Chapter Twenty: Death Becomes Her
(I'm sick, so bear with me. I'm all pukey and feverish. And I'm listening to angst-y rock. Forgive Me. Blame it on the fever.)
Buffy helped Spike back onto his bed. She kept her arm around his waist. She didn't want to let go of him.
He groaned. "A little tighter, pet," he said sarcastically.
"Oh," she reluctantly let go. He hung his head down. "I feel..." he tried to move, wincing with pain, "like shit."
Buffy stood in front of him with her arms crossed, just staring at him. His wavy, bleach blond hair with the roots showing, stuck up wildly. She couldn't see any other part of his body, thanks to the ridiculous hospital gown. "Uh," she started. "Do you remember anything?"
He looked up at her, pain in his eyes. "Yeah."
"Oh."
Spike made to stand again. His stomach growled. "I'm hungry," he said.
"I'll get Angel to..." She stopped when she saw the look on his face. Not a good time to mention Angel. "I'll get you some blood," she corrected. She turned to leave.
"Buffy." Spike called out. She paused, but walked out the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
'Oh God,' she thought to herself as she quickly walked away. 'He hates me.' Buffy shook her head. When was she going to stop screwing everything up?
She messed things up with Angel by making him sire Spike. Then messed things up with Spike by bringing him back. She did to him what her friends had done to her when she died. She brought him back from heaven. He'd never forgive her, just like she still didn't fully forgive her friends. She had to do something. Her first instinct was to run. She found Dawn, told her to bring Spike blood, then took off in search of Willow, Giles and Xander.
"Buffy, are you sure you want to leave?" Willow asked.
She nodded. "I think we've worn out our welcome here. Besides, we have to look for the new slayers."
Xander nodded, "I'm with you, Buff. Tell us when."
"The sooner the better," she replied.
Willow looked at Buffy. "Does this have anything to do with Spike?"
'Of course it does,' Buffy thought. She smiled and shook her head, "No. it's just time we left." Willow nodded, but still didn't believe her best friend.
"We'll leave the day after tomorrow then," Giles announced. "Give us time to gather our things, and say our good-byes."
Buffy nodded. "I'll see you guys later then." And they parted.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Angel sat staring sullenly into a mug of blood. He didn't really want it. But he needed to drink animal blood before he started craving human blood. He was so mad at Buffy. How dare she use Connor as blackmail to get him to turn Spike. How'd she even know? Nobody remembered him, except him and Lilah, of course. And he didn't think Lilah would tell her? What'd she have to gain out of that? Either way, Buffy knew and used it to her advantage. She was good at that.
"Mr. Angel, you have a visitor," Derek's voice came through on his intercom.
"Who is it?"
"A Miss Buffy Summers," Derek replied.
Angel really didn't feel like talking to her right now. "Send her away."
Suddenly, the door was kicked in and Buffy stalked in. "We need to talk."
"Thank you Derek," he said into the intercom. "What do you want?"
"Let's see, where do I start? Oh, you have a son," she said.
"Had," he corrected. "I had a son." Buffy's hard expression softened. "He's gone now."
"Why didn't you tell me about this?" She asked.
He shrugged. "What's to tell? Somehow the Powers That Be orchestrated it so that I could have a son. Actually, that two vampires could have a child."
"Darla."
He nodded. "Darla. Wolfram & Hart brought her back then Drusilla sired her."
"Did you sleep with her?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"I didn't lose my soul, Buffy. She doesn't make me happy."
She looked down. "Oh."
He felt bad. Then he got angry. "You shouldn't be mad."
"I'm not!"
"Yeah, you are. I can tell. You're mad 'cause I had a kid, with Darla. When I should be mad at you for using that to make me re-sire Spike." He couldn't stop. "Why are you so pissed at everyone else when you're the cause of most of it?"
Her eyes widened, stunned. "How is this all my fault?"
"Because Buffy, it's always about you. It always has to do with you in some way. You have to make everything your problem, then blame it on everyone else. Losing Spike was your fault. And just because you're mad at yourself, don't take it out on me. Or on anyone else." He said.
She stared at him, then her face softened. "Thank you, Angel."
"For what?" He asked and she left before saying anything.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Willow and Xander were still in the library researching. Willow didn't want to leave without figuring out the last clue. 'Kill her,' she thought. 'Kill who?'
"Okay," Xander threw a book down on the table. "Officially, researched out." He glanced at Willow. She was deep in a book. "Penny for your thoughts."
"Huh?" Willow asked looking up at him. Xander raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm just thinking of the last clue. I mean, we solved them all except te last one."
"You mean that 'Find them, Help her, Catch him, Hold Him, Kill her. Or they're all gonna die' message?" Xander asked. "What's the last one?"
" 'Kill Her,' " Willow replied.
Xander sighed, "Ah, that one. Are you sure we need to figure that one out? It's so violent. And we already stopped another Big Bad by re-siring Spike."
"I'm just afraid that this one will be worse," Willow told him.
"Then we narrow it down. 'Find them' referred to the Twins, right? And 'Help her' to Faith, obviously. 'Catch him' meant Angel, and 'Hold him' was Spike." He said counting them off on his fingers.
"And each one of them was a sign," Willow explained. " 'The Twins, The Conception, The Rise and Fall of a Champion, and Death of True Love..." Willow Willow trailed off. She blinked. "I figured it out!" She exclaimed. "C'mon!" She grabbed Xander's hand.
"Where are we going?"
"To kill her!" She replied and they ran out of the Library.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fred was in the library, behind a bookcase, when she overheard Willow and Xander. Willow was talking about Cordelia. She had to warn Angel. She ran through the halls and finally found Angel talking to his assistant, Derek.
"Angel!" Fred exclaimed out of breath.
"What is it Fred?"
"Willow and Xander. They're going to kill Cordy!" She said tearfully.
"What?!" His eyes flashed. What the hell was Willow up to? "Stay here," he told Fred and started running. With his vampire abilities, it was easy to catch up to them.
"Willow! Stop!" Angel wasn't fast enough. Willow and Xander turned a corner and shut the door to Cordy's room.
Willow put up her hand, "Secure," she said.
Angel ran into the door. They locked it. He began hitting it with his shoulder. "Willow!" He bellowed. "Let me in!"
"Mighty Heavens, in all your glory, accept this girl, set her free," Energy began crackling around them. Willow pulled out a mean-looking dagger and held it high over her head. "Give her wings, Set her free!"
"Willow! What are you doing?!" Xander pulled Willow away from Cordelia. He yanked the dagger from her hands.
"It's the rest of the riddle. Cordy told me 'Kill Her' and the signs, 'Death of True Love'. I thought she meant Buffy but, Cordelia's true love is Angel."
Xander shook his head, "That doesn't mean we should kill her. I mean, Will, we can't do this."
"But we have to," Willow looked into Xander's moist, brown eye. "I know, it's hard, but it'll be okay." She took the dagger from Xander who let it go.
"Set her free," Willow whispered. "And plunged the dagger into Cordelia's heart. An explosion of energy from Cordelia knocked Willow back into Xander. They tumbled to the ground. Angel finally managed to break down the door. He burst into the room and shielded his eyes. He saw Willow and Xander on the floor and grabbed Willow.
He lifted her off the ground. "What the hell did you do!" He roared.
"I set her free, Angel. I had to, she was lost and she told me to," Willow explained.
"You killed her!" He vamped out. Xander got up and tried to charge at Angel, but he pushed him down with one hand, the other still holding up the witch. He looked back at Willow. His game face was set, he was ready to kill.
"Angel?"
Angel turned at the mention of his name. There was Cordelia, his face shifted back. She stood there all in white, smiling her perfect smile, light shone around her like she was an angel. "Cordy," he breathed.
"Angel," she reached for him. "It's all right. Willow did what I asked."
"You asked to die?"
"I wasn't ever going to wake up, Angel. I'd rather be dead and able to watch over you, than alive and never see you." She said.
"But," he choked up. "I'll never see you."
She smiled. "Yes you will. Every time you close your eyes, you'll see me. This is the way it has to be. I just wish I had gotten the chance to tell you, I love you."
Angel closed his eyes, "Cordy, I..."
"I know." She kissed him lightly on the lips and faded away, leaving Angel, Willow and Xander gaping.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
(Seriously, blame this chapter on the fever.)
