Disclaimer: All characters and things from ANGEL and BUFFY belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. If they aren't on the show they belong to me.
Summary: Angel and Spike get a chance to get back the people that meant the most to them after the battle against Wolfram and Hart. But can they keep the real past a secret from the only people they want to share it with? A/C S/B
CHAPTER 30
Buffy, Spike, Giles, Xander, and Faith stood around the library in silence. No one moved a muscle, thinking about what Giles had just told them. They needed to sacrifice a fighter to close the rip in time. One of them was not going to get to experience the joys of their second chance.
"We should move Willow." Spike spoke up after a moment, starring down at the body of the red head at his feet. "When this is said and done she deserves a proper burial."
Faith nodded, but did not say anything as she helped Spike move Willow's body closer to the door. When they returned they found Buffy, Xander, and Giles standing in the same exact place they had been two minutes earlier, still no one was speaking.
"So…" Spike clapped his hands together. "Let's finish up this spell then."
"We can't." Buffy finally spoke, her eyes locking with Spike's.
"Why the hell not?" Spike asked.
"Because, no one else is going to lose their life tonight." Giles closed the book in his hands, fixing his glasses. "We will just have to continue the fight the same way we had last time."
"So Willow's death was for nothing then?" Spike seemed outraged.
"No. Of course not." Giles was flabbergasted for a moment. "It's just…we already lost her. We shouldn't lose another person."
"No, what we should do is make sure she died for something." Spike argued back. "One more of us goes, and then the world is safe. Seems pretty bloody fair to me." Spike didn't know why but he was enraged that the group was willing to give up so quickly.
"Fine." Faith nodded, raising her hand. "I'll go."
"What?" Spike was shocked. That was not what he meant. "No. Not you. I'll go."
"Why should you go?" Faith crossed her arms.
"Why should you?" Spike asked back.
"Can we stop the bickering for like five seconds?" Buffy was getting annoyed at how Spike and Faith had seemed to revert back into eight year olds. "It says a fighter has to jump through. That leaves us three options. Me, Faith, or Spike."
"Right." Spike nodded. "So I think it should be me." He looked at Buffy with sad eyes. He didn't want to leave her, not again, but he didn't see any other options.
"No." Faith shook her head. "You did it last time, Spike."
"Are we really going to play that bloody game?" Spike turned to Faith, chuckling slightly at her remark. "Who's turn it is to die this time? Come on now."
"I'm serious." Faith looked at him. "You and Buffy…you deserve this." She looked over at Buffy to see that the blonde slayer was quiet, not arguing. Faith could tell Buffy was done with it all, she didn't want to fight anymore, she just wanted a chance at a normal life. Faith could give both her and Spike that. "Plus, I mean, I don't deserve this big reward. I killed a man, remember?"
Spike laughed even harder at that comment. "You killed one man, Faith. I killed hundreds."
"You had no soul." Faith said.
Spike shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I bloody lived. I lived a long damn life. I'm okay with this."
Finally, Buffy cut into the conversation. "Well I am not."
Everyone turned to look at the blonde slayer.
"We already lost Willow. We can't lose another." Buffy said.
"We don't have a choice." Spike said.
"I'll do it." Xander spoke up, barely heard at first.
"We do too." Buffy said. "We don't kill off another one of us, and we keep on fighting. Nothing new."
"You really want to keep this fight up, Buffy?" Faith asked, knowing the blonde better then that.
"I'll do it." Xander said again, still unheard.
"Buffy is right." Giles interjected. "We should just keep fighting. We managed before, we can manage now."
"Yeah but…" Faith started.
"I said I'd do it!" Xander shouted over everyone, causing the room to go silent instantly.
"What?" Buffy was the first to react.
"I'll do it." Xander calmed down.
"Do what?" Spike asked, a little confused.
"I'll jump through." Xander said. "I mean, all you need is a fighter, right?"
Giles nodded, seeing Xander had directed his question toward him.
"So, then I will do it." Xander stated again.
"Xander…" Buffy said slowly, trying to figure out how she would word her sentence. "I'm not sure…you…"
"You can't." Faith said simply, knowing that was what Buffy was trying to get across to Xander.
"Why not?" Xander asked, somewhat confused.
"Because…your not a fighter." Spike said. That was exactly what Buffy and Faith were getting to; he was just quicker about it. Even in this reality, Spike realized, he liked to get under Xander's skin.
"Why? Because I don't have super powers?" Xander raised an eyebrow, looking back at Giles. "Since when is that part of the requirements? Does it say I need superpowers to be considered a fighter?"
Giles looked back down at the book in his hands, scanning the lines as quickly as his mind would allow him too. He was sure there was some part requiring superhuman ability. There had to be, otherwise Giles knew they were going to lose Xander.
Cordelia, Fred, Wesley, and Lorne remained behind Angel, Connor, and Gunn as they continued to fend off the oncoming demons. Angel could see the group of vampires and demons was thinning as he took a swing, knocking two demons backwards into each other. He could see the rip in the reality as well; it was only a matter of time before they got closer to it.
"So, as far as plans go, do we have one?" Gunn asked.
"Meaning?" Angel yelled over the roar of the oncoming demon army.
"He means what the hell are we going to do about the fighter that needs to go through?" Cordelia was somewhere between anger and fear. She didn't want to lose Angel, not again. She was livid that the Powers would allow something like this to happen.
"Oh." Angel seemed rather calm, cutting an oncoming vampire into two. "That."
"Yeah, that!" Cordelia snapped in frustration.
"I've got a plan for that." Angel said coolly.
"Really?" Connor asked, before he took a nice punch to the gut, barely holding the vampire who had hit him long enough for Gunn to stake him.
"Are you going to let us in on it, Angelcakes?" Lorne asked the ex-vampire.
"Uh…sure…" Angel swung his sword again. He was enjoying the fight. "Give me a minute."
Giles continued scanning the book in front of him. All he needed was one simple line, one protocol for the procedure. All he needed was for the book to say the fighter that was to be sent through the tear had to have supernatural abilities. Unfortunately, Giles could not find that line.
"It doesn't say it." Xander interrupted Giles' train of thought. "Which means I can do it. I can be the fighter."
Giles looked up to see Buffy staring at him, indicating she wanted him to tell Xander he was wrong, but Giles just shrugged. He couldn't tell Xander that; Xander was right. "I suppose you can." He turned toward Xander.
"Wait, no." Buffy butted in. "This is not happening. I won't let it."
"This is my choice, Buffy." Xander told her. "Not yours."
"No, it's all of our choice." Faith agreed with Buffy. "This is going to effect everyone, so you can't be the one to make the call, Xander."
"It's my life." Xander said. "And I want to do this. I've got nothing left here. You guys have a chance." He glanced from Buffy to Spike to Faith to Giles. "I want to do this."
"Well, if he really wants to bloody do this, I say let him." Spike spoke up. He didn't really have a problem with Xander to the point that he wanted the younger man to get himself killed, but Spike understood where Xander was coming from. Anya and Willow were both gone, Xander had no reason to stay in the new reality, everything he had ever wanted he had already lost. "It really is up to him."
Xander nodded. "Thank you, Spike." He turned to Giles. "Tell me what I need to do."
Giles looked back and forth between Buffy and Xander, knowing his slayer had not finished speaking with Xander yet.
"Xander, listen." Buffy grabbed a hold of her best friends arm. "Don't do this because you feel you have to. You don't have to."
"I know that." Xander smiled slightly at the slayer. "But I want to."
"Why do you want to die?" Faith was confused.
"Because, I lived." Xander said simply. "I lived through all of the vampires and apocalypses I was meant to. This isn't my second chance. Anya, she isn't here, so this can't possibly be for me. I just want to be with her."
Faith nodded. She understood. Nothing else needed to be said.
"Are you sure?" Buffy said finally.
Xander nodded. "More then ever." He pulled Buffy in for a hug, kissing her slightly on the forehead. "You'll always be my best friend." He whispered to her.
Buffy nodded slightly in his arms, fighting back tears. When Xander released her, she found her spot next to Spike, allowing the ex-vampire to wrap his arm around her. She then turned to Giles. "So, tell Xander what he needs to know."
Giles nodded, taking a deep breath. "You jump. Easy as that."
"Through the rip?" Xander pointed to the rip in time behind him.
Giles nodded, knowing he needed no words.
Xander nodded back, smiling slightly at the group. "Well, this is finally my chance to save the world." And with that Xander jumped through the rip.
Buffy, Spike, Giles, and Faith stood there, watching the tear in time swallow up their friend, and then a burst of light caused them all to shield their eyes. When they opened their eyes, the tear was gone, and so was Xander.
Angel continued to fight off the oncoming demons while Cordelia, Connor, Gunn, Wesley, Fred, and Lorne all stood off to the side, waiting for the ex-vampire to explain his plan on which fighter was going to sacrifice themselves to save the new reality.
"Is anyone going to help me?" Angel turned to the group, seeing that there was a break in the oncoming ranks of evil. He knew he had a few minutes before he had to take his sword back up again.
"What's the plan?" Cordelia said quickly. She was turning herself off to him, the thought of losing Angel was tearing at her heart, so she decided to push both that feeling and him away from her for the moment. She couldn't let herself lose her composure.
"It says a fighter needs to be sent through to close up the rip, right?" Angel looked to Wesley.
Wesley nodded. "It does."
"Well since when does it have to be a good fighter?" Angel asked.
"What do you mean?" Connor was confused.
"I mean, why does it have to be one of us?" Angel asked again.
"Because…" Gunn started, and then thought for a minute. "Damn, I don't know." He turned to Wesley. "Why does it have to be one of us?"
Wesley looked confused for a minute. He wasn't following.
"It doesn't." Fred answered, a smile creeping onto her face. "Well, not technically."
"So, what are you saying?" Cordelia asked, hope rising in her. Maybe she wouldn't lose Angel after all.
"Well, no promises." Angel said. "But I am thinking we can shove one of the demons back through the rip and it will all work out. I mean, they are fighters, sure they are evil, but they are still fighters regardless of what side they are on."
"It could work." Lorne said. "It makes sense anyway. After all, why would one of us have to give up our second chance? I know the Powers can be shady sometimes, but I can't see them ever giving us a good thing like this to take it away from one of us."
"Why not?" Cordelia asked, recalling the second chance she had been given to get Angel back on track after the Powers allowed Jasmine to take her over. "They did it to me."
"And me." Angel recalled Doyle, his soul, Cordelia, and Connor. The Powers had given him them all, only to snatch them away from him.
"Me too." Connor said, allowing his mind to trace its roots back to Holtz and Quortoth. The Powers had allowed him to be snatched as a child.
"Yeah." Fred said, knowing the Powers had not stopped Illyria from taking her over, or protected her from being sent to Pylea.
Wesley nodded. "Me as well." The Powers had taken Fred from him and allowed him to kidnap Connor based on a false prophecy.
"Yeah. They screwed us all." Gunn said, knowing the Powers had not stopped his sister's death, or his own betrayal of the gang once they got to Wolfram and Hart.
Lorne could tell what the group was thinking about. He knew the Powers had all fallen short of their expectations every once and awhile, but still, he knew sometimes people had to hurt a little to grow. "Look, they might not have protected us all from everything, but since when is that their job? Listen up good, buttercups, those Powers care about us, and helped us more times then not, even if you don't believe it."
"He's right." Angel said after a moment. He turned to Wesley. "Let's do this. I want to try and send one of them through."
"How?" Connor asked.
"One shot." Angel said. "Its all we have. Gunn, Connor, you guys come with me, we will circle around next to the tear. Cordelia, Fred, Wes, and Lorne, you guys just charge. Key in on one demon and run it toward the tear. Gunn, Connor, and me will knock it in when you bring it close enough."
"Sounds like a plan." Fred said.
"No." Cordelia said quickly.
"No?" Angel raised an eyebrow.
"I have a better idea." Cordelia said. "I'm good bait, I always have been. Why don't I just take off toward the rip, make one of the demons chase me, and then one of you guys can knock him in the tear when I get close enough."
"What if the demon catches you?" Connor asked.
"It won't." Cordelia said.
"Cordy, he's right." Angel said. "We don't know that it won't. If you can't outrun it…"
"I can." Cordelia said simply, moving closer to Angel. "You don't always have to play hero. Share some of the responsibility sometimes."
Angel smiled at her. She always had a way that made him forget what he was concerned about. After a moment he nodded. "Fine. I can't argue. You always were good bait back in Sunnydale."
Cordelia smiled. "Okay, lets do it."
"Let us go first." Angel said, nodding toward Gunn and Connor.
Gunn and Connor nodded, following Angel around the back of the oncoming demon army, leaving Cordelia, Wesley, Fred, and Lorne behind.
"Are you sure about this, Cordelia?" Fred asked.
Cordelia shook her head. "No."
"Then why are you doing it?" Wesley asked. "We can think of a safer plan."
"Because, I have to." Cordelia locked eyes with Wesley and he knew they minute he looked at her that she did have to do this. She needed to be the one; everything she had loved and lost depended on it.
"Okay." Wesley said simply, nodding his head.
Cordelia gave him a half smile before taking a deep breath and running toward the demons. As planned, one of the demons turned, following Cordelia. She could hear his feet behind her, and it made her run even faster. She was growing tired, and the beast was gaining on her, but she wouldn't turn around. She knew if she did she would lose it. She just kept running, finally when she didn't think she could do it anymore, Angel jumped out, taking the demon by surprise and throwing him into the rip in reality. A blinding light caused them all to shield their eyes.
Buffy, Spike, Faith, and Giles stood around the library, starring at the spot which Xander had exited the new reality. They were all silent, each of them tryin their best to take in the events of the past few weeks.
Finally, Spike looked away from the spot, his eyes glancing around the library. Everything seemed in place, and for the first time in a long time, Spike felt a sense of calmness around him. He smiled slightly.
Faith, who had been watching Spike, saw the ex-vampire smile. "What's so funny?"
Spike raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"You smiled." Faith said observantly.
"Its just…this is really done." Spike looked back to Faith and Buffy. "We won."
"We didn't win." Buffy told him. "We just got our chance to be normal for once." She smiled slightly.
"That's kind of like winning." Faith said. "Normal…win…whatever."
"Buffy's right." Giles said. "I don't think there ever will be an ultimate champion. Evil and good will always be forces and work, and we sacrificed a great deal to get here…" He looked back to where Willow and Xander had both lost their lives in this reality. "And those things can never be replaced."
"We all got a second chance though." Buffy concluded. "Willow and Xander got theirs too. They are with Tara and Anya, that's all they ever wanted."
Spike, Faith, and Giles all nodded in agreement.
Buffy then smiled gently, taking Spike by the hand. "So, how about a normal date for us now?"
Spike grinned, nodding, and pulling Buffy close for a kiss. Faith and Giles just stood behind the new couple, trying not to giggle. No one would have ever guess that an ex-slayer and ex-vampire would be a perfect fit for one another.
Suddenly, Angel, Cordelia, Gunn, and Connor found themselves at the end of the alley, and the street was empty, not a demon in sight. Angel's plan had worked; the demon he had pushed through had closed the rip up. They had not had to sacrifice one of their own to save the world this time.
"We really did it." Cordelia gave her infamous smile, before jumping into Angel's arms, and kissing him twice on each cheek. "We did it!"
Angel had to laugh at her enthusiasm. He had missed her so much. "We did." He kissed her back.
Just then Fred, Wesley, and Lorne joined the group from the other end of the alley.
"Is it all done?" Fred asked.
Gunn smiled. "Damn right it is, girl."
"So we won?" Lorne asked. "We beat the baddies?"
"I guess you could say that." Angel smiled.
"You guess?" Connor raised an eyebrow at his father. "We sent those demons packing."
Angel laughed at his son, wrapping an arm around his boy, and his other arm around Cordelia. "We did. So what do we say to getting out of here?"
"Sounds like a damn good plan." Gunn said, wiping some blood from the corner of his mouth. "Back to the hotel?"
Angel nodded. "Yeah."
"And then we are going to open the hotel up? Like a real place? And all live happily ever after?" Fred asked.
"Fred, sweetie, relax for a second. We haven't even gotten back to the place yet." Wesley said, wrapping his arm around her waist.
"I just like to have a plan." Fred told him. "Plus, none of us have gotten the happy ending yet."
"Oh, I think we just did." Cordelia said, gazing up at Angel. "What do you think?"
"I think so." Angel said, leaning in and giving Cordelia one hell of a kiss. He finally had everything he had ever wanted. His friends, his family, his Cordy, and he would never lose any of them ever again. After all, no one gets a second chance to make the same mistakes.