~~ Chapter Seven ~~
"Spike?" Buffy shook him gently, trying to wake him up. His eyes opened almost immediately and he sat up to hold her close. "It's okay, Spike, I'm fine." she said smiling.
He didn't let go of his hold on her; he just rocked her gently. "I thought I'd lost you for a minute, Love." he said smiling. He kissed her gently on the lips.
"Hey, I'm stronger than that. You can't get rid of me that easily," she said smiling and then became serious. "But for now, I need to know where Angel went. Gunn told me you kicked him out."
"I don't know, he just left. I kicked him out because--" he started.
Buffy placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "Look, we can talk later, but right now we're still in trouble. That includes Angel."
"You still love him don't you?" he asked bravely, trying to hide his feelings for Buffy from her.
"I. Said. Later." she said slowly. She meant business and Spike knew that. He stood up and they woke up everybody.
"Hey you guys, I feel really, really strong, I think that blood Spike fed me gave me back temporary Slayer powers. Let's use 'em while they're visiting." she said grabbing an axe off the wall.
"How did you know that he fed it to you?" Cordelia asked.
Buffy made a sour face. "The aftertaste is horrible. Did you think something that powerful would taste like chocolate?"
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Back at the warehouse, Angel was prepared to enter. He quietly opened a side door and peered in. The Mohra demon was drinking water. No. It was salt water; Angel could smell it. *Okay, I have to destroy its jewel.* He thought, blocking out everything but Buffy. His memories of her and Spike stayed fresh in his mind, and empowered him to fight the demon before his eyes. He entered the building and shut the door behind him.
"Hey Mohra! Why don't you leave Buffy alone and pick on a demon your own size?" he challenged.
The huge demon turned around and when he saw Angel, he crushed the glass in his hand. Salt water spilled on the floor, mixed with its green blood, oozing from the cuts on his hand from the glass. The demon roared and lunged at Angel. He dodged to the left and spun around and hit the demon on the back with his sword. Mohra didn't even flinch. It spun around and hit Angel with an uppercut, sending him crashing into a wall about thirty feet away.
Angel grunted and fell to the floor. He slowly stood up, blood slowly seeping from his lower lip. "Now you've upset me." he said calmly, before morphing into his demon visage.
The Mohra laughed loudly. "You think you can kill me all by your soulful self?"
"I'm not sure, but I'm willing to give it a shot." he said as he brushed himself off. "You game?"
The Mohra answered by stampeding directly at Angel. The vampire picked up his sword only to have it knocked out of his hand and across the floor.
"Angel!" cried Buffy stepping through the door followed by Spike and Gunn.
Angel dodged under the Mohra's arm, it's punch slammed through a few layers of the wall. He growled furiously as Angel ran over to the new arrivals.
"We have to smash the jewel on its forehead," he said quickly. Gunn ran off to fight the demon, carrying his homemade axe.
Spike looked over at Buffy whose face was still badly bruised. "Oh I'll smash more than just the damn jewel."
"Buffy, get out of here, you'll get hurt again." Angel said pointing to the door.
"It's fine Angel, I still have some Slayer power left." she said rushing off to help Gunn.
The three spread out around the demon. It stopped fighting Gunn and looked around, not liking the odds against it. "Now!" Spike yelled as everybody attacked at once, stabbing and whacking the ugly monster with all their strength. The demon stood up and hit their weapons aside. Angel punched his jewel with his fist, hoping that would be enough to kill it. Instead, he screamed in pain and pulled his nearly broken hand back. *It's a good thing I heal fast.* He thought. He looked up at the demon just as it hit him again, sending him flying through the air and landing on his back, on top of a double-edged axe. The axe pierced through his stomach, and his dark blood seeped on to the floor. All he could do was watch the fight.
Spike and Gunn quickly went to retrieve their weapons, leaving Buffy fighting the demon, hand to hand. He threw a right punch but she blocked and countered hitting him square in the jaw. That was it. The demon had had enough; even a girl was beating him.
He hit Buffy with a backhand slap, causing her to fall next to Angel lying on the floor. "Buffy," he said weakly. "Take the axe, I'll be fine."
Buffy looked at Angel for a minute then rolled him over carefully and removed the axe from his back and stood up to fight the demon. But Gunn beat her to it and had just delivered the final blow to the red gem on the Mohra's head. It screamed in pain as Hellfire consumed it. A few seconds later, there was nothing left of it but the blood on the floor. The green blood was slowly mixing itself with Angel's blood and making its way to his battered body.
~~ Chapter Eight ~~
Buffy saw Spike crumpled against the wall. When had he been hit? When she was removing the axe from Angel's body? She kneeled down and laid his head on her lap. There was dark blood flowing from the back of his head. She looked around her and noticed there was more of his blood surrounding her. *He'll never recover without my blood.* She thought as she saw his eyes flutter open and closed between consciousness.
"Spike," she whispered. "You have to drink from me, it's the only thing that will save you."
His vampire face was still showing and she brought her wrist down to his mouth. She pressed her arm into his fangs as blood seeped from the puncture marks. When the first few drops fell onto his tongue, his eyes opened and he grabbed her wrist. Spike was too weak to control the demon inside of him as it drank greedily from Buffy's wrist. She closed her eyes as the pain registered in her brain.
Gunn saw the green blood slowly spreading to Angel and remembered that it would make him human again. *He'll die from that wound if he becomes mortal.* He thought and tried to move him away from it. It was too late and the blood had already made contact with Angel's huge gash. He writhed in pain, as his body slowly became human. Blood poured from his back easier now that his heart was pumping it through his body. "Buffy!" Gunn yelled. "Angel's human, and he's dying!"
Buffy pulled her wrist from Spike's grasp. He had drunk enough to survive now. Her main concern was Angel. She rushed over to Angel and kneeled down beside him. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. Angel opened his eyes and looked into hers.
"Buffy, I'm sorry I left you," he said gasping in pain. "I love you."
"I love you too, Angel. I wanted to tell you something, but I never thought I'd have to tell you like this." she said crying. "I remember when you became human, and I remember everything else about that day."
Angel took in a deep breath as a sharp pain shot through his body. He opened his mouth to ask how but Buffy stopped him. "It doesn't matter how I know. What matters is that I love you and that I always will." she leaned down to kiss him on his lips. He kissed her back weakly, then she felt his heart stop beating. She laid her head down on his chest and cried. She cried for him, and she cried for their lost love. She felt hands on her shoulders. She lifted her head and saw that it was Spike. He kneeled beside her and held her.
"He sacrificed himself for you," he said quietly. "He truly did love you."
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Buffy stayed in her old bedroom the next day at her mom's house, crying and mourning. She hardly slept and when she did, she dreamed of her Angel. They were together in a peaceful meadow with the sun shining down on them. He kept telling him that he loved her and that she had to move on with her life.
"Buffy, you have to talk to Spike," he said softly, holding her hand as they walked along a shimmering river.
"Talk to him about what?" she asked him.
He turned to look at her. "About us, our past, and your future together."
"We don't have a future together, he is a vampire and sooner or later he will have to fulfill his vampiric needs, like hunting and killing people." she said sadly.
"Talk to him. You'll see," he said just before she awoke with a start. His words repeated in her mind and somehow she knew that would never see him again for a long time. She cried on her pillow until she had no tears left. She heard whispers downstairs and went to investigate. It was Willow talking with Buffy's mom, Joyce. They were talking in a hushed tone so they wouldn't disturb Buffy.
"You mean he's--" Joyce asked.
"Yeah," Willow said quietly. "Buffy was really upset about it. Well, you already know that, but she'll get over him eventually. Spike needs to talk to her so he can tell her--"
"I need to talk to him too," Buffy said, startling the two women.
"Oh, hi Buffy," Willow said, giving her friend a quick hug. "How are you?"
"I've been better, but I know what I have to do now. Angel told me," she replied, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
Willow gave her a confused look. *Angel told her?* She wondered silently.
~~ Chapter Nine ~~
Xander heard a knock on the door of his apartment. He was shocked when he saw it was her. "Cordy, what--"
"Look Xander, I just--nice apartment." she said stepping inside and looking around.
"Yeah, I've had it for about three years now. Buffy christened it by killing a demon right over there." he said pointing to where a couch now sat.
"Yuck, a demon was in here?" she said making a face. "Besides Anya, I mean."
"Anya's not a demon anymore, you know." Xander said.
"Yeah, thanks to Little Miss Likes-To-Fight." Cordy said, rolling her eyes.
"What is your problem, Cor?" he asked. "Why did you come here?"
"I just--wanted to say goodbye before I left," she said looking down at her feet. "I'm going back to LA with Gunn."
"You and Gunn are--"
"Oh no! God no, but he lives in LA and so do I so we're going to take Angel's car back." she said, bursting into tears as she said the former vampire's name.
Xander pulled her into a hug. "It's okay Cordelia," he rubbed his back to comfort her.
"No it's not! Buffy just let him die there, she didn't do anything to help him!" Cordy yelled.
"There's nothing she could have done," he said softly. "It wasn't her fault."
"I loved him...He was like a brother to me." she said in a raspy voice. She cleared her throat. "A two hundred and forty-seven-year old brother."
Cordelia pulled back to look at Xander. His eyes were soft and sincere. Suddenly she kissed him.
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That evening Buffy came home. She had gone to find Spike but he wasn't at the mansion where he had lived for the past year. She closed the door to her apartment, conveniently in the same building as Xander's, and there was Spike, sitting on the couch watching television. He flipped off the TV and stood up to face her. "Hey Buff, where've you been?"
"Spike, where were you today? I went to your place but you weren't there." she explained as she hung her coat in the closet.
"I've been here all day, waiting for you to come home." he said. "I have to talk to you."
"Me too," she said walking over to him. "Last night, when we were attacked...I called Angel's name--"
"Yeah, I know...do you have to remind me?" he said, cutting her off. "Look, I can't hide it anymore. I love you!" he shouted. He softened his tone and continued. "I love you so much, and it hurts me when you say his name. And when I look into your eyes, I can see how much you love him. And it kills me."
"You didn't let me finish," she said while the tears in her eyes threatened to fall. "I called his name only because I saw him again...I was thinking of him and that day that he became human. It was the same type of demon we fought before and I sort of had déjà vu."
"But last night, you were probably crying over him because you still love him, right?" Spike asked.
"Yes I love him, I always will...but I'm not in love with him. You took his place a long time ago," she said softly. "The love you see in my eyes is for you. You're too busy comparing yourself to him that you don't realize that you are the one I want to be with."
"Yeah well he's a difficult guy to match." he mumbled.
"Well you did. In fact, I think I love you more than I love him. And besides, I have to follow in Dru's footsteps...do you think that that is any fun?" she asked.
"Dru who?" Spike asked. "I haven't thought about her for one second since I staked her after she tried to attack you. I fell in love with you the first time I saw you...even while she and I were together." He walked over to Buffy and kissed her. She put her hands on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Her pulse was racing; she could feel it beating in her chest as Spike held her against him. *Wait a minute,* she thought to herself. *That isn't just my heart. It's Spike's too!*
"Spike?" Buffy shook him gently, trying to wake him up. His eyes opened almost immediately and he sat up to hold her close. "It's okay, Spike, I'm fine." she said smiling.
He didn't let go of his hold on her; he just rocked her gently. "I thought I'd lost you for a minute, Love." he said smiling. He kissed her gently on the lips.
"Hey, I'm stronger than that. You can't get rid of me that easily," she said smiling and then became serious. "But for now, I need to know where Angel went. Gunn told me you kicked him out."
"I don't know, he just left. I kicked him out because--" he started.
Buffy placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "Look, we can talk later, but right now we're still in trouble. That includes Angel."
"You still love him don't you?" he asked bravely, trying to hide his feelings for Buffy from her.
"I. Said. Later." she said slowly. She meant business and Spike knew that. He stood up and they woke up everybody.
"Hey you guys, I feel really, really strong, I think that blood Spike fed me gave me back temporary Slayer powers. Let's use 'em while they're visiting." she said grabbing an axe off the wall.
"How did you know that he fed it to you?" Cordelia asked.
Buffy made a sour face. "The aftertaste is horrible. Did you think something that powerful would taste like chocolate?"
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Back at the warehouse, Angel was prepared to enter. He quietly opened a side door and peered in. The Mohra demon was drinking water. No. It was salt water; Angel could smell it. *Okay, I have to destroy its jewel.* He thought, blocking out everything but Buffy. His memories of her and Spike stayed fresh in his mind, and empowered him to fight the demon before his eyes. He entered the building and shut the door behind him.
"Hey Mohra! Why don't you leave Buffy alone and pick on a demon your own size?" he challenged.
The huge demon turned around and when he saw Angel, he crushed the glass in his hand. Salt water spilled on the floor, mixed with its green blood, oozing from the cuts on his hand from the glass. The demon roared and lunged at Angel. He dodged to the left and spun around and hit the demon on the back with his sword. Mohra didn't even flinch. It spun around and hit Angel with an uppercut, sending him crashing into a wall about thirty feet away.
Angel grunted and fell to the floor. He slowly stood up, blood slowly seeping from his lower lip. "Now you've upset me." he said calmly, before morphing into his demon visage.
The Mohra laughed loudly. "You think you can kill me all by your soulful self?"
"I'm not sure, but I'm willing to give it a shot." he said as he brushed himself off. "You game?"
The Mohra answered by stampeding directly at Angel. The vampire picked up his sword only to have it knocked out of his hand and across the floor.
"Angel!" cried Buffy stepping through the door followed by Spike and Gunn.
Angel dodged under the Mohra's arm, it's punch slammed through a few layers of the wall. He growled furiously as Angel ran over to the new arrivals.
"We have to smash the jewel on its forehead," he said quickly. Gunn ran off to fight the demon, carrying his homemade axe.
Spike looked over at Buffy whose face was still badly bruised. "Oh I'll smash more than just the damn jewel."
"Buffy, get out of here, you'll get hurt again." Angel said pointing to the door.
"It's fine Angel, I still have some Slayer power left." she said rushing off to help Gunn.
The three spread out around the demon. It stopped fighting Gunn and looked around, not liking the odds against it. "Now!" Spike yelled as everybody attacked at once, stabbing and whacking the ugly monster with all their strength. The demon stood up and hit their weapons aside. Angel punched his jewel with his fist, hoping that would be enough to kill it. Instead, he screamed in pain and pulled his nearly broken hand back. *It's a good thing I heal fast.* He thought. He looked up at the demon just as it hit him again, sending him flying through the air and landing on his back, on top of a double-edged axe. The axe pierced through his stomach, and his dark blood seeped on to the floor. All he could do was watch the fight.
Spike and Gunn quickly went to retrieve their weapons, leaving Buffy fighting the demon, hand to hand. He threw a right punch but she blocked and countered hitting him square in the jaw. That was it. The demon had had enough; even a girl was beating him.
He hit Buffy with a backhand slap, causing her to fall next to Angel lying on the floor. "Buffy," he said weakly. "Take the axe, I'll be fine."
Buffy looked at Angel for a minute then rolled him over carefully and removed the axe from his back and stood up to fight the demon. But Gunn beat her to it and had just delivered the final blow to the red gem on the Mohra's head. It screamed in pain as Hellfire consumed it. A few seconds later, there was nothing left of it but the blood on the floor. The green blood was slowly mixing itself with Angel's blood and making its way to his battered body.
~~ Chapter Eight ~~
Buffy saw Spike crumpled against the wall. When had he been hit? When she was removing the axe from Angel's body? She kneeled down and laid his head on her lap. There was dark blood flowing from the back of his head. She looked around her and noticed there was more of his blood surrounding her. *He'll never recover without my blood.* She thought as she saw his eyes flutter open and closed between consciousness.
"Spike," she whispered. "You have to drink from me, it's the only thing that will save you."
His vampire face was still showing and she brought her wrist down to his mouth. She pressed her arm into his fangs as blood seeped from the puncture marks. When the first few drops fell onto his tongue, his eyes opened and he grabbed her wrist. Spike was too weak to control the demon inside of him as it drank greedily from Buffy's wrist. She closed her eyes as the pain registered in her brain.
Gunn saw the green blood slowly spreading to Angel and remembered that it would make him human again. *He'll die from that wound if he becomes mortal.* He thought and tried to move him away from it. It was too late and the blood had already made contact with Angel's huge gash. He writhed in pain, as his body slowly became human. Blood poured from his back easier now that his heart was pumping it through his body. "Buffy!" Gunn yelled. "Angel's human, and he's dying!"
Buffy pulled her wrist from Spike's grasp. He had drunk enough to survive now. Her main concern was Angel. She rushed over to Angel and kneeled down beside him. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. Angel opened his eyes and looked into hers.
"Buffy, I'm sorry I left you," he said gasping in pain. "I love you."
"I love you too, Angel. I wanted to tell you something, but I never thought I'd have to tell you like this." she said crying. "I remember when you became human, and I remember everything else about that day."
Angel took in a deep breath as a sharp pain shot through his body. He opened his mouth to ask how but Buffy stopped him. "It doesn't matter how I know. What matters is that I love you and that I always will." she leaned down to kiss him on his lips. He kissed her back weakly, then she felt his heart stop beating. She laid her head down on his chest and cried. She cried for him, and she cried for their lost love. She felt hands on her shoulders. She lifted her head and saw that it was Spike. He kneeled beside her and held her.
"He sacrificed himself for you," he said quietly. "He truly did love you."
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Buffy stayed in her old bedroom the next day at her mom's house, crying and mourning. She hardly slept and when she did, she dreamed of her Angel. They were together in a peaceful meadow with the sun shining down on them. He kept telling him that he loved her and that she had to move on with her life.
"Buffy, you have to talk to Spike," he said softly, holding her hand as they walked along a shimmering river.
"Talk to him about what?" she asked him.
He turned to look at her. "About us, our past, and your future together."
"We don't have a future together, he is a vampire and sooner or later he will have to fulfill his vampiric needs, like hunting and killing people." she said sadly.
"Talk to him. You'll see," he said just before she awoke with a start. His words repeated in her mind and somehow she knew that would never see him again for a long time. She cried on her pillow until she had no tears left. She heard whispers downstairs and went to investigate. It was Willow talking with Buffy's mom, Joyce. They were talking in a hushed tone so they wouldn't disturb Buffy.
"You mean he's--" Joyce asked.
"Yeah," Willow said quietly. "Buffy was really upset about it. Well, you already know that, but she'll get over him eventually. Spike needs to talk to her so he can tell her--"
"I need to talk to him too," Buffy said, startling the two women.
"Oh, hi Buffy," Willow said, giving her friend a quick hug. "How are you?"
"I've been better, but I know what I have to do now. Angel told me," she replied, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
Willow gave her a confused look. *Angel told her?* She wondered silently.
~~ Chapter Nine ~~
Xander heard a knock on the door of his apartment. He was shocked when he saw it was her. "Cordy, what--"
"Look Xander, I just--nice apartment." she said stepping inside and looking around.
"Yeah, I've had it for about three years now. Buffy christened it by killing a demon right over there." he said pointing to where a couch now sat.
"Yuck, a demon was in here?" she said making a face. "Besides Anya, I mean."
"Anya's not a demon anymore, you know." Xander said.
"Yeah, thanks to Little Miss Likes-To-Fight." Cordy said, rolling her eyes.
"What is your problem, Cor?" he asked. "Why did you come here?"
"I just--wanted to say goodbye before I left," she said looking down at her feet. "I'm going back to LA with Gunn."
"You and Gunn are--"
"Oh no! God no, but he lives in LA and so do I so we're going to take Angel's car back." she said, bursting into tears as she said the former vampire's name.
Xander pulled her into a hug. "It's okay Cordelia," he rubbed his back to comfort her.
"No it's not! Buffy just let him die there, she didn't do anything to help him!" Cordy yelled.
"There's nothing she could have done," he said softly. "It wasn't her fault."
"I loved him...He was like a brother to me." she said in a raspy voice. She cleared her throat. "A two hundred and forty-seven-year old brother."
Cordelia pulled back to look at Xander. His eyes were soft and sincere. Suddenly she kissed him.
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That evening Buffy came home. She had gone to find Spike but he wasn't at the mansion where he had lived for the past year. She closed the door to her apartment, conveniently in the same building as Xander's, and there was Spike, sitting on the couch watching television. He flipped off the TV and stood up to face her. "Hey Buff, where've you been?"
"Spike, where were you today? I went to your place but you weren't there." she explained as she hung her coat in the closet.
"I've been here all day, waiting for you to come home." he said. "I have to talk to you."
"Me too," she said walking over to him. "Last night, when we were attacked...I called Angel's name--"
"Yeah, I know...do you have to remind me?" he said, cutting her off. "Look, I can't hide it anymore. I love you!" he shouted. He softened his tone and continued. "I love you so much, and it hurts me when you say his name. And when I look into your eyes, I can see how much you love him. And it kills me."
"You didn't let me finish," she said while the tears in her eyes threatened to fall. "I called his name only because I saw him again...I was thinking of him and that day that he became human. It was the same type of demon we fought before and I sort of had déjà vu."
"But last night, you were probably crying over him because you still love him, right?" Spike asked.
"Yes I love him, I always will...but I'm not in love with him. You took his place a long time ago," she said softly. "The love you see in my eyes is for you. You're too busy comparing yourself to him that you don't realize that you are the one I want to be with."
"Yeah well he's a difficult guy to match." he mumbled.
"Well you did. In fact, I think I love you more than I love him. And besides, I have to follow in Dru's footsteps...do you think that that is any fun?" she asked.
"Dru who?" Spike asked. "I haven't thought about her for one second since I staked her after she tried to attack you. I fell in love with you the first time I saw you...even while she and I were together." He walked over to Buffy and kissed her. She put her hands on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Her pulse was racing; she could feel it beating in her chest as Spike held her against him. *Wait a minute,* she thought to herself. *That isn't just my heart. It's Spike's too!*