A/N: Sorry for the very very late update, I just completely forgot about fanfiction in hese last few months, but anyway, here is the much awaited showdown chapter.Hope you like it! Oh, and many thanks for the kind reviews, especially to jannalily47! I'm glad you like this! Oh, and by the way, I don't own BtVS or any of the characters. I just own this fic. Enjoy! And don't forget to review.

When she came back an hour later, Giles could not understand how Buffy had managed to drag herself back to her Watcher's home. She was, in fact, bleeding profusely. Two little holes on her wrist showed that someone had managed to feed on her and the numerous bruises and cuts all over her face, neck and arms showed she was in a pretty bad state. And that was only as far as he could see.

Yet, she was alive, which was miraculous in itself. He still hadn't fully realised that she wasn't dead and almost felt like she had never left his house. But she was growing gradually paler and her lip was swelling and this brought him back down to Earth with worry. But despite the intensity of the emotions they were both feeling, neither of them spoke while Giles tried his best to patch her up. But it seemed as if he might not be enough.

'We need to get you to a hospital,' he told her. She looked at him from the couch, with something like reproach.

'I don't like hospitals. They're scary. And smelly,' she murmured.

'You're such a little girl, Buffy.'

'I wish.'

Giles sighed, resigned to doing his best to stop her bleeding. 'Are you going to tell me what happened?' he asked as he disinfected a cut on her face.

'He wasn't there.'

'And?'

'He wasn't there. He's hiding somewhere.'

'With Spike and Drusilla?'

'Spike couldn't go anywhere if he wanted to. He's stuck in a wheelchair, Dru wouldn't carry him around. No, they were there.'

'Did they do this to you?'

'It's nothing. You should see what I did to them. Well, you wouldn't see much. They sort of…bit the dust, if you know what I mean.'

Giles smiled. 'I see you're making jokes again. That's good. Right?' She smiled weakly but she couldn't keep it up for much longer. Tears started to trickle down onto the sofa. But she wasn't crying because she was sad. She cried because she was furious. Giles took his handkerchief out and tried to dry her tears but to no avail. They just kept silently coming.

'Tell me what happened.'

'I killed them. That's all there is to it.'

In truth, that wasn't all there was to it. Killing was an euphemism. She had destroyed them. Drusilla had seen her coming but whatever preparation Spike and his gang could have made could never have contrasted Buffy's wrath. She entered the Mansion and immediately dusted the three minions who had been appointed to guard the gates and give the alarm. But she wasn't at her best yet. She walked into the main room and upon seeing her, Spike yelled to the vampire on his right:

'Do I have to do bloody everything in here to get things right? Why the hell did you choose the most incompetent three to put at the door? Did your brain rot with the rest of your internal organs?' In the meantime, a large group of vampires clustered between Buffy and Spike.

Drusilla whimpered. 'Oh! Oh, Spikey, no…no! She's a beast! She is the Sun, she burns and burns and burns!' she chanted, accentuating every word with a wave of her hand.

'Glad to see you're healthy as usual, Drusilla. Unlike your boyfriend.'

'Shut up, Slayer.'

'You know, Spike? You're really not that threatening when you're sitting down. But I guess you can't help it. Where is he?'

'Who?'

Buffy laughed. 'Who do you think? If you tell me, your un-lifespan may just stretch for five more minutes.'

'If you're talking about Angelus, I don't know where he's gone. He's dust for all I know. But I heard he did a good job before leaving. Heard he's become a serial killer. You think they might make a movie out of it? You know, à la 'Silence of th-'

Buffy sprang forward, fury surging through her veins. She kicked and punched and staked like she had never done before. It was almost as if all the humanity had left her and she was just the Slayer, nothing more, just a killer with the precision of a butcher. She managed to dust four vampires before she even got hit for the first time. She yelled and leapt and beheaded like a machine and felt a primal urge to kill as many demons as possible. It was a carnage. But the odds were overwhelming nonetheless and soon, a vampire had managed to sink her teeth in her wrist while another punched her on the mouth. As the life was ebbed out of her, she heard Spike say: 'Dru, why's she gone crazy? Was it something I said? Angelus isn't going to be very happy we killed her when he's back.'

This was a mistake.

The mere mention of his name was enough for Buffy to shake the feeding vampire off her and cut her head off with her sword. Once again, she had the upper hand and without receiving any more major blows, she dusted the rest of them cleanly.

When she finished, she had her back to Spike and Drusilla and was breathing heavily. She was so tired, she just wanted to go to sleep, but she willed herself to stay awake. 'Just a little longer, then I can go to sleep,' she thought. She turned around.

The sight that greeted her would have been funny if the circumstances had been different. Spike, in his wheelchair, was attempting to hide behind Drusilla, who on her part was simply laughing softly.

'Spike, my love, did you see? She killed them all! That was fun. Oh, Buffy, please, please do it again!'

With preternatural speed, Buffy seized Drusilla by the neck and slammed her against the wall and in less than a second had the point of a stake pressing against the vampire's heart.

'Move, both of you, and Drusilla's dust,' she hissed through gritted teeth. A nerve on Spike's left temple was twitching but he didn't move an inch. Drusilla, meanwhile, was still laughing her maniacal laugh.

'I will ask you for the last time, Spike. Where is he?'

'I don't know,' Spike said slowly.

Buffy started shaking but did not lose her grip on Drusilla's neck.

'You mean to say I came here, did all this, for nothing.'

'Oh, no! It was entertaining! Better than naming the stars…'

Buffy staked her.

'Dru! Shit, you killed her! No! You bitch, I told you I didn't know, I told you, and you killed her! No…' Spike buried his head in his hands and started sobbing.

'Oh, you're a softy, aren't you? That's what you get for doing what you do. You're just an animal, Spike, nothing more. You might be proud of it, but you, Drusilla, Angel, you're all animals. And this is what you deserve.' Buffy picked him up by the collar. 'You don't have feelings. You don't care about anything but yourselves. You destroy lives for fun and get away with it,' she yelled, punctuating every word with a punch. 'Well, I'm sorry Spike, but you're not getting away with it this time! Your girlfriend is dead, and you're going to follow her.'

'Yes, just kill me, just do it, alright?' he said, his voice muffled by his swollen lip.

She staked him too.

She had done it. She hadn't managed to get to Angel, but he was alone now. She'd managed to kill Spike, Drusilla and their gang, but somehow, she didn't feel any better. Release was still to come, waiting for revenge.

She stared around the room; at the dust, at Spike's wheelchair, at a portrait of an old lady with a huge hat on the wall. She just wanted to go to sleep. Revenge could wait. But first, she had to get to Giles'.

Twenty minutes later, Buffy finished telling Giles what had happened at the Mansion.

'Buffy, you do realise you single-handedly killed more than thirty vampires, among which Drusilla and Spike. I think you should be proud of yourself. I'm proud of you,' the Watcher said with a smile.

'I didn't kill him.'

'You will. You can find him as soon as you heal. But Buffy, you don't have to be strong all the time. You can let go for a moment, you have to. You can't be like this.'

'Like what, Giles? I was weak, and your girlfriend died. I was weak and two of my best friends died. I don't think I can afford to be any weaker.'

'You weren't weak, Buffy. You were only human.'

'Well, then, I guess I can't be human then. I guess a Slayer can't ever be human.'

'That's not true.'

'I don't know, Giles. Maybe…' She sighed. 'I'm tired. I just…Can I just go to sleep now?'