Angel stood on the rooftop staring at the city below. Just one night ago he had held a woman in his arms. She was one of the most beautiful, rarest woman in the world. He had taken care of her and held her through her pain as a newly human being. But not tonight. Tonight she left him. She had left him before of course, or rather pushed him out of her life when she reviled his soul. But suddenly she had one as well, and he was no longer so alone.

But he was always alone.

They had travelled everywhere together. Cut a swath through Europe and hurt so many people. Holtz. Gypsies. Innocents caught in every crossfire imaginable. And Darla was worse than even he had been, feeding and torturing anyone she could. But her end was so different than the artificial immortality she had been given 400 years ago. He had held her, so weak and fragile, in his arms as she cried out deleriously. The disease that had been stayed by the Master had come back with a vengeance and ravaged her newly weak frame until at last her soul could achieve

What do you do when the woman that you had worshipped for so long is dying? You slick back her hair, kiss her forehead, and let her know that it will be alright. Angel smiled to himself. After the trial that sealed her fate, he never let anything happen to her. And now she can be at true peace, with no violence, no hatred, no evil. Curled up next to him on the bed, he hadn't known she was anything but asleep except that she was no longer breathing.

Angel walked down from the roof and looked into his bedroom one last time. Yes, even now she was still peaceful. Her face showed none of the hatred or pain from her life before. She had known contentment and love before she died, and it was still reflected in her now. He walked down to the lobby of his hotel and saw his friends working. Cordelia looked up from her computer as he came into the room.

"How is she?" she asked, pretending to be unconcerned. These past two months had been hard on all of them.
"She's gone." Angel replied, letting them know the time had come, "She died in her sleep about half an hour ago."
"Oh, god. Angel, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay. She was happy, and now she's at peace."

As the others made arrangements with the doctors, Angel sat down in his chair. A page in his life had turned and he felt for the first time in ages that maybe he had turned the scorecard a little in his favor. He had saved Darla, his sire, and been able to protect her even from herself. And she had been happy. Maybe one day he could be too.