Two years ago today, they had gotten married.

Kate Lockley leaned back in the leather chair, the pen in her hand as she gazed at the monitor, her eyebrow quirked in a gesture of concentration, reading the email with a twitch out of the corner of her mouth.

"You ready?"

She looked up and smiled at the half demon who approached her with a grin, leaning over the desk with a cocky manner that she had come to quite appreciate.

"Is he ready?"

"All dolled up like a little man."

"You mean a little vampire."

"He's neither. He's just our little Liam."

Kate gave Doyle a smile and stood, stretching slightly as she looked toward the clock.

"They'll kill us if we're late."

"They'll have to hold their horses. They want a baby-sitter, they can damn well pay us or give us a little leeway on the time."

She squeezed his hand and moved toward the mirror, eyes squinting as she ran her hands through the long blonde hair.

Hands slipped about her waist and she smiled, leaning against him for a second, looking at the picture the two of them made staring into the murky mirror.

"Kin I ask ya a question?"

"Sure."

"What  made you stay?"

The earnestness in his face was accented with true curiosity, and Kate felt herself smile, letting a hand slip up to curve around the slender neck, turning her head to give him a smile.

"The truth?"

"Uh-huh."

She took a breath, smiling at her lover, and then shrugged. "I wish I could say it was a chance to save the world. But I ducked out of that pretty fast. Or it could have been the fact that I really had no other career option at the time."

"Damn right."

"Oh, shut up." He squeezed her and she glared at him, but a smile was still on her lips when she answered, "The vision of me came through your eyes, didn't it? What'd you feel? When you felt me?"

He swallowed, the smile falling from his lips as they brushed against her temple gently. "I felt despair. Loneliness. Fear. Sadness. I felt-"

"Alone. And bitter."

"Yeah."

"Yeah." She nodded, turning so she could slide her hands about his waist, pressed herself up against him as she regarded him seriously. "I don't feel that way anymore. And it's nice."

Doyle winked, and she smirked, reaching up to kiss him once before turning away when something bumped into the doorway.

The toddler smiled up at her, and she felt herself smile back.

The child had large hazel eyes, skin soft as a dove' feathers, and a smile that was quiet obviously his fathers.

Kate smiled, reaching her hand out to the child.

"Hello, Liam. Come here. Let's go see Mommy and Daddy."

Smiling suddenly, the child sprinted with an unnatural speed that would have made anyone else do a double take, but the former detective merely pulled him up, sliding him onto her hip that didn’t carry her gun and turning to Doyle.

With a smile she tossed the revolver in her purse, giving him a half smile.

"Think it would be rude to show up armed?"

Doyle leaned forward, considering, and suddenly smiled "Nahhhhh."

Kate smiled and the trio walked toward the doors, pausing when it burst open and Cordelia pushed past them, sliding into the seat.

Doyle gave her a puzzled look, one that was immediately transferred to Angel who came in seconds behind her plucking Liam from them as Cordelia began to dial.

"Uh... mind tellin' us what's going on?"

"Work. Demons. Battles. Receda. You in?"

Liam giggled and clapped his chubby little hands against his father's face, who smiled, kissed his boy once, and sat on the edge of the desk.

Kate and Doyle gave each other a resigned look, and when the office's second line rang, Kate quickly picked it up.

"Angel Investigations. We help the hopeless."

~*~

EPILOGUE

The balance is tipping.

It's weird I know.

I've learned to ignore it, but whatever happened to me that night in the mansion hasn't really ever left me.

But I can feel it. I can feel the balance, the good and the evil that's inside of that I've got such a good grip on now. Up here on the rooftop, with my eyes roving over the city streets that never seemed so dark and appealing as they do at these times, I've learned to keep my sanity.

I've learned to dread what's coming. I've learned to stop waiting. And I've learned to start living.

I'm still wondering when I should warn them of the choice. The choice that they've all forgotten about. The choice I know is coming. I'm trying to find a way out of it, and I've gotten so much  control over it now, over the balance in my heart.

Angel, my love, my life, and my future, will never know that deep down, I've already chosen. I love my son, I love my husband, and I love my friends.

When I feel the pull, I pull away, I come up here, and I breathe and I think, and I smile, because finally I know what my lover knew for so long.

It's an eternal fight that will never end, and I'll hold on for as long as I can. Because I've learned one thing: No one can really foretell our future. We have a life of paths, of balances and checks, but we know deep down, the only one who really controls our choices is ourselves.

But I still pray.

I pray for them, and I pray for myself.

I know what's coming.

I just hope I'm strong enough to withstand it.

I hope they're strong enough to withstand it.

And when I'm up here, I get that rare moment of clarity that puts my heart at rest and makes my eyes water with hope and salvation.

I know we're strong enough.

If we do it together.

Thank God for the Tainted Love that seared my soul. Without it I would never be strong enough. Without it I wouldn't have them. And in the end, I know, that's really all I need.
 

FIN
END SERIES.