Disclaimer: I do not own BtVS, AtS, or any of the characters portrayed therein. They belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc... of which I have zero affiliation. I'm just borrowing them to entertain myself for a little while.
Author's Note: Here we go - the epic battle sequence. I really don't think I'm very good at writing action sequences, I hope this doesn't disappoint! I tried my best to re-read it a zillion times and make sure the pacing was alright and that all the good stuff didn't end too fast... Yikes do I hope I succeeded!
So here we are - does Buffy live, or will you all hate me in a few minutes?
Chapter 25: Out of Time, Out of Reach
Tense, nervous energy was crackling through the air by the time Wesley and I had gotten Cordelia settled back in her room and made it downstairs.
Scanning the lobby, everyone seemed deeply concentrated in their tasks, as though by focusing on the mundane, the complete hopelessness of our situation would fade away.
In the corner, out of the way from everyone else, Willow and Tara sat indian-style, facing each other with their eyes closed. One could only assume they were summoning energy for the battle. Faith and Gunn stood with Xander and Dawn, giving them pointers on how to use the battle axe's clutched tightly in their almost-trembling hands. Anya and Giles had abandoned their books, to look over the state of the other weapons in the cabinets, and Spike sat on an armchair, his feet up on the coffee table as he sharpened a stake nonchalantly with a pocket knife.
Buffy was nowhere to be seen.
Wesley immediately crossed to begin to help Giles and Anya, while panic began to rise inside my chest, "Where's Buffy?" I asked, stepping into the centre of the Lobby.
"Down in the basement," Spike muttered, "Seein' if there's anythin' worth taking down there."
I scowled down at him. While the others seemed downright sombre, terrified, Spike looked as though he were simply preparing for a routine patrol through the cemetery. "You might need something bigger than a stake, Spike."
He peered up at me, an eyebrow cocked, before cooly drawing his attention back to his crudely sharpened weapon, "I think the others have the heavy artillery covered."
"You really think that's gonna do any damage?" I pressed.
"You really think I need a weapon to do any damage?" he scoffed.
The anger and frustration he so easily triggered in me began to boil to the surface again, "We're not in Sunnydale anymore, this is a lot bigger than anything you've faced."
"I know," he replied calmly.
I suppressed a growl, "Why are you even here Spike?"
He lowered the stake, and finally looked up at me, "You think I want the world to end, what with the state I'm in?" he asked, pointing at his head, "Lot of good it'll do me..." he glanced behind him, to where Faith was still helping Dawn with her battle stance, "Besides... I'm kinda fond of the Li'l Bit... someone needs to have her back out there while the rest of you save the world."
I snorted, "How noble of you," and moved to turn away.
"She doesn't want me, you know," he called just as I turned to leave. With an unnecessary sigh I turned back to him, to find him smirking mockingly at me. "Well she doesn't... never did. Whatever was going on between us ended when... well," he chucked, "You were there, you know. I think she just puts up with me now out of guilt, or pity, or what have you."
I studied him silently, wearily. I couldn't tell if he was mocking me, or if this was an attempt to smooth things over temporarily.
"So? You gonna stand there bristlin' at me, or are you gonna go down there and kiss and make up before the world implodes?"
Without so much as another word, I turned away from him and stalked towards the basement. I could hear Spike chuckling softly behind me, but I didn't turn back. Winding my way down the stairs, I found Buffy standing in front of the weapons cabinet, her back to me as she studied an ornate samurai sword. She stiffened, and I could tell she knew I was there.
"Why are you hiding all the good stuff down here?" she asked flippantly the tone of her voice creeping up ever so slightly.
"Would you want Cordelia or Wesley using your good weapons?" I chided, hoping to ease the tension.
She cracked a slight grin, "I thought they were changed people."
"Doesn't mean they're any better at armed combat."
With a sad smile, she turned back to the cabinet to replace the sword, picking out a large Byzantine battle axe instead, and giving it a test swing. "Speaking of Cordy, how's she doing?"
"She's... in pain," I sighed, "But she's tough."
She nodded, and continued to peruse the array of weapons before her. I watched her quietly for quite a while, and she simply went on pretending I wasn't there.
"So it looks like this is it," I said softly.
"Yeah..." she muttered.
We both fell silent again. The tension in the air was so heavy it was crushing me.
"Something you wanted to say?" She finally asked, turning back towards me.
"Actually, yeah -"
"Well don't," she pleaded, "Not now, not before all this."
I took a step towards her, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on the handle of the axe. Under any other circumstances I would have found it amusing, "There may not be another chance, Buffy."
"Nice to see you have so much faith," she scoffed.
"I do have faith," I answered, "But I also know that there's a good chance that we could fail... or come out of this as different people than we were when we went in... so just let me say what I need to say."
She screwed her eyes shut, "Please, Angel, I don't have the strength for this right now!"
"Yes you do," I protested, "You always do... it's one of the things that makes me love you; the fact that no matter what, even if you think in the moment it's not there, you always have strength. You always push through, and keep going, no matter how much I know you really just wish you could lay down and give up."
She averted her eyes to the ground, and began chewing on her lower lip as though the physical pain would distract her from the emotional kind.
"I know what you've been dealing with... I don't understand it, and I don't know how to help you; I wish I did, but I don't. But what I do know is that you'll get through this. I believe in you."
She finally looked back up to me with glassy eyes, "I-"
She was cut off by a low rumbling filling the air, and the ground beneath our feet began to shake violently. Unsuspecting, we both lost our balance, and out of pure instinct we reached out to steady each other. With my hands around her waist, and hers resting on my upper arms, we glanced around frantically as the old building groaned in protest to the violent tremors. Cries of alarm could be heard from the Lobby above us, until just as suddenly as it began, the earthquake stopped.
Unmoving, we remained in the middle of the room in silence, waiting to make sure another tremor wasn't on the way. When I finally turned my attention back to Buffy, she was studying me silently.
"Why does it feel like you're saying goodbye?" she asked quietly, fear apparent on her face for the first time since this all began.
My will crumbled; I was tired of the lies, and the stress of being so close to the point where I had lost her last time, I couldn't take it anymore. If I was going to do what I knew now I needed to do, I would go down with her knowing the truth.
"Because I might be..." I murmured. I could see panic and confusion rising in her eyes, and I subconsciously tightened my grip around her waist, "Just hear me out... it's going to sound crazy, but I swear every word is true-"
The door swung open at the top of the stairs, "Angel?! Buffy?! We need you up here!" Wesley shouted down, pulling us out of the moment.
My arms slid from around Buffy's waist, the concerned look on her face growing with each step I took further away from her, "We're coming," I called, casting one last glance back at her, asking her silently to follow me.
Steeling herself, she nodded, and together we trudged back up to the Lobby to discover everyone gathered around Cordelia and Wesley, who seemed to be standing off against each other. Wesley's arms were crossed tightly over his chest, and Cordelia had one of her hands perched on her hip, while in the other she clutched a sword.
"You're in no state to fight, Cordelia, you'll be more of a liability than an asset," Wesley argued.
"I can fight. I'll be fine!" she rebutted, turning the hilt of the sword in her hand.
Wesley turned towards me with an exasperated sigh, "Angel, I cannot allow her out on the battlefield, it's too risky!"
"If kicking ass out there is the only way to get these skull-splitting visions out of my head, then I'm going out there and kicking some ass!" Cordelia shouted, turning towards me, "And not you, or Wesley is going to stop me."
I frowned, "What if you get another vision while you're out there?"
"Then I'm toast," she chuckled darkly, "But at least I can say I tried."
"Cordy, I-"
"You know you're not going to change my mind, so just stop," she interrupted.
I shook my head at her, then turned back to Wesley, "We're going to need everyone we have out there, Wes,"
He scowled at me, and with a panicked and terrified expression on his face he turned back to Cordelia, "If you die, I'll kill you," he muttered.
She grinned wryly, "One step ahead of you, Wes."
Almost on cue, as though to prevent us from lightening the mood, another earthquake began, this time with a deafening crack, and a cacophony of screams from out in the streets.
Buffy moved away from the group, and began to cross towards the doors, "I think that's our cue," she shouted over the rumble, "Are we ready?"
In near-perfect synchronization, the entire group picked up their weapons and began to move towards her. She stepped up onto the front steps, and turned back towards us.
"This is the big one, guys, the one we may not be able to win..." she began, "But it doesn't matter, because we're going to fight like hell, and no matter what happens, we're all getting out alive," as she spoke the last sentence, her eyes locked with mine, and my heart sunk knowing that she didn't know the truth; that she was completely unaware that she would get out of this alive, but at a cost. Nevertheless, I nodded reassuringly, and watched as she turned away, and charged out the doors of the Hyperion into the chaos outside.
The rest of us followed suit, our weapons high, ready to fight. Not a single one, save for myself, having any clue what they were about to discover out in the streets of the former City of Angels.
~0~
The panic and destruction that we were met by upon leaving the sanctuary of the Hyperion's walls, for some for the first time in months, was more than even Buffy herself had anticipated. She almost immediately slowed her pace, the air still hanging thick with dust and smoke from the buildings that had collapsed in the tremors. Through the haze the streets were littered with bodies, but there was no time to stop and assess if they were dead or simply injured. Peering behind me, I found Dawn clinging to Spike, and most of the others looking shell-shocked.
Cries of the survivors echoed around us, along with the groans of the structures that were still standing, but threatening to fall at any moment.
Digging into memories I had tried so desperately to bury over the past one hundred years, I found my bearings, and stepped past Buffy to the front of the group, "This way," I muttered, leading the clan towards the coastline. We'd gone no further than a few blocks when I could see it up ahead; the break, the downward drop where the Pacific ocean now raged angrily against the rubble that used to be city and coastline.
"Oh my god..." Willow murmured, "It's gone... it's all gone."
"Not all of it," Buffy replied, "Not yet."
The ground began to shake again, and the earth beneath our feet began to crumble.
"Back! Get back!" I bellowed, and was suddenly caught in a mass of limbs as we all struggled to pull each other back onto more stable land.
"Perhaps we should retreat a few blocks more," Wesley suggested, "It will give us more time to relocate in the event of another quake."
"I don't think we have time for that," Faith muttered.
I spun around to face her, to discover her staring wearily up the newly formed coastline. Turning in the same direction, a chill spread through my body as my eyes landed upon a group of shadows slowly approaching us.
Though they were merely silhouetted through the dust and smoke, I could clearly make out the shape of three horses, mounted by three riders.
As they drew closer, through the soot and ash, the colours became more clear; the middle one black, and the two that flanked it, red and white. The horses snorted menacingly, swinging their heads as they trotted purposefully towards us, while the riders sat eerily still and motionless on their mounts. As they drew closer they slowed to a halt, the riders seemingly bearing down at us, though their faces were hidden behind their armoured helmets. None of us made a move, we simply stood in place, our grips tightening around our weapons.
"There's only three..." came Dawn's hushed voice from the back of the group.
"Shhhh," Willow warned quietly, as she wrapped her arm around Dawn's shoulders and pulled her closer to her side.
As suddenly as she mentioned it, an uneasy silence fell over the newly formed cliffs, like a veritable calm before the storm. In the quiet, the sound of hooves beating slowly and steadily over the pavement began to crescendo, growing louder, and louder through the mist until a shape emerged in the fog, one of a sickly thin and sallow horse carrying a rider shrouded in robes that were billowing in the now howling wind.
Famine and War parted, and between them strode Death, his scythe ever still clutched in his hand, his horse's onyx-black eyes bearing holes into us.
Beside me, Buffy shifted on the balls of her feet, and raised her axe in her hands. This drew Death's attention, and I could feel my undead heart jump into my throat as his hooded head turned in her direction. Though his face was indiscernible underneath the dark hollow of his hood, he seemed to be considering her, sizing her up; deciding what would be the quickest way to dispatch of her.
Buffy returned his veiled gaze without wavering. Her stance was strong, her expression stony and determined. She had stared death in the face before – what did it matter to her if this time it was personified?
I could hear nothing from the others except for short, laboured breaths. I didn't dare look behind me to see how they were holding up, I couldn't take my eyes off Buffy; for fear that the moment I did she would be taken from me again, for fear that even the smallest amount of movement would unleash the veritable flood of horrors that was bound to come bursting out of the ground like hornets out of a disturbed nest.
We stood there, in the barren street for what felt like an eternity, while fear and adrenaline gnawed at my insides, until finally, almost as though in slow motion, Death raised his scythe high above his head, and yanked on his horse's reins. As the horse rose on its hind quarters, and let out a blood-curdling bray, the ground began to groan again, and began to shake harder and harder, until we could barely keep our balance.
Almost unable to find my footing, I stumbled backwards, grabbing hold of whomever I could and dragging them back with me, and away from the Horsemen poised for battle in front of us.
Just as suddenly has it began, the quake stopped, throwing everyone to the ground with the abruptness, and Death wasted no time taking advantage of our sudden disorientation by thrusting his scythe forward, and silently commanding his fellow riders to charge. Behind him, the sounds of inhuman wails and screams of terror cut through the haze, and I knew that at any moment, we would be overtaken by a swarm of demons from depths and dimensions of Hell that were not even imaginable.
Despite what I knew was about to erupt around us, my attention remained focused on Buffy, who was pulling herself back to her feet as Death charged mercilessly towards her. The demons and Hell-beasts could wait; I had but one mission this time around, and I was not about to fail. Sprinting full force, I reached Buffy just as she had turned towards Death and readied her weapon for an attack. She didn't even see me coming, as I used all my momentum to throw her out of her attacker's path, and swung my sword to block his scythe as it came crashing down where she had just a few moments ago stood. I didn't even turn to gauge her reaction to my interference in her battle, before charging after Death's horse, pushing myself to my limits to keep up as it galloped further, and further along the jagged cliffs. My legs worked so furiously I felt as though they would give up at any given moment, but I pushed forward, determined not to let Death out of my sight for even a second. I would either find a way to defeat him, or I would die trying, but I would not let him anywhere near Buffy this time around. I would chase him to the edge of the city if I had to.
My pursuit drew on, and I was grateful for the vampire strength and stamina, I was sure any human's legs would be burning by now; but my determination had given me tunnel vision, and I was unprepared when the sting of a whip came cracking down over my back, causing me to lose my footing. I was sent tumbling to the ground, losing sight of my target as I slammed to the now jagged pavement, the world spinning around me.
When I'd finally slowed enough to gain my bearings, and try to push myself back to my feet, Death was nowhere to be found, and I had barely enough time to roll out of the way before Famine's horse attempted to trample me, its hooves thundering dangerously close to my ear. He had barely retreated before he turned the animal again, and was charging back towards me. I grappled for my sword, which had slid a few feet away in my fall, but another crack filled the air before I had it in hand, and the white-hot agony of the whip seared across my side again. I fell to my knees, and gritting through the pain I lunged forward for my weapon, turning just in time to raise it, and have the end of the whip wrap itself around the blade. With my other hand I grabbed the rope, and with all my strength I pulled, Famine was unprepared, and instead of merely letting go, he fell from the steed in a loud clash of armour as he hit the ground.
In a blur, I yanked my sword free from the whip, and grabbed the reins of the inky black horse, that had doubled back whinnying and swinging its head in confusion. I hoisted myself onto his back and attempted to urge it forward; it obeyed momentarily, and galloped a few feet before it slowed and I cracked the reins in hope of pressing him onwards, praying to catch sight of Death, and actually be able to match his speed, but he animal merely reared up, braying angrily, over and over again until I was knocked from the saddle. It charged away, in search of its proper rider, and I rose again to frantically survey my surroundings.
I was closer to the rest of the group again, they were not too far off, battling tooth and nail against all manner of beasts. Those who were not seasoned fighters had paired off, and were watching each others' backs as they attempted to hack their way through the onslaught of demons.
It seemed that most of the creatures were oblivious to the small group attempting to defend themselves, the majority were mindless, bloodthirsty, and had taken to chasing after those that had not been killed in the earthquakes, their screams and cries for help drowned out by the roaring beasts, gleefully destroying everything in their paths.
Buffy had cut her way through the chaos, and from where she stood her eyes locked on mine. With a forceful swing of her axe, the demon she fought fell, and she continued to charge through the frenzied creatures in my direction.
I froze, the gears in my head spinning out of control as I wrestled with my next move – to properly protect Buffy from Death, I would have no choice to stay close - however to keep her close could potentially increase the chances of a slip-up. If she tried to intervene, if Death got the upper-hand, I may not have enough time to save her.
Sweeping my eyes over the city-turned-battlefield once more, and seeing Death nowhere in sight, I moved to meet her. Without a word, we turned to stand back to back, and began to fend off the demons that seemed to suddenly be charging towards us from all directions. The monstrosities were just as I remembered them – larger than anything that had previously walked the earth; twice as horned, sharper clawed, scaled, calloused, more bloodthirsty and more crazed. I could feel the panic begin to overtake me as I suddenly reeled with memories of my decades wandering, hiding from these abominations. I struggled to regain focus, to harness the anxiety and use it to fuel my determination. They would not win this time, I couldn't let them.
I took a moment as I drove my sword into a charging demon to glance around for the others; Willow and Tara seemed to be faring the best. Holding hands, they stood incased in a shimmering white bubble; Tara with her eyes closed, her lips moving as she incanted the spell I could only assume was sustaining the magical shield around them. Willow stood at her side shouting wildly in latin, clasping Tara's hand tightly with her left while she held her right out in front of her as it arced with white-hot energy that sent the demons hurdling backwards through the air as soon as it was aimed towards them.
The others had taken it upon themselves to barrel after Willow's victims, taking them out while weakened and disoriented. Xander and Anya darted through the carnage, working together to take down each demon as they came across them, and each stopping to pull the other along when they faltered. I couldn't help but be slightly impressed at their focus and determination, I knew from the journey we'd endured together that they had it in them, it relieved me to see it start to manifest so soon.
Searching for Cordelia, I was relieved to find her still standing. Both Wesley and Giles hung close by, and they seemed to be keeping an eye on her as much as they were looking out for the next attack. Cordelia's face was screwed up in pain, and there was an almost imperceptible shimmer of tears in her eyes as she charged towards their next target, still trying to gain its bearings from Willow's attack. She opened her mouth in a scream that was lost amongst the pandemonium, as she raised her axe above her head, and brought it down right into the skull of the creature she had charged.
I had lost sight of Gunn and Faith, but I prayed I didn't need to worry, they could both take care of themselves.
A few random citizens had taken notice of our battle, and had joined with us in an attempt to fend off the so-called monsters. However with no understanding of what they were facing, and armed with nothing more than fallen rocks and other debris that had lined the streets, the hell-beasts made quick work of them, and their chilling roars became louder, and louder the more blood was spilled.
"Run you bloody fools!" I could barely hear Spike growl over the din, "No one's asking you to be a hero!"
Turning I found him and Dawn attempting to fight back some sort of hound-like creature as it gnashed and clawed at a civilian. After a few misses, Dawn finally managed to lance her sword through the beasts eye, but not before it had lunged and clamped its massive jaw down on the man's throat. As the demon crumpled to the ground, so did the man, blood spurting from the torn artery, spraying across Dawn's face. She froze and her complexion grew ashen as she watched the man bleed out on the pavement. While I'd taught her to fight, I'd forgotten to prepare her for the gruesome reality of battle. Shell-shocked, her guard had dropped, and Spike pushed her out of the way just as another hound lunged towards her.
"Head in the game, Dawnie! Or you'll be joinin' our mate on the ground there!" he shouted, snapping the teen out of her daze. Still shaken, she tightened her grip on her weapon and readied it for the next attack.
Buffy was focused as ever, her face a mask of determination as her axe clashed against claws and horns without as much as a breath's pause between her victims. I assumed she was as relieved as I was that Dawn was being looked out for, and felt that she could focus more completely on fighting back the hoards without Dawn's safety weighing on her conscience.
Buffy's concentration did not put me at ease, however. I knew it would only get her so far, that before this battle was through it would cause her downfall when she would finally turn to meet the demon that would steal her focus so completely that Death could finally gain the upper hand. She began to move away, as a herd of fast-moving reptilian-like creatures began to swarm her, and that was when the next earthquake hit.
This time, the tremor seemed slow, and deliberate, as though the earth was letting out a death rattle. The groan of the weakened buildings was low and deep, it reverberated and echoed with the bellows of revelling demons, and further drowned out any sounds the remaining humans made.
"Angel!" Dawn's high-pitched cry cut like glass through the sounds of battle.
I whipped around, and found Spike had been jumped by another herd of the demons Buffy had been fighting mere moments ago. All of his focus was dedicated to ripping them of him as they lunged again and again. Meanwhile a spindly demon with long, jagged claws was edging towards Dawn, swiping at her with each step, its claws whistling through the air. In panic, Dawn was barely managing to block half of its attacks, and just barely dodging the rest.
Without a moment's hesitation, I sprinted to her side, catching the demon's claws with the edge of my blade as it once again narrowly missed slicing through Dawn.
"Go help Spike," I ordered, stepping in front of her, and thrusting my weapon at the demon. Dawn rushed off, and out of the corner of my eye I could see her skewering the reptiles, giving Spike the upper hand, and enough time to get back to his feet.
The clawed creature was angered by my intervention with his easy prey, and had begun to slash at me furiously. I countered each attack, and had begun to force him backwards, when the ground began to shake again, this time more aggressively. Losing my balance, the demon managed to make contact with my upper arm, tearing through my duster, slicing open the skin. With a grunt I stumbled back, causing the demon to leap at me with a shriek. Ducking underneath his outstretched arms, I slammed my sword through his midsection, and using the momentum of his attack, threw him over my shoulder. He slid off the blade, landing in a crumpled heap behind me, when a whistling noise above my head caught my attention. Looking up, I barely had time to dive out of the way as a large piece of stone from the side of a building came crashing to the ground where I had just stood.
Scrambling back to my feet, I caught sight of Buffy again – fighting valiantly with a demon four times her size.
My insides hollowed out, as I watched its massive fists swing at her again, and again. Each time she expertly ducked and dodged out of the way.
The fist connected with the streetlamp – it buckled, slammed to the ground. She stepped over it, focused on taking the creature down.
It was happening.
The throbbing pain in my arm was forgotten as I began to rush towards her, I would make it this time, I would be there to save her.
The arms wrapped around my waist, knocking me to the ground.
I rolled over to face the yellowish slime-covered creature and immediately thrust my open palm into its chin, stunning it, and giving me enough time to scramble to my feet.
The street went silent, the fog began to seep back between the buildings, but it went unnoticed by Buffy and the others as they continued to take down the remaining demons.
A hand clasped around my arm, and I span around to catch the fist of the demon, just as the sound of galloping hooves filled the air.
"No..." I gasped, as the demon knocked my sword from my hand, and gnashed its teeth at me. Grappling with it, I glanced back to Buffy once more, still locked in battle with the demon. My attacker's hand clawed at the wound in my arm, sending ribbons of pain down into my hand, as the sound of hooves grew louder and louder. Gritting my teeth together I managed to wrap my hands around it's chin, and snapping its head quickly to the side, it fell, and lay still at my feet.
Spinning quickly, I turned just in time to see Death charge out of the mist, his steed galloping at full speed towards Buffy as he raised his scythe to attack.
"BUFFY!" I shouted, as I began to run wildly towards her.
She didn't even acknowledge my voice, she simply continued to hack at the giant. Her axe caught in its thick flesh, and she struggled to pull it free.
"BUFFY!" I cried again. Death drew closer, and closer.
The world seemed to slow down as she pulled her axe pulled free, and struck another blow. The demon roared in anger and swatted at her. It made contact with her ribs and sent her stumbling sideways, but still she did not see Death's approach.
The echoing hoofbeats were all I could hear now as I sped towards her, so loud that they reverberated through me, throbbing like a heartbeat.
Buffy recovered from the blow, and swung her axe one last time, landing it dead-centre in the demon's chest, stopping it mid-bellow as it dropped like a stone. She stood over her fallen foe, catching her breath, taking a moment to enjoy the small victory in the hopeless chaos.
It was a moment too long, a moment that couldn't be spared.
In blind desperation I felt almost as though I were gasping for breath, and reached out for her as Death's horse continued to thunder towards us. I grabbed her by the shoulders just as a haunting bray cut through the silence behind us, and barely a second after I threw her aside, an icy cold pain ripped through the centre of my abdomen as Death's scythe tore right through me, then was ripped out twice as roughly; my assailant angry that he had missed his target.
Death galloped on, and moments later vanished. He didn't double back to try for another blow.
Had I done it?
"ANGEL!"
Buffy's voice sounded warped, far away, and there was a ringing in my ears I couldn't seem to shake.
I exhaled, the pain was excruciating and caused me to fall to my knees. I tried to suck in another breath, but it caught in my throat as an sharp and blinding pain rippled through my lungs. I crumpled to the ground as panic and confusion crashed down over me.
Why was I trying to breathe? Why did I feel like I needed to breathe?
"Angel! Angel?!" Buffy was at my side, rolling me gently onto my back, "Angel can you hear me?" her voice was still muffled, still so far away, she was staring at my wound with a panicked and mystified expression. "You're bleeding so much..." it sounded like she whispered, but the ringing was growing louder, drowning out all other sounds.
Her hands pressed down over the wound, and just as her eyes grew wider in shock and horror – I knew. Under the pressure of her palms I could feel it; my heart beating steadily, pumping the blood out of my body, through her fingers, the rhythm slowing, growing weaker with each passing moment.
Through the dizzying pain I could do nothing more than cough a chuckle. My mind reeled at the injustice – I was alive – breathing, my heart beating; and all it was doing was dragging me back to my grave while the one I had sworn to protect would stand over me and watch my life be extinguished. No spontaneous combustion, no quick disintegration into dust. Just mind-numbing pain, this uncomfortable chill, and the haze that was beginning to envelop my mind.
The edges of my vision began to darken.
"Oh god... oh god..." she mouthed, and I could feel her press down harder on my abdomen. She looked up and began to frantically search our surroundings, then her mouth opened into a scream.
"Buffy..." I lifted my arm to reach out for her, it felt like lead.
"Shhhh..." I think she said, taking my hand in one of her own – it glistened with wet sticky blood, but it didn't seem to phase her as she pressed my fingers gently to her lips.
"Buffy..." I croaked again. I could feel my strength waning, and it was taking everything I had in me to fight the darkness that threatened to swallow her face.
"You'll be okay... you'll be okay... please..." it was a struggle to read her lips as she clutched my arm to her chest. She was so warm, and my fingers were going numb.
A figure rushed to her side, and peered over her shoulder down at me, I think it may have been Wesley... my vision started to fade, so I turned my eyes back to her, to my light, before I slipped away. Tears ran down her cheeks, creating tracks in the dirt, and blood, and ash that was smudged across her usually radiant skin. I think she said my name again... she reached out to touch my face.
I tried to squeeze her hand, it took too much effort, "You're alive..." I gasped.
And the world went dark.
Until next week.
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