Xander didn't get to be around Kendra much before she had to return home, but now that he got a good long look at her, he saw she was way cuter than he remembered. When she noticed Xander's interest, she lowered her gaze to the floor and blushed, and looked even cuter.

Buffy and Ms. Calendar sat next to each other at a table, and Willow stood behind the check-in counter reading through a book researching for upcoming prophecies. Xander was leaning against the book cage, occasionally glancing over at Kendra and smiling to himself every time he made her blush.

Kendra waited diligently outside Giles's office, waiting for the Watcher to come back from his phone call.

"I've been on the phone to the museum," Giles said as he came out of his office. "The artifact in question is missing, and the curator has been murdered. Vampires."

"And you're sure this was the tomb of Alfalfa?"

"Acathla," Giles corrected. "And yes, the information provided by Kendra's Watcher seems conclusive."

Willow walked out from behind the counter and joined everyone by the tables arranged in a T-shaped in the middle of the library.

"Okay, somebody explain the whole 'he will suck the world into Hell' thing because that's the part I'm not loving," Willow said plaintively.

"Well, the, uh, the Demon Universe exists in a dimension separate from our own."

Giles sat at one of the tables and settled in to give the room a long explanation.

"With one breath," Giles continued, "Acathla will create a vortex, a-a kind of, um... whirlpool that will pull everything on Earth into that dimension, where any non-demon life will suffer horrible and... eternal torment."

"So that would be the literal kind of 'sucked into Hell'." Buffy showed a nervous smile. "Neat."

"We do have two big advantages," Ms. Calendar said. "Angel doesn't know we're aware of his plans."

Willow nodded in agreement. "Oh! He doesn't know Kendra is here!"

"Also, it's likely he doesn't know how to activate Acathla," Giles added.

Buffy frowned and looked at Giles. "Any idea how we stop Angel and company from sending us all on the worst vacay ever before he figures it out?"

"Angel and his friends should be eliminated," Kendra volunteered.

Xander smiled and thought he liked where Kendra's head was at.

"Oh, I'll fight him. I'll kill him if I have to," Buffy said, and from the resolute expression on her face, Xander almost believed she meant it. "But I'm going to need a good plan before I go storming the factory. And a backup plan in case we're too late. We can stop Acaca after he gets all mouth-y, right?"

Kendra walked over and picked up a large duffel bag from the floor and placed it on the table.

"These will help."

Kendra pulled a sword from the bag and brandished it for everyone to see. "Blessed by the knight who first slew the demon. If all else fails, this might stop it. I think."

"Holy shiny sword, Batman!" Xander said.

"Ooh. May I? May I?" Giles asked, practically salivating over the sword in Kendra's hand. "Thank you! Well, l-let's, uh, hope all else doesn't fail," he said while admiring the sword.

Xander came over and asked Kendra if he could hold the second sword with a look. Kendra lowered her gaze and nodded. Grinning like a loon, Xander pulled out the second sword and went back over to the book cage, and started giving the blade a few practice swings, mentally adding lightsaber sound effects in his head.

"In the meantime, we should all research for anything else we can find on ways to send Acathla back into dormancy," Giles said as he turned the sword back over to Kendra.

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!" Xander said, one hand on his stomach while he twirled the point of the sword around at the air in front of him with the other.

"Xander, put that down! We have work to do," Giles said.


Xander was concentrating very hard on the test in front of him and was still thoroughly confused by half the questions. He had an easier time translating ancient Sumerian. He was about to erase a clearly wrong answer when his attention was drawn to a young woman wearing a woolen shawl standing in front of the class.

"Tonight... Sundown... At the graveyard…"

The woman lifted the shawl from over her head and let it drop to the floor, revealing herself to be a vampire. Exposed to the sunlight flooding the classroom, the vampire began to smoke.

"You will come to him," she said as parts of her started to catch on fire.

"You," the vampire pointed at Buffy, "will come to him or more will die."

The vampire was almost completely consumed by flames. Xander could hear the other students scream and knock over desks as they ran from the classroom in a panic. Xander could only stare in shocked horror as the vampire became a pillar of fire.

"Tonight! His hour is at hand!"

Then the vampire disappeared in a flash of fire and smoke, and not even its ash remained.


"We should go with you," Xander said.

It'd been less than an hour since the vampire immolated itself in the classroom to deliver Angelus's invitation. The gang convened in the library, and even Cordelia joined them. The only ones missing were Ms. Calendar and Oz.

"I can handle Angel," Buffy said.

Not if you keep calling him Angel, Xander thought to himself.

"I agree with Xander," Kendra said. "You need back up if this is a trap."

"Yeah," Xander said, "it's definitely a trap!"

"Maybe, but this is my chance to end it before Angel opens Acathla. We might not get another one."

Buffy looked at Kendra. "And I need you to stay here just in case Angel's invite is some distraction to get to my friends. He won't be expecting another slayer to be watching their backs."

Kendra looked conflicted but relented and gave Buffy a short nod.

"Alright," Buffy said, "I should go."

"Good luck," Xander said.

"Yeah," Cordelia said. "Be careful."

Buffy nodded and headed out.

"Wait!" Kendra said. "Take this." Kendra held up a jagged-looking stake. "I have killed many vampires' with it. I call it Mr. Pointy.

"You named your stake?"

"Yeah," Kendra said, and looked slightly embarrassed by her admission.

"Remind me to get you a stuffed animal."

Buffy took the stake and smiled. "Thanks."

"Watch your back."


When the attack came, they had their noses buried books, except Kendra who paced the library with one hand on a stake tucked into the belt around her waist. Three vampires crashed through the library doors, and two more came out from the stacks and leaped over the banister. One of the vampires that invaded from the stacks immediately made a grab for Giles, while the other reached out for Xander.

"Go!" Giles shouted to the girls as he grappled with the vampire. "Get out!"

Xander punched the vampire trying to grab him and knocked it back against the banister. He saw Willow and Cordelia escaping up into the stacks and had a moment to feel relieved before the vampire came after him again. It grabbed Xander by the collar of his shirt and the back of his head and slammed Xander's head down on the table. An explosion of pain scrambled Xander's thoughts, and he was barely aware when the vampire started dragging him past Kendra and the trio of vampires she fought against.

The vampire took Xander to the book cage and threw him inside. As his head began to clear, Xander crawled back to his feet just in time to see the vampire lock it before he joined the vampire-fighting Giles. It grabbed Giles's arms which allowed the other vamp to knock him out with a single blow to the head.

"Giles!" Xander cried out as one of the vampires carried Giles out of the library.

Kendra threw one of the vampires attacking her through Giles's office window, then staked another when it tried to tackle her to the floor. The vampire that put Xander in the cage joined the remaining vampire and they began circling Kendra.

"Watch out!" Xander shouted when he saw the vampire Kendra tossed through the window climb out of the broken window behind her.

Surrounded and outnumbered, Kendra held a tense stance as she tried to keep her attention on all three vampires at once.

Then four quick claps cracked through the air.

"Enough!"

Xander's fingers tightened over the links of the cage when he saw Drusilla, dressed in red and black, standing in the library.

The vampires retreated and Drusilla glided forward, beckoning Kendra with her fingers. Kendra launched into a furious attack. Drusilla easily blocked her first few kicks and punches with ease. Drusilla's prowess surprised Xander. He remembered how weak Drusilla seemed the last time he saw her, now she was a whirlwind power.

The two fighters danced around the library, blocking or dodging each other's blows until Kendra managed to deliver a powerful kick to Drusilla's stomach.

"Yes!" Xander hissed.

Xander's celebration was short-lived. When Kendra went to grab Drusilla, Drusilla reversed the hold and pushed Kendra's arms down, and exposed her throat to Drusilla's other hand. Once Drusilla's hand was locked around Kendra's neck, she pushed her back against the counter. Xander could hear Kendra start to choke and struggle for breath.

"No! No, stop!" he screamed.

Drusilla looked back at Xander just long enough to place her finger up to her lips and shush him. Then she returned her attention to Kendra.

"Look at me, Dearie," Drusilla said.

Drusilla raised two fingers up to Kendra's face and waved them from side to side.

"Be in my eyes. Be... in me."

Xander couldn't see Kendra's face, but he did notice the tension that had been in her body while Drusilla strangled her relaxed. Drusilla began to sway just before she let go of Kendra, and Kendra, dull-eyed, swayed in sync. Drusilla slowly backed away and lowered her arms. She and Kendra continued to sway in perfect rhythm with each other.

"Kendra!" Xander screamed. "Kendra! What are you doing to her!"

Drusilla's arm straightened out to her side, and her fingers twitched before she straightened them as well. It was so fast, Xander barely saw Drusilla's hand when her sharp nails sliced into Kendra's neck. Kendra gasped and clutched her throat, and dark red blood oozed over her hand as she collapsed to the floor.

"Night-night," Drusilla said in a sing-song voice.

Xander was still trying to tear down the cage and screaming incoherently as Drusilla left the library, and Kendra bled out on the floor.


When Buffy came back, Xander was crouched on the floor, his fingers still around the links in the cage. He'd torn the skin on his fingers and blood dripped from them. He raised his head and watched Buffy drop to her knees next to Kendra's body and stroke the other slayer's face gently as tears brimmed in her eyes.

"Freeze! Put your hands up. Back away from the girl slowly," a uniformed officer barked at Buffy and pointed a gun at her.

Another cop came into the library with her gun also drawn.

Buffy got to her feet with her hands raised.

"Look, I didn't do anything," she said.

"Do it! Now!"

"She didn't do anything," Xander said.

Buffy and the two cops turned and saw Xander inside the cage.

"Xander!" Buffy said.

"Stay where you are!" The first cop barked, still waving his gun in Buffy's direction.

The second officer holstered her gun before she went over to check Kendra for a pulse.

"This one's dead," she announced, then she stood up and approached the book cage.

"What happened here?"

Xander locked eyes with Buffy for a moment before he looked at the cop.

"Gang members killed her," he said.


Despite Principal Snyder's insistence Buffy and Xander were responsible for Kendra's murder, the police didn't arrest either of them. Instead, they were taken to the police station to give statements, then released a few hours later. Buffy was released first, given Xander cleared her of being in the library when Kendra was killed. Xander was kept longer and had to come up with a half convincing story before the detective in charge of the case let him go.

Buffy was waiting for him outside, and he hugged her as soon as he saw her.

"What happened?" Buffy asked after they pulled apart.

"Drusilla." Xander's voice was clipped and cold.

"Xander, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Xander said. "They took Giles."

"Oh, my god. What about Willow? Cordelia?"

"They got away."

"Okay. Okay. We need to regroup," Buffy said. "They took Giles, that means they need him for something, so they won't hurt him before they get it."

"What makes you think they haven't already?" Xander asked.

"Whatever they want, Giles won't give it to them."

"Angelus will torture him until he does."

Buffy inhaled and closed her eyes.

"I know," she said.

When Buffy opened her eyes, she looked at Xander and said, "We need to go back to the school and get those swords."

"And then?" Xander asked.

Buffy caught the sharpness in his tone.

"Xander…"

"He needs to die. Him and Drusilla," Xander said almost hissing.

"I know," Buffy whispered.

"Promise me," Xander said.

"I promise."


Willow and Cordelia were waiting for them in the library. Both girls were sitting at the table and staring at the tape outline of Kendra's body on the floor.

"Thank god you guys're alright!" Willow said when Xander and Buffy come in. She ran over and enveloped them in a hug after she ducked under the police tape.

"Where's Giles?" Cordelia asked.

"Angel's guys took him," Xander said.

Willow pulled away. "What? Why?"

"They want something from him," Buffy said. "We think they need the 411 on how to activate Acathla."

"Does Giles even know that?" Cordelia said.

"Don't know," Buffy said as she made her over to Kendra's duffel bag. "Doesn't matter, we're getting him out of there either way."

Buffy pulled out one of the blessed swords.

"Get who, out of where?"

Xander looked up from staring at Kendra's outline just as Spike tore down the police tape.

"Son of a bitch!" Xander growled before he launched himself at the vampire.

Spike took two punches from Xander before he casually swiped his arm out and knocked Xander into the book cage.

"I get it," Spike said as Buffy ran towards him with the sword in hand. "You lot are mightily pissed, but—" Spike leaned away from Buffy's first sword swing, then side-stepped her second, "I'm not here to fight!"

Xander rushed over to the duffel bag and took out the other sword.

Spike grabbed Buffy's arm to block one of her swings, then punched her in the face hard enough to send her to the floor. Xander ran up and took her place. Xander swung his sword in a wide arc to force Spike back and buy Buffy the time she needed to rejoin the fight. Spike shoulder checked Xander and knocked him to the ground, but a second later he had to avoid a stab to the chest from Buffy who'd regained her footing. While Spike was distracted by Buffy, Xander kicked Spike in the shin, which caused him to stumble and almost get his head cut off when Buffy swung at his neck.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Time-out!" Spike roared as leaped back. "I'm here to help you idiots!"

Buffy stopped her next blow mid-swing when she saw Spike raise his hands in surrender.

"Let me clear this up for you," Buffy said. "We're mortal enemies. We don't get time-outs."

"You want to go around, pet, I'll have a gay old time of it," Spike said shooting a smirk at Xander who was raising to his feet. "But if you want to stop Angel... we're gonna have to play this a bit differently."

Buffy aimed the tip of her sword at Spike and waved it at his chest. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I'm talking about your ex, pet. I'm talking about putting him in the bloody ground!"

"We should believe you, why?" Cordelia asked.

"Because I can tell you where he has your precious Watcher," Spike said. "Ya know, he's probably torturing him as we speak."

Buffy lowered her sword.

"What do you want?"

"I told you. I want to stop Angel. I want to save the world!"

Buffy shared unbelieving stares with everyone else in the library before returning her gaze to Spike.

"Okay. You do remember that you're a vampire, right?"

"We like to talk big. Vampires do. 'I'm going to destroy the world.' That's just tough guy talk."

Spike sauntered over to the counter and leaned back against it.

"Get away from there," Xander growled.

"Hm?" Spike seemed to just notice the tape outline next to his feet. "Oh, we lose a groupie, Slayer?"

"Shut up, and start talking," Buffy said.

Spike raised his hands again in mock surrender.

"Anyways, the truth is, I like this world. You've got dog racing, Manchester United." Spike looked over at Willow and Cordelia with a glint in his eyes.

"And you've got people. Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals with legs. It's all right here. But then someone comes along with a vision. With a real passion for destruction. Angel could pull it off. Goodbye, Picadilly. Farewell, Leicester Bloody Square. You know what I'm saying?"

"Okay, fine. You're not down with Angel. Why would you ever come to us?"

"I want Dru back. I want it like it was before he came back. The way she acts around him…"

"Are you kidding?" Xander exclaimed, his grip tightening on the handle of his sword. "You're doing this for that psycho bitch? You're pathetic!"

Spike lunged at Xander, but Buffy quickly intercepted him with her fist to his face.

"The whole earth may be sucked into Hell, and you want our help 'cause your girlfriend's a big ho? Well, let me take this opportunity to not care."

Spike rubbed his jaw and glared at Xander before he looked at Buffy.

"I can't fight them both alone, and neither can you lot! You don't even know where they are! You need me."

Buffy punched Spike again and sent him flying over the check-in counter.

Buffy turned and looked at Xander. She didn't need to say anything, Xander knew what she wanted to ask without her saying a word. Xander pursed his lips and turned his gaze at the ceiling to hide the tears brimming in his eyes.

Spike groaned and picked himself off the floor and leaned on the countertop for support.

"Here's the deal," Buffy said. "You and Drusilla walk. You leave town and never come back, because if I see either of you again—"

"Got it. I'll take her out of the country. You'll never hear from us again, I bloody well hope," Spike said.

"Fine. Where are they holding Giles?"

Spike gave them the address.

Buffy nodded. "Get back to the mansion. Make sure Giles is all right," she said.

"I'll be ready when you make your play," Spike said over his shoulder before he left.

"So, we're trusting serial killers again," Cordelia said. "Wonderful."

"No choice. We can't take Angel, Drusilla, their guys, and save Giles too," Buffy said.

"We can trust him," Xander said.

"Why?" Willow asked.

"Because Spike would do anything for Drusilla. She's why they came to Sunnydale, so he could heal her."

"Because, what? They're, like, in love?" Cordelia said.

"It's sick and twisted, but, yeah," Xander said.

"Then we got our in," Buffy said. "Gear up."


Buffy had to dust five vampires as they made their way into the mansion. When they reached the partially collapsed atrium, they could hear Angelus speaking the words to a ritual in the next room over. Peeking through the purple drapes covering the entrance, Xander and the others looked into the room where the ritual took place and saw Angel, Spike, Drusilla, and two guards inside. Also in the room was a large statue made of gray stone standing in front of a burning fireplace.

Acathla.

Xander didn't see Giles anywhere.

Buffy motioned with her hand for the four of them to wait before she slipped past the drapes and decapitated one of the guards.

"Hello, lover," Xander heard Buffy say.

"I don't have time for you," Angelus said.

"You don't have a lot of time left."

"Coming on kind of strong, don't you think? You're playing some deep odds here. Do you really think you can take us all on?"

"No. I don't."

"Now!"

That was the signal.

Xander, Willow, and Cordelia rushed inside to find chaos. Buffy was knocking around the remaining henchman, and Spike was swinging a crowbar down on Angelus's skull over and over again. That is until Drusilla tackled him away from Angelus. Xander took note of Angelus lying motionless on the ground and was tempted to go over and finish him with Kendra's sword. But that wasn't the plan.

Xander, Willow, and Cordy made their way through the brawl, barely evading getting pulled in Spike and Drusilla's fight when she noticed them. Spike knocked her back before she could come after the trio. They searched another room cordoned off by purple drapes and found Giles tied to a chair in the center. His head was tilted over the back of the chair.

"Giles!" Willow exclaimed.

Giles leaned forward and he winced as if in pain. Or maybe he was just trying to get his vision to focus since he didn't have his glasses.

"Willow? Cordelia... Xander…is this real?"

"Very real," Cordelia said as she untied Giles hands.

"Okay, he's free," Cordelia said.

Xander handed her the sword and then he and Willow both picked up Giles and began carrying him out of the room.

The battle was still raging in the next room between Buffy and the vampire guard, and Spike and Drusilla. Cordelia guided them past the combatants and through the atrium and several more rooms until they made it out of the mansion.

"Wait," Giles said when they'd made it to the driveway that led to the main road.

"We need to get you to a hospital," Xander said. None of them missed how mangled Giles's arms and hands were. Each of Giles's fingers was bruised purple and spattered in dry blood.

"Buffy needs to know how to close the portal if Angel succeeds."

"How?" Willow asked.

"Once the portal opens, only Angel's blood can close it."

"You guys got him?" Xander asked.

"We got him," Willow said.

Cordelia gave Xander back the sword and took Giles's arm over her shoulder, and then Xander ran back into the mansion. When he made it back to the room with Acathla, Drusilla was slashing at Spike with her nails, and Buffy just finished staking the vampire guard. Angelus was on his feet again and standing in front of Acathla, his bloody hand wrapped around the handle of the sword sticking out of the stone demon's chest.

"No," Xander whispered when a bright blue light coming from the sword lit up the entire room.

"Oh... Here he comes," Drusilla said, completely entranced by the light coming from the statue.

Spike took that moment to put her in a chokehold. Xander looked away from them and watched Angelus pull the sword from Acathla. The light show ended as soon as he did.

"Whoops. You almost made it, Buff," Angelus said as he held the freed blade up triumphantly.

Buffy walked towards him, her sword at the ready.

"It's not over yet."

Angel watched her approach and lowered the point of his sword at her, a nasty-looking smirk on his face. "My boy Acathla here is about to wake up. You're going to Hell," he said.

"Save me a seat."

Xander was barely able to follow their fight as they lashed out at each other with lightning-quick thrust, swings, and parries. The sound of their blades clashing tinging with a frantic staccato. Xander realized there was no way for him to help Buffy while they swept around the room that fast. He'd just be in the way, and nothing but a distraction for Buffy to worry about. He would have to wait for the right time to tell her how to close the portal.

Xander looked away from Buffy's fight when he heard a mewling squeak. He turned around in time to see Drusilla go limp in Spike's grasp. Spike picked her up and started to carry her towards the room's exit. Spike stopped when he saw Xander blocking the way.

"Move it, ya ponce!"

Xander eyed the unconscious Drusilla and remembered her singing over Kendra as she lay dying. Gripping his sword, Xander knew he could reach her neck before Spike would be able to stop him.

"We had a deal," Spike said tonelessly.

Xander looked up from Drusilla's unconscious form and met Spike's gaze. Spike's voice may have been flat, but Xander saw in Spike's eyes pure, naked fear. He knew what Xander intended to do.

"Deal? What deal?" Xander said, lifting his sword.

"If you touch her—"

Xander and Spike turned and saw Angel force Buffy out of the room holding Acathla and into the atrium. To Xander, it looked like Angelus was winning their fight as Buffy struggled to keep him a bay.

Spike turned back to Xander, the expression on his face still as stone now.

"He's going to kill her," he said. "You better do something, sidekick."

Xander made a mad dash towards the half-collapsed atrium. He was in time to see Angelus brutally kick Buffy into a stone fountain after he somehow managed to knock the sword out of her hand. Angelus then advanced on Buffy who scrabbled backward on the ground until her back was against the crumbling wall behind her.

"Now that's everything, huh?" Angelus asked mockingly. "No weapons... No friends... No hope."

As Xander crept into the atrium, he could see the tip of Angelus's sword was pointed at Buffy's head, and her eyes were closed.

"Take all that away... and what's left?"

Angelus thrust his sword and Buffy caught it between the palms of her hands.

"Me."

Buffy shoved the sword back at Angelus and made the pommel collide with his face.

"Whoa," Xander said.

Buffy retrieved her sword and went after Angelus.

"Move, Xander!" Buffy shouted before she proceeded to force Angel back into the ritual room.

It was Angelus's turn to struggle as Buffy overwhelmed him with her speed and power. She easily knocked away every swing he made and followed up each parry with a punch or kick that steadily pushed Angelus closer and closer to Acathla.

Then it happened. Buffy kicked Angelus's sword out of his hands and forced him to his knees with a spinning back kick. Just as she was about to deliver the final stroke, Angelus let out a sharp gasp. Buffy stayed her swing.

Angelus bowed his head for a moment before he raised it up and looked at Buffy with confusion in his eyes.

"Buffy? What's going on?"

The moment Xander heard Angel say Buffy's name, he knew Angelus was gone. He had no idea how Angel as back, but Xander didn't see spite and hatred behind Angel's eyes anymore.

Buffy lowered her sword and silently watched Angel get to his feet. He glanced around the room and looked at Buffy.

"Where are we? I-I don't remember," Angel asked.

"Angel?"

"You're hurt," Angel said, and he embraced her. Xander saw the tension and uncertainty drain from Buffy's body before she returned Angel's embrace.

"Oh, Buffy... God, I-I feel like I haven't seen you in months."

"I know," Buffy replied and sunk even deeper into Angel's arms.

"Everything's so muddled. I… Xander?"

Buffy pulled out of Angel's arms and turned to see Xander standing behind them. Xander was clutching his sword and filled with a rage he didn't know what to do with. Almost.

"It's not Angelus, Xander," Buffy said.

"I know. You promised me," Xander said, not taking his eyes off Angel.

"W-What's happening?" Angel asked.

"I know what I promised," Buffy said, "but it wasn't this!"

"What if he loses it again? Who else will you let him kill? Giles? Willow?"

"I-I don't understand," Angel said.

"That's not fa—" Buffy cut off her reply when she and Xander noticed Acathla's mouth widen, and a shimmering orangish portal open behind Angel's back.

"What's wrong?" Angel asked.

Buffy slipped back into Angel's arms.

"Shh. Don't worry about it," she said and brushed her fingers over his lips, and across his cheek before she leaned forward and kissed him deeply.

Angel returned the kiss as the portal grew even wider behind them. Buffy broke off their kiss and said, "I love you."

"I love you," Angel whispered with a quiet, desperate passion.

"Close your eyes."

Angel slowly closed his eyes and Buffy gently brushed her lips against his one more time as a powerful wind swirled around them.

Xander watched Buffy pull back her sword. He saw no hesitation in her, not even a tremor as she bent her arms and prepared the thrust. Time went still, and in that frozen moment, Xander placed his hand on Buffy's shoulder. Only one feeling, one true feeling, filled his heart.

It wasn't joy or loss, but Xander knew it was right.

When Buffy turned to look at him, Xander lunged forward and shoved his sword through Angel's stomach and straight out through his back.

Angel's eyes shot open, and he gasped in pain. As blinding lights strobed from the portal and bolts of lightning crackled around him, Angel stared back at them with confusion and shock on his face. He stretched out his arm as if pleading for someone to save him.

Xander turned his back.

Buffy didn't.

"Buffy?" Angel whispered.

And then it was over. Quiet filled the air while Xander and Buffy stood shoulder to shoulder, facing different directions. After a few moments, when the silence became too much to bear, Xander walked away.

"Why?" Buffy asked, her voice brittle.

Xander stopped, but he didn't turn around.

"You love him. You shouldn't have had to do it," he said.

You shouldn't have live with it, Xander added silently as he tried to shake the memory of sadness in Angel's eyes. I can, Xander thought and had no idea if it was true or not.

As Xander started to walk again, he said: "And you shouldn't have to always be so brave."