For Spike the entire tableau was an exercise in agony; a twisted, nightmarish deja-vue from which he could not escape. All around him were familiar horrors, and he felt the same desperate helplessness, the same impotent fury that he had before. It was all he could do just to hold it together and not go insane. He watched as Glory destroyed the Buffy-bot, only to be attacked by the real Buffy with the troll hammer. The two then began a desperate race to be the first up the scaffolding, each trying to prevent the other from going any further.
He saw Buffy take quite a few hard hits and close calls, but none kept her down for long until Glory knocked the troll hammer out of her hand. She started to fall, and Spike nearly panicked, wondering of this was something new or something he had just missed the first time around, then he watched her grab Glory and send them both crashing to the ground. They both got up, but Buffy didn't have the hammer. Then the crane Xander had been operating swung its wrecking ball and sent Glory flying backwards through a brick wall into an office. Buffy took the opportunity to grab the hammer and bounded after her. Spike sent a silent prayer after her fleeing form.
"And the glorified brick-layer picks up a spare," Xander announced proudly as he joined them.
"Good work," Giles praised.
"How are we doing?" Xander asked, crouching down beside them.
"So far it's a tie," Anya replied.
"We haven't gotten up to Dawn, but neither has anyone else," Giles added. "If Buffy can keep Glory down long enough, though, it won't matter. There's only a few minutes left to start the ritual."
'At least I killed Doc. Nibblet's safe from him. One of the damn few things I did right this time around,' Spike thought to himself, looking up to the tower to check anyway.
He was shocked when he saw the tell-tale shadow of another figure on the scaffolding with Dawn.
'NO! Oh, God, no! I killed him! I tore off his head and threw it in the fireplace!'
"Someone's up there! Giles! Doc is up there!" he cried.
The others looked up, Giles shaking his head. "Spike, that's impossible. You told me you killed him."
"I *did* kill him, you git! But I'm tellin' you I can *see* him. He's up there and he's gonna cut Dawn!"
"Okay, we gotta charge or something ..." Xander said.
"We tried that," Anya reminded.
Spike tried to figure out what to do. Last time, Willow had popped into his head and…
::Spike…::
'Right on cue. Red's gettin' this magick thing down pretty quick. I wonder how much 'o her future can be changed,' he wondered to himself, then shoved the thought out of his mind. 'One thing at a time. Deal with power-trip witch later.'
::Can you hear me?::
"Loud and clear ..." he replied.
"Who? What?" Giles asked but Spike waved a hand.
::Is someone up there with Dawn? Do you see the demon who cut Dawn before?::
Swallowing, he nodded. "Yeah. Bloke I thought I killed. Wills, I gotta get up there."
::Thought so. When Buffy said there wasn't any body, I wondered about that.::
"Dunno how he survived what I did ta him..."
"Are you talking to us?" Xander questioned.
::Then get up there. Go now.::
"Just as soon as you part the seas, Red."
::GO!::
He rose to his feet and charged for the tower, confident in the knowledge that his path would be cleared for him by the time he got there. The crowd was thrown back, split down the middle, and he raced through, his feet clearing the bottom stair as he leapt up.
As he ran, his vision narrowed and his senses condensed as he focused on one goal. His footsteps drummed out a heartbeat as he took the stairs three at a time, four at a time, each landing he turned bringing him closer to Dawn. The sound resounded in his ears until he realized that it was a heartbeat he was hearing: Dawn's heartbeat- fast and pounding in her fear, in his fear.
Thrum, thrum, thrum.
Closing the distance between himself and his greatest failure, he was struck by a sudden moment of clarity. Everything he had done, everything he had tried to do, was all to bring him back to this one moment, this one regret that had eclipsed all regrets. He was about to face Doc again, weak and desperate with fear. But this time he knew that he could not best the demon in his current state, nor did he have to. He did not need to fight Doc and win. All he had to do was keep him from cutting Dawn by whatever means necessary.
::Even if that means we don't survive,:: William's voice popped into his head.
::Yeah,:: he replied in complete agreement.
::'Tis a far far better thing we do now, than we have ever done...::
::Shut up, you poof.::
But deep inside, he knew that his soul was right, and the knowledge defined his intent and set his goal, and he moved forward with the faith of someone who knows his purpose and is not afraid.
Thrum, thrum, thrum.
His feet, her heart, pounding out the rhythm as he climbed.
Thrum, thrum, thrum.
The only sound he could hear, resounding in his ears, a pounding reverie.
Thrum, thrum, thrum.
Only one flight left to go. He could see her now: bound, terrified, weeping, and her assailant- the deceiving old man.
Thrum, thrum, thrum.
His feet took the last few stairs in one leap and he was up, his goal within reach.
"SPIKE!" Dawn screamed.
He didn't answer; he had no conscious thought outside of his objective. His game face came forth as he barreled down the gangway with only one goal in mind: Get. Him. Away. From. Dawn.
The demon turned to face him, not surprised to see him.
"Oh look. A hero…"
Thrum, thrum, thrum.
He closed the distance. He wasn't even slowing down. Doc turned the knife towards him, and the blade pierced his flesh as he slammed into the demon with the full force of his body. He didn't scream, didn't even flinch, at the pain. He just grabbed hold of Doc with both hands, fingers ripping through cloth and flesh like claws, and threw them both off the tower.
They fell and Spike felt a moment of triumph. The knife in his gut was eviscerating him, and Doc was struggling, but he had no intentions of letting go. The lizard tongue came out and struck at his face, but instead of letting go as Doc hoped he would, he clutched Doc tighter, brought his fangs to the demon's neck and bit down. Hard. Doc screamed.
The blood was acid that burned his face, but he did not let go. It seared his lips, chin and neck in fiery rivulets, scorching him. He ignored it, ignored the knife in his abdomen, ignored the sound and feel of his bones breaking, of a rebar puncturing his leg as they hit the hard ground. Nothing mattered except to make sure Doc couldn't cut Dawn. Slamming into the concrete, he blacked out.
Coming to, he knew several moments had passed. He was on his back, looking up at the pre-dawn sky. He turned his head to his left to look for Doc, but the demon was gone. His instant panic was quelled by Willow's telepathic voice.
::He's gone. Dismembered and torched to dust.::
He gave a weak nod, then turned his head to the right in time to witness Giles smothering a badly beaten Ben. He felt dimly sorry for the Watcher, who had tried so hard to avoid murdering Glory's human host. Looking back to the left and slightly up, he saw Xander and Anya staring down at him. Anya's mouth moved but he couldn't hear her over the thrumming in his ears. The thrumming of Dawn's heartbeat.
'Dawn…'
Straining to see the tower stairs, unable to lift or feel his legs, he struggled to find Dawn. He located her coming down as she turned on the last landing and stepped on the final flight. Buffy was directly behind her, and his vision condensed to focus solely on the two young women, blocking out everything else. Both of them were whole, and Dawn, while traumatized and shaking, was unharmed.
As they came down, both pairs of eyes raised to meet his. Dawn's eyes went wide and she stared, but he could only grin at her with his burned lips. She spoke, but all he heard was her heart, soon joined by another, and he was confused until he realized he was hearing Buffy's heart too. Buffy's heart: strong, and steady and alive.
The true weight of his accomplishments struck him, and he realized that he had changed history. Despite all of his fear and doubts, despite his colossal mistakes, he had still managed to save Buffy. His face cracked, his eyes streaming tears as he watched them come to him. Then a world of pain flooded through his body. He gave an inhuman croak from his bloodied lips and passed out.