Chapter 15: The Fight Ends

Willow felt utterly useless. Anya, while not an expert in combat, had her vengeance demon strength, and was fighting very well. Giles, as it turned out, was quite the fighter, and was slaying demons right and left. Xander was holding his own, with a little help from Giles, who was working with him. Even Dawn was wielding her sword with some skill. Willow could stake a few vamps, but felt completely overwhelmed by this battle. The old fear that she had nothing to offer was returning full force. She knew it wasn't true; she knew she's always been useful with computers, research, and...magic. But not with this. Never with this.

A vampire caught her off guard and shoved her against the wall. She could feel the panic rising in her throat, threatening to suffocate her. She pushed it away, but she didn't have the strength to push the vampire away. It closed the distance between them, fangs bared. Willow squeezed her eyes shut. After a few seconds, she cracked them open only to see the vampire's expression of shock. Then he was dust, and Willow breathed a sigh of relief, letting the pencil she had levitated from Dawn's backpack drop to the floor.

It worked, she said to herself. It worked.

Willow's pride began to give way to something else, something worse, as she realized that she was still in the grasp of the magic. It was just harmless (for the most part) pencil floating and she couldn't come down from it. She could almost feel the blackness spreading outward from her pupils. Willow struggled. The magic was a raging river, threatening to sweep her away.

Then someone was there, holding her, pulling her from the river.

Willow looked at Tara with wide, green eyes. Tara quickly murmured a protection spell to keep the demons away for a few minutes.

"I almost got lost," Willow cried softly.

Tara pulled Willow's head to her shoulder. "It's okay," she whispered, lovingly stroking Willow's hair. "I found you. We will always find each other. And I will be here when you need me. I will be your anchor, as you have been mine, tethering you to this plane."

Willow lifted her face and gave her lover a watery smile. Her heart was bursting with love as she turned once again to face the forces of darkness, her baby by her side.

---

Tara could feel a hammer splitting her skull open, figuratively speaking. All this magic was taking its toll on her. The spell to contact Buffy had been more challenging than she had let on, as well as being extremely disorienting. When she had withdrawn from Buffy's mind, or wherever they had been, she had felt as if she were learning to walk all over again. The spell to cloak everyone had not been difficult, but extending the spell to include Angel had been quite complicated. None of these things would have been a problem by themselves, but doing them all within a few hours had been a different story. Add to that all of the spells she had been employing in this fight, and she was magically spent, nearing the point of complete drainage.

Tara could feel Willow's deep well of power, and knew that if she asked, her lover would grant her access to it. But Tara could not ask such a thing unless it was absolutely necessary. So she would wait, and watch. She would refrain from using magic against any opponent that could not be taken care of in a more mundane fashion.

Even as Tara thought this, she began scanning the remaining demons, of which there looked to be about half a dozen, for mystical power. That was when she felt it. The traces of the spell were so black, so filthy that she nearly gagged. It was dark magic, and it was strong. And the bearer of the spell – she was certain it was not the caster – was entering Buffy's hospital room right now, unseen but not unnoticed.

Tara grabbed Willow's hand, and pulled the confused redhead along as she raced to the door that was swinging shut.

"Who opened..." Willow began, only to be cut off by Tara.

"There's someone there with black magic," Tara whispered as she pushed open the door and the two witches entered the room.

Angel jumped up from his seat by Buffy's bedside as they entered, then relaxed when he saw who it was. Tara noticed two dead demons on the floor, their limbs bent in odd angles, not to mention the thick layer of dust coating the floor.

"Willow, uh, Tara, what are you doing here?"

But Tara wasn't paying attention to Angel's words as she scanned the room. Willow kept shooting her concerned looks, but said nothing. Then Tara located it – him; now that she was so close, she could feel that he was male. But right now he was standing behind Angel, right beside Buffy's head. Alarmed, Tara squeezed Willow's hand. She did not dare say anything to Angel, for fear that spoken words would alert the intruder. She closed her eyes, and felt herself flowing into Willow.

"What are you..." Willow said in surprise.

"I need to do something," Tara whispered. "I need your strength."

She let the question hang unspoken between them. She knew Willow understood what she was asking. Willow gave her an answer in the form of a tiny nod, and Tara broadened the connection between them. She could feel Willow's strength flowing into her, and she used it to snap a protective shield around Buffy.

"Angel, behind you!" she called.

He spun around, only to find himself facing empty air. "Tara," he began hesitantly, but then he heard it. It was just a little thing: a quick intake of breath, a sound so soft that no human would have been able to detect it over the beeping of machines and the sounds of Willow and Tara breathing. But Angel was no human. Instantly, he lunged forward and shoved the invisible being to the ground. He could hear Tara murmuring in Latin behind him, but his attention was focused on the struggling form beneath him.

"Revele," Tara muttered. As soon as the words left her mouth, she saw the necessary words in her mind. She spoke them as fast as she could, for Angel's sake.

Abruptly, Angel found that he was no longer staring at the floor. Rather, he was face to face with a boy. He looked to be about twenty. He had a large nose and black hair that was spiked very badly. Honestly, Angel thought, what crappy kind of gel is he using? Such trivial thoughts were banished from his mind, however, when he heard the name that matched the face.

"Warren," Willow and Tara said together, their voices filled with loathing and disgust.

Warren chuckled beneath Angel. "Hi girls," he said. "Just came to finish what I..."

Angel slammed the boy's head against the floor before he could complete his sentence. He could feel the rage boiling in his veins as he repeatedly punched the boy in the face. He could tell that Angelus was reveling in this violence, but Angel could not bring himself to stop. This sick boy had almost taken her from him, from the world. Angel paused in his attack as he realized that he could feel something other than the rage in his chest; he could feel the gun pressed against the area where his dead heart rested, completely still.

The force of the gunshot was enough to throw Angel off of Warren. He lay on the ground for a few seconds, sucking in unneeded breaths as the pain washed through him. His face shifted into the demon's face and a growl emitted from his throat as he struggled to his feet. Warren spun away from Buffy to stare in slack-jawed awe at the pissed off vampire standing before him.

"Hey, whoa, man," Warren began in an attempt to placate his enraged opponent. "Sorry if I offended you or something by trying to kill the Slayer, I dunno, maybe you wanted to do it yoursel–"

"Shut up," Angel snarled as he lunged at the boy once again. He grabbed the gun even as Warren fired a shot at Angel's right leg. It grazed his shin, but Angel only grunted as he tossed the gun away and shoved the now defenseless boy against the wall. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't suck you dry right now."

"Um, maybe because I was just trying to do a service to the community, you know, by taking out the SlayER!" Warren shrieked as Angel shook him roughly by the shoulders and stuck his vampiric face so close that only an inch of air separated their noses.

"Wrong. Answer."

"Uh, well, I'm I'm bad, I'm a killer, b-but you're not," Warren stammered. He was reaching for straws and he knew it.

"Wrong again, boy. I am a killer. I was murdering children when you're great-grandparents were in diapers." Angel didn't intend to kill the boy, but Warren didn't know that. "So tell me again. Why shouldn't I–"

"Warren."

Angel felt his game face slide away as he spun around to stare at the owner of that voice. She was sitting up on the bed, with Willow standing on one side and Tara on the other. All three were looking at the boy behind Angel as she continued to speak.

"Why don't you let the cell door hit you on the ass on your way to a life sentence."

"You haven't got anything on me," Warren squealed in full-blown panic.

"You murdered Katrina and you tried to murder me. I think we'll manage," Buffy said in a voice that was deadly calm. "Angel, could you take him to the police station? I think they can handle him."

He nodded and, shoving Warren ahead of him, walked out the door. On his way out, he passed Giles, Dawn, Xander, and Anya. They stared at him and Warren as they passed.

"She's awake," was all Angel said to them. It was all he needed to say.

Her friends and sister rushed in to be with her, while Angel stepped out into the balmy night air. He would do this for her, and after making sure she was alright, he would leave. She had her friends and family. She didn't need him now.

TBC

R&R

I decided against Spike showing up. He's still in Africa.