DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their other respective owners.
A/N ABOUT THIS STORY: As you can tell, I've taken several scenes directly from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lord of the Rings, word-for-word in the dialogue. This is not to rip off any of the real writers because I respect their work and I am not a plagiarist. This is an artistic ploy to put the reader in the mindset of where they are and is essential to the story. The Buffy episodes used were episodes (5.5) "No Place Like Home," written by Doug Petrie and (5.22) "The Gift," written by Joss Whedon. The movies used are, of course, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, written by Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien (if you didn't know that, shame, shame).
Frodo strolled between the trees of the woods not far from the riverbank where the rest of the Fellowship rested. He walked passed a gigantic stone face, broken and toppled over on its side in between two moss-covered trees. He stared at the fallen head of the statue and heard Boromir's voice behind him.
"None of us should wander alone," Boromir declared as he bent down and gathered sticks in his arms. Frodo turned towards him warily as he added, "You, least of all. So much depends on you." Boromir stood up and stared at the Ring-bearer. For a moment he wondered if the hobbit was aware of just how much power he possessed at that point. So much power...
"Frodo?" Boromir said, staring at him as he avoided eye contact. Gently, Boromir stepped towards him, "I know why you seek solitude. You suffer. I see it day by day. You sure you do not suffer needlessly?"
Frodo glanced up at him, his blue eyes full of worry. "There are other ways, Frodo," Boromir smiled easily, thinking again of the power of the Ring. "Other paths that we might take."
"I know what you would say," Frodo declared strongly, staring up at him. "And it would seem like wisdom but for the warning in my heart."
"Warning?" Boromir repeated. "Against what?" He inched closer to Frodo as the hobbit slowly backed away. The Ring forced thoughts of Buffy into Boromir's mind. "We're all afraid, Frodo," he softly answered. "But to let that fear drive us, to destroy what hope we have... don't you see that is madness?"
Boromir walked closer to him, backing him in a corner as Frodo declared, "There is no other way." He glared down at him as Buffy's voice, having said nearly the exact same thing, rang in his head. Buffy, who would not choose him, but would choose someone as powerful as the King. Boromir's expression grew livid as he slammed down the timber in his hands.
"I ask only for the strength to defend my people!" he spat. Frodo's heart skipped a beat as the wood hit the ground, now fearing for his safety.
Light appeared in the center of Giles' living room, Angel standing before it as Giles, Tara, Dawn and Anya stood behind him. "It's working!" Anya shouted as wind began to blow through Giles' living room.
Giles turned to Tara and gave her a nod as she kneeled down on the floor with her eyes closed tightly and began to chant, mumbling rapidly in a foreign language. He looked up from Tara and turned to the grandfather clock: 7:10.
Spike raced through the woods, brown leaves crunching beneath his feet. He rounded a corner around a fallen statue head to see Boromir on top of Frodo several feet away, Boromir reaching for the hobbit's neck.
"Give it to me!" Boromir angrily ordered. "Give it to me!" Spike vamped out and raced over to him, delivering a swift uppercut to Boromir's jaw, knocking him off the Halfling. He ignored the burning pain in his skull and concentrated on protecting Frodo.
Hero, he thought to himself, remembering Merry and Pippin's conversation with him.
"You know in my world," Spike declared as he stared down at Boromir, "we got laws against that sort of thing, mate." Boromir glared up at him spitefully and pushed himself to a stand as Spike threatened, "You wanna pick on someone your own size?"
"He'll take the Ring to Sauron!" he barked. "He will betray us!"
"I suppose you know a thing or two about that," Spike glared at him, not letting him move and inch. Boromir's expression suddenly changed and softened having now seen his error. Both of them heard the sound of leaves crunching in hurried footsteps leading away from them. They looked around to see Frodo nowhere in sight.
"Frodo?" Buffy called as she stared down at the hobbit as he lay on his back on the ground. He quickly scrambled to his feet, his eyes full of fear. "What's wrong?" she asked. "What happened?"
Frodo looked up at her almost with relief as he nervously tried to answer, "I had to get away. The Ring, it—"
"Where is the Ring?" Aragorn's voice boomed from behind them, sending Frodo into another panic.
"Stay away!" Frodo shouted and he began to run off.
"Wait, Frodo!" Buffy called after him and ran around a stone monument to meet him. He stopped as he saw her and she declared, "It's okay, I promise. We're not gonna hurt you." He calmed himself at that as Aragorn, now more cautiously and slowly, stepped towards him.
"I swore to protect you," Aragorn shook his head, baffled by the hobbit's fear for him.
"Can you protect me from yourself?" Frodo asked, giving him pause. Aragorn contemplated not only the Ring, but the weakness in his bloodline for it, beginning with Isildur and now ending with him. He stared down at the golden Ring in Frodo's tiny palm.
Buffy watched guardedly as Aragorn walked towards him and kneeled down before him. He took Frodo's small hand in his own and closed it, concealing the Ring inside the hand of the Ring-bearer.
"I would have gone with you to the end," Aragorn declared, staring into Frodo's relieved eyes. He pushed the hand away from him to Frodo's chest as he added, "Into the very fires of Mordor."
Buffy stared down at them both as a warm smile stretched across her face, but then a thought came to her like a bolt of lightning. "Wait," she asked quickly, "Frodo, what were you trying to get away from?"
Frodo turned to her and declared grimly with a hint of self-loathing in his voice, "The Ring has taken Boromir." Aragorn's expression changed suddenly as he heard the words and he and Buffy looked at each other gravely.
The thought of Buffy turning Boromir away slammed into her skull like a freight train and she was overwhelmed with guilt. "Oh, no," she breathed, then turned on her heel and sped off through the forest.
Tara continued to kneel on Giles' hardwood floor, whispering her Latin chants as quickly as she could, her heart racing. Anya swallowed hard as she watched the light that dangled in midair in the center of the living room become a swirling, cloudy disc of bluish light. Dawn glanced over at Angel who stood before the vortex, stone-faced and ready for the arrival of anything that would dare stand in the way of getting Buffy back.
"How's it coming?" Angel asked, turning to Giles.
Giles nervously gazed down at Tara who obediently chanted away, "Come on, Tara. Come on..."
Xander and Willow ran through the thick trees until they spotted two figures standing and kneeling in a bright area next to a stone monument. "Aragorn! Frodo!" Xander called as he and Willow ran up to them.
"Where's Buffy?" Willow asked fretfully.
"She's gone to find Boromir," Frodo answered.
"We have to find her fast," Xander exclaimed. "I think it's time—"
"Frodo," Aragorn interrupted suddenly, staring down with worry, "go!" Aragorn jumped up to a stand as Frodo glanced down at Sting to see it glow a soft blue light.
"Oh..." Xander bellowed, staring down at the short sword, "that would be so cool if it didn't mean we were going to die."
"Run!" Aragorn ordered and Frodo bolted, turning away and running through the woods. Willow, Xander and Aragorn stared into a clearing just a few yards away from them as a small army of Uruk-hai slobbered and marched towards them with weapons drawn.
"Damn," Xander shook his head, "these guys just keep gettin' uglier and uglier."
The Ranger turned to Willow and Xander, "Protect the Ring-bearer."
"What about you?" Willow asked, eyes wide with worry. Aragorn boldly ripped his sword from its sheath and placed it in front of his face, his blue eyes burning into the hideous face of his first victim across the clearing.
"I know the drill," he declared.
Xander and Willow stood still and gawked with dropped jaws as he marched by himself towards the Uruk-hai and took out the first one. "Oh, boy," Xander shook his head with a smile, "he's been Buffied." Willow grabbed Xander by the arm and they both raced off into the forest following Frodo.
Buffy ran through the forest like a speeding bullet as she leapt over boulders and fallen tree trunks. She ran over a tree-covered hill to see Spike and Boromir still facing off in front of a stone statue, both of them bloodied and bruised from fighting.
Buffy grabbed both men and pulled them apart, throwing Spike against the stone face and Boromir against a tree. "We do not have time for Ring-warped testosterone right now!" she barked, berating both of them.
They calmed themselves as they took in her words and wiped the blood off of their faces. "Frodo," Boromir began with a timid, guilt-ridden tone, "I... I tried... He ran..."
"I know," Buffy declared, staring down at him.
"We need to find him," Boromir replied quickly, then stared up at her with an assuring expression. "You need to find him. To protect him—" He couldn't bring himself to say it. He turned away from Buffy at last, not being able to look into her eyes. He wondered for a moment if those eyes brought out guilt and remorse in every man that loved her.
Angel glanced down quickly as the ground beneath his feet shifted. The floorboards began to crack and move as an earthquake rocked Giles' apartment building. The swirling vortex began to pick up speed as the clock struck 7:13.
The monstrous Uruk-hai leader, Lurtz, stopped in front of his militia. He peered around the wooded area as dozens of Uruk-hai raced past him, filling the woods as the sunlight shined down on his oil-colored skin. He was from head to hair to armor, completely clad in black, save for the white handprint painted across his face. Lurtz shouted with a mighty roar, "Find the Halflings!"
The phrase echoed through every corner of the forest and found Buffy, Spike and Boromir. Buffy and Spike glanced around the woods fearfully as Buffy declared, "They're here."
"Halflings," Spike repeated, then turned to Buffy. "They're goin' after all the hobbits."
Buffy looked back towards Spike with a nearly incredulous expression as she added, "You've been hanging out with Legolas too long."
Thunder suddenly clashed and the sky for a split-second turned as dark as night, then reverted back to day. "Hold on to your knickers, love," Spike breathed, staring up at the sky with Buffy, "I think our ride just honked."
"Now?" Buffy exclaimed with a withering expression.
That is why when the door appears, you will not be ready for it.
Galadriel's voice rang in her mind as Buffy's green eyes grew wide with worry. "Merry and Pippin," Spike declared gravely, a terrifying thought crossing his own mind. "Oh, damn—"
Buffy watched as he turned away from her and raced off into the woods. "You deserve him," a meek voice said as Buffy looked down at Boromir who sat with his back against a tree, still in the shock of his evil actions. "And he is worthy of you..."
"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked. "Time to come back to Earth... or you know, Middle Earth. Either way, we really need you to be here."
"Aragorn," Boromir shook his head.
Buffy glared at him dubiously, "What does he—" Buffy suddenly realized her wooded surroundings and her heart was sent into a panic. "Oh, God," she breathed intensely, then shoved away her fear and stared down at Boromir. She reached for his arm and stood him up on his feet, declaring into his face, "Now, listen to me! Whatever it is, I need you to put it away! I need your help! If you don't, Aragorn's going to die!"
Boromir looked up at her instantly and any selfish thoughts that he'd previously had vanished. "Go," he declared and Buffy turned and raced away.
Inside of Room 401 in Sunnydale Medical Hospital, Riley stared blankly at the walls, temporarily incapacitated and stationary. He felt a tremor. First it was small, then it steadily grew in size until medical tools and instruments were falling off of the shelves and tables and the hallway outside his room filled with the sounds of alarms going off, panicked shouts and glass breaking.
Riley smiled as the tiled floor beneath his bed began to crack, knowing that Buffy was on the way home. It was the happiest earthquake of his life. He looked outside his window as the golden sun began to set behind the southern California hills – the backdrop of Sunnydale's magnificent vista. He glanced up at the clock in his room just before it fell off the wall: 7:17.
Frodo panted, his chest heaving, as he hid behind the trunk of a moss-covered tree. Hurried footsteps approached him as Uruk-hai soldiers ran past him, searching for him. After the Uruk-hai left, he heard his name softly whispered from his left.
"Frodo!" Merry whispered urgently. Frodo turned to his left to see Merry and Pippin hiding inside the hallowed-out trunk of a fallen tree, covered thickly with brush.
"Hide here, quick!" Pippin whispered as they motioned him towards them. Frodo stared at them for what seemed like eternity before he finally shook his head with regret. "What's he doing?" Pippin turned to Merry and asked.
Merry stared at his tormented friend from across the clearing and answered back to Pippin, "He's leaving." Frodo looked away in guilt as the thought finally set in to Merry and Pippin.
"No!" Pippin declared, jumping out of his hiding place and into the clear view of oncoming Uruk-hai. Merry jumped out to pull him back, but it was too late. Frodo stared up at his friends worriedly with terror in his heart.
"Run, Frodo," Merry ordered. "Go!" Merry and Pippin both looked up at the Uruk-hai and began to shout, "Hey! Over here! This way!" The dim-witted Uruk-hai chased after the hobbits as they led them far enough away from Frodo to where he could make his escape.
Willow and Xander continued to run through the woods until they came to a slow stop near a bridge. "Will, I don't think Frodo came this way," Xander declared warily.
"How can you tell?" Willow looked around the thick clearing. "I mean, he's a little guy – he blends in extremely well."
"I know he didn't come this way," Xander replied.
"Why?" Willow looked up at him as he stared straight ahead.
"Because look what's coming this way right now!" Xander exclaimed. Willow turned around to see a platoon of sword- and axe-wielding Uruk-hai running straight for them. Buffy jumped out into the clearing and knocked down one of the Uruk-hai, taking his sword away from him.
"Should've thought twice about that midday snack!" Buffy spat at him then cut off his head.
Xander grimaced as the head fell to the ground, "Ooh, clean up on aisle six."
"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed. "We're looking for Frodo!"
"He's with Aragorn," she answered.
"No, he's not," Xander replied. "Aragorn's one-manning it against more of these guys. Frodo ran off by himself." Buffy stared down at the dead Uruk-hai's detached head – the white painted handprint stretching across its face. It wasn't the same one from her vision, but it was close enough to chill her to the bone.
"I have to find Aragorn!" she declared.
"Go," Xander nodded. "We can take these sorry, vamp wannabes." Buffy pulled an axe from the side of the dead Uruk-hai and tossed it to Xander while she tossed the sword to Willow.
"Don't die," Buffy declared, staring deeply at Xander and Willow as the three friends shared a precious moment. The Slayer then turned away and ran off, continuing on her trek to find Aragorn.
Xander and Willow faced their snarling, growling, oncoming enemies. "Okay, boys," Xander grinned as he and Willow took a deep breath, "step right up. Time to give you a little ass kicking – California style."
Inside Giles' apartment, the glowing blue disc continued to swirl massively. "Everyone down!" Giles shouted as flashes of lightning bolted out of the vortex and over the heads of the gang.
Angel was down on one knee as he stared up at the blue disc with wind whipping across his face as it suddenly turned a fiery red color. "Come on," he whispered to himself underneath his breath. "Come on..."
Tara was chanting spitfire, her heart pounding in her chest. Suddenly, a massive, armor-clad figure stepped through the portal. Anya grabbed Dawn and pulled her back away from the portal protectively, while Giles kneeled with Tara.
As Tara continued to chant, thoughts of Willow rushed into her mind. Suddenly, Cloutier's words became clear to her: 'One alone can bear the weight of this task... but it will take all to guide him.'
The Dark Lord stared down at the Champion at his feet as he raised his club high in the air. Suddenly, a small explosion came from above and a silver sword darted down from another portal in the air. The unbroken blade of Narsil dug into the wooden floorboards an arm length away from Angel.
"Thanks," he declared as he pulled Narsil from the ground and blocked Sauron's first blow.
Merry and Pippin froze dead in their tracks and realized that they were surrounded on every side by Uruk-hai. They turned to their right to see a gigantic soldier running directly at them with an axe in hand. Suddenly, another black-clad figure tackled the Uruk-hai to the ground.
Spike jumped to his feet and snapped the neck of the Uruk-hai. He looked over at the stunned and grateful hobbits as he asked, "Will you two ever stay out of trouble?"
They smiled at him before Pippin shouted with alarm, "Look out!" Spike whipped around just as an Uruk-hai shot a wooden arrow into his chest.
As Buffy continued to race through the trees, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli took on the mess of Uruk-hai that surrounded them. Aragorn sliced and slashed at soldiers that came at him from all directions, never faltering once. Gimli wildly threw axes at the Uruk-hai and buried his favorite ax into the faces of several, all while announcing proudly that dwarfs never falter. Legolas swiftly slashed his knifes into the sides of Uruk-hai while he picked them off one-by-one with his arrows' deadly aim, never faltering and never getting a spec of dirt on him.
Willow stabbed the last Uruk-hai in the back while Xander picked himself off of the ground. The ground beneath their feet suddenly shifted. They looked at each other knowingly and began to run.
Spike pulled the arrow from his chest, it being a half-inch away from his heart. He was suddenly knocked to his knees by the club of an Uruk-hai and looked up to see an Uruk-hai axe coming towards his head.
Boromir appeared and knocked the ax away, skewering the monster with his sword. "Protect the Halflings," Boromir ordered as Spike came to a stand and complied. Spike and Boromir separated themselves by a few feet as a new round of Uruk-hai arrived. Boromir raised a horn to his lips and blew mightily.
Legolas shot an arrow off, killing the Uruk-hai that Aragorn was fighting. The body fell to the ground just as the sounds of Boromir's horn reached them. Legolas turned around, recognizing the sound and declaring, "The horn of Gondor!"
"Boromir!" Aragorn shouted, running towards the distress signal.
In vampface, Spike punched an Uruk-hai and delivered a kick to the midsection, twisting its arm back and stabbing it with its own weapon. Boromir bent down just as an Uruk-hai flipped over him onto the ground. He raised the horn to his lips again and blew as he, Spike, Merry and Pippin retreated through the forest.
Spike was cut off from the rest of the group suddenly by five Uruk-hai, just as three more approached Boromir. "Run!" Boromir shouted to the hobbits. "Run!" Merry and Pippin began to run and turned around, looking back to see Lurtz as he stepped towards the clearing.
Two Uruk-hai soldiers grabbed on to Spike's arms, pulling him backwards as they tumbled down the hill and crashed to the bottom as a handful more piled on top of them. Boromir's sword clashed with a black Uruk-hai shield and with a whizzing noise a black arrow shot into his chest.
Boromir stood still for a few seconds as he took in the pain of the first arrow. The entire world seemed still. Merry and Pippin turned to Boromir and could do nothing but gawk at his wound in horror. In immense pain, Boromir dropped to his knees with the arrow sticking out of him.
With a yell, he pulled himself back on his feet and blocked two blows with his sword before impaling another Uruk-hai. In the distance, Lurtz snarled and walked closer to Boromir, his first arrow having not finished the job.
Boromir blocked another shield and slashed his sword across the face of another opponent, battling to protect Merry and Pippin. He turned around just as Lurtz shot off another thick arrow. The second arrow pierced Boromir's stomach sourly and he once again dropped to his knees in agony.
Boromir nearly collapsed on his side as he twisted around and stared down at the leaf-covered ground. He looked up and faced Merry in Pippin, both of them still in shock as they stared down at the man who would most certainly lose his life trying to protect them. He thrust himself back onto his feet and killed another Uruk-hai, digging his sword into its back.
Spike stabbed an Uruk-hai as he came back up over the hill. He ripped the sword out and stared across the clearing to see Boromir be shot in the heart with the third and final arrow. He dropped to his knees just as another handful of Uruk-hai ambushed Spike, pushing him back down the hill.
Boromir kneeled down on the ground, shaking with pain as Merry and Pippin were carried off by Uruk-hai. He could faintly hear them calling for him over the stampeding of Uruk-hai soldiers. He watched helplessly as two black armor-covered legs walked towards him amongst the other running legs. They stopped in front of him and he looked up to see Lurtz's white-handed face staring down at him as he aimed another arrow at his skull.
Aragorn suddenly tackled him to the ground and the arrow went wild, lodging itself into a nearby tree. Lurtz pulled out his black shield and sword immediately and clashed with his Ranger sword. With a snarl, the Uruk-hai leader slammed his beefy fist into Aragorn's jaw, knocking him to the ground.
Lurtz kicked him in the stomach, flipping Aragorn over and he swiftly rolled back on to his feet. Aragorn hit Lurtz in the midsection, but then was punched in the head and smacked away, skidding across the foliage-covered ground.
Sauron swung his club at Angel as the vampire ducked beneath it, dodging or blocking every attempt with the grand sword in his hands. Angel dived over the club as it came at him, landing hard on his back. Sauron raised the club over Angel and he barely rolled out of its path as he brought it crashing down, knocking a hole in the floorboards of the living room.
"You're doing great!" Dawn shouted.
"Yes!" Anya called. "Kill him faster!"
Giles and Tara chanted to themselves as they repeated Cloutier's trance. They were now unaware of anyone else's presence but their own. As they chanted to themselves, a second tongue of blue light appeared in Giles' living room next to the red vortex.
Lurtz slammed his fist into Aragorn's face, then picked up his nearly-limp body and head butted him. He then tossed the human across the clearing like a small toy and Aragorn landed hard on the ground. Aragorn, with his hair in his face and blood dripping from his mouth, gazed groggily across the ground to see his Ranger sword lying near him.
As he reached for it, Lurtz's massive foot slammed down on the blade as the Uruk-hai's hand snatched Aragorn's neck. He lifted him up by his throat, his feet dangling off of the ground, and Lurtz threw him across the clearing and slammed him up against a tree.
The Uruk-hai leader looked down at the silver sword on the ground and picked it up with a grotesque smile. Lurtz stared at his target and marched towards Aragorn as he struggled to keep his consciousness, unaware of the danger coming. Aragorn looked up to see Lurtz stomping towards him just a few feet away as the Uruk-hai leader roared mightily. He pulled back the Ranger sword and thrust it directly towards Aragorn's heart.
Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was a miracle. Whatever it was, Aragorn opened his eyes to see Buffy between he and Lurtz. She had the end of Aragorn's Ranger sword in the palms of her hands, stopping the blade inches away from her face exactly as she had during her and Angelus' final battle at the mansion.
"Hi, I'm Buffy the Vampire Slayer," she declared with a bright, bubbly smile. Then she gripped the blade of the sword and knocked Lurtz in the face with the end of the hilt. Her smile faded instantly and she glared at Lurtz as he hit the ground, "And you're really pissing me off."
She tossed Aragorn's sword in the air and grabbed it by the hilt, gripping it tightly as Lurtz jumped up to a stand. Both the Slayer and the Uruk-hai leader squared off with each other as Lurtz raised his black sword up.
"So let me get this straight," Buffy declared, "you guys were, like, elves once, right?" Lurtz snarled and growled at her, his yellow eyes flashing. "That explains the anger," Buffy nodded with a half-smile full of pity. "'Cause they're much prettier than you are."
An instant later, their swords clashed in a mad frenzy: flashing, whirring, swooping, cracking. Buffy blocked two of the Uruk-hai's blows with her sword and ducked beneath another swing. Lurtz swung at her again and she leaned back as the sword passed across her chest but connected with her right thigh, slashing it.
Buffy drew back a moment before spinning around and delivering a kick to Lurtz's head, knocking him back. The Slayer swung at Lurtz's head, but he dodged her, ducking beneath her arm and digging his elbow into her spine. She hit the ground on her stomach and rolled on her back, flipping herself back onto her feet in no time.
She blocked another attempt at her leg and then blocked a swing at her throat. Buffy pushed Lurtz's sword away with her own, opening him up for a devastating right hook to his jaw. She followed instantly with a backhand punch which fazed him little, and he jabbed her in the stomach with his fist, knocking her back several feet.
Buffy fell on her back and Lurtz kicked her in the side, throwing her up in the air like a football and kicking her a few more feet away. He raised his sword and brought it down at her, but she rolled out of the way and it connected with a rock, burying deep into the stone. Lurtz yanked on the hilt of his sword, but could not free it from the depth of the stone.
While still on the ground, Buffy swiftly kicked him in the stomach and knocked him away from his sword. She jumped to her feet and slashed at his right forearm, cutting it off. With his left arm, he knocked her across the face with enough force to throw her across the clearing. She flew back as the Ranger sword left her hands and fell into the dirt a few yards away from her.
She landed on her belly as Lurtz pulled his sword out of the rock and stomped towards her, raising it in the air. Groggily, she reached for another weapon in front of her face on the ground. Lurtz rushed her and was about to bring the sword down on the back of her head as she rolled over onto her back and shoved a broken piece of a wooden log into Lurtz's heart.
The Uruk-hai leader glanced down at the lance-like object impaling him through the chest and stared down at her bloodied, angry face in disbelief. He roared in her face as he raised his sword back up for one final blow. The Ranger sword suddenly slashed through his neck and Lurtz's white-handed, detached head fell to the ground.
Buffy looked up to see Aragorn standing over her with the black blood of the Uruk-hai dripping from his Ranger sword. Buffy pushed herself up to a stand as Aragorn gazed around at the corpse-littered forest and breathed heavily, "No..."
Buffy watched him run off across the clearing up to a figure lying against the trunk of a tree. Buffy's eyes grew wide with shock as she realized who it was. "Boromir," she whispered, her breath sucking out of her lungs. She rushed up to him with panic in her eyes as Aragorn dropped to his knees beside him.
Boromir stared up at their faces, his own face colored a pale blue as blood dripped from his lips. "Th-they took the little ones," Boromir breathed, struggling to speak.
"Hold still," Aragorn ordered as he gazed down at the arrows sticking out of Boromir's body.
"Frodo," Boromir trembled. "Where is Frodo?"
Aragorn looked into his eyes, "I let Frodo go."
"Then you did what I could not," he declared, his voice shaking rapidly.
Spike, covered in black Uruk-hai blood, quickly rushed up the hill to the top just as Willow and Xander ran up from the side. The three of them stopped and gazed wide-eyed at the other side of the clearing to see Buffy, Aragorn and Boromir near the tree amongst dozens of dead Uruk-hai.
Buffy kneeled down in front of Boromir as he looked into her face, his eyes full of guilt, "I-I tried to take the Ring from him."
Aragorn whispered, shaking his head, "The Ring is beyond our reach now."
"Forgive me," Boromir breathed hard, staring up at Buffy and Aragorn. "I did not see. I have failed you all." She stared down at him as tears began to sting her eyes.
There is a price for all things... For this alone, one in the Fellowship will die...
Galadriel's voice once again rang in her mind as Buffy slowly shook her head, "No..." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stared at him, "I'm sorry..."
Narsil connected with Sauron's club once again as the second light in Giles' living room became another swirling portal of blue clouds. Angel pulled the sword back and swung it at the Dark Lord and it passed through him like air. Now, that was all he was.
Sauron stared down at his hands in disbelief as Angel stepped back away from his defeated opponent. The Dark Lord looked back at the red portal from which he came as it slowly began to fade.
"No...!" Sauron howled with a deep voice twisted by fury. "The Ring is mine! No one shall stop me! I am the Dark Lord! I shall rule the world!"
"Oh, yeah?" Angel declared with a stone face. "Go start a fan club." The red portal swirled and howled as Sauron became translucent and was pulled back into the portal. Angel stared at Narsil as he held it up, "Gotta get me one of these." Then, with a powerful thrust, he threw the sword into the red portal and back into its current place in Middle Earth – a shattered blade housed inside a stone room in Rivendell.
Angel turned around as Dawn and Anya came out of their corner and joined him. Giles and Tara continued their chants on the floor while the other three stood before the new portal as it continued to glow blue and swirl around. Flashes of blue lightning crashed in front of the disc as they watched and waited anxiously.
Aragorn reached down to pull the arrows from Boromir's chest as he grabbed his hand and declared, "Leave it." Aragorn and Buffy both stared at him in shock as Boromir shakily explained, "It is over. The world of Men will fall. And all will come to darkness... and my city to ruin."
Aragorn grabbed his hand and declared, "I do not know what strength is in my blood, but I swear to you, I will not let the White City fall..." He finished with his voice nearly breaking, "...Nor our people fail."
"Our people," Boromir repeated as his chest writhed in pain. "Our people..." His hand reached out for his blade and Aragorn placed it in his palm. Boromir pushed the hilt of his blade to his chest as he declared, "I would have followed you, my brother." Aragorn looked down at him with soft blue eyes as he swallowed hard. "My captain," Boromir added with a hint of a smile. "My king."
Aragorn stared down at his face speechlessly as Boromir struggled to breathe his last breaths. Spike, Willow and Xander were frozen several feet away as Legolas and Gimli rushed up and stopped, viewing the heartbreaking scene.
Wind began to blow gently through the forest as a light appeared a few feet away from them. The blue light grew bigger and caught Willow and Xander's attention as it swirled around and became a blue, cloudy, circular disc of light. Electrical surges passed across the face of the portal that stared at them, beckoning them to take their final place. Willow, Spike and Xander gazed at each other knowingly.
Slowly, Buffy reached for Boromir's hand, placing her own inside of his. With the last strength he had left he squeezed it gently and looked into her tear-soaked expression. She stared down into his eyes and softly began, "I don't know if I changed your world... and... I don't know if I changed your fates... or you." Boromir fixed his eyes on her beautiful face as another tear rolled down her cheek. "But I do know one thing for sure," Buffy whispered with a breaking voice. "You have changed me."
He gazed up at her as she gave him a painful, half-smile that freed him from all of his torment. She whispered finally, "Thank you."
Buffy closed her eyes and leaned down towards him, placing a gentle kiss on his pale lips. A few seconds later, she pulled her head back to see Boromir silent and still as stone, a peaceful expression on his face. She stared at him quietly as the wind around her began to pick up, as if the wind was attempting to replace the sound of his breathing which now the world was void of.
Weakly, she stood up and backed away from the body. "Time to go, Slayer," Spike declared, penetrating her silent trance. Buffy turned around quickly to see Spike standing in front of the portal by himself; Willow and Xander had already left.
There before her was the door, but she was not ready to go through. Buffy turned back to Boromir's body, torn between the body and the portal. "Slayer," Spike declared again, trying to regain her attention before it was too late. She continued to stare at his pale, lifeless face.
"Buffy..." Spike gently called. He walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "This isn't our world," he softly began. "We're out of place here, love."
Aragorn turned away from Boromir's body and looked at Buffy's anguished appearance. The both of them made eye-contact and shared several seconds of silence as they stared at each other. With a grateful expression, he gave her a gentle nod, officially relieving her of her duty to Fellowship of the Ring.
"Let's go home, Buffy," Spike declared. Buffy turned away from what was left of the Fellowship and faced the portal. Taking a deep breath, she and Spike stepped inside.