A/N: what a rollercoaster. . . I do not own "Easier to Run" by LINKIN PARK.

(Chapter Nine - - - - - - - -)

Buffy pedaled furiously down the street following the signs to the prison. The sun was just shedding pale pinks and purples into the night sky as she reached her destination. She scanned the area and at first feared she was wrong, but saw Victor trying to determine how he was going to get in.

Buffy dumped the bike behind a bush and approached Victor.

"You could always climb it." Buffy suggested, pointing to the fence. Victor turned, his red eyes staring right into Buffy's. It made her uncomfortable, but she refused to show it and didn't look away.

"Are you mocking me girl?" Victor scoffed. Buffy pretended to be in thought.

"Yeah, that would be a good assumption. Look, the guy your looking for is dead. Your wife's death was avenged hundreds of years ago." Buffy crossed her arms.

"No! You lie. You jest and I find it hardly funny." Victor said.

"Wish I did. You've been in that house for over 200 or something years. Things have changed. Why don't you go back where you came from and leave Wesley alone."

"I like this body. I refuse." Victor laughed heartily at Buffy, which only made her crosser. The sun started to rise gently and slowly and it showed how pale Wesley's face was.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't an option. That was an order."

"By whom?" Victor found this whole ordeal amusing and he placed his hands behind his back which was exactly what Buffy wanted.

"The slayer." She stated and kicked Victor square in the chest. Victor went flying backwards and slammed into a nearby tree. He picked himself up and Buffy began calling to Wesley. "Wesley, nobody abandoned you. We were trying to get you out, trying to save you. I know you have the strength somewhere to tell him off. I believe you can do it. I don't want to have to kill you."

Buffy tried to punch Victor but he blocked and threw her back into a bush. He picked up a stick and was about to stab her when he no longer had control over his arm.

"What! No!" Victor lost grip on the stick and dropped it.

"That's it Wesley. Come on. . ." Buffy encouraged as she continued sitting on the ground. Victor lost control of everything and felt himself slipping away. He backed away from Buffy, his legs the only thing he could control.

"What have you done, slayer!" he screamed, but Buffy only smiled.

"I haven't done anything."

Victor collapsed on the dirt ground and he started yelling at Wesley.

"Stop! You have no control. . ." Victor moaned. Unexpectedly, Wesley's body launched into the air and hung there a moment. Buffy watched, her brow furrowing. Then, a transparent form of a man shot out of Wesley's body and got swept away by the wind.

Wesley dropped to the ground with a thud and Buffy rushed to his side. She looked down at his face and was surprised to see his eyes open.

"Wes? That really you?" Buffy asked. Wesley responded by bursting into tears and sobbing. Buffy picked his upper body up and let Wesley sob into her shoulder.

A minute later Giles' car stopped in front of Wesley and her and Xander jumped out of the drivers seat.

"I didn't know you could drive." Buffy looked up at him.

"Well, I can. I just don't really have my license yet." Xander smiled and looked down at Wesley, his eyes averting to the Watcher's wrists. "Buff, his wrists are bleeding. We have to get him to the hospital."

Buffy and Xander helped Wesley up and escorted him quickly to the car. Buffy left the bike behind as the car sped off. As they were almost there, Buffy turned around and faced a sleeping Wesley.

"I always knew he could do it."

"Oh, did you?" Xander smiled.

"Can't you go any faster?" Buffy quickly changed the subject. "I can't have him die. Who knows what other kind of British Watcher I'd get next if he did."

(------)

It's easier to run

Replacing this pain with something numb

It's so much easier to go

Than face all this pain here all alone

The end. . . of Part I: Infection! Part II: Not Out of the System is coming soon!