One by one they were chucked out of the white light onto the ground. As they looked around, they realized they weren't vaporized by the power source after all but in fact had been thrown back through the portal and were back at the base. It was daylight and Spike and Angel screamed as the sun burned them. Angel was still holding Lorne and Willow had the wherewithal to telepathically push the yellow alarm so the doctors would come with multiple stretchers for the injured. Thankfully they were chucked out near the hospital so it didn't take long for everyone to get inside. Spike and Angel's hands were badly burned but they were healing quickly.

            Lorne was taken into one of the ER's right away along with Willow who knew she had to help heal him. He was worse off than Clem was when he was brought in. By that time, the rest of the gang that had stayed behind had raced to the hospital to see who was alive and who wasn't. Connor and Dawn came from Buffy's house. As soon as Connor saw Angel, he didn't even bother with his usual crap but hugged his father tightly as the gesture stunned Angel but he put his arms around his son as a tear squeezed out of the eyes of both father and son. Connor had finally become the son Angel had always wanted ever since he came back from Qor'Toth after Holtz kidnapped him. 

            Buffy hugged Dawn just as hard and inquired why she was limping. That was when everyone who traveled to the hell dimension found out about the earthquake from hell that happened up here. They turned on a TV that was located in one of the rooms just as the news anchor was showing the devastation around Southern California. The destruction of the hell dimension destabilized the San Andreas Fault and it completely ruptured causing a mega quake that registered as an 8.1 on the Richter Scale. The governor had declared a state of emergency and every government agency including FEMA was on the scene to restore power, stop fires, and get a handle of the apocalyptic disaster.  

            Buffy knew in the days coming, she would have to reach out to the agency that was in charge of the base to make sure it was safe to operate in which meant checking foundations, fixing what was broken, and do something to the library so her sister wasn't in mortal danger from falling bookcases. She thanked Connor for saving Dawn's life from the tree and being there altogether. Connor had explained that Stanford was in ruins so he felt safer here and thanks to Tara's magic he was able to get one phone call out to his parents through the land line that he was with Angel and that the base was a lot safer. His parents told him to stay there and not go anywhere. Of course they didn't know that Angel was in a hell dimension. Their own house being made from wood only had fallen trees, cracks in the ground, and their chimney had collapsed so they were fairly lucky considering.

            Fred had rushed to the hospital as soon as the green alarm went off but as Lorne was in surgery, there wasn't anything she could do but wait. Meanwhile, everyone wanted answers from Illyria. What in the hell happened down there? But they couldn't find her until Spike said she went back to her greenhouse room to be alone. He figured she needed time to think things through and they were going to let her do just that. Willow emerged from the surgical quarters and said that Lorne would be ok though he would be out cold for a few days. She was so tired that she weaved and collapsed on the floor as Tara ran to her and held her up followed by Buffy.

            Angel—despite the burns on his hands that were already wrapped in bandages and disinfected—picked her up and carried her to an empty room and lay her down on a bed where she closed her eyes and just lay there as Tara didn't leave her side. The others felt sorry for her. She'd done so much. But as she lay there, there was something she couldn't bring herself to tell the others. She never opened the portal that brought them home. She had no idea how it happened. She kept trying and she kept failing and then all of a sudden they were back at the base. She was very unnerved by it. But she was too tired to speak.

            Just then, Illyria entered and walked over to where Willow was laying down. Tara was surprised to see her. Willow sensed her presence and opened her eyes.

"You need strength, I can help. I have a lot of it." Illyria said quietly. Tara looked from one to the other uncertainly. Willow nodded.

"Alright."

        Illyria put out her hands and Willow took them into her own and felt a sudden surge of energy; much like what Illyria gave to Fred at the hospital but tenfold. Willow breathed in deeply and felt her strength and energy returning to her. Afterwards, with Tara's help, Willow went back to their house and fell asleep.

        A few days later, Lorne woke up all groggy in a hospital room with little memory of what had happened after he was taken off his torture device in hell. He was sure he was dreaming. He didn't recognize his surroundings but he was sure it was another trick by the Senior Partners until he saw a doctor walk in and he shrieked. She was startled and ran out of the room. Soon he heard footsteps running down the hallway and he thought his tormentors were coming back. But he couldn't get out of bed; he was too weak.

        Angel, Wesley, Spike, and Gunn ran into the room first. When he saw them he just stared at them. Not sure what to believe he just started crying as Angel and the others just hugged him tightly.

"This can't be real. This is a dream. I'm still in hell. Please stop. I can't take this anymore." Lorne gulped. As they all looked at him with sadness in their eyes. They nodded at each other. Instead of Angel singing again, Wes walked outside the room and beckoned to someone. Suddenly, the song "Over the Rainbow" from the Wizard of Oz came softly wafting into the room as Lorne froze.

            Fred walked into the room with tears streaming down her face as she continued to sing softly the whole song and Lorne started seeing images of what really happened including her resurrection. As she came closer, both were crying as she was barely able to finish the song between sobs. When she reached him, she put her arms around him and they wept together for everything they had lost and found again. They were both home amongst family and friends.

            The room was large and slowly the rest of the gang trickled in and hugged Lorne or introduced themselves. Illyria was the last to enter. Everyone looked at her and she knew she had to explain what had happened sooner or later and she decided to get it out of the way.

"I know you want to know what happened down there and why I didn't tell you about it but the Senior Partners were mind readers. I knew that only in my original form did I have any chance of taking them out. I also knew I had to lie to all of you to think I deceived you so that you wouldn't give anything away with your thoughts. As soon as I saw the power source I knew exactly what it was and I had seen it before any of you did. I had seen it when the Wolf, Ram, & Hart were mere figments of our imaginations in my old world. I figured out that the only way to hurt them and collapse their dimension was to suck them into the power source which would self-destruct. I apologize for hurting you but it was truly the only way. Thankfully, Willow opened that portal before we were incinerated by the blast." Illyria finished.

"I didn't." Willow said softly as everyone turned toward her.

"You didn't do what?" Tara asked.

"I didn't open the portal. I kept failing at it and then just as the light reached us, we were here. I can't take credit for something I didn't do." She said as everyone looked shocked.

"Wait, so if you didn't open the portal and brought us back; than who did?" Buffy asked puzzled.

"I did." A voice said from the corner of the room as a bright light washed over the room and The Goddess appeared with a smile. Everyone gasped.

"But....how?" Willow stammered out.

"I knew you needed help and though that hell dimension made you very strong, the power source as it self-destructed took your power along with it. I knew I had to get you out of there. Illyria is the hero of the hour for gambling the way she did but you all played your parts. Not only did you destroy the dimension but Qor'Toth along with it and the Senior Partners are no more." The Goddess said as everyone looked shocked.

"So what happens now?" Spike asked standing near Illyria.

            The Goddess produced a tube that was familiar to most of the Angel group; it was the Shanshu Prophecy. She opened it up and took the parchment out. It looked a lot longer than they remembered. She showed Angel the portion where the Circle of the Black Thorn made him sign his name in blood and the blood vaporized instantly.

"The Shanshu Prophecy is actually a lot longer then what you have seen. It does talk about a vampire with a soul but it also mentions the fulfillment of destroying the Senior Partners and their dimensions. They obviously never wanted you to see that part. But it's been there the whole time. I already know Spike's decision so now Angel I need to know yours." She said as everyone looked at Spike.

"Yeah well, I decided that becoming a real boy isn't all it's cracked up to be; I like immortality, it suits me. Besides, the blue bird here and I think we'll make a go of it." He said as he took Illyria's hand as everyone looked stunned at the revelation. Before Angel could say anything, Buffy turned to him and said:

"I remember everything. The Goddess showed me the time you gave up your immortality and then had everyone's memory erased. I understand why you chose to become a vampire again." Angel was stunned. She had never mentioned it before.

"The difference between then and now is that prophecy is a lot different. The parts you never got to see were that you will be half immortal. Meaning you will be able to step into the light and eat food. You will no longer be a vampire but you will still have the same strength as you have now. You will no longer need blood to feed. And most importantly, you get to retain your soul permanently. The curse will be lifted and you just like Spike will have a soul without any fear of losing it. Have as many moments of pure happiness as you want; you can get married and have children. They will be like Connor especially if you're with Buffy. The prophecy has always been made for you Angel. Whether you decide to take it, is up to you." The Goddess explained as both Angel and Buffy looked at each other.

Angel took a deep breath, looked at The Goddess then at Buffy and said......

To be continued......