to know everything? Everything that ever happened?" he looked so sad.
"Yes. You've told me everything about the time you went all... evil. But you never told me the other bad stuff. I need to know. Please." she pleaded. He sighed.
"OK. Come with me." He took her hand and led her down into the basement. There, he took out a key and opened the door to the metal cupboard. He took out a box and motioned for her to sit down.
"You want to know everything, and I can't blame you. But its not pleasant."
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Sunnydale, California. June 2021
Spike stepped into the early evening darkness. He growled as he looked down on Sunnydale. William the Bloody was back in Sunnydale for a reason. The Slayer had been a thorn in his side for too long and he didn't intend for things to stay that way for long. She was older now, much older and he was certain that he could easily overpower her with just a little forethought.
Now he was rid of Drusilla and her distracting influence he was free to concentrate solely on the death of the Slayer. Once the chip had been removed from his head he had resolved to kill Buffy. Even if she took him down with her, it would be worth it.
***
Buffy sat with Paloma at the Espresso Pump. Paloma and Jason had been married for just over a year and their baby was expected in four months.
"Is Daddy coming too?" Paloma asked her mother. The sun had just set and the two had been on a hard day's shop.
"He said he was." Buffy told her daughter. It wasn't often that she got to spend time with Paloma.
Either she was busy working or Paloma was busy completing her final year at college. She deeply missed being able to spend time with her daughter, and she knew Angel felt the same. Truth be told, Angel seemed to have lost a little part of him the day Paloma got married and went to live on Peachtree Road with her new husband.
"Hello!" A deep voice called from the entrance. But instead of Angel standing there, it was Jason.
Paloma's eyes lit up immediately and her tired expression was replaced with a wide smile. It was the exact same look Buffy always displayed when Angel walked into the room. She too smiled at the love between her daughter and her husband. She had spent her life trying to protect Paloma. Before Paloma was born Buffy had seen her calling as just a job of kinds. But after the birth of Paloma, the job of Slayer really did become a personal mission.
She had a daughter to care for and she fully intended to do so. Now that daughter was grown up and having a child of her own. It made Buffy feel old, even at just 41. But then, Buffy had never thought she'd live to 41, so it was a good feeling.
"Mom? Mom?" Paloma was looking at her strangely. Buffy blinked at her.
"What? Did I zone out?" she asked.
"Yeah." Paloma said with a smile. "Jason was just telling us how the UC Sunnydale football team won against the UCLA team tonight. Jason was the big star." she smiled proudly.
"I was not saying that." he said, blushing. Buffy smiled. He was a modest young man, still not entirely comfortable with the idea of being good enough to play football at college level.
"I bet's it's true though." Buffy said fondly. He blushed again.
"How did it go today?" he asked his wife, hoping to get off the subject of his football prowess.
"Very well." Paloma said mysteriously.
"Did they tell you? Is it a boy or a girl?" Buffy grinned at the two of them. She too, was anxious to know. If it was a girl, there was a chance it could be a Slayer. That wasn't something Buffy wanted for her granddaughter. Paloma smiled widely.
"The doctor said...." she said slowly. "That the baby is..." she paused, pretending to try to remember.
"Paloma!" Jason exclaimed.
"A girl." Paloma said solemnly. Jason's smile grew wider to match hers. To Buffy it was clear that a girl baby was exactly what they had wanted. She watched as the two spoke excitedly to each other. She felt a strange feeling of loneliness.
"Feeling old Miss Summers?" a voice asked smoothly as two arms wrapped around her waist.
"Well, a little." She admitted, kissing Angel on the cheek. He smiled at her.
"Wait till you get to my age." He joked. She grinned at him, but then she felt a horrible, unexplainable feeling. Fear. Her face went white. Angel, Paloma and Jason all looked concerned.
"Mom?"
"Buffy?" Angel asked. But Buffy didn't say a word. Instead her eyes locked onto the blond man in the doorway. By the time Angel followed her gaze, the doorway was empty.
"What was it Buffy?" he asked her. If his heart could actually beat it would have been pounding fast with fear. She managed one word.
"Spike."
***
"Giles! Giles!" Angel hollered. They had arrived at the apartment Giles lived in with his wife Amanda and their twelve year old son Donald, only to find the door broken down and the apartment empty. Buffy followed him in.
"He's not here. I know Amanda was taking Donny to visit her parents this weekend, so hopefully, they're safe. But Giles...." She trailed off. Xander barrelled in.
"Where is he?" he demanded.
"We don't know. But it has to have something to do with Spike." Buffy said resignedly.
She had been given a shock earlier when she saw Spike. The last time they had fought, just a few years before, he had almost overwhelmed her. Now she truly was getting too old to fight. She shouldn't even be alive now, according to every single piece of Slayer lore and prophecy. She knew she wasn't strong enough to beat Spike anymore.
"We need to find Alessandra." she said, referring to the current Slayer, an Italian girl.
"Xander, you call her. Angel, we need to think where Spike might have taken Giles."
"The factory." he said without hesitation. She looked at him
"Would Spike really be that stupid?" she asked. They paused for just a moment before heading off towards the factory.
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"What happened?"
"Spike captured him. He took Giles to the old factory, hid him in the basement, where he tortured him, where he taunted Giles with false images of his wife and child being killed. He managed to do what I hadn't: He drove Giles mad and broke him. Giles had loved a woman called Jenny Calendar when Buffy was in high school. And I killed her. I tortured Giles for hours to get the secrets of Acathla. Yet Spike was the one who, over a week of non-stop torture, drove Giles insane. Then, he drained Giles of all his blood and forced him to drink from Spike. Buffy had to kill her own Watcher and then she had to tell Amanda Giles. We never saw Amanda or Donald again. Well, until now." He said, thinking of Mari's watcher. Mari shuddered at the thought of having to stake her own watcher.
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Buffy sat catatonic on the bed. She had killed Giles. The one person who had always, always stood by her, even when Angel had turned evil. He was dead. She'd had to tell his wife. That had been almost as hard as driving the stake through his heart.
"Buffy?" Angel's voice penetrated her deep thoughts.
"Yes?" she asked softly.
"You did the right thing."
"I know."
"It wasn't Giles you killed, it was the demon who wore his face. Giles would have wanted you to do it. He would have disappointed if you hadn't." Angel told her. He had to get through to her.
"We could have given him your curse." she said stubbornly.
"No we couldn't. Giles wouldn't want to be a vampire. It would have devastated him." Buffy looked up into the familiar brown eyes and tried to smile a little. She knew he was right, even if she did feel lousy.
"Do you feel any better now?" he asked.
"No."
"Didn't think you would. Alessandra is patrolling. You stay here." he told her firmly.
"No."
"What?"
"Spike isn't going to see the end of tonight." She stood up. "I'm going to do what I should have done years ago." Her eyes were full of anger. "I'm not going to let him kill anyone else."
Paloma came rushing in.
"Xander's here. He says there's a gang of vampires attacking a girl scout cookout at the park." Angel got up, grabbed the bag of weapons he kept by the door.
"Stay with her." He commanded his daughter. She nodded.
"Buffy?" He asked. "Stay here."
"Angel?" She said. He paused. "I love you." She told him with a smile. "I love you too." He reached over and kissed Buffy softly, before running out to Xander.
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"That was the last time I saw her alive." Angel told Mari, his eyes filling with tears.
But, being the kind of guy he was, he wouldn't shed them. Mari put her hand on her shoulder.
"What did Spike do to her?" she willed herself to ask.
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"Mom! You can't." Paloma was trying to sound authoritative, but it was hard. Buffy had sprung into action the second Angel left.
"You don't even know where he is." Jason tried to reason with her.
She ignored him and continued collecting stakes, crossbow bolts and such from around the mansion. Suddenly, a rock flew through the French windows.
"I bet you fifty dollars there's a note attached." Buffy said dryly. Jason picked it up and sure enough, there was a note attached. He read it out aloud.
"Come to the Bronze or Peaches dies."
"He's got Daddy?" Paloma's voice rose an octave with fear.
"That is IT!" Buffy screamed. "He can torture and sire my watcher, but nobody messes with my boyfriend! Does he never learn?" She screamed with anger and fear.
"OK. But we're coming with you." Paloma told her. Jason nodded. They both knew that Buffy was getting weaker. Certainly not strong enough to beat Spike on her own.
***
The Bronze was deserted when they arrived, as Buffy knew it would be. She wished that the villains would come up with some more original venues. The Bronze had gotten tired a long time ago. Then, without warning, the heavy steel door clanged shut.
"Hello, cutie." A slightly dodgy British accent cut through the darkness. Spike came into view.
"Paloma, get out of here." Buffy murmured.
She wasn't having her daughter hurt for all the tea in China. Paloma withdrew into the shadows, where Spike couldn't see her. He was so caught up in Buffy, Spike didn't even notice Paloma's presence.
"See you brought the son in law." Spike said conversationally. Before Jason could react, Spike had grabbed him and with no warning whatsoever, snapped the young man's neck. Buffy's eyes widened with fear and anger and grief.
"You'll be sorry you did that, peroxide boy." She told him, her voice wavering.
"Will I really Buff?" He asked with a smirk. "Do you think so? I feel pretty good about it right now. Everything is, for once, working according to plan. Right now, the great poof you call Angel and the one that dresses in the dark... Xander, are being outnumbered by a gang of my personal favourites, and should be dead within about a half a minute. And that werewolf guy got acquainted with a silver bullet. But you, I want to kill you personally." He smiled at her, a sickening, terrifying smile.
Buffy felt her insides go cold with fear. This time he really meant to kill her. He would stop at nothing. For the first time in her life, Buffy Summers completely helpless.
***
Angel and Xander fought hard: the vampires trying to feast on twenty girl scouts were determined in their quest. But then, suddenly, as Angel staked a second vampire, the rest ran off, as if controlled by another force.
"What was all that about?" Xander asked him over the din of crying girls.
"I don't know. But they looked like they might have something to do with Spike. I haven't seen them around before." Angel said, already on his way back to the mansion. Xander ran to catch up with him.
***
Spike was methodically pouring gasoline around the Bronze. He had already started a fire by the door and the smoke was making Buffy weak., as he intended it to. She lay on the floor, hacking with coughs. He doused the stage with petrol before jumping down and hauling Buffy to her feet.
"I've been waiting for this moment a long time, Slayer." He told her. Then, he snapped her neck in one fluid movement. Then, leaning down, he drained her of every last drop of blood, taking in the strength of the slayer blood. After he drained her, he noticed Paloma lying near the flames. He picked her up and dragged her away into the ladies' bathroom, away from the flames which could kill him.
***
By the time Angel and Xander arrived at the Bronze, it was ablaze. The fire had taken to most of the building but the note he'd found left Angel in no doubt as to Buffy's whereabouts. Ignoring the fire-fighters, he barrelled straight inside. The smoke was thick and he squinted to see. He saw Buffy's body lying by the stage and he ran to her.
His heart sank, then broke. He could see that she'd been drained and her neck had been snapped. There was no hope. As he scooped her into his arms and his body began shaking with sobs, he heard a scream. He leapt up, and made his way to the ladies' bathroom.
There he found Paloma, badly beaten and weakened from the smoke. He hooked his arm around her and hauled her up and out.
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He sat down beside her and opened the box. On top of the papers inside was a newspaper clipping with the headline "Buffy Summers Killed In Bronze Blaze" Angel handed the piece to Mari. She read it:
"The Sunnydale community has been left reeling by the death of Buffy Summers. Ms. Summers, who has lived in the town since 1997, was a popular figure around Sunnydale. Her son-in-law Jason Mallone was also found dead while his wife Paloma, five months pregnant, is in the Intensive Care Unit at Sunnydale General Hospital. Ms Summers' husband was unavailable for comment today but friends say he is 'devastated' by the tragedy. The fire department is treating the blaze as suspicious."
Mari checked the date. It read June 2021. Just four months before she was born. She looked up at Angel, who handed her another clipping.
"The inquiry into the fire at the Bronze nightclub which resulted in the deaths of Buffy Summers and Jason Mallone has found that the blaze was started behind the bar. Traces of petroleum and other accelerants were found around the building and today the Coroner released the information that Ms Summers and Mr Mallone were not killed by the fire as first thought, but had their necks broken some time previously. It is thought to be the work of a gang who were seen leaving town at the same time. Attempts to trace the gang have so far proved unsuccessful."
Mari again looked up at her grandfather, who seemed unable to speak. He tried anyway.
"Spike kept returning to Sunnydale for one reason or another. Always Buffy would foil his plans. Then he came back one last time, determined to rid the world of the curse of Buffy. He managed to trap Buffy, Jason and Paloma in the Bronze, where he started the fire. He drained Buffy of her blood, but just killed Jason straight off. Paloma hid. He found her, and beat her, but he ran when the fire got too out of control."
"Where were you?"
"I was on the other side of town with Xander fighting off Spike's diversion."
"What happened to mom?"
"She managed to survive. I got her out of the fire before it reached her. But she had serious smoke inhalation, not to even mention the beating Spike gave her. We were all amazed he even left her alive. The doctors all expected her to miscarry you. But she managed to hold on until you were born." A look of unspeakable pain crossed his face.
"What happened then?" Mari asked softly.
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Angel sat, catatonic with grief by his daughter's bedside. He didn't need the Coroner to tell him that his wife had been exsanguinated, that her neck had been snapped. He'd done it often enough himself to notice the signs. He didn't need the police to try and convince him it was the work of a random gang from out of town.
He knew it was Spike. But now he had to think of Paloma. His last link to his beautiful Buffy was now lying beaten in the bed next to him. He'd always known that he'd outlive Buffy. But now it had actually happened, it hurt so much more than he could have imagined.
"Angel?" A soft voice called to him. The newly-widowed Willow came in. She looked tired and devasted. The triple deaths of Giles, Buffy and her beloved Oz had been almost too much to take.
"Hello." He managed to say, his eyes not leaving Paloma's bruised face for a second. Willow sat beside him, her hand finding his shoulder and squeezing him gently. He put his arms around her and together they wept.
***
Four months passed and Paloma improved a little day by day. Telling her that her mother and husband were dead shattered Paloma even more than Angel could have imagined and he truly thought she might die of heartbreak. But something kept her going, kept her from dying.
Every day he sat with her in the hospital, sitting with her, the two of them mingled in their anguish. Then one day in September, Paloma went into labour.
"Daddy!" She screamed. He stood by her, holding her hand as the contractions ripped through her body. It was a hard labour, the injuries she'd suffered making it so much worse.
"It's OK baby, It's OK. Just push now, OK?" he coaxed her gently. After hours of pain, Paloma and Jason's little girl was born and now Paloma lay in her bed, exhausted.
"She's beautiful." Angel told her.
"Does she look like Jason?" Paloma whispered.
"Yeah, she does."
"I'd like to call her Mari. Remember that Daddy, Mari."
"Sure. Mari. It's nice. Mari Mallone."
"Mari Mallone." Paloma repeated.
"OK."
"You won't forget?"
"No." He smiled. She managed a little smile in return.
"Look after her, Daddy. She needs you. You're all she has now. Promise me, daddy." She insisted. Angel's eyes widened as he realised what she was saying.
"No. Paloma......."
"Promise me." She repeated firmly. His eyes filled with tears, and he nodded.
"I promise." He whispered.
"I love you daddy." She said like a child. Then, a smile passed across her face and her eyes closed.
Paloma looked serene. Angel sat by her side, holding her daughter in his arms. His granddaughter. She was all he had left in the world. Hate filled his veins, every pore, every fibre throbbed with hate. All he could see was Spike, all he could think was Spike. He vowed to kill Spike, to cause Spike as much pain as was on Angel's shoulders right now.
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"So, what happened next?" Mari asked, her eyes brimming with tears.
"I went after him. I left you with Niagara and I went after him. I found him in Las Vegas."
"Did you kill him in Las Vegas?"
"No. I tortured him in Las Vegas. I brought him back to Sunnydale to die. I doused him in Holy Water, poked at him with crosses, I set light to him. It was like I was Angelus again. I was so mad with grief that I went crazy myself. Then Xander found me there in Las Vegas and persuaded me to come home. So I brought Spike back with me and then Xander and I introduced him to Mr. Pointy, Buffy's favourite stake. She was given it by the first 'other' slayer, Kendra. But after that, Xander, Cordelia and Willow made me pull myself together for your sake. I promised Paloma I'd look after you no matter what. I wanted to protect you from all the evil things in the world. And I would have succeeded if it weren't...."
"Weren't for the fact that I'm the Slayer now." Mari finished for him. He nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me all this?" She asked him.
"Because it was all too painful. I can handle all the horrors I committed as Angelus. I can do the feeling guilty thing. God knows I've had enough practice. But the thought of what Spike did to the people I cared most about.... I couldn't. I loved Buffy, I loved Paloma, I love you, and the thought of me outliving you too... Immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be."
"I'll bet you're dying to get rid of that, huh?" she joked. He smiled at her. He looked in the box and found a photograph of Paloma, lying in her hospital bed, holding her tiny daughter.
"That's Paloma with you." He said softly. Mari stared at it. Paloma looked a lot like she did. Which figured, Paloma being her mother and all. She looked nice, like someone who would make a nice mother. Mari suddenly felt very empty.
"I did my best." Angel told her, as if reading her mind.
"Your best was... is... Very good." she smiled up at her grandfather.
No matter how long she lived, she would never witness such horrors as he had seen, never experience the pain he had. She didn't know how he'd managed. He handed her another picture, this time of her father. She'd never seen a picture of him before. He was handsome. She liked him. He looked like the kind of dad who would play catch with her, something Angel could only do in the dark hours.
She wanted a normal life with her mom and dad but that option had been taken away from her before she was even born. But she had Angel. She placed her little hand in his bigger one.
"You did good." She told him.
"I wanted to tell you all this, but I never... There was never a good time. How do you tell a child all that?"
"Like you just did. Thank you granddad." She said, getting up. She smiled at him.
"Time to patrol." she picked up her bag of weapons and headed up the stairs.
***
Mari walked cautiously through the cemetery, using every sense she had to find vampires and other demons. But there were none to be found. So, feeling a little deflated, especially after everything Angel had told her, she walked back through town. It was, as one might imagine at that time of night, deserted. Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her and without thinking she spun around and knocked it to the ground. Or rather, him. It was a person.
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, helping him to his feet. Once over the initial shock of hitting an innocent bystander down, she really saw him for the first time.
He was wearing a beautiful dark purple silk shirt and finely tailored black trousers. A gold cross hung around his neck. And his face... Mari was in love instantly, such was his exquisite beauty.
"That's OK, I guess. Most people would react similarly. It's dark and all."
"Dark. And all." She repeated. "Sorry."
"Really, its OK. Since you knocked me over, maybe you can help me. I'm looking for Peachtree Road."
"Peachtree Road?"
"Uh huh. I just moved there. I went for a walk and now I have no idea where I'm going." He laughed nervously.
"You're new in town."
"Yeah. Just moved here with my dad. I have to find my way to the high school tomorrow. That should be interesting." He smiled, a quirky, slanty little grin that reminded her of Angel.
"You're in school?"
"I'm a junior starting Sunnydale High School as of tomorrow." He said, mock grandly.
"Yeah? Me too. Well, I don't start tomorrow, but I'm a junior at Sunnydale." She laughed nervously.
"Maybe you could show me round?" He asked.
"Well, since I'm starting today, why not? And I still owe you for knocking you down."
"Oh, forget it. Happens to me all the time." He grinned again.
***
Across the street in the shadows, a tall man in a leather coat with dark spiky hair grinned, a quirky, slanty little grin. A little of him was growling in protective anger, but the rest of him kept it down. He smiled and hoped that Buffy and Paloma were watching and were as proud of Mari as he was.
THE END
***
Sunnydale, 2038
Mari sat alone, fuming. Buffy didn't have to put up with this kind of thing, surely? She didn't know the battles that Buffy had fought against Giles in her quest for a normal life, she didn't know the number of times Angel and Buffy had been forced to change their plans due to unscheduled slaying or apocalypse averting.
She realised how little she knew about, well, anything. She didn't know what it was like to be a slayer yet. By the time Buffy was Mari's age, she had seen so much, yet Mari was still in her safe cocoon provided by Angel. She felt constricted.
"What do you want for dinner?" Angel put his head around her bedroom door.
"Nothing." Mari said glumly, her eyes not leaving the TV screen she wasn't really watching.
"What's the matter?" Angel was immediately concerned and he came into the room.
"Nothing, I'm just not hungry." She told him. He sat down on the edge of her bed.
"What's the matter Mari? Just tell me."
"Nothing's wrong."
"Is it the whole slayer thing? Tell me."
"No."
"You liar. What's the problem?"
"I told you. Nothing."
"It's like trying to get blood out of a stone." he joked "Let me try and guess, OK? You feel hemmed in, constricted? You feel like you have no life, and surely Buffy didn't have to put up with all this?" Mari stared at him. How did he guess all that?
"I knew Buffy for a very long time. You get to learn these things. It does get easier. You'll get used to it and saving the world becomes such a regular occurrence that you barely even notice. Oh, one last thing."
"Yeah?" she said with the faintest hint of a smile.
"Learn the plural of apocalypse." He smiled at her before leaving the room.
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Sunnydale, California. 2020.
"Congratulations!" Everybody shouted as Mr and Mrs Jason Mallone came down the stairs in their going-away outfits.
Paloma positively glowed with happiness as they descended. She closed her eyes and threw the bouquet, straight into the waiting hands of Helene Osbourne. Then she went over to her father, waiting a little way from the large group of people. His deep brown eyes looked into her green eyes.
"Hello Daddy." she said softly. Angel just looked at her, wondering if all fathers think their daughters are so beautiful. Silently, he pulled her into a hug.
"I love you Paloma." he whispered into her ear. He may have given her away officially a few hours previously, but now he was truly accepting that his little girl was all grown up.
"I love you too daddy." she told him, kissing him on the cheek. She then went to say goodbye to her mother, Cordelia, Willow, Xander and Oz before taking Jason's hand. The two of them set off into the night and into their future.
"Angel," Buffy said, wrapping her arm around his waist.
"Hmm?" he asked, distractedly.
"You feel old, don't you?"
"Never older. She's all grown up Buffy." he said. Buffy smiled at him.
"I know. I never thought I'd see the day..."
"Stop it." he commanded
"Well, slayers don't usually live long enough to have children, never mind see they grow up and get married." She said in a matter-of-fact voice. Angel frowned at her.
"Don't talk like that." But in his heart he couldn't argue with her. Since India, there had been seven other slayers. And, at the grand old age of 39, Buffy was by far the oldest ever slayer. Nobody had truly expected her to live beyond 25. But that was a sober thought for another time. So Angel just took her into his arms and hugged her tightly, kissing her softly.
XXXXXXXXXX
Mari was feeling better. She'd been slaying for five months now and it had already become boringly routine. Xander, Cordelia and Willow had been more than willing to resurrect the old Scooby Gang for her. Except it wasn't really the same.
There was no Buffy, no Oz and it was Donald Giles, not Rupert. But they would research every demon which came Mari's way and she would then stop it. Already she had stopped the Hellmouth opening. In fact, they had sealed it up in perpetuity. But what concerned Mari most of all was how little she really knew about her family.
Although she hadn't noticed as a child, she now realised that she didn't know about her grandmother's death or even the deaths of her parents. She didn't know what had happened that caused Angel to be raising Mari on his own. She didn't know much about her family except for what Angel had told her. She knew, for instance, that Buffy and Angel had been completely in love with each other, and so had Jason and Paloma. Becoming the slayer had thrown up so many questions for her, and Angel was renowned for his reticence.
"Angel?" she ventured. He looked up from his book and smiled at his granddaughter.
"Yes?" She sat down beside him.
"I want to know the things you never told me." She said. He looked confused.
"What things?"
"Like how Buffy died. How my mom and dad died. Stuff like that." she managed to say, unsure of his reaction. But Angel wasn't angry, for he'd been anticipating this moment.
"You want to know everything? Everything that ever happened?" he looked so sad.
"Yes. You've told me everything about the time you went all... evil. But you never told me the other bad stuff. I need to know. Please." she pleaded. He sighed.
"OK. Come with me." He took her hand and led her down into the basement. There, he took out a key and opened the door to the metal cupboard. He took out a box and motioned for her to sit down.
"You want to know everything, and I can't blame you. But its not pleasant."
XXXXXXXXX
Sunnydale, California. June 2021
Spike stepped into the early evening darkness. He growled as he looked down on Sunnydale. William the Bloody was back in Sunnydale for a reason. The Slayer had been a thorn in his side for too long and he didn't intend for things to stay that way for long. She was older now, much older and he was certain that he could easily overpower her with just a little forethought.
Now he was rid of Drusilla and her distracting influence he was free to concentrate solely on the death of the Slayer. Once the chip had been removed from his head he had resolved to kill Buffy. Even if she took him down with her, it would be worth it.
***
Buffy sat with Paloma at the Espresso Pump. Paloma and Jason had been married for just over a year and their baby was expected in four months.
"Is Daddy coming too?" Paloma asked her mother. The sun had just set and the two had been on a hard day's shop.
"He said he was." Buffy told her daughter. It wasn't often that she got to spend time with Paloma.
Either she was busy working or Paloma was busy completing her final year at college. She deeply missed being able to spend time with her daughter, and she knew Angel felt the same. Truth be told, Angel seemed to have lost a little part of him the day Paloma got married and went to live on Peachtree Road with her new husband.
"Hello!" A deep voice called from the entrance. But instead of Angel standing there, it was Jason.
Paloma's eyes lit up immediately and her tired expression was replaced with a wide smile. It was the exact same look Buffy always displayed when Angel walked into the room. She too smiled at the love between her daughter and her husband. She had spent her life trying to protect Paloma. Before Paloma was born Buffy had seen her calling as just a job of kinds. But after the birth of Paloma, the job of Slayer really did become a personal mission.
She had a daughter to care for and she fully intended to do so. Now that daughter was grown up and having a child of her own. It made Buffy feel old, even at just 41. But then, Buffy had never thought she'd live to 41, so it was a good feeling.
"Mom? Mom?" Paloma was looking at her strangely. Buffy blinked at her.
"What? Did I zone out?" she asked.
"Yeah." Paloma said with a smile. "Jason was just telling us how the UC Sunnydale football team won against the UCLA team tonight. Jason was the big star." she smiled proudly.
"I was not saying that." he said, blushing. Buffy smiled. He was a modest young man, still not entirely comfortable with the idea of being good enough to play football at college level.
"I bet's it's true though." Buffy said fondly. He blushed again.
"How did it go today?" he asked his wife, hoping to get off the subject of his football prowess.
"Very well." Paloma said mysteriously.
"Did they tell you? Is it a boy or a girl?" Buffy grinned at the two of them. She too, was anxious to know. If it was a girl, there was a chance it could be a Slayer. That wasn't something Buffy wanted for her granddaughter. Paloma smiled widely.
"The doctor said...." she said slowly. "That the baby is..." she paused, pretending to try to remember.
"Paloma!" Jason exclaimed.
"A girl." Paloma said solemnly. Jason's smile grew wider to match hers. To Buffy it was clear that a girl baby was exactly what they had wanted. She watched as the two spoke excitedly to each other. She felt a strange feeling of loneliness.
"Feeling old Miss Summers?" a voice asked smoothly as two arms wrapped around her waist.
"Well, a little." She admitted, kissing Angel on the cheek. He smiled at her.
"Wait till you get to my age." He joked. She grinned at him, but then she felt a horrible, unexplainable feeling. Fear. Her face went white. Angel, Paloma and Jason all looked concerned.
"Mom?"
"Buffy?" Angel asked. But Buffy didn't say a word. Instead her eyes locked onto the blond man in the doorway. By the time Angel followed her gaze, the doorway was empty.
"What was it Buffy?" he asked her. If his heart could actually beat it would have been pounding fast with fear. She managed one word.
"Spike."
***
"Giles! Giles!" Angel hollered. They had arrived at the apartment Giles lived in with his wife Amanda and their twelve year old son Donald, only to find the door broken down and the apartment empty. Buffy followed him in.
"He's not here. I know Amanda was taking Donny to visit her parents this weekend, so hopefully, they're safe. But Giles...." She trailed off. Xander barrelled in.
"Where is he?" he demanded.
"We don't know. But it has to have something to do with Spike." Buffy said resignedly.
She had been given a shock earlier when she saw Spike. The last time they had fought, just a few years before, he had almost overwhelmed her. Now she truly was getting too old to fight. She shouldn't even be alive now, according to every single piece of Slayer lore and prophecy. She knew she wasn't strong enough to beat Spike anymore.
"We need to find Alessandra." she said, referring to the current Slayer, an Italian girl.
"Xander, you call her. Angel, we need to think where Spike might have taken Giles."
"The factory." he said without hesitation. She looked at him
"Would Spike really be that stupid?" she asked. They paused for just a moment before heading off towards the factory.
XXXXXXXXX
"What happened?"
"Spike captured him. He took Giles to the old factory, hid him in the basement, where he tortured him, where he taunted Giles with false images of his wife and child being killed. He managed to do what I hadn't: He drove Giles mad and broke him. Giles had loved a woman called Jenny Calendar when Buffy was in high school. And I killed her. I tortured Giles for hours to get the secrets of Acathla. Yet Spike was the one who, over a week of non-stop torture, drove Giles insane. Then, he drained Giles of all his blood and forced him to drink from Spike. Buffy had to kill her own Watcher and then she had to tell Amanda Giles. We never saw Amanda or Donald again. Well, until now." He said, thinking of Mari's watcher. Mari shuddered at the thought of having to stake her own watcher.
XXXXXXXXX
Buffy sat catatonic on the bed. She had killed Giles. The one person who had always, always stood by her, even when Angel had turned evil. He was dead. She'd had to tell his wife. That had been almost as hard as driving the stake through his heart.
"Buffy?" Angel's voice penetrated her deep thoughts.
"Yes?" she asked softly.
"You did the right thing."
"I know."
"It wasn't Giles you killed, it was the demon who wore his face. Giles would have wanted you to do it. He would have disappointed if you hadn't." Angel told her. He had to get through to her.
"We could have given him your curse." she said stubbornly.
"No we couldn't. Giles wouldn't want to be a vampire. It would have devastated him." Buffy looked up into the familiar brown eyes and tried to smile a little. She knew he was right, even if she did feel lousy.
"Do you feel any better now?" he asked.
"No."
"Didn't think you would. Alessandra is patrolling. You stay here." he told her firmly.
"No."
"What?"
"Spike isn't going to see the end of tonight." She stood up. "I'm going to do what I should have done years ago." Her eyes were full of anger. "I'm not going to let him kill anyone else."
Paloma came rushing in.
"Xander's here. He says there's a gang of vampires attacking a girl scout cookout at the park." Angel got up, grabbed the bag of weapons he kept by the door.
"Stay with her." He commanded his daughter. She nodded.
"Buffy?" He asked. "Stay here."
"Angel?" She said. He paused. "I love you." She told him with a smile. "I love you too." He reached over and kissed Buffy softly, before running out to Xander.
XXXXXXXXX
"That was the last time I saw her alive." Angel told Mari, his eyes filling with tears.
But, being the kind of guy he was, he wouldn't shed them. Mari put her hand on her shoulder.
"What did Spike do to her?" she willed herself to ask.
XXXXXXXXX
"Mom! You can't." Paloma was trying to sound authoritative, but it was hard. Buffy had sprung into action the second Angel left.
"You don't even know where he is." Jason tried to reason with her.
She ignored him and continued collecting stakes, crossbow bolts and such from around the mansion. Suddenly, a rock flew through the French windows.
"I bet you fifty dollars there's a note attached." Buffy said dryly. Jason picked it up and sure enough, there was a note attached. He read it out aloud.
"Come to the Bronze or Peaches dies."
"He's got Daddy?" Paloma's voice rose an octave with fear.
"That is IT!" Buffy screamed. "He can torture and sire my watcher, but nobody messes with my boyfriend! Does he never learn?" She screamed with anger and fear.
"OK. But we're coming with you." Paloma told her. Jason nodded. They both knew that Buffy was getting weaker. Certainly not strong enough to beat Spike on her own.
***
The Bronze was deserted when they arrived, as Buffy knew it would be. She wished that the villains would come up with some more original venues. The Bronze had gotten tired a long time ago. Then, without warning, the heavy steel door clanged shut.
"Hello, cutie." A slightly dodgy British accent cut through the darkness. Spike came into view.
"Paloma, get out of here." Buffy murmured.
She wasn't having her daughter hurt for all the tea in China. Paloma withdrew into the shadows, where Spike couldn't see her. He was so caught up in Buffy, Spike didn't even notice Paloma's presence.
"See you brought the son in law." Spike said conversationally. Before Jason could react, Spike had grabbed him and with no warning whatsoever, snapped the young man's neck. Buffy's eyes widened with fear and anger and grief.
"You'll be sorry you did that, peroxide boy." She told him, her voice wavering.
"Will I really Buff?" He asked with a smirk. "Do you think so? I feel pretty good about it right now. Everything is, for once, working according to plan. Right now, the great poof you call Angel and the one that dresses in the dark... Xander, are being outnumbered by a gang of my personal favourites, and should be dead within about a half a minute. And that werewolf guy got acquainted with a silver bullet. But you, I want to kill you personally." He smiled at her, a sickening, terrifying smile.
Buffy felt her insides go cold with fear. This time he really meant to kill her. He would stop at nothing. For the first time in her life, Buffy Summers completely helpless.
***
Angel and Xander fought hard: the vampires trying to feast on twenty girl scouts were determined in their quest. But then, suddenly, as Angel staked a second vampire, the rest ran off, as if controlled by another force.
"What was all that about?" Xander asked him over the din of crying girls.
"I don't know. But they looked like they might have something to do with Spike. I haven't seen them around before." Angel said, already on his way back to the mansion. Xander ran to catch up with him.
***
Spike was methodically pouring gasoline around the Bronze. He had already started a fire by the door and the smoke was making Buffy weak., as he intended it to. She lay on the floor, hacking with coughs. He doused the stage with petrol before jumping down and hauling Buffy to her feet.
"I've been waiting for this moment a long time, Slayer." He told her. Then, he snapped her neck in one fluid movement. Then, leaning down, he drained her of every last drop of blood, taking in the strength of the slayer blood. After he drained her, he noticed Paloma lying near the flames. He picked her up and dragged her away into the ladies' bathroom, away from the flames which could kill him.
***
By the time Angel and Xander arrived at the Bronze, it was ablaze. The fire had taken to most of the building but the note he'd found left Angel in no doubt as to Buffy's whereabouts. Ignoring the fire-fighters, he barrelled straight inside. The smoke was thick and he squinted to see. He saw Buffy's body lying by the stage and he ran to her.
His heart sank, then broke. He could see that she'd been drained and her neck had been snapped. There was no hope. As he scooped her into his arms and his body began shaking with sobs, he heard a scream. He leapt up, and made his way to the ladies' bathroom.
There he found Paloma, badly beaten and weakened from the smoke. He hooked his arm around her and hauled her up and out.
XXXXXXXXX
He sat down beside her and opened the box. On top of the papers inside was a newspaper clipping with the headline "Buffy Summers Killed In Bronze Blaze" Angel handed the piece to Mari. She read it:
"The Sunnydale community has been left reeling by the death of Buffy Summers. Ms. Summers, who has lived in the town since 1997, was a popular figure around Sunnydale. Her son-in-law Jason Mallone was also found dead while his wife Paloma, five months pregnant, is in the Intensive Care Unit at Sunnydale General Hospital. Ms Summers' husband was unavailable for comment today but friends say he is 'devastated' by the tragedy. The fire department is treating the blaze as suspicious."
Mari checked the date. It read June 2021. Just four months before she was born. She looked up at Angel, who handed her another clipping.
"The inquiry into the fire at the Bronze nightclub which resulted in the deaths of Buffy Summers and Jason Mallone has found that the blaze was started behind the bar. Traces of petroleum and other accelerants were found around the building and today the Coroner released the information that Ms Summers and Mr Mallone were not killed by the fire as first thought, but had their necks broken some time previously. It is thought to be the work of a gang who were seen leaving town at the same time. Attempts to trace the gang have so far proved unsuccessful."
Mari again looked up at her grandfather, who seemed unable to speak. He tried anyway.
"Spike kept returning to Sunnydale for one reason or another. Always Buffy would foil his plans. Then he came back one last time, determined to rid the world of the curse of Buffy. He managed to trap Buffy, Jason and Paloma in the Bronze, where he started the fire. He drained Buffy of her blood, but just killed Jason straight off. Paloma hid. He found her, and beat her, but he ran when the fire got too out of control."
"Where were you?"
"I was on the other side of town with Xander fighting off Spike's diversion."
"What happened to mom?"
"She managed to survive. I got her out of the fire before it reached her. But she had serious smoke inhalation, not to even mention the beating Spike gave her. We were all amazed he even left her alive. The doctors all expected her to miscarry you. But she managed to hold on until you were born." A look of unspeakable pain crossed his face.
"What happened then?" Mari asked softly.
XXXXXXXXX
Angel sat, catatonic with grief by his daughter's bedside. He didn't need the Coroner to tell him that his wife had been exsanguinated, that her neck had been snapped. He'd done it often enough himself to notice the signs. He didn't need the police to try and convince him it was the work of a random gang from out of town.
He knew it was Spike. But now he had to think of Paloma. His last link to his beautiful Buffy was now lying beaten in the bed next to him. He'd always known that he'd outlive Buffy. But now it had actually happened, it hurt so much more than he could have imagined.
"Angel?" A soft voice called to him. The newly-widowed Willow came in. She looked tired and devasted. The triple deaths of Giles, Buffy and her beloved Oz had been almost too much to take.
"Hello." He managed to say, his eyes not leaving Paloma's bruised face for a second. Willow sat beside him, her hand finding his shoulder and squeezing him gently. He put his arms around her and together they wept.
***
Four months passed and Paloma improved a little day by day. Telling her that her mother and husband were dead shattered Paloma even more than Angel could have imagined and he truly thought she might die of heartbreak. But something kept her going, kept her from dying.
Every day he sat with her in the hospital, sitting with her, the two of them mingled in their anguish. Then one day in September, Paloma went into labour.
"Daddy!" She screamed. He stood by her, holding her hand as the contractions ripped through her body. It was a hard labour, the injuries she'd suffered making it so much worse.
"It's OK baby, It's OK. Just push now, OK?" he coaxed her gently. After hours of pain, Paloma and Jason's little girl was born and now Paloma lay in her bed, exhausted.
"She's beautiful." Angel told her.
"Does she look like Jason?" Paloma whispered.
"Yeah, she does."
"I'd like to call her Mari. Remember that Daddy, Mari."
"Sure. Mari. It's nice. Mari Mallone."
"Mari Mallone." Paloma repeated.
"OK."
"You won't forget?"
"No." He smiled. She managed a little smile in return.
"Look after her, Daddy. She needs you. You're all she has now. Promise me, daddy." She insisted. Angel's eyes widened as he realised what she was saying.
"No. Paloma......."
"Promise me." She repeated firmly. His eyes filled with tears, and he nodded.
"I promise." He whispered.
"I love you daddy." She said like a child. Then, a smile passed across her face and her eyes closed.
Paloma looked serene. Angel sat by her side, holding her daughter in his arms. His granddaughter. She was all he had left in the world. Hate filled his veins, every pore, every fibre throbbed with hate. All he could see was Spike, all he could think was Spike. He vowed to kill Spike, to cause Spike as much pain as was on Angel's shoulders right now.
XXXXXXXXX
"So, what happened next?" Mari asked, her eyes brimming with tears.
"I went after him. I left you with Niagara and I went after him. I found him in Las Vegas."
"Did you kill him in Las Vegas?"
"No. I tortured him in Las Vegas. I brought him back to Sunnydale to die. I doused him in Holy Water, poked at him with crosses, I set light to him. It was like I was Angelus again. I was so mad with grief that I went crazy myself. Then Xander found me there in Las Vegas and persuaded me to come home. So I brought Spike back with me and then Xander and I introduced him to Mr. Pointy, Buffy's favourite stake. She was given it by the first 'other' slayer, Kendra. But after that, Xander, Cordelia and Willow made me pull myself together for your sake. I promised Paloma I'd look after you no matter what. I wanted to protect you from all the evil things in the world. And I would have succeeded if it weren't...."
"Weren't for the fact that I'm the Slayer now." Mari finished for him. He nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me all this?" She asked him.
"Because it was all too painful. I can handle all the horrors I committed as Angelus. I can do the feeling guilty thing. God knows I've had enough practice. But the thought of what Spike did to the people I cared most about.... I couldn't. I loved Buffy, I loved Paloma, I love you, and the thought of me outliving you too... Immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be."
"I'll bet you're dying to get rid of that, huh?" she joked. He smiled at her. He looked in the box and found a photograph of Paloma, lying in her hospital bed, holding her tiny daughter.
"That's Paloma with you." He said softly. Mari stared at it. Paloma looked a lot like she did. Which figured, Paloma being her mother and all. She looked nice, like someone who would make a nice mother. Mari suddenly felt very empty.
"I did my best." Angel told her, as if reading her mind.
"Your best was... is... Very good." she smiled up at her grandfather.
No matter how long she lived, she would never witness such horrors as he had seen, never experience the pain he had. She didn't know how he'd managed. He handed her another picture, this time of her father. She'd never seen a picture of him before. He was handsome. She liked him. He looked like the kind of dad who would play catch with her, something Angel could only do in the dark hours.
She wanted a normal life with her mom and dad but that option had been taken away from her before she was even born. But she had Angel. She placed her little hand in his bigger one.
"You did good." She told him.
"I wanted to tell you all this, but I never... There was never a good time. How do you tell a child all that?"
"Like you just did. Thank you granddad." She said, getting up. She smiled at him.
"Time to patrol." she picked up her bag of weapons and headed up the stairs.
***
Mari walked cautiously through the cemetery, using every sense she had to find vampires and other demons. But there were none to be found. So, feeling a little deflated, especially after everything Angel had told her, she walked back through town. It was, as one might imagine at that time of night, deserted. Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her and without thinking she spun around and knocked it to the ground. Or rather, him. It was a person.
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, helping him to his feet. Once over the initial shock of hitting an innocent bystander down, she really saw him for the first time.
He was wearing a beautiful dark purple silk shirt and finely tailored black trousers. A gold cross hung around his neck. And his face... Mari was in love instantly, such was his exquisite beauty.
"That's OK, I guess. Most people would react similarly. It's dark and all."
"Dark. And all." She repeated. "Sorry."
"Really, its OK. Since you knocked me over, maybe you can help me. I'm looking for Peachtree Road."
"Peachtree Road?"
"Uh huh. I just moved there. I went for a walk and now I have no idea where I'm going." He laughed nervously.
"You're new in town."
"Yeah. Just moved here with my dad. I have to find my way to the high school tomorrow. That should be interesting." He smiled, a quirky, slanty little grin that reminded her of Angel.
"You're in school?"
"I'm a junior starting Sunnydale High School as of tomorrow." He said, mock grandly.
"Yeah? Me too. Well, I don't start tomorrow, but I'm a junior at Sunnydale." She laughed nervously.
"Maybe you could show me round?" He asked.
"Well, since I'm starting today, why not? And I still owe you for knocking you down."
"Oh, forget it. Happens to me all the time." He grinned again.
***
Across the street in the shadows, a tall man in a leather coat with dark spiky hair grinned, a quirky, slanty little grin. A little of him was growling in protective anger, but the rest of him kept it down. He smiled and hoped that Buffy and Paloma were watching and were as proud of Mari as he was.
THE END