Everyone gathered in Angel's office, amidst piles of ancient texts and dictionaries.
"Okay," said Angel to Giles and Wesley. "Just walk us through what you have on this thing already and we'll take it from there."
"Shouldn't Buffy be here for this?" asked Fred.
"She will be. She's just seeing one of Annie's kids home. We'll catch her up when she gets in."
Giles cleared his throat. "It might be for the best that she's not here yet. You may have noticed she's not well known for her patience in situations like this."
Angel bit back a smile in response. "So, Wes, Giles, what do you have so far?"
"Not much," said Wes.
"Well let's start from the beginning," said Fred.
Wesley pulled a book forward. "Well this section right here," he said, pointing to the excerpt in question, "talks about the demon itself. Nothing particularly concerning. It does have what we would call 'super-strength,' but nothing that should be terribly insurmountable for a slayer."
"This passage is what we're most concerned about," said Giles, turning the book so the others could see it. "It says, if we're not mistaken, 'While the physical being attacks, you are beset by its demons-"
"Your," interrupted Andrew, offhandedly.
"What's that?" said Giles impatiently.
"Your demons."
Giles froze. Wesley gaped. They looked at each other wide-eyed. Catching their reaction, everyone else exchanged glances. Unconcerned and oblivious, Andrew looked at the two Watchers as if to say "continue."
Giles looked at Andrew. Then he looked at Wesley. Then he looked at the text. He looked back at Andrew. His mouth opened and closed a few times. "What?" he finally managed.
Andrew pointed to what looked like a few squiggles and two dots. "That's a personal possessive pronoun. It's in the second person. It's 'your demons,' not 'its demons,'" he said nonchalantly.
Gunn's eyebrows shot up as he watched Andrew speak. Wesley and Giles still looked thunderstruck. Getting a sinking feeling as he absorbed the words, Angel exchanged an uneasy glance with Spike. It was Fred who finally broke the silence.
"What exactly does it mean by 'your demons'?"
Wesley shook his head to clear it, snapping himself back to reality. "Well the next word indicates 'of the mind' or 'psyche.'"
"Personal demons. Issues." Angel kicked the desk in frustration, startling everyone in the room. "The things that can break you."
Wesley nodded slowly. "So it managed to kill the other slayers because they…"
"Lost their will to fight," Angel finished for him.
"But Buffy can't be broken, right? I mean, no one's ever succeeded before," said Fred.
"Everyone can be broken, Fred," said Angel with a haunted look in his eyes. "No one's managed it before, but if this thing has actual access to her mind…"
"Okay," said Gunn, "So we need to keep it from breaking the unbreakable Buffy. We just need to be prepared. So what are blondie's personal demons?"
All eyes turned to Giles. "Well I-I imagine… I-I mean her… um… her deaths had the most notable-"
"Oh come on, Rupert!" Spike exploded. "Death isn't her biggest demon."
'Because he was there!' she had yelled.
Angel looked at Spike as if seeing him again for the first time.
"Oh," he whispered.
"What?" said Gunn.
Angel was still looking at Spike. "Abandonment."
Spike nodded. "Girl's got the worst abandonment issues I've ever seen."
"Oh god," said Angel.
"What is it?" asked Fred.
"That thing has way too much ammunition."
"Okay," said Gunn, trying to stay positive. "Okay, we can deal with this. Now that we know, we can work with Buffy, and-"
"Angel!" said Anne, bursting in, completely out of breath. "Goddamnit, answer your phone!"
Angel looked down at his cell phone, surprised to find it shut off. He looked back at Anne. "What is it? Where's-"
"It's Buffy."
Everyone in the room, even Andrew, sat up, alarmed. "Buffy?" Angel whispered.
"Something's got her. I think it's the demon you're after."
"Where?" said Angel, all business, grabbing the sword Gunn passed him.
"About six blocks from the shelter. I'll show you," she said, turning to go.
"No," said Angel tersely. "You go back to your shelter."
Anne spun around furiously. "I don't work for you, buddy, so you-"
"Annie, he's right," Gunn cut in. "You have to take care of those kids. Nothing can happen to you."
She glared at both Angel and Gunn, but nodded, resigned.
"Now, Anne," said Angel urgently. "Where is she?"
Buffy was holding her own. Barely. She desperately tried to tune out the figures appearing in and out of her periphery. She tried to focus on the fight, but it was getting more and more difficult. She executed a technically perfect combination of kicks and punches, but it was clear that she was losing her fire.
Hank Summers was standing about five feet away from the fighting pair as Angel and the gang arrived. "…I'm not really getting anything out of these weekends, so-"
A hard punch to the face sent her sprawling to the ground. The gang ran forward to help, but was soon knocked to the ground themselves as they all ran into invisible barriers. Angel shook his head, confused for a moment.
"The Westiff," said Giles.
"Aw, man, how did we forget that?" said Gunn.
Buffy was picking herself up as they spoke. "That never really happened," she said.
The Dankaar just smiled a feral, bone chilling smile.
"We were focused on other things," Angel said to Gunn. He pounded desperately on the barrier. "Buffy! Buffy, listen! We're here! We're with you!"
Catching on, Spike followed his lead as Hank appeared again. "Don't listen to the wanker, pet!"
"…my work schedule's getting pretty hectic. I don't know if I can make it to these weekend visits anymore."
Another punch to the gut sent her stumbling back a few feet, but this time she remained standing.
Giles appeared on the makeshift battlefield. "She alone will have the strength and skill… She will always be alone."
Gunn looked at Giles, who watched, openmouthed. "I-I never said that last part."
"It uses a combination of what she knows is true and what she fears is true," said Angel, all too familiar with the technique.
"It's using her psyche as its own personal playground," said Fred in sympathy. "It's not going to play fair."
"Oh god," said Angel, utter dread creeping into his face.
"You're saying that entirely too much today, man," said Gunn.
Buffy had taken a few more hits, but had regained the upper hand. Angel watched, transfixed. "If this thing is bringing out her personal demons," Angel began, unable to finish as Angelus appeared in front of the fighting pair.
"No. No! NO!" yelled Angel desperately, banging on the force-field. "Buffy! Don't listen! Damnit, why can't she hear? BUFFY!"
"Yeah, like I wanted to stick around after that," Angelus was saying. Buffy tried to get up, but was immediately beaten back down. "You've got a lot to learn about men, kiddo. But I guess you proved that last night."
"Buffy! It was… He just wanted to hurt you! Don't listen!"
Spike joined his cries as Buffy lay on the ground, rolling to avoid attacks. She flung herself to her feet just in time to get a hard kick to the ribs, but once again, she stayed up.
"That's right, slayer, don't listen to him!" Spike bellowed. "You're brilliant in the sack and I mean it!"
"Spike…" growled Angel through gritted teeth.
"I mean, that thing you do with your hips is inspired! And that thing with your mouth-"
"Spike!"
"You've got muscles in places-"
"Spike!" Angel bellowed as Gunn, despite the dire circumstances, doubled over laughing.
"I'm just trying to help," Spike said with a pout.
"Try something else," said Angel through gritted teeth.
As the parade of classmates Angelus had turned began, the Dankaar took the shape of Buffy herself.
Wesley looked at Giles with sympathy and a glimmer of understanding. "You wrote about this. Stripping her of those she cares about, starting with those on the fringes of her life."
Giles said nothing, bracing himself for the figure he knew was coming.
Buffy attacked her look-alike with a new ferocity. The gang silently watched the two Buffy's locked in battle. Finally, Spike spoke.
"Am I the only one who finds this disturbingly hot?"
Angel refused to answer on the grounds that he wasn't willing to admit it. Out loud, anyway. His slight smile disappeared, however, as Jenny appeared.
"Really, I'm kind of grateful I died when I did," she was saying. "It saved me the fate of having you as a step-slayer."
But Buffy kept her focus, ignoring the image of Jenny to continue her fight with the look-alike.
"That's my girl," whispered Angel, unable to look at Giles.
But just as he spoke, his own image appeared on the battlefield. His arm was outstretched, a sword through his stomach, as he was sucked into the swirling vortex behind him.
Against her will, Buffy looked at the confusion, hurt, and shock etched into his features. It was only a split second, but it was enough for the demon, now back in its original form, to gain the upper hand again.
"No, no, no!" shouted Angel.
"You did him a favor!" shouted Spike. "Think of all the great comebacks he has every time someone tells him to go to hell!"
"We have to do something!" said Fred, as images continued to play in front of Buffy and the demon.
"I'm open to ideas!" said Angel as he watched Buffy clearly now on the losing end of the fight. "Anything!"
Hank's voice could be heard over their conversation, spouting off excuses for why he couldn't make it to her birthday.
"Let's start with…" Angel trailed off as his image appeared again near Buffy and the Dankaar. This time, an 18 year old Buffy accompanied him. "Start with…" he tried to continue, but was unable to as he watched himself break Buffy's heart.
"…freak show," was all he caught, but the words felt like a physical blow.
"Start with what?" said Wesley.
But Angel could just stand and watch as a teary-eyed young Buffy laid her heart on the line.
"I want my life to be with you," she'd said.
"I don't," Angel heard himself say.
"Angel, man, snap out of it! It's making up things to hurt her again. She needs your help," said Gunn.
"No it's not," said Spike.
The others stared at Angel as the man in question stood frozen, unable to tear his gaze away. A few yards away, the real Buffy was in even worse shape. Unable to stand, she staggered around in an attempt to dodge the Dankaar's attacks. The demon now had one of her stakes. They all watched the demon, as if in slow motion, slip past Buffy's weakened guard to stab her through the abdomen.
"Oh god," said Fred.
Angel pounded his fists against the barrier as if he could break it through sheer force alone. Spike was doing much the same, only noisier.
"Come one, slayer, I've seen you fight through worse!" he was screaming.
"Angel, we have to think of something!" Fred yelled.
But his whole world had narrowed to the blond, who put her hand to her side, then examined the blood on it as she took it away. She glared at the now-smug demon. The pain helped her sharpen her focus and ignore the images flashing around her. Parker's rant went unnoticed as she glared furiously at the Dankaar.
Angel almost smiled. "Okay, we have some time, but not much."
Fred and Gunn looked at him strangely, then back to Buffy as she picked herself up.
"That's the third fucking time I've gotten stabbed in that spot!" she yelled.
They all watched as she threw herself at him angrily, regaining the upper hand again, stab wound be damned.
"Guys!" said Angel. "She's got her second wind, but who knows how long it'll last. We need to figure something out."
All eyes snapped back to him. "First priority is to find a way out of here. Failing that, we should figure out why she can't hear us."
"I don't think the Westiff's natural abilities include the ability to mute us, so it might be a spell," said Giles, keeping an eye on Buffy, who was still holding her own, her usual grace replaced by a savage desperation.
As Riley betrayed and left her in the background, she dropped her guard just long enough for her opponent to get a powerful punch in, but she didn't slow down.
"Okay, well any way to counter that spell quickly? Any way to get us out of here?" said Angel urgently. Buffy's mom appeared and Buffy's focus wavered again. "Very quickly? She's losing it."
"I-I'm trying! I don't…" Giles trailed off as he appeared again, telling Buffy he was leaving her to go back to England.
Angel clapped his hands to get his attention. "Giles! Think!"
"Y-yes. Yes. Okay."
"The only way the escape these fields is either for the Westiff to die, lose consciousness, get more than one mile away, or consciously release us," said Wesley.
"Okay, keep an eye out for the demon then. What about our sound buffer?"
"It could be part of the Dankaar's power. He distracts her from her surroundings, makes her see what he wants her to see, within reason," said Giles, "It's not entirely unlikely that he makes it difficult for her to hear us as well."
"So how do we make ourselves heard?" asked Fred.
"It's pure conjecture at this point, but most likely a tremendous force of will and focus by both parties."
"I'm more concerned with how do we get ourselves out of here," said Gunn.
"These force-fields – they only hold us, right? I mean the car could just go right through it," said Fred.
Wesley nodded in response.
"Well then, grab the biggest rock you can find nearby and hope it comes within firing range," said Angel.
"He must be nearby," said Giles. "The farther away he gets, the weaker the barrier…" he broke off, watching in horror as he looked at Buffy. The rest of the group whirled around to find her getting pummeled by the demon.
Looking for the cause, Angel saw a group of girls he didn't recognize, Faith, the Scoobies, Giles and Dawn all gathered looking solemn and accusing. He watched, openmouthed as, one by one, they all mutinied against the nearly broken slayer.
His eyes returned to Buffy, horrified to find that all of the fight had gone out of her. She lay on the ground, broken, bleeding and sobbing, only putting up a token resistance to her attacker.
He spun back around to look at Giles, who was unable to meet his gaze. "Tell me this is just some fear she cooked up in her mind. This didn't actually happen."
Spike laughed humorlessly. Giles's guilty silence was all the answer Angel needed. "This could actually break her."
"It nearly bloody did the first time 'round," said Spike.
Angel watched Buffy get tossed around like a rag doll for a moment. "No," he said resolutely, as Dawn finished kicking her out of her own home. "No. Focus, you said? Me, Spike and Giles will do everything we can to get through to her. Wes, Fred, Gunn, you guys keep an eye out for the Westiff. We need to get out of here; she's barely hanging on to consciousness."
Angel concentrated harder than he ever had in his life.
On the battlefield…
Everything hurt. She barely registered the continuous blows to her person as everything melded into an intense, blinding white haze of pain. She watched as Dawn finished kicking her out of her own house, unable to hold back the gut wrenching sobs this time. Andrew stepped up after the onslaught of betrayal.
"Thank god she's gone," he said to Dawn.
Something about that didn't make sense. Through the murky haze of pain, something about that wormed its way into her consciousness. Try as she might, she couldn't ignore it. That last part didn't ring true.
She used that thread of reality to pull herself out of the haze, if only a little. Andrew wasn't there. He didn't say that. Glad I figured that one out, she thought to herself.
Andrew was with Spike. Spike, who believed in her. How nice of him, she thought, ready to slip back into her daze. She felt less in her state of half-consciousness. It hurt less. But try as she might, she couldn't slip back into semi-consciousness. There was something tugging at her, and now that she was partially alert, she couldn't ignore it. It was like a little kid sitting behind you on a long, international flight, flicking the back of your head so you couldn't get any sleep.
She focused on it, trying to get it taken care of so she could get on with blissful numbness.
"Buffy! Buffy please, don't give up!" Angel's voice came across desperate, but muffled, like he was speaking from very far away and perhaps through a door. She turned her head and squinted, shocked to see Giles, Andrew and Angel's gang not too far away, pressed against invisible barriers.
Giles voice came across next, panicked, yet wonderfully British. "You must focus, Buffy!"
"Jesus, Buffy! This ponce killed your girls! Don't let him win!" said Spike, just as muffled as the others, but no less recognizable.
"Buffy, I love you!" she head Angel say.
The demon grabbed the knife it had taken from her boot. It leaned in to deliver the killing blow. She caught his arm midstroke. Bruised, battered, and bloody, she turned her face to his with a look in her eye that gave him a moment's pause.
A few yards away…
"It's working!" said an exuberant Angel hoarsely. "She's starting to fight back!"
Spike let out his own whoop of joy. "That's right, pet! You got this!"
A scuffle nearby made everyone whirl around and grab their makeshift weapons. They all tensed as they heard footsteps approaching, until Lorne walked into view. He grinned at everyone's surprise. "Angelcakes. Forget about me?"
"Wha… I… No… What…?"
Lorne chuckled. "Annie told me what was going on. I may not be great in a fight, but I can throw a rock or two if necessary. It's knocked out."
When they all stayed still, gaping at him, Lorne made a shooing motion. "You should be able to move now."
They all took a cautious step forward. Spike and Angel looked at each other before sprinting over to where Buffy was…
Kicking the Dankaar's ass.
They reached Buffy just as she beheaded the demon. Dropping her weapon, with satisfaction, she turned to see everyone else, swaying slightly on her feet at the motion.
"What're… what…?"
"We, uh, came to save you," Angel said lamely.
"Thanks," she said, looking around. "That's… that…" She shook her head, which hurt, so she stopped. "I'm… I'm gonna… pass out, and then…"
She crumpled mid-sentence, and Angel rushed forward to catch her. He lifted her precious weight in his arms and looked around at his companions.
"Let's go home."