The Show Must Go On
Author: Elizabeth5
Chapter Two: The Circus
By the time Buffy reached the battlefield, everything was already in full swing. It was unlike anything she had ever seen– there was a literal army of demons, and it seemed that its numbers were never-ending. She even thought she spotted a dragon somewhere, though that could have been her imagination.
As they approached the chaos, Buffy glanced over her shoulder. "Dawn, stay back. Giles said that Willow and that coven group from England are positioned near the east barrier. Xander will make sure you get there, and then stay there. If I hear that you even set so much as one toe into the battle– "
Dawn rolled her eyes. "I know, I know. You'll ground me 'til I'm fifty."
Buffy watched as Xander and Dawn made their way to the east barrier. Beside her, Andrew fidgeted. "Are you sure you want me in on this?" he inquired. "Maybe I should go help Dawn and Willow..."
"You can stay on the outskirts if you want," Buffy informed him, resisting the urge to roll her eyes, "but we need all the help we can get." She pushed a machine gun into his arms and then started toward the battle herself, pausing as a sudden thought struck her. "Just try not to kill anyone from our side, all right?"
With that said, Buffy turned and threw herself into the fray. She had taken out three demons by the time she ran into Faith, who had arrived earlier with Principal Wood. "Hey, B," Faith shouted in greeting, a grin plastered on her face. She'd always loved this combat stuff. "Good to see you. It's a real circus out here."
A red, scaly demon charged toward Buffy from the side. She swung her axe at it, hearing a satisfying thunk as it connected with the demon's neck. "I always liked the circus," she called back to Faith, then threw herself onto a Frevora demon's back.
Ten or so demons later, Buffy heard someone calling her name. She turned to see Angel, limping but still fighting. "I should have known I'd see you here," he called to her, all the while grappling with a light blue demon.
"Think I'd miss out on all the fun?" Buffy called back. A demon approached her from behind and grabbed her in a head-lock.
"Buffy!"
Angel started for her, but by the time he got there, Buffy already had flipped the demon over onto its back. She grabbed a nearby sword from the ground and plunged it into the demon's chest.
"I hate it when they mess up my hair," she complained, though there was a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
Angel smiled at her fondly, their eyes connecting. "Looks all right to me."
The moment lasted for only a second, and then they were off again, fighting the seemingly never-ending horde of monsters. Buffy took out one and was bracing herself to charge a snake-like creature when she heard a familiar war cry and turned in time to see a flash of platinum hair surging through the crowd.
She felt as though a vacuum cleaner had been shoved down into her lungs, sucking out all the air. "Spike?"
But before she could see for herself whether it was her supposedly dead lover, she was rushed from the side by two particularly slimy demons. By the time she was done with them, the man who might have been Spike was long gone.
There was a low growl from behind her, and Buffy turned to see a werewolf down on its haunches, preparing to attack. She raised her axe into the air and started forward.
"Buffy, no!"
Buffy stopped in confusion, looking around. "Willow?" The voice had belonged to her best friend, but the red-head wicca was nowhere in sight.
"Buffy, that's Oz," came Willow's voice once again, "we have him under a spell so that he can use his werewolf powers without harming anyone on our side."
Buffy lowered her axe once more. "Oh. Cool." She gave the werewolf a little half-wave. "Sorry, Oz!"
Oz merely growled and threw himself at the back of an unsuspecting demon.
With a sigh, Buffy turned just in time to stop a sword which was plummeting toward her back. She glared reprovingly at the demon on the other end of the sword. "Hitting me while my back is turned? Not cool– "
Before the words were fully out of her mouth, another demon had hit her from behind with something large and heavy. Buffy fell to the ground, rolling over in time to see a huge, troll-like demon wielding a heavy club. Under normal circumstances, she might have made a pun or two referring to Harry Potter, but the blow to the back of her head had been a hard one, and she was having difficulty maintaining consciousness.
The demon raised the club over his head, preparing to strike once again. Buffy pressed her eyes shut. This was it. This was it. This was it...
A familiar roar filled the air. Buffy opened her eyes to see a blur of movement run past. There was a man on the back of the troll-demon; the demon was putting up quite a struggle, but after a moment it groaned and fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Buffy's eyes began to clear just as a hand reached down to help her up.
"Are you all right?"
No, this wasn't happening. She was dreaming. Or she was dead. Either way, there was no way that Spike was in front of her. In just a moment, he would disappear.
But the moment passed, and he didn't disappear. Instead, he was gazing at her intently, his eyes filled with worry. "Buffy, are you all right?"
She reached out shakily and took his hand, just to make sure it was real. Flesh met flesh. His skin was cold and tangible. "You're real," she said wonderingly.
The moment was shattered as she spotted a demon charging toward them out of the corner of her eye. Wordlessly, she took her axe and threw it at the demon without ever turning. It lodged into the demon's neck, and the monster fell to the ground with a groan. Still, Buffy kept her eyes trained on Spike, afraid that if she blinked he would disappear.
Spike looked vaguely guilty. "I wanted to tell you," he began.
Buffy continued to grip his hand, finding herself unable to speak. Another demon charged at them and Spike plunged a sword into his gut, never breaking eye contact. Buffy knew they couldn't continue on this way but she literally felt as though she had lost the ability to move or breathe.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw it.
Giles on bended knee, too tired to move, as a demon raised a sword ominously over his head.
"Giles!" she cried frantically, finally wrenching away from Spike. She tore through the crowd, pushing anyone who happened to get in her way, friend or foe. When she was only four or five steps away, the demon plunged the sword forward into Giles' chest.
With a moan, Giles slumped onto the ground. Buffy frantically searched for the nearest weapon she could find; there was an abandoned rifle on the ground, and she picked it up, shooting the demon squarely in the head. The demon fell to the ground, dead upon impact of the bullet, but still Buffy continued to shoot until she had reached him. Clutching the gun, she fell down beside Giles.
"Giles, hold on," she instructed, her voice brimming with emotion, "we can get you to a doctor...Willow can perform a spell maybe..."
He remained silent, too far gone to speak. With his last measure of strength, he reached up and gently stroked the side of her face, smiling. And then he was gone.
Buffy merely sat there for a moment, too stunned to move. Giles was gone. Giles, her watcher, the only real father she'd ever known...
"You're Buffy, right?"
Buffy looked up to see a darkly attractive man standing over her. He was wearing a bandana and was clutching his side heavily. "I'm Gunn," he said, "one of Angel's people."
She blinked at him, trying to find her voice. "Um, hi...I'm kind of..."
He motioned to Giles. "Was he a friend of yours?" She nodded, and Gunn smiled sympathetically, wincing through his pain. "I'm sorry about that."
Her eyes traveled to the wound at his side. "You're injured," she pointed out, then immediately felt stupid for saying it.
"I know." Gunn winced again. "I'm actually kind of dying. But I wanted the chance to meet you before I go. They talk about you all the time, you know. Angel and Spike. Anyway, I was wondering if I could borrow your gun."
Numbly, Buffy handed over the rifle. They talk about you, he'd said. They. Angel and Spike. He'd been hiding from her all this time.
Gunn smiled as he took the gun. "Thanks for the ammo. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too," Buffy called out weakly.
With that said, Gunn turned and surged into the crowd, aiming the rifle as best he could without further irritating his wound. He took out three demons and injured a fourth before stumbling forward onto the ground. He lay there, completely still.
Buffy winced at this and looked away. Her gaze fell upon Giles once more, and she gingerely reached out and closed his eyes. She stared at Giles for a moment longer, then grabbed a nearby broadsword.
With a determined glint in her eye, she threw herself at the nearest creature.