With one arm, Max pulled Liz as close to him as possible and then he lifted his other arm to the ceiling. It was more instinct then thought so he was as surprised as everyone else when the ceiling didn't actually fall.
Liz braced herself for the fallout and when it didn't come she looked up timidly from Max's embrace. With everyone else in the room she looked up and saw the shimmering green force field that was keeping the ceiling from crushing them. She looked at Max and saw that he was already trembling from the effort. She knew that he had a hard time maintaining it on it's own, let alone, holding tons of concrete.
"Michael," he whispered.
She turned toward Michael across the now silent room.
"Michael, get us out of here!" She shouted.
Michael nodded and looked around. The clear path that he had been begging for finally materialized in front of him. Only vampires remained between him and the nearest wall. He extended his arm and the air around him sizzled. The blast heated the air around it and blew a hole the size of a semi into the wall. The vampires in between were vaporized.
"Let's get out of here!" Michael shouted. Everyone who was stunned by his remarkable act snapped back to attention and made a mad dash for the new exit. But Michael and Isabel ran to Max.
"Can you move, man," Michael asked him.
Max shook his head and now sweat was pouring down his face from the strain.
"We have to get him out of here," Isabel insisted.
"We will, " Buffy said, coming up behind Max and slipping her arm around him. "I can move him."
Then Faith came up and circled him from the other side.
"We'll get your boy out of here, just make tracks." Faith said.
Isabel and Michael hesitated then hurried toward the exit. Liz looked around to make sure that no one else was left inside and then she followed. Buffy and Faith looked at each other, nodded, and then launched themselves and Max toward the hole in the wall. The ceiling started dropping around them, but Max managed to maintain the shield until they reached the outside. As soon as they cleared it, the soap factory began a total collapse.
Liz, who had been waiting for him, threw her arms around Max. He dropped to his knees from exhaustion and she knelt down on the ground and circled him with her arms. He leaned into her, unable to stay up on his own.
"Wow," Kyle said, "that was intense."
"Chalk up another one for the good guys," Xander said, as the remaining vampires scattered into the night.
And that was the moment that Angel collapsed.
"Angel," Buffy cried, running to his side.
"What's wrong with him," Liz asked.
"The blade that Darla stabbed him with was laced with poison," Wesley said quietly.
"Poison?" Buffy said. She looked down at Angel, even paler then usual, sweating, beginning to convulse, and she recognized it.
"It's the same stuff I tagged him with," Faith assessed.
"It didn't work this fast before," Buffy insisted.
"Darla must have used a stronger dose. I—I had wanted him to linger."
Buffy stood up, enraged.
"I remember," she said.
"Is there an antidote?" Liz asked, reasoning that if Angel had survived before then there had to be a cure.
Both Faith and Buffy looked at Liz and she didn't know why but she wished she hadn't asked that question.
"Yeah," Buffy said. "There's an antidote."
"Buffy, you're not thinking—" Giles began, but was silenced by the deadly look she gave him.
"What is the antidote?" Liz whispered to Wesley.
"He can only survive if he drains the blood of a slayer."
"Drains--?"
"It nearly killed Buffy the last time," he said.
Angel knew the end was coming quickly. He was aware of everyone arguing around him, but he could feel his grip on reality slipping. He looked up and saw Liz kneeling by his head, still cradling a gaunt Max. But strangely, he could still hear Drusilla's music and he wondered if he was beginning to hallucinate.
It's been a while since I could look at myself straight
Since I said I'm sorry
Since I've seen the way the candle lights your face
But I can still remember
Just the way you taste
"It's the only way," he heard Buffy say, standing above him.
"No!" He screamed. He hadn't wanted to do it the last time, but she had forced him. He hadn't fed off of anyone in a hundred years and when he did it had been the woman he loved. He could still remember just the way she tasted. It had saved his life but at what cost? It was the final wedge that drove them apart. He shook his head. Never again.
Buffy bent down to him.
"There's no other way," she whispered.
"Sure there is," Faith said.
Buffy looked up at the other slayer with a glare.
"You can't be serious," she said.
"What, B, you don't believe in karma? Why do you think I'm here? Why do you think he got hit with the same poison that I used to take him out?"
"So now you want to be a martyr? Well I don't swallow it."
"You don't have to," she countered. "He does."
Everyone was still arguing as Liz looked down at Angel. He had begun to convulse and his eyes were unfocused. Liz ran her fingers in his hair.
"Buffy," he began to mumble. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough for us. I wish—"
Liz looked away.
"Max," she whispered.
Max looked down at Angel. He knew what the vampire had done for Liz. He inched forward and slowly raised his hand over him.
"Do you have any idea what your mates did to bring you back?" Spike was saying to Buffy. "Are you going to throw that away, just like that? For him."
"Spike, I don't have time for this." Buffy said. "I'm going to—"
"Buffy." Giles said.
Buffy turned and saw what her Watcher was looking at. Max Evans was leaning over Angel. He was so weak he couldn't even stay upright, so Liz, with her arms wrapped around him from behind, held onto him. Max gently laid a hand over the wound in Angel's shoulder. The moment he touched him, Max's head snapped back and Angel's back arched like they were both being electrocuted.
Max wanted to scream.
The images flooding him were violent and horrifying. They were Angel and some of Darla, feeding on women, men, and children. Angel was in all of his horrendous glory. Then he saw an image of a dark haired woman, tied and bound by a fireplace and then the images shifted. Suddenly the violence stopped and Angel was wandering, guilt ridden, lost. Then Max saw Buffy, and the images became hopeful, the violence on the side of good, Angel's soul felt lighter.
"Max!"
He heard Liz's voice screaming in his ear and he broke the connection and fell back into her arms.
Buffy fell to her knees and looked down at Angel.
"Angel?"
The vampire blinked a few times and then he focused on Buffy. He reached up and touched her face.
"Are you alright," she asked.
He nodded and sat up slowly.
"Max," they heard Liz shout. They turned and found the young woman bent over her alien boyfriend.
"Is he going to be OK," Angel asked.
"He was so weak…." Liz mumbled. But then Max opened his eyes and Liz squealed in delight and hugged him.
* * * * * *
"We should start clearing out of here," Sheriff Valenti said. "The fire department will be here in a minute."
Everyone nodded and started toward their vehicles.
"I'm going to need a clothes allowance," Cordelia was insisting to Gunn and Wesley, just as Isabel and Michael walked by. Isabel sighed and waved her hand over Cordy's outfit. All of the stains, from blood to soot vanished. Cordy looked down at herself then at Isabel. "Are you in need of a new best friend?"
"So who do you think is scarier," Kyle asked Michael. "Vampires or special unit agents?"
"Well the special unit can still come out during the day…."
"Is that lavender?" Maria asked as she walked along side Willow and Tara.
"We always use different scents and oils when fighting off creatures of the night," Tara confirmed.
"Really? I've been trying to whip up a combination that will lure alien males. Well one alien male, any suggestions?"
"So, sheriff," Xander was saying as he Anya, Faith and the sheriff walked. "You have some interesting criminal types in this berg. Ever think of coming out to California?"
"I think I'll stay—" then he choked on a scream when they neared the cars and he saw a green, horned demon in a bright yellow jacket and pants leaning casually against his vehicle.
"Chill," Faith said. "He's my ride." Then she turned and looked at Valenti. "You don't have any pull with any parole boards do you?"
"Sheriff!" The brightly dressed demon said cheerily. "How about some of that Crocodile Rock now?"
Angel and Buffy were walking towards her car when they saw Max and Liz leaning against it. Max was better but he was still weak. He was leaning against the car with Liz standing in front of him.
"I knew you would come," he said, staring intensely into her eyes. "I prayed that you wouldn't but I knew you would."
She smiled at him.
"I'll always come for you Max. Always."
He leaned his forehead against hers.
"I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"Because none of this kind of stuff would happen if it wasn't for me," he said. "You wouldn't have been involved with agent Topolski, you wouldn't have been kidnapped by vampires, or—"
"I wouldn't look at the stars the way I do now, I wouldn't have the ability to astral project, and most importantly, I wouldn't have you. Max, you make it all worth it. Every bit of it."
"But you'll never have a normal life."
She smiled.
"So what's so great about normal?"
Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and she kissed him.
Buffy and Angel glanced away, not wanting to intrude on the moment.
"I remember being that naïve," Buffy said.
Angel was quiet for a moment and then he turned and looked at her.
"Are you sure that we're not the ones that got it wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"Look at them," Angel said, pointing to the other couple. "They are literally from different worlds and they've still managed to make it work."
"It's still early," Buffy replied. "We were that way in the beginning. We didn't want to think too far ahead."
"I think they've thought ahead. I wouldn't bet against them, would you?"
Buffy turned to Angel.
"What are you saying exactly?"
Angel held his hand out to her.
"Just that anything is possible."
Buffy looked at his hand and everything that it offered. Carefully she placed her own palm in his.
"Maybe," she said quietly.
"Hey!" Faith shouted, cranking up the radio in Angel's car, filling the night with thunderous music. "There are still a few hours before sunrise and I don't have to be back in my cell until then. What do you do in this town for action?"
"Well you just demolished the only hotspot for any real fun," Kyle remarked.
"Really?" Valenti asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Not that I would know…"
"Brody's out of town," Max remarked. "We can hang out at the UFO museum."
"Is there music?" The Host asked. "Because I am just dying to read this room."
Max blinked at what looked like a demon. "Uh, we can bring some."
"Then let's party." Faith exclaimed.
Liz and Max climbed into Buffy's car. Liz looked at the slayer as she started the engine.
"This was a typical night for you wasn't it?" She said.
"Not typical but not exactly a new experience either."
"What about Darla and Dru and Ethan?"
"They'll be back eventually," Buffy admitted. "But I think Darla at least learned not to mess with any more aliens. If she does come back, you know you can call me. About her or any other world ending dilemmas that come your way."
Liz nodded.
"Us too," she said. "If you ever need us for any help, you can count on us. Always."
Buffy and Liz smiled at one another. Natural allies, friends forever.
The End
