In that moment, Wesley Wyndham Price revised every single derogatory comment he'd ever made about Cordelia Chase's acting ability.

The girl was the finest actress he'd ever seen. His eyes had immediately gone not to Angel, but to Cordelia as the vampire made his announcement. Angel was so immersed in his Buffy revelation, he'd paid no attention to flash of abject hurt and pain that had appeared for a brief moment in Cordelia's eyes. He'd felt his own heart break for her as he watched all the dreams she'd built over the last two years crumble. He'd never said anything during those years, but he knew how much the beautiful young woman loved Angel. And how much this must be hurting her.

He felt an immeasurable pride at the way she quickly masked those emotions and managed a witty comeback, knowing he was the only one to notice how fake her smile seemed and that there was almost no expression in her eyes.

He found himself wondering if the PTB knew that by saving one soul… they'd destroyed another. It was times like these he truly doubted their wisdom.

But then again, there could be reasons to this happening now, his own news fitting in almost ironically with Angel's.

"Well… Angel… I know you're still trying to grasp everything, but dare I ask, do you know what you're going to do?" he managed, carefully concealing his apprehension, watching in sympathy as Cordelia tensed in her chair, though the forced smile never left her face.

"Well… I don't know… I mean, there are still plenty of people to save here in LA… but is my place really here with them? Or is it with Buffy, slaying demons together and fulfilling our destiny?" he ruminated, again oblivious to the flash of pain in Cordelia's eyes.

Wesley felt things going from bad to worse, but wasn't sure what to say. However, he knew it had to be Angel's choice… he and Cordelia didn't have any say in this matter.

"So Angel… what life are you going to chose?" he asked, seeing some of the joy fade from the vampire's face.

"I don't know Wesley… I mean, there's pros and cons to each place… I mean, Buffy, we could finally be together, after all this time… but then again, where would that leave you two?" he suddenly finished, coming out of his daydreams and frowning at the two people watching him. "I'd hate to leave you both… I mean, what would you do…" he trailed off, obviously conflicted.

Wesley felt even more admiration for Cordelia as he heard her next words.

Cordelia couldn't bear this much longer. She felt raw inside and watching Angel struggle was the last straw.

She loved him. More than she had ever loved anyone or anything in her entire short life. She wanted nothing more than for him to stay in LA, with her, friend or lover, and continue the life they'd made together. But it obviously wasn't Angel's wish. His wish was Buffy, as it had always been. She'd deluded herself for too long. His destiny was Buffy. Hers was to give him the freedom to embrace his destiny, even if it was at the expense of her dreams. He'd waited over 200 some years for this moment, and all the love in the world for him couldn't let her deny him that.

So, taking a deep breath, heart breaking, she set him free.

"Of course you'll go back to Buffy. It's what you've wanted for the past two years isn't it? She's the one you dream about, you brood over, you think about all the time. You two have one of those mystical bonds that can't be broken… your destiny is to be together. If you don't go back to her, you'll regret it for the rest of your ever so long life," she said, amazed the words were calm and collected, when inside she was shattering into a million pieces.

Wesley closed his eyes as he realized how much courage it took her to say the words.

"But Deila… I mean, if I did that, I'd leave you guys here, and what would you do? I mean, you'd still get the visions, and…" he started, only to be cut off.

"Angel… I'll be fine. I suppose TPB figure if you go back… I won't have a need for the visions, so I'm sure they'll stop. Besides, my news of the day, though it pales in comparison to yours, was that I did get the commercial I auditioned for, and it's going to pay me enough money to pay my agent, who now says he can get me more work."

Cordelia felt herself die a little more inside as she told the lie, but realized there was no other way to set him free. Why did this have to hurt so much?

"Really? You got a commercial? Delia that's great!" Angel immediately rose and came over to hug her, whirling her around the room again as she struggled to look happy, fighting back her tears.

Wesley watched them, wondering how Cordelia was holding it together. This had to be killing her. On the other hand, she had looked pretty happy when he came in… and if she'd truly gotten the commercial, well, it was something to help her get over the pain of losing Angel.

He suddenly felt better and figured now was as good a time as any to break his news.

"Well, I'm going to add even more joy to this impromptu celebration… and tell you that I received a letter from the Council today, asking me to come back and resume my position as a watcher. Apparently what we've done here in LA has impressed them enough that they want me back," he said seeing Angel smile and release Cordelia, coming towards him again. He quickly stood and held out a hand, not wanting the vampire to hug him again. He winced as Angel shook his hand firmly, his smile growing even bigger.

"Wesley, that's great! I mean, if you want to go back and all…" he trailed off, looking puzzled.

Wesley smiled.

"Actually, I was pondering how to tell you both that I was considering it," he said, smiling as Cordelia came over and hugged him. He held her tightly for a moment, feeling her clutch him back, knowing they'd both just made someone they cared about happier than he'd ever been in his entire long life.

Cordelia finally pulled away, struggling to push back her tears as she realized that Wesley was leaving too. Annoying as he'd been, he had become family, and she was surprised to find how much she was going to miss him.

She sniffed slightly, turning quickly away as she saw the sympathy and understanding flare in the former watcher's eyes. She figured he knew about her feelings for Angel, and what this was doing to her. It was more points in his favor that he hadn't said anything.

"So… looks like TPB might just have had a reason for all this…" Cordelia managed, somehow getting back to her chair and sinking into it before her legs gave out.

"This is almost too good to be true," Angel was bouncing off the walls again. "There's so much to be done, I mean, we've got to sell the office and I've got to get back to Sunnydale, and…"

Cordelia cut him off again.

"Angel, I can take care of getting the office sold and the business end of things here, you don't need to worry about that. It won't take much. You just go back to Buffy… you know you want to," she said softly, wishing they'd all just leave and let her weep in peace.

She felt another crack in her armor as she saw the brightness of Angel's smile.

"Are you sure Delia? I mean, I know it's a lot to handle, and I wouldn't feel right leaving it all here for you…"

"Angel, my commercial doesn't start filming for another two weeks, it'll give me something to do until then…okay?" she finished, knowing she was going to lose it any minute.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"I'm sure Angel! Now pack and go… Buffy's waiting," she managed, hearing her voice break on the last words, sniffling slightly as he jumped from the chair and came over to hug her.

"Delia… I can't tell you how much this means to me. How much you mean to me. Over these past two years…" Angel whispered the words against her ear, tightening his hold on her and Cordelia knew she couldn't hold back the tears if he held her like this much longer.

"I'm going to miss you too Angel," she managed, feeling a single tear slip down her cheek. She sniffed and brushed it away as he released her, turning on the famous Cordelia Chase smile. "Now go, before I get all sappy, get moving! The Slayer awaits!" she finished, seeing his smile as he bounded off towards the elevator.

The room was silent as Wesley and Cordelia watched him go.

"If anyone ever makes a bad comment about your acting ability, myself included, you have my permission to deck them," Wesley said softly, feeling his heart break as he watched another tear slip down Cordelia's cheek.

"Thanks Wes, I'll take that as a compliment," she managed to whisper, making no effort to brush away the tear.

"Cordelia… what you just did took more courage than any Slayer, past, present or future could ever have. I know how hard this was for you… but you did it anyway, at the sacrifice of your dreams for his… and I couldn't respect you more than I do at this moment," he finished softly, seeing her smile slightly through the tears.

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me Wesley… thank you," she whispered brokenly, sniffing and brushing away more tears, willing herself to calm down.

"And I suppose congratulations are in order… you really want to be part of the council again? In England too I suppose?" she asked, trying to feel happy at losing her other friend.

"Yes, actually, I do… although I'd stay in a heartbeat if you and Angel wanted to keep things going, but somehow, despite the pain I know you're feeling, and the sadness I know I'll feel at leaving, well, sometimes we just have to go with the hand fate deals us, who knows where we'll end up," he said philosophically, glad the words brought a slight smile to Cordelia's face.

"Thanks Wes, but sometimes, I wish I could curse the hands of fate, big time," she said morosely, moving back to the chair and sitting down, still trying to absorb all that had happened.

"You know I'll always be around for you… whenever you need me, don't you?" Wesley asked, seeing her smile and nod.

"I know Wes, and I appreciate that, but hey, I think once I get over the heart breaking process, my career will skyrocket and I'll be off to bigger and b…better things," she said, trying to be optimistic but hearing the stutter in her last word.

"I know you will Cordelia… and congratulations on the commercial… I knew you looked happy when I first walked in… now I know why. Maybe, despite the pain, things do happen for a reason," he said, genuinely happy she had something to fall back on.

Cordelia smiled at the irony of his words.

Was it only an hour ago she'd been happily contemplating their future? Filled with dreams of how things could be?

Well, now those dreams required a major reality check.

But first, she had to get through losing her two best friends without them realizing how lost she truly would be without them.

She half listened as Wesley began discussing his plans to leave, that very night, for England. She knew it was best if they all parted quickly and quietly… on to their respective futures.

But it was going to hurt like hell. At least for her. But she was Cordelia Chase. She could bluff her way through this. She had no choice. She couldn't hold them back from their destinies, just because she didn't know what her own was.

On the bright side, at least this must mean the end of the excruciating visions. Something to be glad about. But part of her felt sad as well, knowing just how many more people needed to be helped. She'd seen them all… but without Angel… what good did it do?