Xander swung from the hip, not wanting to crack Buffy's skull if he could possibly help it. Buffy stepped back and evaded the bat, then launched a high roundhouse kick at Xander's head, which fortunately for him he ducked under. As Xander ducked he gripped the bat like he was bunting and poked Buffy in the stomach with the end, winding her slightly.

Recovering faster than Xander could anticipate, Buffy struck out with a reverse swinging punch that caught Xander just below his right eye. The force of the blow knocked him off his feet and he cried out in pain as he hit the floor. Within seconds Xander's eye had closed up and was going from purple to black, the pain spreading in waves to cover the side of his face. Xander wanted to say something, anything to Buffy, but the words would not come and his thoughts turned to self preservation.

Adrenaline coursed through Xanders system while he got back to his feet. Thankfully the blood from his nose had slowed to a trickle, but Xander's right eye was horribly swollen and there was no way he could see anything out of it. Any hesitation he might have had in hurting Buffy disappeared as he realised he was getting beaten to death. Grimly he faced Buffy and prepared to defend the most basic right of all creatures - to live.

Xander kept his distance as Buffy came forward again, her face utterly devoid of any human emotion. Xander feinted with the bat as though to swing at Buffy's head, while striking out with his left foot and catching the side of Buffy's knee. As his kick connected Xander lowered the bat to aim at Buffy's other leg in the hope of knocking her feet from under her. Unfortunately Xander's overestimated the effect of his first kick, and with both hands on the bat had no time to defend his lower left abdomen as Buffy launched a vicious right side-kick that cracked Xander's bottom two ribs.

Again Xander cried out as he doubled over in agony. Buffy's kick had also winded him, and Xander tried to shuffle back so he had time to recover his breath. But with a few short steps Buffy was upon him and hit Xander with a hard right that almost broke his jaw. The force of the hit propelled Xander clean off the ground and he slid into a bookcase 3 metres behind him.

Tears welled up in Xander's eyes as he realised that he was going to die. It would be nothing for Buffy to remove the bat from his hands and one, maybe two solid hits to his head and it would be all over. Xander cried for himself, and for his friends that he would never see again. He cried for the world that he had tried to save and failed. Grimly he wondered if there was an afterlife and if so how he would be judged.

But most of all Xander cried for Buffy, the girl he loved with all his heart and that he could not bear to leave behind . Xander spoke softly as he forgave Buffy for what she was about to do. "Buffy, I want you to know I forgive you. I love you so much, I always have. Nothing will ever change that. I'll never stop loving you - no matter what."

Inside the old repair shop on the other side of town Giles finally stepped through the front door of the abandoned building where the group had been trapped for the last 20 minutes. He and Oz had taken turns in furiously attacking the hardwood door, mostly with little success. Eventually they had broken through, yet it had taken still more work to make a hole big enough to allow them to get out. The door had been locked from both sides and the key too far away to reach from inside.

The gang had to shield their eyes as they made their way through the bright sunshine to Oz's van parked at the front of the building. Everyone including Willy was thinking the same thing, that time was surely up as Buffy would by now have returned to the library to start the ritual and open the Hellmouth. Driving like a man possessed, Oz weaved through what little traffic there was while Willow, Giles and Willy hung on as best they could in the back. Oz made the 10 minute trip in under 4, but as he approached the school he braked suddenly when he noticed the flashing lights of two police cars and an ambulance.

Giles opened the side door and jumped out of the van before Oz had a chance to bring it to a complete stop. Sprinting as best he could towards the library with Willow and Oz in tow, Giles turned to the sound of his name being called by a familiar voice.

Giles ran to Buffy, and in between panting asked Buffy what happened. Buffy looked up at Giles with red eyes, she had been crying and the tears had left trails down her cheeks. "Oh Giles, it's Xander. He's still inside and they wouldn't let me stay. He's hurt badly"

Just at that time the two paramedics came out of the building pushing a stretcher that contained the prone figure of Xander. He had a drip in his arm and he looked like he had been run over by a herd of elephants. The medics quickly but gently pushed the stretcher into the back of the ambulance, before one turned towards Buffy and said "if someone is coming with him it has to be now."

Buffy ran to jump in the back with Xander and turned while running to answer Giles unspoken question "It's ok, it's over. Meet me at the hospital and I'll explain."

For the second time in as many minutes Oz was speeding as he tried to stay with the ambulance bearing Xander to Sunnydale General Hospital. Willow was sobbing in the back as Giles tried to comfort her while alternately hanging on for dear life.

Willy had been ready to leave at the school when Giles threw him in the van as well. Seeing as he had been previously controlled by the demon, Giles was not about to leave Willy alone on top of the Hellmouth. Giles turned to see Willy fiddling around with the tranquilizer gun they had brought along, and quickly snatched it off him before he did something stupid out of curiosity.

Giles gripped the railing on the side of the van as it slowed outside the hospital. This time he waited for it to stop before sliding open the door and helping Willow out. He put his arm around Willow and turned to Oz, saying "We'll see you inside."

Willow and Giles followed the duty nurse's directions, and found Buffy pacing outside the intensive care ward where Xander was being treated. Buffy turned when she heard the approaching footsteps and said "Thank God you are here. Can you both stay with Xander? The doctor told me he is going to be okay but they are holding him here for observation. I've got a demon to kill."

Giles grabbed Buffy's shoulder before she could storm off. "Buffy, wait. Please. You can't go after this demon, there is no guarantee you won't fall under his spell again. In fact how did you break the spell in the first instance?"

Buffy was looking for an outlet for her growing rage, and kept flexing her fingers while answering Giles' question. "Giles, I'll explain the second part when I get back. As for the first part, I'm going to wear this" and held up a surgical mask she had picked up earlier from a nearby trolley. "I assume if I don't inhale the powder then the demon can't do his nasty mojo on me."

"Ah yes Buffy, that's quite true, you see.." and that was all Buffy heard Giles say before she ran out of the hospital, filled with a burning rage that clutched at her heart. Only the death of the demon would quench the fire inside her, and Buffy intended to make it as painful as humanly possible.

Later that day Willow, Oz and Giles entered the library to wait for Buffy to return and find out what had happened. Xander was still in intensive care, stable but unconscious. Buffy had phoned them at the hospital to tell them to meet her at the library.

As Giles walked in he saw the pentagram on the floor and the general destruction that was his library. "Dear God, it looks like a bomb has gone off in here. What on earth happened to cause such chaos?"

"I did" said Buffy.

Willow, Giles and Oz all turned at the sound of Buffy's voice, and Willow ran up to hug her, thankful that she was ok. "Thanks Will" said Buffy. "You all better sit down, this could take a while."

... "it was like I was watching a movie through my eyes, I could see what I was doing but I had no control over it" said Buffy, as she began to explain how Xander had tried to stop her from opening the Hellmouth.

"Xander tried to talk some sense into me, but I wasn't there. It's like I was in my body but not in it at the same time. So anyway he tried to stop me from drawing the pentagram, and that's when I attacked him". Buffy saw the shocked look on Willow's face, and felt the guilt inside her grow exponentially. Buffy continued, "Xander and I fought, I beat him up pretty bad." The guilt proved too much to contain and Buffy started sobbing. "I almost killed him, it was me, and I."

Giles, realising a softly, softly approach was not going to cut the mustard went over to Buffy and took her by the arm. "Buffy" he said in a loud voice. "You know this is not your fault." When Buffy looked up at him, Giles continued in a softer tone, "look, none of us blame you for what happened." Buffy looked up at Willow and Oz who were both nodding vigorously at Giles' comment.

Willow said "Buffy, we don't hate you, we don't blame you. So don't blame yourself. The demon had control of you, and you killed it. It's of the good now." Buffy regained some control as she said "you bet I killed it. After I left the hospital I just knew where to find it. I'd had some weird mental share thingy with it and so I just *knew* where it was. And it didn't die quickly either. I broke both it's legs, one arm and a horn before I snapped it's neck."

Buffy didn't see the wide-eye expressions on their faces, but understood that Giles and Willow would be mildly freaked out by her last comment. Perhaps Oz might have understood, with the wolf thing and being a slave to your inner emotions, letting them run riot over you.

"Earth to Buffy.." said Willow, concerned. Buffy snapped out of her thoughts. "Uh? Oh sorry, deep thoughts. So, where was I?"

"You were at the part, where, you know, the bad part.." stammered Willow.

"Oh, *that* part" said Buffy, nodding.

.. "so I kicked him and then he backed up. I moved forward and hit him and he fell down. He, uh, he was lying there in so much pain. He had blood all over his shirt and his face was a mess. And he looked up at me and told me that he loved me." Buffy sniffled and took out another tissue to wipe her eyes, then adding it to the already half full bin next to her chair. Willow, Oz and Giles were hanging off every word, amazed at what had happened just a couple of hours earlier right where they were sitting.

Buffy continued, "So when Xander told me that he loved me, it was like a part of me was returned to myself. He said he would always love me and he forgave me even though I was about to kill him." Buffy took another tissue and blew her nose, the sound equal to any tuba from around the world.

"When he told me that he forgave me, it felt like the wind blowing in my face and all of a sudden I was back, in my body, in control. I can't explain it. So I called 911 and told them a gang had attacked us, so they sent the police as well as an ambulance. And that's it. You guys arrived just after they told me to go outside."

Giles took off his glasses and began to polish them. "Fascinating. Buffy, you must know that not one of us holds you in any way responsible. It's amazing that Xander stood up to you as he did. A normal human with no formal fighting skills can't hope to stand against the Slayer."

Buffy nodded, "Yeah, well I just hope Xander forgives me. And can walk again without limping."