"I'm going to kill him...." Buffy said dryly as she began to pack up some weapons. Xander lay on the couch, wincing in pain. Anya and Willow were trying to comfort him while Giles and Spike talked to Buffy.

"You can't just go after this thing!" Spike said.

"He's right Buffy. Whatever did this to Xander is frighteningly strong." Giles added.

"So am I!" replied Buffy as she packed the last of her desired weapons. "Look what he did to Xander, Giles."

"If he did this to Xander, what do you think he'll do to you love?" asked Spike.

Buffy paused for a moment, trying to come up with an answer. "I don't know."

"Let me do it." Spike said. "I got these new powers, let me use them Slayer." He was pleading by this point, afraid of what might happen to her. He wanted to grab her and make her stay, then she'd be safe. But even Spike knew that with all the new found power he had, he couldn't stop an unhappy Slayer.

"No." Buffy said. "When they are looking for Dawn, they find ME."

Giles was about to argue with his Slayer but out of the corner of his eye he noticed something that saddened him deeply. There in the corner was Dawn, crying as she watched Xander. Giles immediately went to her while Spike continued to plead with Buffy.

"Dawn, what's wrong?" asked the concerned Giles as he wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"It's always me." Dawn said between tears. "All I bring is pain and hurt. Glory hurt Tara because of me, Xander's arms are broken.....Buffy died because of me!" she sobbed.

Giles pulled her close and lay his chin on her head as he stroked her hair.

"It's ok child. None of this is your fault."

"It's all my fault Mr. Giles!"

"No it isn't Dawn. No it isn't." Giles said as the door slammed. He looked up with a worried look. Spike looked to him and nodded. "I'll get her." he said.

"Where are you going?" Spike asked as he finally caught up to Buffy.

"If you don't want to help, just leave. I'll do it myself." Buffy replied without stopping.

"Hey!" Spike shouted as he grabbed her arm.

"Spike stop it. This thing hurt my friend and now I'm going to hurt it......badly."

"Not without me you bloody well won't!" Spike said in a raised voice as he slowly released her arm. They began to walk. "Where do you want to look first?"

"The one place where they'd be." Buffy replied.

"And where's that love?" Spike asked while he lit up a cigarette.

"The Initiative caves."

It seemed like forever to Spike to reach the caves. Buffy was possessed. She never missed a step and just kept pressing forward to Spike's amazement. Usually he had more endurance than her but not tonight. They finally came upon them, but there was a problem. There wasn't just one cave, there were about a dozen Spike noticed.

"How in soddin' hell do we know which one?" he asked.

"Hey!" Buffy yelled. "I'm here......come and get me!"

Spike gave a small laugh. "Good plan Slayer. Get them to come to us." He was naive. To his surprise, out came about a dozen demons.

"So which one of you is this Sin fellow?" Spike shouted.

"I'm Sin!" came the agonizing voice from the darkness.

Their eyes went to the sound and out stepped Sin. Buffy was a bit taken back. She had thought about how big this demon must have been but she never realized. Spike showed no fear although his stomach sunk. "Bloody hell." he said.

"Slayer......." Sin growled.

"Sorry mate, you have to go through me first." Spike commented as he stepped in front of Buffy. Buffy gave him a weird look but never said a word.

"You? A vampire I'm guessing." Sin laughed.

"Yeah that's right." Spike retorted

"Boys!" Sin shouted.

Spike was tackled. The whole pack of demons was on top of him.

"And then there were two." hissed Sin.

"Bring it on." Buffy said as she dropped her bag of weapons and ran at the enemy. Sin tried to grab her but she was too quick for him and too small. She slid between his legs and jumped back up, easily kicking him in the back. He grunted and fell forward a few steps. He turned and laughed as Buffy went for a high kick to his face. It was blocked as was three more attempts. Finally, Buffy was caught with a hard right to her temple. She went down in a hurry but got back up. Sin gave a mock applause. "No one's ever gotten up from that. Congratulations."

"Go to hell." Buffy said. Sin was about to attack but was stopped by the body of one of his slaves. He looked to where it had come from and noticed that the vampire was holding his own against the demons, even though he was outnumbered.

He snickered and turned back to Buffy but was met with a kick. He growled in a mix of pain and anger and grabbed Buffy's ankle as she came up with another kick. He squeezed, like he had done with Xander. "This seems familiar." he grinned. "Speaking of which......how is the liar?"

Buffy winced in pain as she felt her ankle bone crack slowly. The pain was unbearable, she had to do something. But she didn't have to. Spike was there to help out as he caught Sin in the face with a fist. He pulled back and grabbed his fist in pain. "Soddin' hell!" he shouted as he was once again taken down from behind by the demons. It was enough though. Buffy broke free and limped back a few steps as she examined her ankle. It was broken no doubt, but she kept going. She went down low and caught the leader in the back of the knee with a sweeping action as he hit the ground. Growls were all that was heard as she jumped on his chest and began to punch. It was no use, Sin was too strong. He didn't even bother to block the Slayer's punches, he just absorbed them. Buffy stopped for a split second. This was exhausting, she thought. I should be winning. She hadn't gotten the thought through her head as she felt the large scaly hand on her throat. She gasped for air but none reached her lungs as Sin slowly got to his feet, the hand never leaving his prey.

"I've heard so much about you Slayer. How strong you were; how you're such a good fighter." Sin spit in Buffy's face. "You're nothing! Nothing!" he yelled. He lifted Buffy over his head as she tried to call out to Spike. Spike didn't look, he was busy finishing off his demons. That was the last thing Buffy saw. Sin growled. "Good bye Slayer." he said as he brought Buffy's body down over his knee, cracking her spine in several places. She went limp. Her eyes frozen in terror.

"Ha ha!" Spike laughed as he flipped the last demon. He had won. The dozen or so demons were down for the count. "Spike 1, demons 0." he said as he looked to where Buffy had stood.

"Slay-" he tried to call out. His words disappeared as his eyes fell on Buffy, who lay on the ground with Sin standing over her laughing.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Spike screamed. He charged Sin and took him down hard. "YOU BASTARD!" he shouted as his fists came down onto the killer's face. This time Sin didn't laugh it off, he tried unsuccessfully to block Spike's blows but it was no use. Spike was a pissed off super powered vampire. There was no stopping him. The fists came down, over and over. They went down to strike as white but came up red, covered in blood. Over and over until Sin stopped putting up a fight and lay dead. Spike stopped for a few seconds, panting. He looked to Buffy's body and immediately went to it.

"No.....no Slayer. Not now.....please....." Spike said as he took her lifeless body in his arms. His eyes quickly filled with tears and he looked to sky. "Let me have her! Please! Let me have her!" he screamed over and over. It was no use, Buffy was dead and gone but then Spike had an idea. "Powers! Powers where the bloody hell are you?!"

Lightning struck as Spike once again heard the eerie booming voice. "Why do you call upon us?"

"Let me have her...." Spike pleaded. He didn't see anyone but he felt the presence. "Please......."

"That cannot be." said the voice. "There is nothing we can do."

"I'll give it back!" Spike shouted.

The powers seemed confused. "What do you mean vampire?"

"The soddin' gift you gave me. Gift for the girl." Spike said.

"No."

"I won't be your warrior!" Spike yelled. "I'll use your powers against you."

"You cannot do that!"

"Bloody well watch me. Give me the Slayer and I give up your gift. I'll even give you a better warrior!"

The voice seemed to pause. "Who is this one you speak of?" It asked.

"Angelus. He'll gladly accept your gift and be your right hand man. Please......just give me the girl." Spike's tough front faded and his true desperation showed. He couldn't stop his sobbing. This was a new feeling for him, he never shed tears for anyone, not even his own family. But he loved Buffy like no other. He needed her, she needed him. He looked to the sky, Buffy lay still in his arms.

"So be it." boomed the voice as the ground shook and the lightning struck down.

Spike held his love close. He looked into her eyes which were still lifeless. "C'mon.....c'mon. Please!" Spike cried. His cries were answered. Buffy blinked, once then twice. Spike smiled. "Buffy."

"Spike." she said lovingly. It was the perfect moment. Spike leaned in and gave his love a kiss. The sweetest kiss either had ever had. But their moment didn't last.

"If the one you call Angelus is not worthy........" boomed the voice.

"He's worthy." Spike replied. "Trust me."

"Very well." said the voice. "But are you sure she's worth the gift?"

Spike looked to Buffy and they smiled. "She is more than worth it."