"Oh, no!" Angel exclaimed suddenly.
"What? Did I hurt you?" Buffy asked sarcastically.
"Heinrik, take over here for me." he ordered the nearest vampire.
"Huh?"
"Don't question me, Heinrik, this is an emergency! Just beat her up, she's a wimp." Angel assured him.
Heinrik grinned, as Angel ran towards the motel.
"Wimp? I'm not a wimp!" Buffy exclaimed, staking Heinrik.
"Hey you! Ain't you an assassin?" a big, burly vampire asked from behind.
Sven turned around. "Oh, shit." he muttered under his breath.
"Well, aincha?"
"Uh...yes?" Sven answered, ready for the vampire's attack.
"Angelus hired an assassin, and he turned against us." the vampire was eyeing Sven suspiciouly. Sven waited in silence. "Would you like to throw the first punch, or should I?" the vampire grinned.
Sven silently prayed someone would notice that he was in trouble.
Sven's savior wouldn't be Dahle, though. He'd seen Angel enter the motel, and decided to follow him. He stayed outside the room Angel had entered, waiting for a sign that he was needed.
"What do you think you're doing?" Angel roared.
"Nothing. It's done." I replied, getting up, then turning around.
"What have you done!?" Angel yelled at me, striding to where his Eye had been.
"The same thing I do every fifty years, Pinky: Send the Eyes ahead in time, where they wait for the spell to be cast again."
"How could you do that? You'd never have even considered it if it had been Spike's plan."
"Yes, I would have."
"Well, now you've done it, Whatever-the-Hell-You're-Name-is-Right-Now, I have to kill you."
The piece of wood burst through Angel's chest from behind. Angel turned around. "A little too low, Dee." Angel grabbed Dahle's throat, and lifted him off the ground.
I lifted the table with my mind, and threw it at Angel. He stumbled backwards, and dropped Dahle. "Come on," I grabbed Dahle's arm.
"Shouldn't we kill him first?"
"No, the Slayer has to do it herself."
Dahle followed me outside.
Sven reached for the knife that always hung from his belt, as the burly vampire licked his lips hungrily, but it wasn't there. He wiped blood out of his eyes, then yelled for help, as the vampire grabbed him by his hair. Sven was too weak to fight back, and as the vampire's teeth sank into his neck, he remembered who had his knife...
Buffy saw the big vampire hunched over something - or someone. She readied her stake, and moved closer. She drove the stake through the vampire's heart. As he turned to dust, Buffy realized who he'd been hunched over.
"Oh, God. Sven," she whispered. Kneeling down, Buffy checked for a pulse.
"Is he - " Xander was behind Buffy.
"Dead?" Willow finished his sentence.
"Yeah," Buffy sighed slowly.
I noticed Buffy and the others standing near a body that was lying on the ground, and knew it was Sven. Dahle noticed too, and moved closer in silence.
"Who did this?" Dahle asked.
"I staked him already." Buffy answered.
"What are you all standing around for then?" Spike asked from behind us. "Oh, I see," he added somberly, seeing the body. "I'm sorry, Dahl." Spike put his hand on Dahle's shoulder.
He shrugged it off. "Angel has to pay for this. You will not go unavenged." Dahle told Sven.
"Dahle, you can't - "
He cut me off. "I will kill Angel, Keth, or die trying."
"Angel will kill you, Dahle. You know, and I know it. Acting out of rage isn't the answer."
"I'm not going to stand by while the Slayer makes googly eyes at a demon."
Angel stumbled out of the motel.
"Dahle, don't." I pleaded.
"I will," Spike cut in, heading straight toward Angel.
"No, Spike. You're in no shape to be fighting Angel."
"He doesn't look any better off, Pet. He killed Dru. Dahle's right: he has to pay."
"You'll need one of these." Buffy replied, handing Dahle a stake.
"Let's go," Dahle said, but when he turned to where Angel had been, there was no one there. "Keth! You let him get away!"
"I told you: The Slayer has to do it." was my answer.
Dahle threw the stake to the ground angrily, then marched off.
"Should you follow him?" Spike asked.
"No, he'll be alright. He just needs some time alone, is all."
Spike nodded, then winced, as I slipped under his arm to give him extra support. "You're not so tough." I teased.
"Shh. Don't tell anyone." Spike looked at Buffy, and told her where to find Giles.
Two days later, Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, and Oz were sitting in the library. Cordelia's funeral was later that afternoon, and the wake was in an hour. Xander was still trying to deal with what had happened to her.
"It's not fair." he repeated.
"You did what you could, Xand." Buffy tried to assure him.
"Why do bad things have to happen to good people?"
"Because that's how it works when you live on a Hellmouth." Buffy answered. "Okay, my bad. That doesn't make it right."
"And nothing ever will." Willow added. "But Cordy would want you to be happy."
"Thanks, Will, but that doesn't help."
"I'm sorry about having to change the subject, but have any of you seen, or heard from, Bryn?" Giles asked.
"No, she - and Spike - and Dahle -seem to have disappeared." Buffy answered.
"Well, I suppose it's for the best, then."
"Yeah."
Willow looked at her watch. "I guess we should go now."
Giles checked his watch, too. "Yes, we should."
They all got up from the table - all but Xander - and headed outside to Giles' car.
"Coming Xander?" Willow asked him.
"Yeah, just gimme a minute."
Willow nodded, then left. Xander took his wallet out of his pocket, and flipped to the picture of Cordelia that he'd always carried around with him. "I miss you, Cordy." he whispered, running his thumb down her cheek.
I watched from behind a tree trunk as the coffin was lowered into the ground. I gave Xander a telepathic suggesion to look in my direction - a selfish thing to do, I know.
"You're still stuck on him, aren't you?" Dahle replied from up the tree.
"Yeah, I guess I am." I replied absently.
Dahle jumped down. "Well, I'm still here."
"Drop it, Dee."
"What is up with that? Why do you people keep calling me 'Dee'?"
"Because it's shorter than calling you Dahle." I shrugged. "Come on. Let's go, before they try to talk to us about what happened, and where we're going, et cetera."
"Good idea. They seem to be doing alright on their own, anyway." I started walking away. "So, how's Spike doing?" Dahle asked me.
"He's getting better."
"That's good."
"What are you looking at?" Willow broke into Xander's thoughts.
"Nothing," Xander turned his attention back to the present.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
"Okay."
"Okay."
There was a silence between them. They listened to the minister droning on in the background. They watched as Cordelia's mother threw dust on the lid of the coffin.
Suddenly, a thought struck Xander. "Will we have to stake her later?" he asked Buffy.
"Uh..."
The sun had set by the time Sven opened his eyes. He vaguely remembered a battle, and a name...Angelus. He got up slowly, licked his lips, and decided to find some breakfast...
Well, that's it. So whaddaya think, eh? Lemme know! Or I really will cry. And take up the fight! Bring back Season 2 Evil Angel! Okay, I'll shuddap now. Thanks for reading!