Spike started stirring on the altar. Angel's grip on the dagger's hilt tightened. This was the sign they had agreed on. He knew what he had to do. He would have to kill Lisa.

A few days earlier:

Still she didn't wear any shoes. It was strange walking through the nightly office building like that – only dressed in her bathrobe. During daytime those corridors were crowed with employees busily scurrying here and there, now they were completely empty. The scenery had something slightly surreal to it.

Her barefooted feet finally came to a halt. She was finally there. Lisa raised her hand to knock at the wooden door in front of her. No answer. She wouldn't be discouraged this easily, so she continued knocking. The door was suddenly ripped open. Angel looked at her questioningly, the expression on his face told her that he was not at all pleased to receive any visitors at this nightly hour. He had probably been busy with brooding in his room all by himself.

"I have something very important to discuss with you," she announced matter-of-factly.

"Can't this wait until tomorrow?" he asked ill-humoredly.

"No."

He sighed and motioned her to come in. His apartment lacked any private possessions whatsoever, unlike his office, which was stuffed with antiques and weapon's of all sorts. She couldn't help, but feel a little bit sorry for him. Working seemed to take up a huge portion of his life.

"So? What brings me the honour of your nightly - I would like to say visit, but let's face it, it's actually more some kind of intrusion," he looked at her expectantly.

"There's something you have to do for me..., " she hesitated for a momentarily, before she continued, "If I fail, if Baku is able to defeat me... you must kill me."

"Why?" he seemed kind of flabbergast by her announcement.

"You're seriously asking me why! Because if you don't, all hell will break loose. Not literally, but it's going to be bad – very bad. Don't get me wrong. I'm not suicidal. This plan is only meant for the worse case scenario…if all else fails. If he's going to kill him….you'll have to do it."

"Him…Spike?" Angel asked looking at her incomprehensively.

"Yes."

"You're willing to give your life for him?" incredulousness was clearly audible in his voice. "Just so that I understand…Why?"

"Why?" she repeated his question with a pensive frown on her face. "The answer to that is quite simple and at the same time very complicated…….because I love him…. Because he was just given a second chance, which confirms me in my belief that his being here has a purpose. "

"You women are always possessed by your romantic notion of how a man magically starts changing, once you've shared bed with him," he shook his head disdainfully.

His comment didn't manage to enrage her. "No, I don't intend to change him at all."

"Oh, please. He was always a pain in the ass. Right from the start," he snarled.

"I understand you two go way back. Too much rivalry, too much testosterone. A friendship gone awry. Too bad for you. But isn't the job you're doing about saving lives, or did I get something wrong?
He may not be an innocent - neither am I nor you, but it's a life you'd be saving anyways. Keep that in mind. And even if you think about it pragmatically you may have to admit that Spike could turn out to be a helpful hand in the next best apocalypse," she explained calmly.

"As much as I hate to admit it, but you do actually have a point."

"So are you going to do it?" Lisa asked, looking at him imploringly

"I don't know…," Angel turned around to walk towards the window, where he stopped to look down on the skyline of L.A pensively.

"I can't turn to anybody else for this. And there's also a huge possibility you won't have to do it, but just in case…it would be nice to know that my eventual failure won't mark the beginning of Baku's reign of terror, okay?"

He hesitated, "Okay, but how will I know when to do it?"

"I'll have you know," she simply answered and turned around to walk out of the door.

Present day, astral plain:

"Oh, well, now that your lover is gone, it's just the two of us.. Finally," Baku remarked, watching her interestedly like one would watch an insect that was about to be squished. Oh, how much had he been looking forward to this day!

Lisa struggled to get to her feet. She finally managed to, swaying noticeably, but at least she was still able to keep herself upright.

"I didn't think you would have the guts to make use those powers," the necromancer circled her predatorily, "Won't that bring you into trouble? I guess Osiris will not be too pleased by that."

"Doesn't matter any more," Lisa wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Right," his voice sounded conversationally, but stood in contrast to his violent actions. Lisa suddenly found herself pressed against a stonewall, his hand strangling her throat mercilessly as her feet dangled several inches over the floor. Despite the seriousness of the situation she had to grin.

Baku looked at her as if she had gone crazy. She could well be, but who even cared at this point. It would happen any second now. A raspy laugh escaped her lips. Well, what better way to go than with a laugh on her lips? It was rather ironic since she had denied herself the luxury of emotions for so long.

Back in the real world Angel raised the dagger over Lisa's seemingly unconscious form. He hesitated briefly and that second of hesitation hindered him from executing his plan.

Spike awoke with a start from his magically induced trance. His first reaction was to check if everything was alright with Lisa. When he saw Angel towering over her with a dagger in his hand, he threw himself at the other vampire without wasting a thought on the reason behind his sire's actions. The dagger slid over the floor as Spike started raining down bunches on Angel, releasing some of the bottled up aggression, that had been stored up over the centuries.

"You," bunch, "are," bunch, "not going to take her from me," Spike screamed at him.

Angel managed to get a hold of Spike's fist. Just as it was about to slam down on him again, he stopped it in mid flight. "She wanted it like this," he defended himself.

Nothing happened, nothing at all. Not that she was actually disappointed of not having to die, but considering the fact that Baku would soon take possession of her soul and would thereby obtain sheer unlimited powers, it was a little bit disquieting. Endless second passed, in which she came to realize that she would probably have to help herself, since nobody else would.

She focused her mind on the picture of a hunting knife, which conveniently appeared in her hand a few moments later. Lisa rammed it into Baku's arm with all her might. He screamed hoarsely and let go off her. With her last strength Lisa managed to escape. At first she was a completely disorientate. The adrenalin was rushing through her veins and kept her from thinking coherently. Luckily her instinct kicked in and the young woman ran off to hide somewhere between the many tombstones and crypts.

Lisa could still hear Baku howling in pain behind her, but luckily he didn't follow her. She zigzagged between the gravestones to cover her tracks and finally hid behind a large crypt. Lisa lay on the law breathing heavily, her body screaming at her to finally slow down.

Lisa tried to assess the situation. She was utterly and completely screwed. No help, but free choice of weapons, which were only marginally useful against a necromancer (hexes were faster than bullets; plus in order to stab him with something sharp she had to get close, which was probably not such a good idea). Not to forget the utmost discouraging certainty of death! Simply great! She had to think of something. It wouldn't take long and he would find her. She wouldn't even wish her worst enemy to be in her place…'In my place', the words resounded in her head, as if they should tell her something. Then suddenly a thought occurred to her. Her face brightened with realization. It was so simple? Why hadn't she had this idea before?

Baku was furious. With an abrupt jerk, he pulled the knife out of his arm and threw it away disdainfully. Where had she run off to? His nostrils flared angrily. Didn't she know that she was only postponing the inevitable? It was really annoying, when people had the tendency of clinging to their lives with such persistence. He was growing impatient.

"Come out! Let's not waste our precious time with playing childish games, especially since you've got so little left of it. I'll promise I'll make it quick," his reddened eyes scanned the graveyard searchingly.

"Do I really have to come and get you, young lady?"

"No," Lisa stepped out from her hiding place, holding a sword in her hand. She looked a little worse for the wear. Angry red marks clearly indicated the area where his hand had brutally strangled her throat. Her clothes were dusty and sweat was glistening on her forehead. She slowly walked up to him.

"So, you want to die honourably in battle? How noble, " Baku remarked sarcastically. "And stupid…"

He stormed at her again. It all went very quickly, Lisa lacking any fighting skills whatsoever. The sword landed clatteringly on the floor. She followed only seconds later. With panic in her eyes Lisa slowly crawled away from her nemesis, but he stopped her unceremoniously by bending down and unceremoniously grabbing her by the throat again. His fingers slowly tightened around her neck. A wicked grin spread on his monstrous face. The smell of burned skin invaded Lisa's nostrils. Her eyes bulged. A bombardment of different sensations flooded her consciousness. The vicious smile on Baku's thin lips that as he bared his yellow teeth at her, red dots dancing in front of her eyes, the sound of her own heart beat in her ears… She struggled desperately, kicking with her legs, but all in vain. Her limps sank to the floor lifelessly after one final spasm.

He smiled contently. This was the fulfilment of a dream, he had fostered for an eternity, to be precisely ever since he met her. Her lifeless body at his feet. The hour of his triumph! His ascension seemed to pale in comparison to this sensation of complete and utter victory. The work was done and all he had to do now was just stand there and wait until her soul would rise from Lisa's corpse that lay to his feet.

Instead something else happened. A strange prickling sensation spread through the palm and extended all the way to his fingertips. Outrage and surprise battled inside of him as he looked down on his hand, that was slowly starting to disintegrate. Like a disease nothingness spread and crept up his arm, which, too, began to disappear.

Baku let out an angry scream. Injustice! Fate had betrayed him. Wasn't he supposed to become a God now? Even though he had not committed a single mistake, he was now slowly drawn into hell. All he could do was watch helplessly as he was slowly fading into oblivion.