Spike knew this was his most perilous moment. If Dawny suspected anything, she could easily overpower and kill Spike. But Spike had taken her out of the great hall, before Buffy entered. Once they were far enough away from the Buffy-Cordy battle royal, Spike stopped running. He threw Dawny against the wall. She smiled. He still had her. Spike grabbed her wrists, pinned her arms above her head and against the wall, and kissed Dawny passionately, as if his life depended on it, which it did.

She really liked it, and eagerly kissed back. After about ten seconds, Dawny lifted up her left leg and rubbed it against the back of Spike's thighs. She was still unabashedly in his power. Spike let go of Dawn's wrists, stopped kissing her and took two steps back. "I know you're glad that he's gone," Spike began his pitch. "I couldn't stand having him around you. I could never share you with him. I want to be your one and only, Dawny. And now I can."

Dawny walked towards Spike. He backed up very, very slowly. "I've been waiting for you," she replied. "You're going to be my first. Well, there was Angelus, but Angelus doesn't count," Dawny said with a smirk. Angelus doesn't count – Spike could get used to that.

Cordy leaped at Buffy and hit her in the face with a flying right kick. She tried a right jab. Buffy ducked. Cordy's fist went halfway through the concrete wall. Buffy punched her twice in the stomach. Then she landed a left spin kick to Cordy's face. Cordy looked at her right hand, the one that had gone through the wall. "You chipped my nail! Oh, you're gonna pay for that, you little bitch!"

"That should be the least of your worries right now, Cordelia," Buffy responded. She went at Cordy with a kick. Cordy blocked it. Buffy tried a punch. Cordy ducked. Cordy tried a roundhouse kick. Buffy grabbed her right leg. Cordy did a backflip to free herself. Dusting Cordy was proving to be something of a challenge. (Good thing Dawny wasn't around to make matters worse.)

Cordy threw a right cross. Buffy grabbed Cordy's right arm. Buffy counter-punched, hitting Cordy in the face. Cordy grabbed Buffy with her left arm and threw Buffy to the ground. Buffy shot her legs up, kicking Cordy in the face, and sprang to her feet. She turned to face Cordy. Cordy shook off the blows.

The two women circled each other. "You know what your problem is, Buffy? I mean, besides combination skin, split ends, and a trailer-trash wardrobe. You're jealous of me. Because I got Angel, and you got the dud. Guess only a complete loser would give you a repeat performance. You can't beat me. You never could."

Buffy stood still, put her hands behind her back. "Try me. Go ahead. Give me your best shot, queen slut." Cordy leaped at Buffy with a flying kick. Buffy jumped into the air and did a backflip. She kicked Cordelia, finished her flip, and landed on her feet. Cordy was knocked backwards and landed on her face. "That's the difference between you and me," Buffy told Cordy as she rose to her feet.

Spike continued his sales pitch. "You deserve more than this one-horse town. I'm going to show you the world, sweet Dawn. New York, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Rio – you'll go everywhere. You'll be my princess. Nothing will stand in our way. I'm going to fulfill your destiny, Dawny. I'm going to make you great. The greatest. They'll worship you. They'll fear you. They'll tremble at the mention of our names. We'll be together forever. Eternal love. What could be better than that?"

Dawny really should have known better. She should have realized something wasn't quite right with Spike. But she was blinded by desire. Here was Spike, gorgeous, charming, powerful Spike, promising to make her dreams come true. It was too good an offer for her to refuse. She smiled and grabbed Spike's crotch with her right hand. Keeping in character was getting more and more difficult for him.

Spike took her left hand in his right hand. He guided it to his right cheek. He pulled her fingernail down his cheek, cutting it. Dawny saw the blood run. She moved in and licked it up. She moaned with pleasure. Then with discomfort. Spike had deployed his secret weapon. As he did in his world to Dru, he did in this one to Dawny. She crumbled before Spike's eyes. He held out his right hand, palm upward, and caught a small pile of dust. It was all that was left of her.

They closed with each other once again, calm Buffy going for the kill against increasingly agitated and angry Cordy. Cordy punched Buffy in the face, blocked two of Buffy's punches, then landed another blow. Buffy blocked Cordy's next two punches, tying up her arms. Cordy head-butted Buffy in the nose. Then she kicked Buffy in the chest. She tried to sweep Buffy's legs out from under her. Buffy jumped in the air. She tried a flying kick. Cordy ducked. Cordy landed a roundhouse kick to the side of Buffy's head. Buffy circled counter-clockwise, retreating towards the east wall.

Buffy could see Cordy loading up for another roundhouse kick. Before she could unload, Buffy let fly a quick kick to Cordy's face. She spun around, but didn't fall. Buffy approached, but Cordy grabbed her and threw her against the east wall. Buffy didn't go down either. She charged Cordy, who was standing in the center of the room. This had gone on long enough.

Cordy tried to kick Buffy in the head as she charged forward. Buffy anticipated this, and ducked. Then she kicked Cordy in the stomach and punched her twice in the face. "Like I was saying, that's the difference between you and me," Buffy continued. She leaped in the air and gave Cordy a quick one-two combination of kicks. "WITHOUT ANGEL, I GO ON." Cordy swung a right hook. Buffy ducked. She threw a left cross. Cordy blocked this. Buffy gave Cordy a right elbow. Then a left elbow. Then a right spin kick. "WITHOUT ANGEL, YOU'RE NOTHING," Buffy concluded.

She gave Cordy a quick right kick to the stomach. Then she grabbed her stake with her right hand, gave Cordy a left kick in the face, and drove the stake home with a quick backhand thrust, pulling it out as quickly as she had stuck it in. Cordy looked at the wound as if she was looking at a stain on her favorite Versace dress. "I hate you guys," she said to Buffy before disintegrating. Her dust fell right next to Angelus's pile.

Buffy breathed several huge sighs of relief. Then she heard steps behind her. She turned quickly, her stake raised. Once she saw it was Spike, Buffy dropped the stake. He let Dawny's dust fall to the floor in between his fingers, proof he had finished her off. "It's all over," he told Buffy. "You're free now."

For five years, Angelus had tormented Buffy. Even when he was gone, as he was for most of this period, he was still a thorn in Buffy's side. Five years. Then Spike came to town. And within a few hours, he had made everything all better. Just like he said he would. It was a miracle. Buffy had stopped believing in miracles a long time ago. But now here he was, out-of-the-blue – her salvation. She ran to Spike and hugged him tight. This was the moment he had been working towards. Now he really was her White(haired) Knight. He put his arms around her.

After about 15 seconds, she looked up at him. "Where have you been all my life?," she asked.

"Waiting for this moment," he replied. She looked up at him. He looked down at her. Unlike with Dawny, Spike didn't have to pretend he loved Buffy. She put her arms around his neck, pulled his head towards hers, and kissed him. For Spike, it was like their first kiss all over again, except much better. This Buffy saw him as her hero. (Basically, Spike was super-Angel, since he saved the day far faster and with more boldness than Angel ever had.)

There they stood, in each other's arms, kissing, just a few feet from the ashes that had once been Angelus and Cordy. Buffy leaned forward. Spike, sensing an opportunity, fell backwards to the ground, and she happily landed on top. "Everything's just like it was meant to be," Spike said. They kissed some more.

"This is real, right? This isn't a dream?," Buffy asked.

Spike put a hand to Buffy's face. "You're wide awake," he told her. As he held Buffy, who kissed him passionately, Spike realized he had not been sent to Hell. This was Heaven. Or at least Spike had turned it into Heaven.

Xander woke up. He felt the bump on his head. He open his eyes. At first, everything was blurry. Then the scene came into focus. There was Buffy, on the floor, in Spike's arms, kissing him. Xander's heart sunk through his feet and into the basement. It was like a living death. The woman he loved, the woman he'd do anything for, the woman who made life worth living, with another man. It was inconceivable. Didn't she love Xander?

Xander slowly stood up. He reached down and picked up his ax. He stood there, holding it, stunned beyond reckoning. It was the end of the world. It was beyond his worst nightmares. His look of pain, anguish and bewilderment was heartbreaking to behold. He began to hyperventilate. He gripped the ax handle tighter. This was the end of everything. Nothing mattered now.

Xander raised the ax and ran at Buffy and Spike. "NOOOO!!!," he yelled. Buffy and Spike looked up. They saw the blade swinging down, and rolled apart, Buffy to Xander's left, Spike to Xander's right. The ax went crashing through the floorboards. Xander raised it again. He turned to his left, and looked at Buffy on the ground. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!!!," he screamed.

He swung the ax downward. Spike saw this. "Buffy!," he called out. He leaped towards her, placing his body between her and the ax. It was heading straight for Spike's head. Xander didn't mind. He grimaced with a certain morbid excitement. Spike looked up. This was it. He was going to die. But when the blade was within a millimeter of Spike's skull, everything changed. Spike found himself sitting on Clem's couch.

NEXT: Clem reveals his secret identity.