The characters of BtVS and Angel don't belong to me. Don't sue.


Life Lessons Part Eight


"Giles? Are you here?" Buffy called into the Magic Box. All the lights were off, but Giles had asked her to come by before she and Dawn went patrolling. She saw a light glowing in the back of the store, where the training room was. She quietly made her way back.

Buffy stood in the doorway, watching Giles attack the punching bag as if it were threatening his life. Giles didn't even notice her come into the room, until she came over and held the bag for its support. Giles stopped hitting and looked at his slayer.

"Giles, what's wrong? I've never seen you like this before. Did something happen?"

"Buffy..." At this moment, Giles looked so much older than his years. He looked at Buffy with sad eyes. "I am so sorry. I knew what happened to slayers. I knew that the life expectancy was horribly short. I thought my biggest challenge was going to be to keep you alive from the demons that you would face every day. I now know how naïve I was."

"Giles, if this is about the whole 'we're going to kill the slayer- so be it' crap that the Council is going on about, you can forget about it. If I can fight the demons that I do on a day to day basis, then I can certainly handle a couple of the Council's-"

"They went after Faith." Giles cut in

"What?"

"They knew she wouldn't be available for her eighteenth birthday test next week. They decided to start their party a little early."

"Is she okay? Did they kill her?"

"No. She survived. She knew that they would come for her. When she first turned herself in, Wesley told her about the test. She didn't know that they were going to do anything to her before her birthday, but she was prepared none the less."

"Well then, I'll be okay. She was in prison and didn't know that they were coming for her. I'm out here and I know. If she's okay, then I will be too."

"I said she survived. I did not say she was okay. And the only reason that she survived is pure luck! Are you willing to risk your safety on the chance that you might get lucky!" Giles was so scared and so angry that he could no longer control his voice.

"How bad is she?"

"She will be in the infirmary for a couple of weeks. I've heard that she is healing quickly, though. One of the guards that she has become somewhat friends with put herself on a twenty-four hour watch until Faith recovers."

"What did they do to her?"

" Her guard friend was just going to check on her one more time before she went home. It was already lights out and the guard saw four men sticking rods through her cell bars. She was trapped in the cellblock so it was fairly simple to get at her. Not a lot of room for a girl to get away from electric prodding. They haven't really told us how bad the damage really is, just that they were surprised that she pulled through.

"The guard's unexpected arrival kept the men from finishing off the job. Faith was on the floor, unconscious. That was when the guard took her to the infirmary."

Buffy took a minute to digest the information. "Giles. I'll be okay. I've got a watcher, two vampires, two witches, an ex-vengeance demon, a vision girl, one hell of a crossbow shooter, and the Key. None of you have ever let me down before. I trust all of you with my life. The way all of you trust me with yours. It's all going to be okay."

"You don't understand! Are you willing to put people at risk? People will die if they try to protect you! There is a reason you have lasted so long, and don't think that the Council doesn't know what it is! You are strong because you always have someone watching your back. Those are the people the Council will go for first.

"Buffy, you are my slayer. I love you so much, as if you were my own daughter. It would kill me if something were to happen to you. And it will kill you when the friends that are trying to protect you get killed for helping you."

"So what am I supposed to do Giles? Tell me what I should do!"

"After the battle, I need you to leave. I need you to get as far away as possible. Change your name, your looks and your life. Live as someone else. Cut off all contact to those who you wish to protect."

"I can't do that Giles! I need all of you! I can't turn my back and walk away. What about the Hellmouth? Who is going to protect this God forsaken place?"

"I will deal with that myself. I don't know if I could go on if you die, Buffy. I am giving you the chance to live out the rest of your life."

"My friends are my life!"

"If you stay, you won't have any friends left to live for! Do not be selfish about this!"

"I'm not being selfish! We can protect each other!"

"Here are your choices, Buffy: You stay here and go insane as one by one your friends are murdered until there is no one else to protect you and the Council finally kills you or... you leave. You will never be able to contact us again, but both parties will be alive."

"I don't like you god damned choices, Giles! I'm not going to choose either one! There is another way, there always is!" With that, Buffy ran from the Magic Box.

She didn't know where she was going. Her tears blinded her. Finally she stopped running. She fell to the grass absolutely exhausted. Her entire body was shaking.

Buffy lay there for a while, and eventually her tears subsided. She looked up at the stars. Her mind was reeling and she couldn't catch any of the thoughts going through her head. She just wanted the world to go away. For about the millionth time in her life, Buffy had no idea what to do.

"Buffy? Buffy!" The shrieking voice that was calling her name got closer and closer. Dawn ran and slid down on the grass beside her sister. Tears where running down Dawn's face. "Buffy, are you okay?!"

Slowly, Buffy turned her head towards her sister. They held each other's gaze for a moment, and then Buffy slowly turned her head back up to the stars.

"Buffy?"

"Shh." was all that came from Buffy's lips.

Dawn lay down on the grass next to her sister. She turned her body into Buffy's and wrapped one of her arms across Buffy's stomach. Dawn just held her for a minute, and then said so quietly, "You should go"

Buffy closed her eyes, one more teardrop escaping. "You heard?"

"Yeah, you two were pretty loud. You really should go. I know you Buffy. If even one of us died, you would feel responsible. You would never recover from it."

"I know there is another way. There has to be."

"Maybe not. Maybe the one element that has kept you alive all this time is the one element that will destroy you. Maybe no matter how badly you want a happy ending, the story still stays tragic.

"Buffy, you deal with darkness and death on a day to day basis. You didn't sign up for this. It chose you. Your life isn't a walk in the park and everything is not going to turn up roses."

"But I have always done what I was supposed to do! Sure I bitch and complain, but I get the job done. Why can't I have one reward? Just one little reward."

"Maybe you have it right now. Maybe your reward is having so many people that love and care about you. Do you think any slayer before you had friends like you do?"

Buffy sat up "Then why do I have to give any of you up? You can't just give a reward and take it away. It doesn't work like that."

Dawn stood up. "Do you think I like the idea of losing you, of never seeing you again? You can't win this one Buffy. It's a lose- lose situation. I could feel how angry Giles was, Buffy. He doesn't want you to leave, in fact it will probably kill him, but you have to go. Giles would never send you away if he didn't think it was necessary."

Buffy looked up at her sister. "How'd you get to be so smart?"

"Look at all the influence I have."

Buffy stood up and wrapped her arms around Dawn. They held on to each other tightly. "I love you" Buffy whispered. "I love you too" Dawn replied.




"All right, everybody, please pay attention!" Giles was in full charge as the gang was about to go into battle. "We know where the demons are performing the ceremony, and we know of at least six different types of demons that will be there. Tara, Willow, and Anya, are you ready for the spell?"

The three girls nodded. They decided that it would be best to recite the spell before hand, only leaving off the last word that would put it into action. After the signal was given to begin the spell, the girls would say the final word of the spell, in unison, and start the ceremony to close the gates of hell.

"Remember, not a word until the spell is ready to be cast. Xander will signal the time to act by shooting the first arrow. The rest of us will charge in after that. I want everyone to be extremely cautious... I don't want to lose any of you."

With his last words, Giles looked at Buffy. She held his look for a minute. Then she pushed down all of her emotions and went into 'Slayer Mode'. "All right. Let's go. The sooner we get this over with the better."

With a glance to everyone in the room she turned and, with a determined walk, started for the abandoned church that tonight served as the portal between Hell and Earth.






It was a terrible battle. Everyone soon realized that all the preparation in the world wouldn't have been enough. There were two different kinds of demons that nobody had expected. In fact, nobody knew what type of demons they were. Xander dusted about three dozen vampires before he ran out of arrows. Finally, he had to join in with the others in hand to hand combat.

Willow, Anya, and Tara put spells on the Acrypoltic and Greinge demons that rendered them defenseless, while Giles beheaded each one. Buffy was having trouble with the Aeirhgytid demon, but still hadn't broken a sweat. Angel and Spike were ruthlessly cutting off demon heads one by one. Giles had told everyone to go for the heads unless it was a vampire. With so many types of demons it was the best chance of destroying them.

In the end, there was only one type of demon left. It was three demons that the group could not identify. Every time someone got a sword in between their head and neck, the demon would instantly regenerate. Buffy was totally focused on what she was doing. She didn't know if the gang was there with her or not. In her mind, it was she and the demon in front of her.

Suddenly, the demon charged at Buffy. Buffy, waiting for it to make the first move, lunged at the demon at the same time. There was a sound of metal hitting metal. Then suddenly, there was a great noise and the room fell silent.

Buffy lay silently on the ground. Blood was pooling on top of her shirt. She didn't make a move.

"What...the hell...just happened?" Xander said, the pain he felt obvious in his voice.

Everyone that wasn't hurt began to rise from the floor. Each looking around, surveying the damage. That was when it happened. The only noise that could be heard was the awesome screaming that ripped past someone's throat.

"NONONONONONONONONONONONONO" were the only sounds that were being made. Xander rushed over to the form that was screaming kneeling down on the ground. Xander looked down at the two bodies lying on the floor. His face went pale and his heart dropped in his stomach.

"Oh God! Oh God, please no!" were the only words that escaped his lips...

End part Eight...