The Elements Series is set immediately after 'And It Rained…' So you must read that first! Also, this fic isn't pure Buffy/Spike - Willow/Kennedy, Willow/Tara, Xander/Anya and hints of Dawn/Andrew are also included. Others will appear later on too, and I'm open to ANY suggestions to improve the fic! (though I completely draw the line at B/A or Riley returning - lol)
Distribution: Just let me know please! Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns all the characters, and so does ME, Fox, etc
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A single light glowed from the living room of Xander Harris' flat, but no one was to be seen. Suddenly, a small sound came from the corner of the room. Slowly, getting louder, a slight muttering was just about audible.
Xander was crouching next to the sofa, rocking gently back and forth, clutching at his shirt. He shut his eyes, and mumbled softly to himself. A tear seeped out of the corner of his eye, and he shuddered.
"Alone…alone…let it happen…" he rocked backwards and forwards… "My fault…all mine…I let her die…"
And then the glorified brick layer let out a blood-curdling cry and slammed his fist into the wall. Shaking, he hung his head, hating this life. Hating himself.
***
It was ending. The world was ending. The First Evil had succeeded in opening the hellmouth and time had run out.
Buffy stood, with tears streaming down her face. They had lost.
But her friends continued fighting. She didn't know if they hadn't noticed that it was all over, or they just chose to ignore, pretend that there was still a chance that they might make it out of this alive. Buffy laughed, in spite of herself. They weren't going to make it out alive. Not this time. She shuddered, wiped away the tears from her eyes and prepared herself for the end. She could just about make out Xander and Vi battling against a demon that had crawled out of the large gaping hole under Principal Wood's office, but aside from them, there was too much smoke, too many demons to search for the others. She was worried. Screw that, she was terrified. But maybe, maybe they still had a chance.
So she ran towards the mouth of hell, and beat the demons down. She didn't know what use it could do, but if there was a way to close the hellmouth, they needed time. Buffy remembered what Halfrek had said, as she ducked a punch, and swung her axe round to decapitate a demon.
Time was all they had. Time, and each other.
But as she battled for her own life and the lives of her friends, Buffy wasn't even sure that they had that.
***
Tears streamed down Buffy's face as she remembered the night just passed, hating what had happened. She wished…she just wished that everyone had made it through. She had known that people were going to die in the final battle…but nothing had prepared her for what had happened. She had survived. That's what she wasn't expecting. She hadn't counted on living long enough to deal with the consequences, to deal with the pain. Buffy leaned into Spike's embrace and breathed deeply. But the slayer still lived. Damn... She cursed herself for her slip-up, and bit her lip. How could she be so...thoughtless? The slayer wasn't still living. Far from it.
Faith was dead.
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AN: Want to know what happens next? Then hit the review button! :)