The bulk of the demons seemed to be milling around the wider section of the alleyway, most of them fighting amongst themselves. They didn't appear to notice the group marching towards them.

Getting closer, the gang managed to get a better understanding of just what was happening to the city as it changed.

The walls around them had largely crumbled, huge piles of rubble littering the area, most with various blood-soaked human appendages poking out. In the place of the walls, enormous honeycomb structures had sprung up, seemingly growing right out of the ground.

Each section of these greyish-blue monstrosities housed hatching demons, their enormous jaws reminding Xander of the Alien movies. The ground beneath their feet was cracking open and spewing some kind of sulphurous gas, illuminated green in the enormous flashes of lightning that snapped across the crimson sky.

Buffy quickly saw it wasn't regular lightning though when one bolt hit the ground only a few feet ahead of her, ripping open the concrete and freeing a bulky demon that began to clamber out.

Charging at it while it was still half underground, the Slayer had to hack at it four times before she finally managed to remove its hideous head. The demon's blood-curdling final yell got the others attention.

Suddenly, the in-fighting had ended at the approach of a common enemy. Taking in a few final glances at this new world, the group charged forward.

Buffy spun two axes masterfully as she took on the closest on her left, noticing that Angel had leapt over an approaching attacker to bury his sword in the chest of another. She turned her attention back to the battle at hand, well aware that she would always be able to instinctively feel where Angel was and how he was doing.

Swinging one axe through the air to her left, Buffy connected with the head of a small demon dripping goo everywhere. Feinting right, the Slayer landed a solid uppercut on what she hoped was the jaw of the bulky being in front of her before spinning out of the way of a spear that embedded itself in a Kaoc demon behind her.

Concentrating on moving through the crowd to attempt to find the rift and some way of closing it, only one thing kept racing through Buffy's mind.

Please let the prophecies be wrong. Don't take him away from me again. Let the prophecies be wrong.

oooOOOooo

Angel grabbed a fellow vampire in a headlock, using his weight to push the guy backwards and break its neck. He used the momentum to launch a swift roundhouse kick at the spiney creature on his right while his sword removed the vampire's head, ploughing through the dust to embed it in the stomach of spiney's mate. Ducking below a flurry of enraged blows, Angel manoeuvred behind them and used both his swords to take them out.

Gaining a moment to breath, he instinctively looked around, searching for both his son and his girl. He immediately spotted Buffy when he saw her blonde hair flipping through the air to avoid a spear. Barrelling forward to remove a distinctly round demon from his path, Angel felt the panic begin to rise at no sight of his son.

After a few more agonising minutes, he finally caught sight of Connor. He was happily pummelling something that didn't even seem to have a face, using its own axe to finish it off.

Content that his son could take care of himself for the time being at least, Angel returned to the job at hand, carefully dodging Oz in werewolf guise. Even so, as the battle raged, he couldn't help but keep throwing worried glances in Connor's direction.

Even if I have to die, please let my boy live. And don't let Buffy fall. Please let them survive. Let them live.

oooOOOooo

Xander had never been much of a fighter. Although his life as a Slayer sidekick had forced him to macho up on occasion, he was painfully aware that he was the only one engaged in the current ruckus without a single superpower. That and his depth perception had suffered a little since losing his eye.

Still, he was holding his own if only for the time being. He hung back from the main group, only really fighting the fringe elements of the demonic crowd. He was brave but he wasn't stupid.

He watched the others dispatch the demons around them in relatively short order and couldn't help but feel a little jealous, just like he had a hundred times before.

Swinging his axe through the air, he dived out of the way of the fire a surprisingly small demon was exhaling at him. Feigning left, Xander darted right and jabbed his sword through the creature's throat. He quickly pulled it back and moved away as the monster seemed to lose control of its fire breathing ability, cremating six of his fellow demons as he died.

Smiling to himself, Xander brushed off his shirt and headed back towards the battle, attempting to push his fears for Willow to the back of his mind and failing miserably.

Please, let Willow be ok. And me. I'd rather get through this with both eyes if you don't mind. But don't let Willow die. I can't live without her. She's my Willow.

oooOOOooo

Oz felt the snap inside of him that signalled the change was coming. At first, it was always a little painful as his bones and musculature shifted and adapted to his werewolf form. Often times, he had found himself considering it to be his true form.

As the transformation took over, Oz felt the sudden surge of adrenaline pumping through his veins. He never felt more alive than when he let the beast escape its human cage.

Sometimes he set up a safe space at home and just let himself roam around it as the wolf, fully aware that he could switch back whenever he wanted. He had spent hours contemplating the way he really wanted to live. In his heart of hearts, he knew the wolf would always have to stay buried if he wanted to survive in this world but it was the times that he finally let it out, let it consume him, that he was truly living.

Not that these were thoughts that crossed his mind as he charged into the crowd, the wolf finally free. Now it was all about the kill. He had to save his Willow.

Come on Willow, you're a fighter. Fight it. Stay with us. Stay with me.

oooOOOooo

Spike felt the blow before he ever saw it. Hitting the ground hard, he swung his legs round in a windmill motion, knocking down the two demons closest to him and snatching his sword back from one of them. Delivering swift killing blows to each, he sensed the movement behind him and immediately spun the blade towards it.

He stopped himself just in time to allow the wolf to pass. He wasn't one hundred percent sure it was Oz but he wasn't about to risk it. Buffy would kill him and Willow would probably turn him in to a rat. He wasn't stupid enough to give the witch any excuse.

The thought of Buffy made him instinctively look for her. He slammed his fist into the approaching heads of an even more ugly than usual demon to get a better look ahead of him. He soon saw her spinning round to take out three guys double her size in one swift movement.

That's my girl.

He chastisted himself for the thought. She wasn't his girl, she never really had been. Angel was all she had ever wanted and no one else was ever really going to be good enough. He'd gone out, got himself a soul and protected her when the brood boy skipped town and still he wasn't good enough.

The anger and frustration rising within him, Spike launched himself at the coming hordes, burying his sword deep into the stomach of an Ood before swinging it back up to decapitate two approaching vampires.

Stomping through the dust cloud left behind, Spike realised something he had not dare to admit before. Without Buffy, nothing mattered that much anymore. He had died for her before.

And I'll do it again. I'd die for her a hundred times over. Just for her.

oooOOOooo

A deep rumbling sound echoed through the alleyway and the ground began to shake violently. The demons surged backwards, towards the noise. Confused, Buffy stood still with her fists raised as she tried to figure out what was going on.

Angel, Spike and Connor were quickly at her side, the three of them forming a small wall facing the huddle ahead of them. Slowly, Xander sauntered over having offered his jacket to the now human Oz in an effort to save his modesty since his transformation back to human form had left him stark naked.

The group watched as an enormous column of thick black smoke began to surge upwards from the centre of the demon hordes. The evil group immediately fell to their knees as the smoke formed a column reaching up in to the air at least fifty feet and then spreading out, reminding Buffy of photographs of the mushroom clouds that followed nuclear explosions.

Wondering where the smoke was coming from, the Slayer ignored the curious looks from the others and jogged over to the nearest pile of rubble on their left. Clambering up, she looked down over the bowed heads and other appendages of the demon below. Angel quickly appeared by her side and followed her gaze.

"I guess we know where the rift is then."

In the very centre of the crowd, an enormous tear had ripped through the concrete in the ground, revealing a gaping hole that seemed to stretch down forever. An eerie flickering glow emanated from below, implying there was some kind of enormous fire raging underneath. Buffy couldn't help but wonder if it was the fires of Hell.

The whole area around the hole seemed to ripple and undulate. Buffy wasn't sure if this was from the heat of the possible fire or due to the shift in realities. This was where the black smoke was reaching up from and in to the red sky above.

Buffy nodded slowly, her grip on her sword tightening to reveal white knuckles echoing the tightening of the muscles in Angel's jaw. The pair of them clambered back down to join the group, and were soon joined by Illyria. Buffy cleared her throat.

"The rift is right in the middle of the demons."

Xander craned his neck to get a better look as Spike frowned.

"And what's that smoke?"

The group all looked up in unison, watching the dense blackness swirling like an oversized typhoon above them. Illyria looked back to the others, her face registering no emotion as she spoke.

"That is one of the Senior Partners."

Illyria grabbed Angel's arm, pulling him a short distance away from the group, as Oz looked to Buffy.

"So Slayer, how do we close the rift?"

She opened her mouth to reply but it just hung open. She had no idea. Snapping her mouth shut again, she swallowed hard as she watched Connor's eyes widen.

"You don't have a clue, do you?"

"Well, I can think of numerous ways not to close it. Like humus for example…"

Her voice trailed off. No one looked at all amused. Buffy looked over at Angel. He seemed to be a little shocked at whatever Illyria was saying to him but after a while he nodded and trudged back towards the gang, the former god in tow.

Buffy opened her mouth to ask what was going on when the demon hordes suddenly began to chant in unison. The group instinctively backed away, watching in a mixture of fear and awe as the enormous column of smoke seemed to start to solidify. Xander swallowed hard.

"Ok, I'm guessing that's not good."

Illyria moved away from them, crossing the alley to the beheaded corpse of one of the demons. She roughly turned it over, yanking the long black cloak from its lifeless body. Looking around the bowed heads in front of her, Buffy realised that a lot of the demons seemed to be wearing the same type of cloak. Totally confused, she watched as Illyria slipped amongst the monsters, weaving through the crowd to get closer to the rift before eventually dropping to her knees right at the front.

Spike's eyes widened.

"Hey, I know big blue used to be keen on the dark side, but shouldn't she be sticking with the white hats about now?"

Angel glared at his fellow vampire and marched off to the right, retrieving his own cloak before returning to the group.

"She's not changing sides, you idiot, she's just going… incognito."

He turned to face his son, laying a hand on his shoulder, his eyes full of love and concern.

"Go back, Connor. I know you're going to kick up a fuss and all of that but please, as your father, I'm begging you. Just get out of here. There's nothing left to do here."

He looked up at the others, his hand still gripping Connor's shoulder.

"Please, that goes for all of you. Just go."

Nobody moved. Angel sighed heavily, his eyes full of desperation as he turned his eyes on Buffy.

"Please?"

Still, none of them moved a single inch. Shaking his head in defeat, Angel swallowed hard.

"Fine, then just stay back. I mean it, just stick to the guys on the edge of this. I have a plan. Well, she has a plan…"

He jerked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of Illyria.

"It's going to work, but only if you lot stay out of the way. Please stay back. If you don't, you'll die."

He directed his last couple of sentences at both Connor and Buffy. He just prayed they would believe him. Looking around the group, all he saw was a bunch of confused and suspicious faces.

Sighing heavily, Angel slung the cloak on and followed in Illyria's footsteps. Spike's angry eyes trailed him for a moment before returning to Buffy.

"Well, pet, do you have any idea what's going on right now?"

She shrugged.

"They have a plan."

"And do you know what it is?"

"No idea."

"Well, that's just great."

Spike folded his arms in a huff and Buffy had to admit that she wasn't too happy either. Why didn't Angel trust her? She could help him, why couldn't he see that? She took a step toward the masses in front of her, trying to spot Angel but not sure what to do.

An explosion of bright white light behind them made her jump. The group turned around to see a stream of sparkling white pouring through the sky and in to the solidifying smoke. The absorption of the light seemed to speed up whatever process it was undergoing. Buffy felt her stomach lurch and tears prick her eyes.

Oz spoke, his voice flat but his eyes full of emotion.

"The hotel's fallen. Willow…"

Buffy felt torn. She wanted to stay here and fight alongside Angel. Maybe together they had a tiny shot at defeating the Senior Partner and closing the rift, but alone she knew the prophecy would come true and Angel would die. Even so, if the hotel had fallen then it meant Willow was probably…

She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought. Swallowing hard, she tried to reach a decision.

I want to help Willow but if she really is dead, there's nothing I can do. I want to go, I want to be there for her, but if I leave here and I don't fight, the rest of the world will die. Angel will die. But I want to help Willow.

Buffy turned back to the group, her mind made up.

"Oz, Xander. Get back to the hotel as fast as you can. If the protection spells really have fallen then Willow and Giles are going to need all the help they can get defending themselves."

Both men looked relieved, obviously glad they might be able to help Willow and check that she was ok. Buffy wished she could go with them as she turned to Angel's son.

"I need you to go back with them, Connor. I don't know what your dad's planning but he obviously wants you to be as far away as possible when he does whatever it is he needs to do."

Connor shook his head defiantly.

"No way. He's my father. I'm not going anywhere."

Buffy wanted to argue with him but she saw her own love for Angel reflected in the boy's eyes and knew he was doing the exact same thing that she was. Spike stepped forward, a cigarette hanging out the corner of his mouth, dangling precariously as he spoke.

"I'm not going anywhere either, Buff, so I'll keep an eye on the lad. If you want, we can try and keep the main bulk of these guys focused on us. That way, you can get to Angel and Illyria and do your thing."

Connor looked like he was about to protest but Spike silenced him with a glare.

"You've already died once in this alley, mate, and Cordy ain't around to save your arse this time. And trust me, I'd rather die than attempt to give the kiss of life to a bloke."

The lad seemed to relent. He was still fighting to protect his father. That was enough.

Suddenly, the bowing hordes rose with an almighty yell. The smoke above them was forming into what was now discernable as an enormous figure in a giant cloak though the face of the creature was just a mass of swirling smoke, now moving faster and faster. The demons below were now all facing the trio.

Spike and Connor flanked Buffy on either side, all three of them prepared to fight with their weapons drawn. This was it, this was the final stand. As the hordes charged towards them, Buffy glanced at each of her fellow fighters with a grim smile.

"Stay safe. If you don't, I'll kill you myself."

With that, she raised her sword and charged forward, ready to meet her destiny.