March 14, 1998
Warm breath tickled the back of her neck and sunlight streamed in through her window, diffusing into an orange glow that lit up every surface of her bedroom. For a moment, Buffy relished the warmth that covered her inside and out. But as Wesley stirred behind her, his arm slipping from around her waist, she started to panic.
She couldn't believe what she'd done last night. God, she gave Tricia Douglas back at Hemery High a run for her money as World's Biggest Skank. Buffy had practically jumped Wesley, and he'd tried to tell her he wasn't interested, but she hadn't listened. Buffy had totally screwed things up, and now he was gonna request a transfer or something because she'd made things too weird between them, and she'd never see him again--
"Good morning," Wesley said, kissing the side of her neck. "Mm, I love waking to bright sunshine."
Buffy rolled over, searched his face for any sign of revulsion or pity and, finding none, smiled and brought her hand up to smooth his tousled hair.
Stroking her arm, Wesley grinned at her. "It doesn't surprise me to find you're absolutely lovely when you wake up."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "That'd be more convincing if you had your glasses on."
"I'll have you know I can see fine when it counts. Now, come on," he kissed her on the forehead and sat up. "I'll make us breakfast."
***
For the first time in a month, Buffy showered in silence. There were enough wonderful things filling her head to push out all the bad thoughts without the help of a radio. As the water sluiced down her shoulders and back, memories of the previous night came rushing back to her. Back in Los Angeles, she and Tyler had almost...but it hadn't felt right, so they didn't. Last night, with Wesley, that felt right. She never thought she'd feel so close to anyone. Especially not after becoming the Slayer, inheriting this huge secret that separated her from every other person on the planet. But Wesley -- the one person who had no reason to see her as anything but a Slayer -- he'd looked at her and seen...her. Just her.
Nothing was right. Her mom was dead, Kakistos was coming after her, an innocent girl had been murdered on her doorstep. But for the first time in years, Buffy felt like a normal girl.
***
"Wow, that smells great," Buffy said, plopping down at the table.
"In London, we call it 'bangers and mash.' Sausage and mashed potatoes." He smiled and scraped the contents of the pan onto her plate. "Mother would make this for me every morning when I was growing up."
"Well, good. We need a big breakfast today."
"What's on your agenda? Training?"
Buffy shook her head. "You know what we're doing today."
"I see." Wesley frowned and sat down across from her. "I thought we agreed that going after Kakistos would be madness."
"I'm not disagreeing with you there. But it's something I have to do. Besides, I have something that's gonna make sure I win."
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what's that?"
Buffy smiled shyly and covered her hand with his. "Something to live for."
***
At 11th St., Buffy and Wesley ducked into a lowered stone staircase to check their weapons.
"Okay -- stakes, axe, holy water," Buffy said, looking through her bag. She lifted the back of her shirt. "Extra axe. Anything I'm forgetting?"
"Only this." From his jacket pocket he withdrew a small black pouch. He pulled the top of the bag open and tipped it over Buffy's hand. A woven silver cross on a leather cord tumbled into her palm. "I know you were worried about the other cross I gave you getting damaged in a fight. This one's quite durable, I assure you."
Buffy grinned. "I love it." She slipped it over her head and felt the cool weight settle against her chest. Taking a deep breath, she stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against Wesley's. "And I love you."
He pulled her into his arms and rested his cheek against the top of her head. "I love you, too."
"And I think we just became a sappy Lifetime movie," she laughed, pulling back. "Come on, let's get rid of this creep once and for all."
Buffy held on to Wesley's hand on the walk to the next block. It felt like she was walking towards her final showdown. Killing Kakistos would be her last big fight before she could settle back into the normal vamp slayage. Go back to being something resembling normal.
And no matter what happened in the warehouse, at least she knew she'd never be alone again.
***
The axe handle felt slick in Buffy's hand as she looked up at the warehouse. She was built to slay. She'd trained with Wesley for months, and Merrick before that. There was nothing about this vampire she couldn't handle. But still....
"There's time to turn around," Wesley whispered. "We can call the Council...."
Buffy shook her head. "I have to do this."
Just then the front door swung open. "A wise choice," came an oily hiss from inside.
Readying their weapons, Buffy and Wesley peered into the gloom and spotted the ancient vampire grinning menacingly at them from across the room.
"If you had not come," he continued, "I would have had Rocco drop off another present for you."
Another vampire stepped out from behind the door he'd opened, holding on to a young, Asian girl who was quaking with fear.
"Let her go," Buffy said. "I'm here now, so let her go."
"Oh, no, no. I don't think I will. Not yet anyway. You see," Kakistos patted his shoulder, devoid of the arm Buffy had cut off, "I well remember what happens when I become too complacent near you. You will, of course, pay for that indiscretion. Yes, pet, I'll make sure you bleed when I'm fu--"
"Finish that thought, and I assure you the removal of your other arm will be quite painful," Wesley glared, raising his sword towards the vampire's throat.
Kakistos laughed. "Humans are such amusing creatures. But there's no reason we can't be civil, eh? In fact, I have a proposition for you. We fight. If you win, you, your Watcher, and the girl go free. If you lose, all three of you become my pets."
"I don't make deals with vampires. Let the girl go."
"Rocco?" Kakistos waved his hoof.
Rocco nodded and pulled a knife from his pocket. He brought it to the girl's face and made a small cut on her cheek. The girl whimpered.
"You see," Kakistos said, "I'm not fond of bargaining."
Buffy squeezed Wesley's hand and leaned in close. "Go stand by her. Make sure she's okay," she whispered.
He looked at her worriedly. "Are you certain?"
"Something to live for, remember?"
Wesley nodded and gave her a small smile before heading over to the vampire and the girl. Buffy scanned the warehouse. There didn't seem to be any other vampires in the building. Just Rocco and Kakistos.
Goes to show how arrogant this sicko is.
"Okay. You wanted me, you got me."
Remembering what Wesley had once told her, about being safer when you're low, she dove forward, rolling towards Kakistos and ignoring the pain of the spare axe pressing into her back. When her feet hit the ground, Buffy pushed herself into a crouch and swung her axe towards his knee.
Despite his bulky frame and whole 'no arm' thing, Kakistos moved fast. He grabbed Buffy's axe just before it made contact with his leg. He then twisted it around. When she felt her bones begin to crack, Buffy yelped and let go.
Using her momentary distraction, Kakistos cracked Buffy across the face and sent her flying backwards. She slammed into the wall and a fine spray of plaster rained down around her. Coughing and wiping her eyes, Buffy pushed herself to her feet. She could feel blood gushing from her lips, the skin completely split where his hoof had connected. But she had more important things to think about currently.
"Now, you know I won't kill you, Slayer. But I have no qualms about making you nice and tender before breaking you in," he said, licking his lips and stalking towards her.
Buffy glanced over at Wesley, who was wringing his hands. "I'm fine," she mouthed. To Kakistos, she said, "Sorry, goat-boy, but the only breaking that's gonna happen here is your ass with my foot."
Kakistos picked up her axe. "I have your weapon, little girl." He let out another one of his creepy laughs that made Buffy's skin crawl.
"Got another." She pulled the other axe from her waistband and closed the space between them, bringing the axe over her head and down towards Kakistos. Whistling as it cut through the air, she'd miscalculated and only knocked the other weapon out of his hand instead of cutting it off entirely.
Still, it was enough to let Buffy gain some momentum. She spun around and kicked him in the head, her foot connecting dully and sending them both flying backwards. When he landed on his back with an "oof," Buffy skidded to a stop in front of him and raised her axe.
"It ends now, you bastard," she said.
"Yes," Kakistos nodded. "It does."
And Buffy was falling, the ground rushing up to meet her. At first she thought her legs had buckled, but she didn't fall to the floor. She fell through it.
When she slammed to the ground, Buffy looked up a couple feet to see Kakistos grinning at her from the edge of the small shaft she was in.
"The only rule here, you see, is that I always win. Rocco?"
Buffy almost threw up when she heard the young girl's screams, followed by a wet crunch and complete silence. Then, a small scuffle, and the sound of Wesley's sword clattering to the floor somewhere in the warehouse.
"Wesley, get out of here," she screamed.
"Tut tut, it's far too late for that," Kakistos said.
Wesley appeared at the edge of the trapdoor, flanked by Rocco and another vampire she didn't recognize.
"Look, you got me, okay? I'll be your pet. You win. But let Wesley go."
Kakistos's face grew stony, all traces of his amused arrogance replaced with a look of seething hatred. "Letting him go won't get me my arm back, will it?" he spat.
"Killing him won't either!"
"No, but it's fun."
"Buffy, it's going to be okay," Wesley said. His voice was calm, but even from her vantage point she could see his eyes filled with regret and fear. Buffy just wanted to hug him, make the fear melt away with a kiss. The air around her grew thick and stilled as she lost herself in his eyes, remembering the warmth of his lips against hers. The way his hand felt wrapped around her waist, callused fingers and a gentle touch pulling her closer. The way he always made everything.... "It's going to be okay," Wesley repeated, giving her the smallest of smiles.
Kakistos shook his head. "No, it won't. Slayer, how many of my kind would you say you've killed in the past couple years, using one of these?" He plucked the stake from Wesley's belt and studied it. "Haven't you ever wondered what it feels like ripping through you?"
Kakistos twisted his mouth into a ghoulish grin and brought his arm backwards, burying the stake square into Wesley's heart.
"No!" someone shrieked hysterically. It took Buffy several moments to realize it had come from her.
Wesley stared sadly at her before all the light disappeared from his eyes and he slumped bonelessly forward.
Gone.
Buffy didn't feel herself begin to breathe again until she was out of the hole, kneeling on the ground. Kakistos leered at her, amused smile playing across his lips. Buffy brought a shaking hand to her own lips, split skin hanging loose and still oozing blood. Nothing compared to the amount of Wesley's blood that was pooled around her knees. Her hands stopped shaking the instant she wrapped her fingers around the cold hilt of Wesley's fallen sword.
She was gonna wipe the smirk of that bastard's face. Make him miserable. No one deserved to be happy in a world without....
Not gonna think about it. Not now. Can't.
In a firestorm of fury, she twisted around, ripping through the necks of the vampires who'd held Wesley down. Buffy felt little satisfaction as they exploded in a hail of dust.
She felt even less advancing on Kakistos. He just stood there. Didn't expect her to go on without someone to love. He'd underestimated the importance of something to avenge. She was on top of him in a flash, driving him into the ground and splitting his head in half with a clunk. Kneeling in a pile of his dust, Buffy didn't feel avenged. She just felt cold. The cross Wesley gave her hung heavy around her neck.
When Buffy finally made her way over to her fallen lover, the only thing she could see was herself reflected in his empty eyes.
Up next: Epilogue